(Picture edited - was a train wreck)
(2nd picture edit - was a couple of fluffy bunnies)
I love Steemit, Steem, the Steemchain and the vast majority of people I've had the good fortune to meet and interact with on this revolutionary, decentralised, blockchain-based, social media platform. I honestly believe in using it, we are changing the world for the better. I've tried to help this fledgling community grow as best I can along with a great many other people.
Recently, I raised some concerns I have regarding EOS and the potential for a competitor to arise and displace Steem, I still have them. Everybody here, everyone contributing value and receiving value in return, the community is what is valuable. I don't care if we are on Steem, an EOS app, Ethereum, Bitcoin....whatever, as long as it works, as long as the system has integrity. What I hope can be avoided is the thousands of people who have given the most to Steem, losing a significant amount of their earned value.
Recently I read a post https://steemit.com/steemit/@joseph/an-open-ended-question-to-ned-and-dan regarding some voting activity from @dan and @ned but that was not what caught my attention the most. What did catch my attention were the comments by @elfspice relating to what sound to me like potentially catastrophic issues with the Steem database architecture......the effects of which are apparently being felt right now. No doubt many of you are already aware that exchanges are having regular and extended maintenance periods concerning Steem. Some I believe have stopped supporting Steem completely.
Other than @elfspice's comments, I was not aware of this issue and have not seen it discussed anywhere else. I've chosen to make this post because I am gravely concerned and would like Steemit.inc to address the issues raised. Here are some of @elfspice's comments;
Please take a look at the full discussion and decide for yourself if it sounds like something that should concern you.
I have no idea if @elfspice is correct
...but I would like steemit.inc and/or @ned to address this concern for the community immediately please. I think we all deserve to know;
- Is the issue described in @elfspice's comments real?
- Is the issue described in @elfspice's comments as serious as they seem to be?
- Why has the Steem community not be made aware of this issue before by steemit.inc?
- What is the actual state of the situation today?
- What is being done to address the issue today?
- What are the chances of success?
- How long will it be before an attempt to address the issue is made?
- Are there any other issues that you are aware of that is not public knowledge?
If this is not an issue, it is important to expose @elfspice as a source of FUD. I do not believe that to be the case right now. I think there is cause for concern.
If there is an issue, I think it is imperative that kind of critical information is disclosed to the steemit community. It may be that arguments of protecting Steemit's fledgling network were used to stifle disclosure and I understand the temptation but that is not acceptable in my opinion. Everyone needs to know what they are dealing with as soon as possible. People need the chance to decide what they want to do about it. If there is a technical solution, it may be that the bonds that have been formed within steem are strong enough to get through even a serious issue, but to be open about it, to deal with it as a community is the ONLY option, whatever may come of it.
I have been supporting the Minnows Support Project with the majority of my SP for a while. I was already reducing it slowly for personal reasons, but if this issue is not addressed, I will have no choice but to reduce my delegation to ZERO so that I can begin powering down.
Steemit.inc, please address this at the earliest possible time. If you are reading this and agree, please resteem and post your own concerns. I have not been overly impressed with steemit.inc's communications of late so applying some pressure seems only fair.
If @elfspice is correct, he will have done a great service to this community. I will send him the SBD from this post.
edit - though I believe him to be well-intentioned, it would seem that @elfspice is wrong in his analysis and concern for the health of steem and steemit. I won't be sending him any SBD. Feel free to flag this post, I feel it's done it's job now
*2nd edit - after reading @furion's post
https://steemit.com/steem/@furion/updates-on-steem-python-steemdata-and-the-node-situation
it now seems to me that @elfspice's concerns were absolutely real. This does NOT mean that steem or steemit are fatally flawed, but it does mean that the lack of communication from steemit.inc and the way they have handled this issue are very concerning to me. I have apologised to @elfspice and will be sending him the SBD from this post.*
Happy Steeming.....for now
Back to Happy Steeming :)
Ah, so that's loki. All I remember is that he ragequit witnessing when no one took him seriously. Anyway, pretty much everything in that post is pure FUD. If anything, it just reveals his total incompetence at running a Steem node. I don't understand A or B of development, I'm pretty much a n00b compared to seasoned developers or IT admins. Yet I find it really easy to get Steem up and running. Sure, it takes a few hours to sync if you're starting from scratch, but that's a one time thing.
Poloniex had over 15 coins disabled earlier this week, now it's down to 8. It's not just Steem. Clearly they are having issues.
Steem is now processing more transactions than Bitcoin and Ethereum combined. Unlike those two, it's not choking with ridiculous delays in block time or anything. Sure, plenty of optimization needs to be done, particularly with I/O usage. Work is ongoing, and it might be a couple of hardforks more before Steem is ready to scale to the millions. But there's nothing here that suggests there's any existential threat to the network at all.
You can look at the #witness-blocks channel on Steemit.chat to see how incredibly reliable the network has become. Missed blocks are very rare - in fact I couldn't even find a single one in the last couple of days.
I don't think a response is warranted from Steemit Inc when it comes to such unfounded nonsense.
I hope you will see the evidence and retract this post so as not to spread further FUD. Thank you.
Why would/should he do that? Disputing criticism is always better than ignoring it. Of course if someone is just spamming insults it is OK to flag or want it to be retracted, but as long as there are civil arguments being made I think they need to be answered, which I think you did with this comment. I don't understand the nitty gritty of the blockchain, but I dont think talking about potential flaws is FUD.
@liberosist, I do completely agree with you. There are a lot of negative stuff going on regarding steemit. The fact, Steem is now processing more transactions than Bitcoin and Ethereum combined has made it great . And every great things come under the radar of crticism. If we talk about the technicals, Steem is wroking fine, there's no downtime and the problem of bandwidth has also been resolved now. When it comes to exchanges, they their servers always get overloaded with transactions. Last I tried to withdraw my Verge, guess what, it's withdrawal was also under maintenance. So this problem is hapenning with all the other major crypto's. Poloniex has the highest volume, that's why it disables most of the withdrawal requests from most of the cryptocurrencies.
Steem is doing just great and it has a lot of supporters. LIke you, who are curating the best content here. It is the first social media platform on decentralized and blockchain tehcnology and many people have invested their fortune in steemit. I am sure, it ll survive all the odds. You and people like @ned , working hard here to make it even better.
