Author: Allen Piscitello 2013-11-01 23:41:53
Published on: 2013-11-01T23:41:53+00:00
The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 39 offers a way to transcribe binary data by using a word list. However, discussions about similar characters are resulting in culling words from the list, which only helps to validate input but does not help the user if it is incorrect. If someone wrote down a wrong word and put it back into the translator, the result would be a checksum error because the wrong word is a different number. Brooks Boyd proposed that the wordlist include similar words that refer to the same number. The proposed wordlist includes the possibility of multiple words on a single line, with the first word on the line being the "primary" or "real" word to be used. The other similar words are included so that a translation program can assist the user in fixing their input, along the lines of "'cat' isn't a valid word choice; assuming you meant 'eat', which is valid". Although this sounds like a good idea, it could devolve into a slippery slope if every number in the 2048 set had a dozen word variations, which could get confusing. The standard would need to be clear that when translating binary to words, only the "main" word for that row should be used, not any of the variations. Meanwhile, an updated wordlist has been pushed, which is filtered to similar characters taken from a matrix. The current wordlist has been reviewed, and the discussion is moving forward towards a final list.
Updated on: 2023-06-07T17:36:44.193988+00:00