Sir Glen, I haven't been keeping up on everything that's been going on, all the politics of steemit, but I've heard about another hardfork coming or is that just wishful thinking on some member's parts? It seems like they could put an end to the abuse and censorship by changing the way people can downvote smaller accounts.
What's that last sentence mean? I understood everything you said perfectly except your last sentence about nice things and jumping into something, I'm sure it's my comprehension ability and not your writing. lol.
Oh, just that our human nature doesn't allow us to have nice things because we keep reverting to the lowest form of it. It doesn't take too many people giving into it to ruin it for everyone else.
I haven't heard about a hardfork that would get rid of flags. That might be wishful thinking. The big deal taking place last month was a github entry purportedly that would fork Steemit Inc off the chain, and in varying versions of it, take away their claims or burn it. Either way, in my book, it amounted to theft. Now, it supposedly isn't the completed code, isn't sitting on an official account, and would still have to pass 17 of 21 top witnesses, but it's been enough to spook Steemit into powering down more than they normally do and taking whatever other precautions.
However, a Steem Alliance is forming, to do something—build a foundation for money to go to fund STEEM projects, supposedly—but what it ends up actually doing, how well, and so forth, the jury is still out on.
I wouldn't mind getting rid of flags—I don't think they serve their intended purpose as currently constituted—but I also think there needs to be a way to shut down certain abuses, and do so effectively. So, however that can happen without taking away people's ability to earn or their freedom of speech, I would at least entertain.
you should be a witness sir Glen! But then you might not have time to do much writing. Not sure what they work like but I've heard it's alot. I'm sure the brilliant people here could figure out a much superior system for dealing with flagging fairly so that it can't be used as a censorship weapon.
So you support the Steem Alliance?
I don't know enough about the STEEM Alliance to have a formal opinion either way. I am hesitant to participate, mainly because I'm not sure exactly what I would contribute, and because I'm at an age where I don't like spinning wheels (life is too short), and because I'm not sure that the people who are involved, pushing for change, are necessarily the people to govern. Most revolutionaries don't end up providing good governance. There's one obvious (in my mind) exception to that, but one exception does not a trend make.
So, I've been waiting to see more come out, see where they're going and so forth. From the little I've heard, there's been plenty of people feeling like their process is unfair or whatever, kind of like what we've heard about Steemit or any other individual or entity trying to do anything. A lot of people want to be involved, but not everyone can, and logistically, if you want to get anything done, the smaller the group the better, but that's not considered 'decentralization', so at this rate, we'll still be talking about changes that haven't come from any party this time next year. :)
re: witness
Witnesses set up a server by having a full blown machine they run themselves, or one they set up through an online provider. They then add server script, that from what I understand, automates the verifying and signing of blocks, so that the blockchain remains secure and validated. Other than updating servers, changing price feeds, and troubleshooting hiccups (which if the machine is spec'ed out right, doesn't happen a whole lot), their time isn't spent at a computer screen watching all the transactions they become individually responsible for.
So, while that's their actual reason for being, in order to stand out or further justify their existence, they will take on other things, if they know how to code they provide back end support or front end interfaces, and if they don't, they might organize SteemFests, or provide some kind of contest or community wide support of some kind.
I believe, even with the price of STEEM currently, the top 21 witnesses could live on what they're earning without needing to do anything else. I imagine some of them just do things related to witnessing and development on STEEM, while others also witness for EOS, or otherwise work elsewhere, simply because witnessing no longer requires spending as much time doing it as it did to start.
As for the next tier down, I'm not sure if they can live off just what they get or not, but the farther down you go, the less blocks are being assigned, so less amount one gets awarded. At that point, it's either barely breaking even on server costs, or it's more like a hobby, where it's mostly out of pocket.
I've never considered becoming one, simply because that's not what I came here to do. And even though my understanding of what this place is, and where it is in its current state has changed dramatically over the last 13 months, I'm still stubbornly holding to what I came here to do: create posts. I comment and curate because I think it's fair that I do it, and because it's good to get to know people, and because it eventually helps everyone, including me.
re: flagging
I don't think there is a way for everyone to be able to use flags, because not everyone wants to use them solely for what they were intended to be used for. They want to use them as a weapon, and censorship isn't the only reason. They want to ruin reputations (literally as well as figuratively) and they want to destroy potential rewards, while doing it for the "good of the platform."
So, in my mind, it's either all or nothing, because giving it to a select few will only cause more problems. An example I have of how that would work is how steemcleaners takes care of spammers. They do have a process where you can appeal any damages they may do, but unfortunately, there have been a couple of people associated with them that are way too letter of the law (to the point that they couldn't possibly live up to their own standards), and so people who innocently make a mistake here or there get thrown in with the ones who are rampantly and intentionally doing it. Some of those get sorted out because they know someone who is reasonable and fair, but others don't. So, not a fair system if only some people who truly deserve having flags removed and rewards restored have it happen.
Personally, I don't see the need for flags. There's nowhere else I know in an economy where someone can come along and take away contributions, earnings etc., before they're even paid. You either upvote, or don't. You buy or you don't. You watch or you don't. You read or you don't. You might try to influence others to not read or watch or upvote, but everywhere else, you have no right to forcibly remove what others have allocated or paid in.
Howdy sir Glen! at this time next year we'll still be talking about changes that need to be made! lol.. I'm sure that's true because of the decentralized structure, not easy to make changes unless a hardfork is done right?
I agree about the flagging, I see no need for them. If you don't like what someone says then don't go back to their post.
Yeah, you wouldn't want to be a witness, you need to be writing.
Hey is musing still paying, I think I asked about them last week, they're still in operation but not as much and no one knows if they'll get paid their earnings, is that still the deal? And are you increasing on curie commenting or someplace to make up for it? Someone said curie is losing one of their steem sources in Hendrick? Because Hendrick was pulling out maybe? I don't know. That would be a blow if curie had to cut back.
Thanks for the tremendous comment and information sir Glen!
Musing is still up and running, but upvoting only sporadically. As is their right to do. There never was a guarantee they would upvote anything anyone did, and I don't think they're planning to continue unless something big happens.
I haven't found a replacement yet. I'd love to increase commenting on curie votes if I could come up with something to say, but there's only so much variance to comments on a post about art, fiction, music or travel I can do (since that tends to be the bulk of the topics that they and C-Squared curate). Regardless, the curie contest won't replace what I was earning in rewards on Musing.
I've not heard anything about hendrikdegrote leaving the curie curation trail, but I don't hang out where that information might appear. That might explain the post they published a few hours ago. Reads like a PBS pledge drive. :)
I just checked and hendrikdegrote is in the middle of a power down, but I don't know when it started or how often he does it. This is the first time I've seen him do it. If he does leave, then the curie curation trail will lose the major part of it's juice. He's one of the few true whales who has been active in curation. Unless he were to do his own curation, it would be greatly missed.
Howdy back sir Glen! wow that rumor I heard might be right then, or someone started it because they saw him powering down, that would suck if he was leaving.
I don't understand your reasoning for not wanting to do curie comments, you mean because you'd be saying the same thing over and over? But that would make it easier! lol. see how I think. I don't like writing challenges.
I wasn't trying to say I don't want to do them, I meant that I would do more of them if I knew what to say differently about the posts, other than, "Great job. Really enjoyed the story," or "I like how you drew that girl/monster/amphibian."
It just gets kind of old. I might as well be copying and pasting in that case, which isn't exactly the idea behind commenting and would probably disqualify me from the curie contest, and the curation league, too. :)