Hello Steemians, welcome to our latest Steemit Engineering Update. You can view our last engineering update here.
Condenser Improvements
We are continuing to let the wallet application soak so that people can become familiar with steemitwallet.com. During this process we are continuing to test and improve the Social Condenser application we have running in our development environment. We have also rolled out a number of small improvements to Condenser. We merged in the private key backup pdf we mentioned in our last update which will help ensure that people have a copy of all their private keys. Many users are solely using their Master Passwords when using steemit.com and only have that password stored in-browser. This exposes their Master Password to a malicious actor and also creates a risk that they will lose access to Steem if they lose access to their computer for whatever reason.
Coin Marketplace
On Monday we released the sidebar version of our “Coin Marketplace” so that people can watch their favorite cryptocurrencies without leaving steemit.com. We plan to improve this feature over time, including through the addition of a larger marketplace which will feature the top 200 coins. We will also look to migrate the backend service provider to @coingecko, an organization that has already demonstrated great commitment to the Steem community.
MIRA Testing in Production
We have now run a number of MIRA tests in our production environment! We are following a rollout similar to the approach we took with Hivemind which led to an extremely smooth transition. That process involved running the software in our production environment temporarily, accumulating data, and then rolling back the changes regardless of the outcome. We then analyze that data, determine what, if any, changes need to be made, rinse and repeat.
MIRA Hybrid In-Memory Reindexing
While we are running these live tests, we are continuing work on our hybrid-in-memory reindexing. RocksDB is a great database for enabling us to get the kind of performance Steem apps require but on commodity-hardware. However, those benefits only accrue after reindexing; the rebuilding of the database from scratch. For that function, RocksDB is not optimal.
There are certain parts of the reindexing process that are so resource intensive that no level of optimization can enable commodity hardware to rival the speed of something like an NVMe. By having MIRA perform those specific processes in-memory only during reindex, we believe we can approach our previous reindexing times with a significant cost reduction. Most importantly, once reindexing is complete the additional RAM demands will terminate. This will be hugely valuable for anyone looking to perform a reindex on commodity-hardware.
Let’s Thrive
It is extremely satisfying to see these important projects nearing their conclusion. These projects were necessary in order to ensure our survival as an organization. The speed at which we have been able to execute on the tasks and the degree to which we have been able to reduce our run costs, have exceeded our expectations. This, combined with the ad revenue we have begun generating, makes us very optimistic about our future as an organization.
While we were in “survival mode” we now feel confident in our sustainability going forward and are eager to begin thriving. We look forward to sharing our strategy for this new phase of growth as it is developed. We want to thank everyone for sticking with us during this difficult time, but we now feel that the hardest parts are largely behind us.
Full Steem Ahead!
The Steemit Team
Thank you for using CoinGecko API behind the Coin Marketplace feature! Our extensive market exchange tracking means we will always show the most aggregated average price of Steem.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any help to implement CoinGecko API!
As a community member and witness on Steem, we're proud to be featured by steemit.inc on Steemit.com, We continue our commitment to contribute to this space.
We look forward to Steemit.inc's continuous improvement to Steemit.com, whilst making it possible for entrepreneurs and developer to built on top of the Steem Network.
Full Steem Ahead!
Fighting for survival releases lots of energy! ;-)
Great progress!
@steemitblog,
Personally I like the idea of moving to @coingecko instead of CMC! Coz, they help this community and we should give our credits for their solid work!
Hope MIRA will perform as you planned it and then SMT will be the focus! I urge to see that happening! Coz I believe that's the future, that's what we all waiting for and that's what we build to compete against ETH and EOS DAPPS as well! Yeah I know we still perform better than them with DAPPS, but I believe this might boost everything from every corner! Good luck and thanks for the update!
Cheers~
Very positive, cool comment.
Those price charts are a good step, but they need a lot of work for people to still not leave to check prices on other sites.
Steem is going to fall off the top 100 (unless things improve soon), and people won't be able to follow it on https://coinmarketcap.com anymore, so it's good to have a price indicator here on Steemit.
Ha, that is very true... and sad.
One of the new proposals that I value and like is the Coin Marketplace. Having the value of our coins at hand is an excellent idea, especially if there are some speculators trying to fish in troubled waters. Hopefully the next changes are for the good of the platform and especially for those of us who live here. May the good changes follow!
🖕We’ve waited for this moment for sometime now, thanks for reciprocating good relationship.
Lovely improvement throughout!
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If only the news-circuit would report this just as hard as they did when Steemit Inc. lost 70% employees.
That's why we need to get out there on facebook and twitter and share important information like this! That's where they are and they will only report on what they see!
They also tend to pick up press releases put out by the team... Plus don't we have people that their job is to communicate news to the public?
That’s the truth 😀
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Imma do my part and resteem it.
I like that posts and comments have a date and time, now. It's useful, and neatly tucked away (you hover over "1 month ago" and it tells you date and time). That's an upgrade I can get behind - thank you!
Feature request for Condenser: Add a voting mana and resource credit bar to the user interface please, maybe in the header, sidebar or in the user profile drop-down menu, because this information is so important and should always be visible somewhere.
Agreed. Voting power should be a no brainer on steemit.
Yes, I wonder why they haven't after all these times.
You just planted 0.11 tree(s)!
Thanks to @ucukertz
We have planted already
8451.00 trees
out of 1,000,000
Let's save and restore Abongphen Highland Forest
in Cameroonian village Kedjom-Keku!
Plant trees with @treeplanter and get paid for it!
My Steem Power = 24744.59
Thanks a lot!
