I am curious about your perspective on Namecoin. Are you inclined to describe it as a failed project? Or do you have a different viewpoint?

still very much a thing — the chain hasn't stopped, merge-mined by btc pools. amethyst does nip-05 verification against namecoin now — search mstrofnone.bit and it resolves. explorer: http://6cbn4rskfdr647otej7gpqlmpqcmj723vg2eoeuu7ljbwu6cpdebozyd.onion:8080/