So, I would like to thank you and all the other major people who're making awareness about this platform and helping people to use it more often.
Thank you.
Poloniex has horrid customer support, and other than having nice looking graphs and a low fee they are not that great of an exchange lately. They received one of my deposits and never actually deposited it. Two tickets were ignored and months later still nothing. That wasn't the only issues I had with them just the one that finally made me decide to stop using them and that was several months ago.
Always two sides to every story
Thank you for this perspective @liberosist, it really helps.
Hi @benjojo I've published a post about you, check it out if you can, thanks.
30 Best Steemit Bloggers Of The Day To Follow 3rd August 2017
https://steemit.com/steemit/@jzeek/30-best-steemit-bloggers-of-the-day-to-follow-3rd-august-2017
Thank you, I feel better already!
I think that steemit will be the first social network in the world because it has the potential to be, it is a new concept different in the world in the social networks, it is time to invest a deep money And time
we should promote Steemit in all social networks to get more supporters and investors , it will be Huge!!
If he retracted it then we wouldn't see your response. I saw the original elfspice post and had been planning to look into it as it is not something I (many of us) have researched and would have any authoritative information on. Questions need to be asked so answers can be provided. Also one of the great things about steem is the transparency. Too many things occur outside of it that cannot be tracked, documented, etc. Talking about problems outside of the blockchain rather than on it seems like a step in the wrong direction.
I do thank you for your response. I actually believe someone addressing the elfspice post without ad hominem attacks and such and just providing us a blow by blow of why the points are not an issue would be a valuable post at this time. Saying "don't worry, they can't run a node, and don't know what they are talking about" is an appeal to authority. You didn't say those exact words I am paraphrasing. Such statements can reduce confidence in your response. The rest of the information was welcome though, and I for more would be interested in MORE information.
All of the information I'm aware of is within my response. I could have made an objective list, but I'm a human being and delight in creative communication. But I'll make that list just for you -
Of course, all of this information was covered in my original reply.
That was not my point at all. You recommended the person retract their post. If he were to do that people would not see your reply. That was my point.
I see what you mean. To clarify, my intention wasn't to recommend the OP to delete their post entirely. In hindsight, I should have worded it better. I was going for the traditional meaning of retract, i.e. "withdraw statements as untrue and unjustified"; rather than removing it entirely. My reply would still have stood, with enough context to give it meaning. That worked, this post stands a lot more balanced than before.
Don't drag me into this one, asshole.
Maybe I would be answer some questions here, as a witness and operator of full API node that is used by various service providers on Steem.
From what he described it seems that he has real issues,
however Steem platform is fine.
For him? Yes. For platform? No.
My full API node is operating on a single, low-end dedicated server with amount of RAM as on my few years old workstation.
At this very moment it is serving 65 connections per second (average from 100 seconds). Disk latency is 2.6 - 4.0ms.
Of course there are some performance challenges that we witnesses, and others: community developers, Steemit Inc developers etc are aware of, those are being addressed, way ahead of time, but FUD-spreading-troll level talk is not even close to what I would like to spent my time on.
It's not an issue and @elfspice is a source of FUD. Not for the first time.
Hey there @gtg, I'd love it though if you would make a tutorial maybe on making a Full API node in best practices?
I use your node for my upcoming app, so it would be nice to make a few more for some load balancing and etc.
If I would have time for that...
Actually this is pretty straightforward, as long as you are not expecting to run it on potato-grate hardware ;-)
Also, a lot depends on certain needs. Not all the people needs really full node with all plugins. Most of people doesn't. Like for example exchanges mentioned by that troll are not using full nodes.
Most info needed to successfully run your node is in docs. You might want to modify that depending on your exact needs. Feel free to catch me on steemit.chat as Gandalf but expect some delays with answers.
I would gladly help with setting up public nodes.
BTW, I'm able to have considerably low amount of RAM mostly because I have decent speed on my storage backend. Current setup is very cost effective, however I'm running out of space (storage is fast but small, as I have 3 disks combined)
Ah, so instead of having 128GB RAM, you're using SSDs in RAID 5 for your swap backend?
RAID1
Of course having 128GB of RAM to keep there everything would be nice, but not cost effective.
I very much appreciate your extra clarity on this issue, but it does sound to me like that architecture won't scale beyond a few months without major work. I hope there are plans in place, and that Steem Inc. can communicate better on this issue in future.
Thanks again though!
@gtg thank you very much for offering your observations. I really appreciate it. I hope others do. When there is limited communication from the people that know these things, there is ample room for doubt. The majority of steemians, myself included are not technical. There are clearly issues but none of us know how serious they are and it is difficult to put things into context at times. None of us can read everything on here. I did not know that elfspice had spread FUD before.
Do you know why exchanges seem to be having difficulty offering a stable service for steem?
Currently there are crazy times because of Bitcoin. Aside from that:
Bittrex is indeed having some delays recently but they are great at communication and I think we would be able to help them improve reliability.
Blocktrades is working flawlessly.
Poloniex well... multiple attempts to contact them, they were down today for hours... that's not related to Steem at all.
Thank you @gtg
So, a virtual machine with 10 cores and 50gb of ram, that was doing just fine running a witness, and 3 months ago was running an RPC fine, and, a Ryzen7 1700, which I established I had to update a kernel to fix that problem, both somehow cannot replay the full chain, for an RPC, BOTH RUNNING UBUNTU 16.04, LATEST.
Prove you are not lying by taking a person, who has not had any dealings with you in the past, and helping them get an RPC up and running.
Because bittrex is having a problem.
Poloniex is basically refusing to deal with it anymore, they got bigger fish to fry.
Tradequik, over 48 hours 'routine, automated maintenance
Shapeshift quit dealing with Steem at least 2 weaks ago.
So, stop lying. What keeps your RPC up and running, and why is it that me, and 4 major, high end operations, cannot keep a
steemdrunning?Let us know what the secret is, or admit that you have much more fancy hardware, paid for with your premined stake, than you are admitting to.
I know enough about sysadmin to know, that your front end, could be bumping traffic to any number of backends. You could have over 10 Steemd nodes running, on a failover, and nobody would know, unless they could monitor the in-and-out on your server.
