Leo Database: Ideas
When looking to build on Leo, we have to start with a simple premise. This was the path that was taken with LeoGlossary.
The reason why I am focusing upon this is because I believe anyone can build on Leo. It simply takes some creativity, innovation, and experimentation.
In this article I am going to toss up some ideas that could help to trigger some concepts that people can start to apply. We are not engaging in brain surgery, instead opting for simplicity. That said, we have a lot out there.
So let us get started.
Decentralized Database
This is something that I discuss quite frequently because that is what Hive truly it. When people say it is a back-end, that is what they mean. Hive stores the data that is put on chain. This can be monetary transfers, votes, or an article. Whatever people decide to place, it is stored in the block, as long as it is text.
Over the last year and a half, LeoGlossary undertook two separate initiatives that I will focus upon. The first is the glossary concept which obviously uses the blog post feature on Hive. Here we have something rather straightforward.
Whereas people use this to post about a variety of topics, we used it to create pages that are tied to different sectors. Think of it as a scaled down version of Wikipedia.
The second initiative is rather recent. Here we used the Threads feature from LEO to build a music database. What we are doing is essentially creating a front end to YouTube by embedding the videos from that site. Thus, we are using their back end to become a viewer along with adding some other data. The combination of the two is what you see on each page.
This is going to extend into pages. As the number of songs mounts, we have the ability to start storing them in a different manner. This moves the management of the database onto the blockchain, with the data all stored there. Once it is on-chain, there is no need to duplicate it elsewhere.
Over time, this data can be used for other purposes. For me, it means other pages popping up. To others, it might be something different. Keep in mind, once the data is on the blockchain, it is out there for anyone to use.
What Data Is Out There?
A starting point is to consider what data exists already. If it is on the Internet, it is eligible for duplication. Here is where some of the best ideas come from.
Notice that nothing about LeoGlossary is original. Everything that is being created already exists out there. Some feel it is a waste of time to duplicate it. However, my view is completely different. To start, we have the freedom of adding or substracting whatever we desire. This means that we can travel different directions as compared to what exists.
Let us take the idea of a glossary. We have something similar to Investopedia. Again, this is a scaled down version since their database is much larger based upon page number. However, that is a niche site. They do not offer a music library like we are building. Nor is there a movie database. Others have their own databases yet we are starting to pick what is of interest.
What else can you think of that can be added? This is not something that you have to do on your own. I stated repeatedly that if you want to build something under the LeoGlossary umbrella, that is fine. Even if you don't want to go that route, what type of information do you think needs to be provided that is controlled by someone?
This is where the decentralization enters. Even if immutability is not a priority, what about simply on chain utility? For example, could you make up lists of information that is valuable? What about recipes? Terms for particular industries? Statistics for professional sports teams?
These are just a few of the ideas that came to me now. Let us take travel. What is involved there? We start to encounter history, geographic, hotels, airlines, museums, and restaurants. Each of these has the potential to be turned into a database.
Which means it can be built on Leo.
Why would anyone do such a thing? For starters, there is an ad revenue mechanism in place. Having more pages means the ability to garner some of that money. Being tied to a larger platform which is doing its best to expand in many different directions could ultimately assist what you are creating.
Then there is the cost of infrastructure. On Hive, there is no cost to us. As long as one has the resource credits, he or she can engage with the blockchain. Writing to the database is fee-less. You do not have server costs or even need to set up a website. It all can be done simply through Leo.
What about automobiles? Could you construct a database on that? Artwork including famous paintings? Different species of dogs? Cat videos? comedy sketches? Types of beer?
Ultimately, what do you like? Answer this question and then figure out how to build something around it. This will require time, effort, and a long-term focus. However, where could this end up in 2-3 years? What happens if you have 10,000 pages of information all tied together?
That is the potential. It is also something that will leverage everything else that is being built on Leo.
It cannot be separated.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Wow I was not expecting inLEO using YouTube for creating a front end and was thinking that 3speak the official hive.blog partner (Music videos uploaded to it) would act as the front end am confused on this point really :(.
I notice that you are somehow organizing the music data in a way that Hive isn't designed to do. Could you give us a tutorial on how to set something like that up for ourselves?