Welcome to the Pay It Forward Curation Contest, sponsored by the PIFC community you will find at @pifc! There you will "meet" a dedicated group of fellow Steemians hard at work (yes, we were ...) on a weekly contest. Our goal is to find and encourage under-valued contributors of great content to our Steem blockchain.
for the impact of HF20 - the true focus of this post ...]
As an added bonus, please note this is not just any weekly contest either. As we can see in the title, the Pay It Forward community has been at this awhile . That's half a year of faithful, steady effort (until HF20 launched ...) adding value to our (your) Steem blockchain! 👍 👍
To be selected, your post needs to have a minimum of 200 words of high quality, original content. And your reputation cannot be above 55. Pretty simple!
If you are reading this, perhaps we are looking for or have already found you. 😊
So, let's get started! My two entries for this week are ...
... we interrupt this
regularly scheduled program
to bring you a
SPECIAL 😉
presentation of ...
🐒 "FORK(ed) in the Road!" 🐒
... but, first a word from our "sponsors" ...
"User(d) Experience"
Yes, dear reader, we the users are the "sponsors!" This is supposed to be a "social network," so without us, there isn't any point in the rest - no blockchain needed developers, no witnesses to create new blocks on it, nothing ...
So ... I write this post from the perspective of a user. Maybe not the typical user, though. While I do not profess to have the skills of a developer "in here," I am not totally oblivious to the technical details either ...
My "experience" began the morning of the 25th, with my attempt to post the following reply to the HF20 - A lot of questions being thrown around. post of one of my supported Witnesses, @jackmiller:
"Very good @jackmiller.
"Us lower ranked witnesses will do the stressing out for you and the top20 will do the mega stressing out for all of us and the Dev teams will be like "freaking out" unless they are out partying!"
OK, so ... "High over our (the rest of us ...) heads" Steem's "best and brightest" are "on it" ... 👍
So, we can relax ...
We'll see how the introduction of the "new and improved "bandwidth replacement "plays out," as that is my one concern ...
Thank you for the prompt update!
P.S. IF I ever get this posted, it was written ~ 9 hrs. ago (very soon after you managed to post it ...), waiting to past the "insufficient" RC error msg. which kept repeatedly popping up. Over and over ..."
I certainly wanted to just relax, assuming Steem's "best and brightest" were handling the "back end" details of keeping "the lights on" ... But again, while not a developer, I was concerned about what I had read. In my "real life," I will from time to time refer to "predicting my / your future," followed quickly by "I hope to be proven wrong" ... Yes, well ...
@jackmiller will not find this comment on his post, because it disappeared before I could ever get it posted ... Fortunately, I had it saved it in a separate file, fearing something would happen ...
So ... "Launching" right into it myself, from my experience, the crux of the matter is a failure on the part of SteemIt developers (and Witnesses?) to have adequately tested their new code prior to "launch." Full stop. Period!
What is the key word in "social network?" I would strongly suggest it is network, without which there is nothing "social" possible! Further, we live in an era when we have networks all around us. Tended to by very well paid professionals whose number one responsibility is to ensure it does not go down ...
Failure to do this, in the "real world" generally does not end well for those responsible for it ...
Why? Competition ... To @ned and your SteemIt developer team, you may want to think about that, for the next time ...
Testing
For the past 10 years, I and those I manage have been personally responsible for the billing of tens of thousands of electric service consumers each and every month. During this time, I have personally been responsible for implementing new billing tariffs, several of them, in our "smart grid era," unlike any used prior.
My number one concern was to ensure these transitions were seamless events for our members. I have never failed to meet that objective. So ... How did I pull them off? Testing!! Over and over, for every possible scenario one could envision ...
Think about it! Surely you wouldn't mind, if your electric service was disrupted for a few days, while those entrusted to "take care of you" fumbled and bumbled their way through some new technology implementation ... Right?
Here is what we have heard from the SteemIt developers (emphasis added mine), leading up to and during the HF20 "launch":
- Extracted from their Released: Hardfork 20 Testnet! post:
"… we’ll be releasing a Testnet which would “give developers the opportunity to test the upcoming changes…"
"Performing a Pitchfork is like establishing a one way street from Mainnet to Testnet. The data that hundreds of thousands of people are putting on Mainnet …"
While a little concerned this was announced a relatively short time, before HF20 was launched, at least the impression was given that it was a robust testing environment, for looking at various scenarios, prior to “going live” … With data from "hundreds of thousands" of people ...
- Extracted from their Hardfork Announcement for Witnesses, Exchanges and Users post:
"Hardfork 20 is scheduled to go live on: Tuesday, September 25, 2018 15:00:00 UTC. In order to ensure that Steem deposits and withdrawals are maintained without any outage or interruption in service ..."
OK, what about the network overall? Continuing to operate without any outage or interruption in service? No mention of that …
- Extracted from their Steem Status: 100% Operational post:
"… we apologize for the interruptions in service you experienced yesterday which are now resolved."
No, not really! Just a “preview of coming attractions” …
- Extracted from their Hardfork 20: What to Expect Tomorrow post:
"The changes in user experience should only last around 7 days. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to know exactly how things will unfold as the system relies on unpredictable human feedback."
"… but the cost we must bear is some uncertainty with respect to how these systems will interact with users in the short term …"
Impossible? To know … ”We” must bear … That would be us dear reader … I suppose there was a warning about some uncertainty…
- Extracted from their HF20 Update: Hardfork Complete post:
"… the equilibration process is going largely as expected."