@furion thinks the following, which supports your hypothesis:
https://steemit.com/steem/@furion/updates-on-steem-python-steemdata-and-the-node-situation
No wonder I was having trouble on a 50Gb xeon VPS with 10 cores and a 1.2tb SSD. When I started, back in November, this was still a bit difficult but it only needed about 32gb. In 6 months since, that requirement has quadrupled. If it quadruples again, there isn't a computer on the planet that sits inside one box, that can run this thing.
I'm not gonna hold my breath for an apology from these pigs who have been blatantly lying through their teeth.
Graphene, so great, it needs 128gb to run a 1 year old blockchain.
So, who's lining up to be part of Dan's next project?
Yes, no wonder, I see why you're bitter about this! It does make me feel sick, and the lies are really disappointing!
If EOS stores a more sensible amount of info in the blockchain though, it could be much more sustainable even if it's very similar underlying technology. Don't you agree?
I reckon he's probably learnt his lesson (technically), moved out and done something with a genuinely better architecture, though I don't know how good of course, and trust is pretty important!
Yeah, maybe he learned the error, but his narcissism prevents him from admitting his error.
Also, if EOS borrows from Ethereum, then it uses multiple backend data stores and not just one giant monolith. Different types too.
Hey lok1! We at TradeQwik were performing some upgrades across servers and adding a few( 4 new). STEEM was not the reason for our routine maintenance. Thanks man
I'm sorry, I can't help you. That would be an illegal medical practice.
I've explicitly offered (and provided) help to people that needs API nodes for their businesses and reported on my own node status multiple times in my witness logs.
Seriously? That is what you see there?
Are you seriously screenshootting content that was written on the blockchain?
You are insane*
(*) that's my subjective point of view, unfortunately, I'm not a doctor so I can't provide you a medical advice = "that would be an illegal medical practice"
Please seek your help among doctors, not witnesses.
Good luck.
Is anybody else having this issue other than elfspice? What problem could he have if you're facing none?
Already discussed. BKAC kind of problem that he fails to acknowledge blaming the rest of the world.
Thanks for clearing the air. Followed both you and elfspice. Good to listed to both the sides of the argument. Nice names by the way Loki and Gandalf the Grey.
Thanks @gtg.
What amount of RAM does your full API node have?
32GB currently, but that would flawlessly only with decent speed on storage backend (a lot of I/O has to be handled)
Thank you. We are trying to understand the discrepancy between what you're saying at what @furion is saying here:
https://steemit.com/steem/@furion/updates-on-steem-python-steemdata-and-the-node-situation
Can you help any further, to put this issue to bed, so I can keep investing my time in this great project?
As far as I can see, @furion seems to be satisfied with my node. Of course funding clusters of such ( or even better - much bigger ) nodes is always welcome.
It was the 128GB versus 32GB RAM difference that I was getting at, but now you've explained that you use SSD drives for swap it reconciles the apparent discrepancy for me. Thanks.
Ah, I see. Everything depends on exact environment. Low latency is crucial especially at initial reindexing. For example my 64GB backup API node performs much slower (at least at reindex) because it has a single SSD drive.
Yes, indeed, you had a chance for that long time ago...
That would be before you've made your platform-leaving-FUD-performance with @faddat.
Just to remind you: you've used alleged issue with steem as an excuse for that. When I pointed out that it's not true and steem is working as expected then you've blamed @xeroc's python-lib which turned out to be your lack of understanding how it works.
Good luck with The Dawn.
The Steemians send their regards.
Why do you keep commenting on 2 of your separate accounts?
In case anyone was still wondering:
I'm a believer in don't listen to what people say, watch what they do. The only way I could figure to do that in this case is to look at peoples wallets. Is anyone powering down, and if so, who? Seems like this could show something.
It's my understanding that it takes 3 months to power down? With this belief I looked at the last three months for the people saying Steemit is ok, and also the two accounts held by Loki who says there is a problem.
From what I saw, @elfspice does not appear to be powering down, however @l0k1 is.
@ned initiated what appears to be a full account power down two months ago, and stopped it one month ago. And is not powering down.
@sneak initiated what appears to be a full account power down 13 days ago, and stopped it 13 days ago. And is not powering down.
@gtg is not powering down.
@liberosist is not powering down.
So, with my minimal understanding of how this works, the four people who say Steemit is ok are acting as though that is the case, as none of them are powering down.
@l0k1/@elfspice is a bit confusing as one account is powering down but the other does not appear to be.
So everyone appears to pretty much be acting on their beliefs, and no one seems to be just giving lip service.
All I was saying was that all parties appear to be acting on what they said, including you, yours just isn't as straight forward.
Only two of the four had power downs scheduled and stopped and the timing was separate from each other. Stoping a power down because you realize the system is going to crash seems counter intuitive.
Again I was observing all of you were acting on what you said. You are powering down, you believe it will crash. None of them are powering down shows they don't believe it will crash.
So you're not powering down to pull your money out so when it crashes you don t lose it? You're continuing to invest in a sinking ship?
You're right I don't understand.
"i have no idea if he's correct, but i am going to further disseminate FUD and make loud demands and point fingers even in the case where i know there might be no issues at all".
Downvoted for baseless fearmongering.
I hope that means you're going to stop making posts like this.
It's your prerogative to take that position @sneak, I happen to think that posts like this are an entirely natural and predictable result of poor communication from your team.
I had no intention of spreading FUD but the difficulty in getting information requires direct approaches.
You might acknowledge that everything is not perfect and take the opportunity to provide even more information as @gtg has attempted to do. There is after all a great deal of value in setting the record straight and allow the concerns of people.....there seems to be rather a few that had them.....to rest.
I guess you and your team are perfect and anyone that doesn't know everything you do is a 'baseless fearmonger?' Are you even aware of the privilege of your position in terms of access to information? You might want to think about that. You aren't the only one who cares about the success of steem and steemit.
I agree @sneak, you guys need to communicate more, seriously. Hire another person. @andrarchy is supposed to be the community liaison but all that comes from there and @steemitblog is high fives and "yay we're doing great"!. We need to be kept in the loop.
Sneak,
I'm glad to see you looking and responding to posts that address concern about the platform. Thank you for doing that. We need people with your skillset to help this place grow.
This current approach to handling concerns is abrasive.
Many of the full Steem RPC nodes went down in one day, and this appears the next. Witness chat itself was asking questions regarding this too. There were concerns over ram utilization growth as the chain and userbase expands. It's a reasonable concern to ask about the technical state of the platform after everything crashes especially when you have substantial wealth invested in it.