@martin.mikes coordinator of @kedjom-keku
That's would be cool!
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That’s freakin’ awesome! Can’t wait for SMT to come out in the near future! 💪🏼🙌🏼💯
WOAH wait did you read them say they have a Private Key PDF backup system? I hope that they arent just having users download a PDF with a private key to their desktop environment?
I have an old Github post answered by @smittyvb where I ask about backing up of owner keys and he explains how to remedy this situation with clever thinking:
https://github.com/steemit/condenser/issues/2921
Also
@steemitblog can we PLEASE see a low res blurry screenshot of the new condenser social app? Please tell me you have updated the GUI like golos.io did at least? And also when will we get to skin the front end the way we want like winamp skins?
We do not, never have, and never will store user's private keys for any period of time.
There are some other interesting ideas that could be discussed to help prevent lost keys, but storing keys for any period of time is not one of them 🙂🙂🙂🙂😀
Yeah, I get you Justin. That's cool.
@ackza, it would take a DB at steemit.com to do what you propose, definately not cool.. Meanwhile, this is a difficult problem and writing a file to the user's disk, is not cool either. I propose (for lack of better idea?): 1) tel user to get 2 flash drives. 2) copy and paste directly to the flash drive, a new text file. 3) copy and paste the pass info to a new text file on a flash drive. 4) Copy the data from one flash drive, to the second flash drive. 5) Lock each flash drive into a safe in separate buildings.
While that might not be a terrible idea for advanced users, it’s probably a big ask for average and new users.
An easier thing to suggest is that the PDF could be saved directly to a flash drive. It’s generated client side in the browser.
Yeah but allowing users to unsafely download their own private key as a PDF, which many will forget about, its irresponsible,
and i never said anything about storing the users keys, i dunno where you got that, its like you didnt even read what i wrote at all, I am talking about giving @steemit permission for a 30 day period over new accounts, incase they loose the keys, and giving users ability to opt out of this 30 day period, from the beginning, but its really important for all the people who loose their key
I read recently something about this and it is so vague and sounds dangerous
https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitblog/engineering-update-condenser-split-key-backup-mira
I never said steenmit should save the key but you can still give @steemit owner permissions as discussed in the github page on condenser, im talking about a hypothetical future feature
i dont think giving people a PDF document is a very good idea, thats just going to be saved on the persons desktop or smartphone?
wowow, thank you for great update. We will never leave Steemit. Long live, may the blessing of the Almighty Father be with us...
Good job guys :)
This is good news!
Holy hell...
Your idea of placing ads on the platform is to use a flashing banner that's pinned to the top of all pages, plus sidebar ads, plus an ad every eight posts in my personal feed, plus ads in every post? And this is when I'm logged in.
WTF are you guys doing? Do you just ignore any and all feedback for pretty much everything you do?
Can't wait for someone competent to create an actual useful interface and properly incentivize users to view ads - or at least give them the option to turn off certain ads.
MIRA is awesome when everything is completed this will boost the overall profitability and sustainability of the whole Steem Network.
Great Update! I hope SMT Lite is next!
When can Steemit begin to advertise to the crypto community that it is exiting "survival mode" and entering into "thriving mode"? One of the largest overhangs for STEEM has been the poor publicity that Steemit put out via the 70% staff cut news. Replacing those headlines in main crypto news streams would be more than ideal!
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Agreed. The narrative out there is that steemit and steem is running out of money and dying... not something investors are going to want to buy in to. We need to change that narrative ASAP.
Nobody will report anything positive, that's not what sells.
Maybe so, but doesnt hurt to start the official bragging of the RAM reduction rates in terms of percentages and/or the cost savings for Steemit in terms of eye-catching percentages.
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When have you begun generating ad revenue?
Fantastic news! So satisfying to see you guys back on your feet and feeling positive about the future. Steem on indeed!
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Nice job. Appreciate U
!!!
Peace
Can we please have a detailed guide on how to launch a node / witness using these latest updates?
The documentation on the Steem git is currently insufficient in the wake of these updates.
Thank you for the progress you're making. :)
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wtf does that mean?
Music to my ears!
Thank you for the updates. I alao feel the relief you feel going through tough times. Thank you for the team in their commitment and focus to push this through.
Good progress and the best encouragement that Steem will enable us all to thrive and prosper going forward.
Thanks!
Fantastic news! Once that's done, we can expect SMT to bring Steem to a whole other level. Looking forward to the future!
We survived the harsh winter, now it's time to prepare to reap the harvest of the next spring!
Maybe you guys should always post these updates in the 'Updates Log' on the Steemit.com homepage. You've missed a couple of really important ones!
Just feedback on steemitwallet -
Should Redisplay Wallet Page After Successful Log-in (from Mobile)
Issued also in github:
https://github.com/steemit/wallet/issues/15
Whatever happened to the funds from the 8-figure power downs during last bull market and giant STEEM war chest? Given that Steem was quite literally swimming in cash just a year ago, it sounds rather hypocritical to imply that the stagnation of the platform and slow features trickle is due to a lack of funding.
Am I missing something? I've been away for a year and last time I checked SMTs were "about to be released".
Yeah...not much has changed from year to year. The same dying pig is obvious, no matter how much lipstick they try to smear on it.
Hey, was surprised to see your name pop up on my steemd, welcome back! How random to see this comment of yours be in tune with what my post was about as well, hehe.
Would you mind considering voting for real witnesses to make it harder for centralization? :)
Why on a separate website ? (must login again, for same blockchain...)
What? We can see other Crypto? Sweet!
And definitely wanted the wallet to be fixed. It's coming together nicely!
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