Please make a more concerted effort to address concerns in a more supportive way.
I appreciate your work on the platform and thanks for hearing me out.
Aggroed
That is not an accurate statement.
edited.
Good reply, and fixed as per your request.
Note that all the pigs are self-upvoting their comments to push them to the top...
I appreciate it when people do that so I can read the answer faster than browsing through endless of comments which are not always relevant to the post. I'm pretty sure it saves a lot of readers time.
What a disappointing and concerning response.
Thats quite a big self upvote there buddy. You are spreading FUD just in the way you operate.
I don't think we should label all members concerns about this issue as FUD but I do remember Loki's meltdowns in the past and took that into account. There have been technical issues of late and that's what sparked my concern.
And you need to self-upvote to prove it. Truth has no power of it's own?
I am afraid to self upvote because I may anger a whale....I appreciate your comments which I have had a few of my own regarding the technical issues with steemit. I've worked with techy people that have horrible tempers, but they know their stuff. You are a lot like artist in that way, I have a horrible temper and have had to pay for speaking out about things I care about. I think you are just like my techy friends. I think everyone has the right to speak out even if it sparks fear in the herd, there may be danger, it's important to listen to all voices. Especially since I know next to nothing on these issues, I need to read all sides of this issue. If I can't that means steemit is broken and even the finest code and hardware in the world won't fix censorship.
You can upvote yourself without be afraid to anger a whale. That's censorship in my opinion and mister elfspice alias loki should understand this too.
thank you @oldtimer.
You're welcome. In my opinion, everyone can upvote himself and if somebody doesn't agree with that it's free to downvote him. Excuse for my bad English but I hope you understand my point.
I don't think you should fear upvoting yourself, you are using the platform, communicating with people and adding value. If someone is offended by you voting for your own comments once in a while they are missing the big picture.
You're a fucking moron. What's the point of holding SP if you can't upvote your own content. Halfwit.
To upvote the content of others that you deem worthy of upvoting. We could all just post 20 spam posts/comments vote them up and be done with Steemit for a day.
Again I don't want to suggest that you are only using Steemit for selfish reasons, but I think a vote is something that is earned and given, and not something that should be used to boost your content to more visibility.
We all want to earn money here, don't get me wrong. But I think the rule to not upvote yourself should be implemented in a hard coded form :). There are still ways around it obviously but it sets a good signal, especially for new users, imo.
Capital gains? I mean, that's the traditional and time honored reason to invest in securities.
I realize that it's fiscally irresponsible to not self vote when significant income is at stake. However, self voting is antithetical to the purpose of Steemit, as stated in the white paper, which is to reward content creators for creating value in the platform.
I don't recall seeing anything in the white paper advocating milking the rewards pool for quick cash, at least not in a positive way. I do recall seeing manipulation of the rewards mechanism would cause user trust to suffer, and constituted a threat to Steemit.
So, is there a point to Steemit beyond self voting after you have a grip of SP, or does it just become a cash cow?
It looks like people avoid you, but I agree with you on this one.
Thank you for posting benjojo.
Lack of communication at Steemit is a problem. Lack of leadership is a problem. Allowing bully accounts to dictate policy is a problem.
There are many high powered accounts in a state of change.....whether it is renting out SP, delegating SP or powering down.....this activity alone should indicate there is a problem. If there is no benefit to having great amounts of SP.....then there is no incentive to having great amounts of SP.
The latest HF has resulted in people for the most part voting in terms of percentage rather than value. What is the gain in having SP?
Have tried to contact you in chat.....benjojo not found is the message.
Elf spice has said.... he is loki...if that assists.
Thank you for opportunity to think on these things.
All the best to you. Cheers.
I felt I had to post this. The lack of comms is really really bad. I have absolutely no idea why they would allow it to get to this. After all, it's so easy to communicate on steemit.
I think the HF19, as I think @dan and @aggroed (among others) predicted, was a mistake. I was all for it becuase I thought it would be fairer.....shows what I know!
This is sue though, if it is real and the lack of transparency is really concerning. I hope they address it now.
Not sure why you couldn't get me on chat?? I am not often in there but I'm supposed to get e-mail notifications and my account is definitely working last time I checked!
cheers bud.
I don't think we should blame hf19. Block chain based data systems are relatively new. Steem is an experiment as is Bitcoin. Whose to say bitcoin will be able to keep up with its growth and the nodes will just need too much disk space to work in say twenty years?
Bitcoin has been running for eight years. It has worked this long and that gives confidence. Steem has worked two years and yes in order to do anything interesting the straight forward approach means you need an RPC node. I feel elfspice is sincere but that doesn't mean he is correct and if he is incorrect it doesn't mean he is insincere.
I am not blaming HF19 for what @elfspice is talking about.....which is an issue with the database architecture as I understand it.
I agree, either way I believe @elfspice's intentions are good. There are too many observable issues which combined with his explanation, right or wrong necessitate far more communication from steemit.inc and @ned.
Yes, I am indeed the same person behind the two accounts. I switched over to @elfspice because, well, it's my old nick, my first online username in my first forum account at DMT World. And the hive. If you think the fact that I have been involved in the drug underground chat networks in any way discredits me, you are right out of line. In 2013 I was running an account on the Silk road, and I ditched it because I was fatally mismanaging my assets and resources. I even begged to be honest, with DPR, to let me refund my deposit and close my account. It had appreciated by 300% at the time. He said no. I had a friend help me out with faking transactions to meet the requirements, after I had begged 3 times to just let me have my deposit back.
I can tell you, it did not endear me to DPR, and I honestly thought, as the scuttlebut said, that he was not in fact running it anymore.
I don't even know what to think about it now. Ross Ulbricht in his media impressions since his arrest, did not read like the DPR that told me, basically, that he didn't write the code running the server, and he couldn't change the rules of refund.
I have no idea what to think of it all now, whether I was really talking to Ross, or someone else when I was trying to get out of SR. Or if Ross was the real DPR, or not. I think he probably was.
But suffice it to say, that I learned one thing out of all this.
Nothing is what it seems on the internet. Especially if the government law and its agencies has something to say about what is going on.
You people at steemit, and the premined accounts, is it a coincidence that suddenly you are all turning on each other, right after the SEC says that it has jurisdiction over securities contracts, like Steem Power?
FUD?
yeah, I'm getting paid so good at this that my whole living depends on me keeping 4 high end video cards and two machines mining altcoins to pay my rent.
You all have an opportunity to stop the lies, and redeem your reputations. But you are continuing to step up the lies. You are gonna get in so much shit, I am not even gonna shed one tear over your misery. You don't know what misery is. If you end up dead, you are gonna have it easy.
this chain will scale. the talent that designed steem and eos scaling strategies works for steemit.inc.
Ned,
I love this blockchain. I love this app. Mostly I love these people.
I'm sure you've been scanning the posts lately that have been begging for communication. The beauty of blockchain is transparency and I'm sure you already know that.
The lack of clear lines of communication from the top is building the perceived image that Steemit INC simply does not care to be transparent.
That image destroys user's confidence in the platform as you can not sell transparency and not seem to be transparent yourself.
I know that there are politics at play, and that you all feel that you are making a calculated decision but your reputation as a company is at stake.
I don't think that's something worth gambling on.
I remember you all posted a job opening for someone that would communicate to the users of Steemit. Sorry if this offends anyone but if they have been hired I haven't realized it.
Meaning, if they have been hired they aren't doing an adequate job.
Is there anything we can do to open up these lines of communication?
Maybe host a live stream with questions from the community?
If you read this, thank you.
This is also a DPoS blockchain, which means there are many important contributors working for YOU. Consider the responses here from Witnesses and other technologists. It appears to me they are right.
hey ned I am a lead software developer tester for one of the top 20 tech cos. I do see some issues. I am currently looking through the source code and aiming to for fortify the testing suite. If there are any meet ups or sync I should attend I would love to. I really believe in this platform and would like to make it better and keep the confidence high.
Thank you @ned
You can take me, but you will never take my bunghole, Hm heh.... For I am the Great Cornholio Hm heh I have no bunghole, hm heh...
I am Cornholio! (Whoa! Hm heh... that was cool) I need T.P. for my bunghole! Come out with your pants down!
Hi, @ned I wrote a post about how to attract new people to steemit. I don't know how to reach you, so please give a look. https://steemit.com/steemit/@emble/will-steem-succeed-or-commit-suicide
Thank you for commenting @ned, is there anything to be done to bridge the knowledge gap between the developers and the non technical users? Especially when issues occur as they have done recently. It would be great to have a short update so that people who notice things like exchange issues, nodes going down etc have pertinent information they can trust.
Transparency is the main issue for everyone eventually on Steemit. The lack of transparency is extremely intuitive on their behalf, because ALL of the parts that need to be seen are, yet the secrets behind the curtain are all just optimizations and tweaks to further IMPROVE our existance on Steemit. I do think that there needs to be an "HR" of sorts that speaks to the community and comes back to the drawing board with our direct input. Technically isn't that what a witness is sort of for? I see a new group needed that consists of "Group Ambassadors" for each main posting group. That way, you have people who specialize in a specific posting matter - ie: myself and Vape technology. Now I could tell you that we have a very small vape group on here, and that is mostly due to the issues with downvotes from people who don't agree with smoking. (Seriously, do the research.) Something so small could make the curation of a great read that much easier. Although I have not been a user for long, I have seen the lack of factual information in the user's face: and that is my only gripe about Steemit.
-@jgr33nwood
thanks for clearing things up and putting our minds to rest
Sure. When you release the secret sauce that makes a RPC replay in less than 2 days.
Flagged for disagreement over rewards. The next highest comment was $80, so this is pretty excessive if it was meant for visibility..
Edit: Self vote and flag have been removed, thanks @ned :)
am I the only one who has considered that maybe you downvoted officialfuzzy to give him more publicity? Just looking at the effects of said downvote. that is a guess... you are not obliged to reveal your purposes to me... but I consider that the downvote in question may have had a benevolent purpose.
I removed the @smackdown.kitty and @sadkitten flags since you removed your self vote (which you changed to 100% vote! wow I had a surprise waiting for me today!)
I'm curious as to why exactly so if you feel like it please let me know. 😊
We're working on a ton! Can you be more specific?
I agree it would be nice to get some answers about this. From what I can tell elfspice had a pretty negative attitude towards steemit lately, but he also seems quite knowledgeable about the underlying technical systems. It's hard to know how much of what he says is true, so it would be nice to
I completely agree. One thing it highlights is that steemit.inc's communications with the community are seriously lacking. Does anyone really know how they are coming along with the challenges they are wrestling with? How soon anything already discussed will be implemented?
It is important to understand for sure if steemit.inc are withholding critical information about the health of the network or if @elfspice is wrong.
It certainly doesnt improve optics never communicating.
Totally. I don't want steemit.inc's custodianship to turn into something to be lamented. I'm sure there are people working very hard there. But, there is quite a lot that does not stack up right now and the terrible communication is one major red flag.
Maybe some more responses from other witnesses (like gtg comment) on the topic will help clarify if it's a non-issue. But the communication aspect is still an issue. I'm only 6 weeks in and in the last 2 weeks it's starting to feel like there's nobody up front in the engine car. There really is no "corporate" team, HR, PR, etc to interface with users. I rely on older members, the 2016 group like yourself, (I call them Primes) for community support, guidance and growth.
here we are, users, owners of the blockchain :-)
that's by design I think
Very true, but there could be a central voice that keeps everyone in the loop and defines clear objectives, goals, and addresses problems or concerns so these issues dont boil over. I try to ask questions to witnesses to learn as I go, but its a new experience not having a central voice.
Valid questions that deserve answers.
Transparency is the key. Along with proactive attitude towards resolving situations.
Upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you. I think you are absolutely correct about transparency.
I think we need an official updates feed here on the platform so the community can help the devs.. We have the power to change the system and help grow.
Thanks for sharing this article so we stay up to date.
Cheers
I totally agree with this. The community needs transparent, up-to-date information so that it can try to help save itself.
It would be great to get more reports from the Steemit team. If there are issues then they need to be brought up and addressed. Bugs and other problems can be reported on Github
Unless they ban you from it.
Absolutely
@benjojo thanks for adding that extra pressure on ned and dan.. I have been tracking/ observing all the flagging and downvoting events between ned/dan/officialfuzzy/sweetssz which co-incidentally started after ETH guy Vitalik Buterin raised some concerns over EOS.
No radical reasoning in sight.
P.S. did you observe ned created another account firefire and has transferred ~900,000 steems in it... FIRE FIRE :)
@dan is nothing to do with steemit.inc but I do hope @ned feels the urge to address these concerns directly and promptly. I'm not really concerned with the voting situation though I don't understand why @ned would downvote @officialfuzzy so harshly. I heard that @dan downvoted @sweetssj with only 1%.
Anyway, a serious database architectural design issue trumps voting politics in my book!
Because ned would prefer i leave steem is allll i can assume given my past experiences. As each of his actions piles on i wait...with all of it piling up. Because..you know why not? I honestly look forward to seeing the not so obvious attacks i will receive now that ned realizes he cant attack me directly without making himself look bad. So i just hold my ammo and use it when needed.
Question though. If ned offered to double my sp early on as icentive to sell out to him and let him decide what i can and cant talk about, let me ask uou...how many people do you think helping him DID sell out? I dont have stats on it but im sure if hes willing to offer it to me, he is offering it to others. And im also relatively certain that if ye offered it to others, they are likely raping the reward pool silently and posting with sockpuppets. Sadly he thought i was ONLY in this for profit (which is laughable considering alll he had to do was like 30 min of research on me to see this is not the case whatsoever. )
Im just sad benjojo that u are one of the ONLY bitshares community members who are talking openly about this after all i do free of charge for them.
Heck dan doesnt upvote me (not that im complaining) but it just goes to sho somehow i get all the downsides of being a "proxy of dan" without any of the benefits. How cool is that??? :D
Excuse my language fuzzy but fuck em. I didn't know anything about ned doing things like that, I have no idea why they would be necessary. What the hell is wrong with him? There are people on here doing everything they can to build and help people with dedication.....like you have shown.....and integrity....like you have shown. It makes me fucking mad to think that there are short-sighted sellout pieces of shit undermining the genuine efforts of so many. I clearly spend most of my time in a bubble almost completely oblivious to these under currents.
I need to think.
There are no such issues, and as @gtg pointed out above, this is just FUD. Chill with the witch hunt and demands, please.
He also acknowledged that there are problems. Why don't you stop being so aloof and acknowledge that there is not enough information coming from your team?
@furion seems to have concerns:
https://steemit.com/steem/@furion/updates-on-steem-python-steemdata-and-the-node-situation
The way I see it, if the community isn't strong enough to deal with this level of technical discussion on a open public blockchain, it's not strong enough to survive, so here's hoping this discrepancy can be addressed!
What we've got here is failure to communicate
The question is why?
Some long standing account is even powering down several thousand SP (all of i) because of Elf's comments.
It would be imperative to receive a clarifying statement from @ned.
Thanks for driving the question @benjojo!
This is their last opportunity or I will have no choice but to do the same. If they address the issue, I will then consider holding and working with the community to protect itself.
Serious enough! I truly hope this post will receive an adequate response, as I have come to highly appreciate Steemit/ the concept.
Me too.
if by any chance you are referring to me, I want to note that I am not powering down because of Elf's comment, but rather I am converting steem power into concertina wire and other prepping material. I noted Elf's comment, but the political situation is the motivator
either way, I don't want to alarm others...this is a gut feeling, not a reasoned move
I just got here a little more than a month ago, I would really prefer this manage to last long enough for me to get what I want from it.
Nice looking out, and I hope we can get some transparency in regards to this.
My intention is to try to establish unequivocally if there is an issue. If there is, it needs absolute trancparency from here on out. This community is why steem is valuable and it should have the opportunity to help save itself.
You will get absolutely no argument from me on this one. What would I do if the MSP were to no longer have a home? Steem has spawned so many amazing sub-communities, it is worth fighting for, even if they have to band together to continue development.
Balance or everything fail. No balance here never was, feel more like a rich get rich playground & that is fine..but let the memo out early before the poor join! Too much tension even last year around this time...people was complaining about everything. Fact will remain no matter what..Love win..Greed rule! Cheers!!!
I'm starting to agree with you. There were times when the balance could have been addressed properly, but it seems that greed is asserting its standard dominance.
Everything related to blockchains that i got immersed to in the last few years seems to have faded away not due to technicalities but due to human emotions, and greed. I am so disappointed to the fact that people in general we are so weak, so untrained in theses matters. I innocently believed for years that technology would save us from the defects of humans, and that this generation of young people we were really aware of what have been wrong before. But apparently humans errors repeat themselves every single time.
I upvote myself for this reply to be seen on a fairly upwards position
I almost despair too. @dan knows, the issue is with the distribution.....that's where all the value is. I am starting to think dan is the only leader in this space with a heart.
Had to edit, that is simply not true.....I'm just very upset with a few things i've read today.
I don't understand about the technicalities of the platform since Im not a techy guy, but if this is true, its very alarming.
My thoughts precisely. It all needs to be addressed now, out in the open and the community given the opportunity to react. There is the potential for strength in that. If steemit.inc are shown to be prepared to withold that kind of information from the community (once they are sure there is an issue) my trust in them will be shaken.
I also confused about this, as an ordinary person who does not know much about computer science. I think we need a simple and transparent explanation about this issued. Because steemit is now becoming community belonging. Nice :)
Yes right. Hope this is nothing.
If you have made it this far down the comments, you have way too much time on your hands, or you really do care about the future of steemit. do not up-vote this comment I am trying to do something LOL
the bottom is almost just as visible as the top.... my vote put you right in the middle where you're a bit harder to find
Do not make my bunghole angry!... You have any holio?
I got some TP.....
In this lobby, will there be T.P.? For my bunghole?
indeed. no more angry bunghole, and save tree lives at the same time! :-D
Hey you, habla Español?
7th generation.... soft and friendly to the environment
Bahahahah!
I wish your points weren't so obscure. Couldn't you just state something apparent? /s
if you look close at my profile pic, you can see me winking...;)
Well, I learned a new acronym today, Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt.
This post has earned my measly little upvote for simply bringing up a potential issue and decisively dealing with it within 5 hours.
Good work @benjojo.
You know what, I really appreciate this comment. Thank you.
Thank you.
There's been so much lamenting and weeping lately that it's nice to see someone bring something up and then quickly say, "I looked into this and it's not a problem. Carry on with your lives."
Thank you @the blindsquirl. Now that is a clear concise piece of communication. I hope @sneak and all the other steemit inc types saw your reply. Upvoted (first of the day)
Thanks.
I like to stay concise when I can. I spent too many years watching people in meetings talking for hours without saying anything.
But most times there were donuts.
LOL :) Donuts save the world!
Thank you for posting it, I hadn't gotten around to looking it up yet lol
Good post @benjojo
Thank you, it's a serious issue either way.
I disagree entirely.
Why don't you elaborate on why you think that instead of being all aloof and mysterious? For goodness sake. I'm not your enemy. People that don't know what you know are not your enemy.
Why do you think that technical problems with Steemit isn't an issue? For those of us without the specific knowledge you possess, a bit of extrapolation would go a long way. @elfspice has many complaints, voiced loudly and passionately.
You simply disparage complaint as FUD, and absent specific detail regarding why those complaints are invalid, that argument is not compelling.
It's really weird, it almost reads like a concerted effort between @elfspice and @sneak and a few others who're held in high regard to make it clear for everybody to see that the issues @elfspice brings up are legitimate. Otherwise, you'd think they'd take the 10 to 15 minutes to refute his specific claims, seeing as a lack of confidence in Steemit by the community at large would cause their large SP holdings to severely decrease in value.
If there's truth in what @elfspice says and they don't have a solution, one very predictable way to handle it, considering their position, would be to deny it in the most non-committal way. The more you say in a lie, the more holes there are to sniff out. It's a lot easier and safer to plaster on a blanket "not the case" than it is to build up a labyrinth of lies to deal with the nuanced issues that were raised, trying all the while to make it appear congruent at the surface.
Sure, it may make you look guilty from the beginning, but at least there's a decent possibility that people will give you the benefit of the doubt as to why you refused to elaborate ("maybe he just doesn't have the time...", "maybe he's just anti-social...", etc.), and you've effectively given your debaters nothing to poke holes into. It's certainly not a win-win situation, but it's natural to conclude that it's better than the alternative.
Unfortunately, I completely agree with your comment.
I really like Steemit, and really don't want some of the alarming matters, that I have come to understand threaten it, to cause further problems, nor do I want them to continue to repress it's potential to blossom into all the marvelous flowerings of human intercourse it can.
Steemit can really evolve into something that can change the world for the better in many different ways. I'd lose some faith in humanity (again) if greed, power politics, and pride keep that from happening.
At least, until a platform does succeed, where Steemit does not.
You and I are on the exact same page, friend.
Thanks for the insight, I'm just getting started on steemit and I really like it. I hope these issues get sorted out for all of us. Cheers
Indeed, me too.
I am not well versed in crypto or blockchain technology in general but am following this issue closely in hopes of gaining some sort of insight! It would not do well for the masses to panic.
If the masses, not sure if they are here yet, want to panic, so be it. This is about trust and the ability to take a hand in steem's destiny.
The panic of the masses would be due to poor communication causing lack of knowledge regarding these issue besides the scalability issues my concern is lack of communication from Steem inc to its members. Without us Steem inc is nothing.
@reddust apparently that is up to the witnesses atm..... so, I vote largely on how much they communicate
@inquiringtimes, I vote for witnesses I can understand when they do decide to communicate, but if the witnesses aren't behaving isn't it steem inc business to make sure miners are being honest and above board? I don't know about everyone else, I know next to nothing about coding, mining, and stuff like that. So I couldn't fact check if I wanted too! I have trust issues based on experience as well...when there is a lot of money involved I trust no one...I say this salted with humor.
https://steemit.com/witness-category/@timcliff/the-reports-from-the-witnesses-2017-08-06
The above link is a good place to start if you haven't done so already... @timcliff posts all of the witness updates in one place every week.
Beyond that, I am beginning to develop relationships with a few folk who I do trust, that understand way more of the mechanics than I do.... that's just developing, and I'm still new. Eventually I think that I will have enough knowledge close to the heart to know.
Many of my votes are based upon the witnesses who I could SEE were active in solving the bandwidth crisis.... the old saying goes "closed mouths don't get fed".
One thing. perhaps I misunderstand your meaning, but witnesses act within the parameters allowed by steeminc. An issue has arisen because there was some semi-public steem created. elfspice crys foul. The real reason this is an issue is because of the brand new decision by the SEC to treat Crypto-currency as a security. Because of that decision, which doesn't quite apply across the board to all crypto yet, steemit is vulnerable to attack by the SEC.
my belief is that the creators and developers want steem to last "forever" and aren't here to ride the gravy train until law man catches up.... I suppose, and hope, that they are cognizant of this issue and have plans in place to remedy this vulnerability (WHICH JUST AROSE @ elfspice)....
so it's not as much a question of whether our witnesses are behaving themselves (in this instance), but to whether the creators\developers are behaving themselves... my understanding, also, is that the witnesses collectively have some influence in the decisions made by developers.
so.... knowing your witnesses, and figuring out who to trust seems to be paramount for the future of steemit, but doesn't really address the issue that was brought up about pre-mining
(someone please help and correct me if I'm wrong about any of this.... I'm a newb and still trying to piece it together)
Lake Titicaca.....Nicaragua! Aqua! For my bunghole....
I like the way you think ;-)
I am the Great Cornholio! I'm a gringo!
Upvoted and resteemed for visibility.
Thank you.
This has been bothering me lately too. I noticed the same post and another by elfspice. I don't have the technical know how to understand his arguments but he sounds like he knows what he is talking about. One thing he mentioned is steemd always being offline and he is right. It's often under maintenance now. Thanks for making this post. I'm mainly commenting so I can come back later and see if someone shed light on the situation.
Thank you for the support. You certainly aren't the only one with exactly the same concerns. Let's hope steemit.inc and @ned take this opportunity to educate @elfspice or vindicate his warnings.
Yep a little communication would be nice. The other thing that's been bothering me is seeing wars between users. People just downvoting eachother to nothing because of past arguments. These are big whales too. Seriously, use that voting power to flag all the spam and plagiarism on the front page. Or upvote the content that is adding to the community. This boat has been rocking lately.
@elfspice may be paranoid, he has a right to be, I've been on social networks forever, couple human greed, will to power, and lots of money, paranoia is important but it has to coupled with wisdom and knowledge. His hostility for steemit comes and goes and must be taken into account when reviewing his opinions.
But I just got here! I hope that the community will get answers and these issues be addressed asap. I would like to convince my self that @elfspice is just overreacting but as I use steemit everyday, I feel that it is really getting slower everyday.
I'm hoping for the best! steem on.
The best chance of limiting the potential for damage in a situation like this is prompt, clear communications and transparency. If we all ask for this, hopefully steemit.inc will oblige.
Upvoted and resteemed. Sustainability is key.
Thank you.
I seriously hope there is some clarification forthcoming, as well as a resolution. As things stand now is seems like Steem is in some sort of freefall .
Let's hope the two aren't connected. If they are, well will see just who the true strong hands are and what this community is made of.
There may be something to this as I recently noticed that SHAPESHIFT has also stopped Steem exchanges.
ShapeShift did that ages ago though.
I live at the back, I only heard about it yesterday.
It really is not looking good.
Thanks for bringing this issue to the light of day. Keep pushing for the answers! Resteemed and will support these kind of posts of yours in the future.
Thank you. I appreciate the support.
Thanks for raising this issue. I saw some of the comments he made recently and as a non-tech guy, I won't know how graphene works at all. If Steemit really can't sustain on the current system and if nothing's done to it, then perhaps we should run? I hope the founders address this issue.
I don't want to speculate on the nature of the issue or the possibility of doing something about it. I just want to hear the honest situation from steemit.inc and @ned.
Good luck. Ive been trying to communicate with ned even after he tried to muzzle me with 2x my sp...he only responds if he thinks its in his own interest to do so, not realizing thst steem based affairs are his interest.
Me too.
The greatest strength of Steemit near as I can tell has been the transparency, the fact that everyone has access to all the info needed to operate in a fair even if not equal environment. That transparency breeds fairness. Lose one, lose both.
I'm not a tech guy so that's the extent of what I can usefully say. Hopefully @dan et al will be able to set minds at ease.
@dan has nothing to do with steemit.inc. I agree that if there is an issue, we all need to be made aware of it.
I must point out that @dan actively votes, posts, and supports witnesses with a grip of SP. This makes @dan about as powerful a voice as exists regarding Steemit, whether or not he is a corporate officer.
Beyond the scaling issue, the matter of premining @elfspice brought up is relevant to how Steemit is managed. Particularly as Steem meets the test of a security for the SEC since it represents voting power.
I have made several posts regarding VP weighting by SP prior to @elfspice's meltdown, and the SEC announcement. Neither of those subsequent events has altered my understanding of the issue, and, in fact, both events greatly increase the urgency of the matter.
We will see what action is taken regarding transparency, regarding both technical issues, and SEC regulation of Steem as a security. I've so little wealth that I the only reason I give it thought is because Steemit - which I have come to enjoy very much - is highly influenced by it.
Freedom is nothing left to lose, unlike @freedom.
Just sayin'
THIS!!!!!!!!!! and now I'll be checking your blog, momentarily!
btw, you shoulda left this comment way higher up on the comment list
You're right of course. I should have said @ned.
I would gladly UPVOTE this post but it went HOT very fast . I completely agree that the base structure is far more important than some old boys being jealous of a woman's success .
Bittrex has suspended Steem transactions for two days now. So it's only Blocktrades that will currently let you cash out your Steem that I'm aware of.
shaking my head and pursing my lips right now.
Secrets in such a situation would do more harm than good. Thanks for sharing this information, it is essential that these concerns are addressed before people start panicking unnecessarily. It would be good to know more about what is going on lately, with the down-voting and all.
There is clearly a lot to talk about and that we've kind dropped the ball!
You are wise beyond your year @benjojo - tha Steemit is an innovative construct certain to enrich its creators but with apparent fatal flaws. It is good people like you who can far better formulate the very questions I have as a knee-deep user and self proclaimed "crypto-dummy" who has poured an average of 10+ hours into this place per day for nearly a full 90 days only to realize a buck-fifty-eight or so in 'worth'. I am looking forward to hearing the answers to your Q's.....from those in-the-know . . . .
I don't know about wise bud, but thanks for the support. I really hope that people don't lose what they've put in.
Sharing to those following, Thank You @benjojo!
I'm just a nobody here, but having been a saleperson for a large tech corp, I've been feeling like steemit lost it's "hook" when notifications stopped working. How do you keep busy people engaged if there are no feed notifications? The "feed" keeps steemit fed by hooking people to come back and look at what's new. It's like nobody at steemit cares that the flashing OPEN sign is off....just my 2 cents from someone who sold millions of dollars of copier equipment and now plays in the dirt all day.
There is a bunch of technical glitches going on, that's why I was concerned and still am because there is very little direct communication between Steem Inc and it's milk cows .... the barn is getting messy.
One glitch I noticed today when reviewing comments and reply page.
missing translation: en.postfull_jsx.view_the_direct_parent
Hmm.. Well, as long as this node is up, I'm sure Steem will stay up..
I'm new to this social media platform I need someone to explain it to me like an a four year old child. Step one post an article, step to comment step three up votes.
Wow I love Steemit but this is perfect for the team who sets up the next thing :)
Got my vote, and a resteem. I hope to see better information regarding all of the issues that have enjoined this conversation. Your getting a new follower too.
Thanks for making this post!
Thank you, I really appreciate the voice you added to the discussion.
if no one else does, I'll have to write (a peaceful) article about a bunch of this stuff.... almost seems like I have to, now... the informations are around, but not in one easy to digest spot
Congratulations @benjojo!
Your post was mentioned in the hit parade in the following category:
John Leer said, "live your lives with integrity, and without envy, hate or greed." I think we would be moving out into the solar system and galaxy by now if this were practiced widespread in the past.
So here we are in 2017. What has changed? Do we want the SSDD? I just joined last week, I was so excited about the possibility of this paradigm shift in investing in our future. I have been here day and night working. Learning all I can and thinking of ways to spread this NEW idea.
Don't prove me out to be a fool. Get your egos out of the way and FIX it!
UP VOTED, and RE STEEMED.
Well, I don't want the read this on a Saturday morning. I would like to think that Steemit has a long future and I hope all is well with the Software that runs the Steem Blockchain.
I am Groot! :D