Hmmm. That is not the impression given by reading what follows this statement … Including announcing the first patch …
- Extracted from their Update on Unexpected Voting Power Behavior post:
"Many users are experiencing an issue where voting power appears to drop dramatically upon first using the blockchain after HF20."
Appears … Unexpected … Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in how extensively this was tested prior to “going live” does it? It ”appears” we are the testers … Not going too well, so far …
- Extracted from their HF20 Update: Restoring Continuity post:
"… Steem v0.20.4 has now been released …"
”Steem users must be able to continue using the blockchain …”
Wow! The 4th patch in as many days, attempting to restore ”continuity” … Is that a news flash!? Seems like that should have been much more clearly the focus from the beginning …
But what else ...
"... of moving us toward sustainable pricing of blockchain operations ... "
From SteemIt developers ... So, are we not then hearing the old pricing was "unsustainable?" ...
vs.
"If the 'common folks' cannot afford, or are not allowed to comment and vote at least 10, preferably 20-30 times a day, the platform will die a slow death."
Reply to the above HF20 post, of "one of the rest of us," fellow Steemian @ksteem! Hmmm. Is it just me? Or does there seem to be a bit of a conflict between these two positions?
I'll suggest here, again, is the new crux of the matter - post HF20, as it is done now .... In subtle ways, is the "message from the mountain top" that the Steem blockchain could not survive under its old pricing scheme? And yet, under the new *pricing scheme," you have very unhappy customers? What do customers do, when they are unhappy? ...
To me, this conflict seriously calls into question the long-term viability of the Steem blockchain ... From here, post HF20, we are all free to choose our course. I do not choose to be delusional about this, but will be carefully watching what happens next ...
I could go on, but I'll stop now ... To the casual observer, it might appear "the dust has settled," from the HF20 launch. Maybe ... Almost ... But, I am not a "casual observer," but an investor. Mistakes like this can and sometimes does, result in the loss of confidence of a sufficient number of investors to "bring the house down" ...
Costs
From the beginning of time, the immutable "law of sowing and reaping" has always imposed consequences on our chocies / decisions. As impressive as the reality and potential of this new technology is, no exceptions granted to a blockchain!!
Examples of Costs:
- My costs: Lost all of the work I had put in to creating this original post. Specifically, the two selections I made have been deleted. Will be past the 7-day payout limit, before this is all resolved ... And I have not posted or commented once since HF20 ...
- Costs of @darkhorse: Cancelled this symbolic weekly contest - having continuously run for half a year!! As well, as compensating @zorank, the one contest entrant who managed to get his post in "under the wire," before HF20 ...
- Replicate the two above all over the "Steemisphere" and you can comfortably say the cost in time wasted was considerable
- What concerns me most is the impact on some of Steem's international communities. If Steem disappeared entirely tomorrow, my life would be little changed. What about others of our fellow Steemians in other countries? From what I have read, I don't think they would say the same ...
- How about "opportunity costs?" Opportunities lost due to the inability to "execute" at all?
You get the idea, dear reader ...
So ...
Ladies and Gentlemen, in the spirit of PT Barnum's famous "Greatest Show on Earth" (... tap ... tap ... hey, yo! @roleerob!! ... don't you know they went out of business!! 😉 ) ...
the show must go on!
... and we can't let a bunch of #$@%$%#&%$# "at the wheel" of this "social network" bring everything to a screeching halt!
So ... Without further ado, continuing on as though nothing happened (right ...), I present you my PIFC weekly contest (even though it was cancelled due to HF20 ...) selections from HF20 ...
Selection #1: "the Good" (humor) ...
"Saving the best for last," I should have the brilliant comedy post from @markangeltrueman at the end of this post ...
... BUT, then my outline from the classic old Clint Eastwood movie wouldn't work, as this post definitely would not be under "ugly" ...
If you don't do anything else, you owe it to yourself to puhleeeeze click on this post link and watch what he put together! In the context of all the "heavy" stuff surrounding the launch of HF20, the best humor since I started my Steem "journey" on May 14th!
Yes, @markangeltrueman, I plan on upvoting your post, as soon as my #$@%$%#&%$# "voting power" is ... no wait ... my "resource credits" ... no ... no ... it's "mana" ... oh, I give up ...
is 100% Restored! (where it was, before I got "forked" ...)
Honorable Mention: In his post, just before HF20 "went live," @steemchiller said:
"May the fork be with us!"
Great humor @steemchiller! As far as I can tell, as one might expect from his past tireless dedication, he has been hard at work ensuring his indispensable app, SteemWorld, is updated to handle all of the details associated with HF20.
I, for one, am really looking forward to his next weekly update. And his perspective, as a Steem developer, on all that has taken place with the HF20 launch ...
Selection #2: "the Bad" ...
Stating the obvious, there is a lot of content "in here" on almost any topic. With all I read through over the last 5 days on HF20, for this selection, I have chosen the Fixing Steemit - Randomed Curation Rewards - Support Quality Content post of a fellow Steemian previously unknown to me, @evolved08gsr.
In it, this person thoughtfully presents some real limitations to the current "structure" of our Steem blockchain. From my perspective, this person is adding value in a big way, as I am a strong advocate for quality, as well. In this post, there are some well-worded points made about the current "structure" of our Steem blockchain and whether HF20 is only putting a bandaid on some issues needing more a fundamental rethink ...
But, what followed this post? On the topic of HF20, now post HF20, we have @evolved08gsr's You've Been Forked - Steemit Inc are Master Betas post, in which we find:
"This level of ineptitude reminds me of Project Managers who mark tasks as completed when there were 50 business requirements included in the task, but only 5 were successfully rolled out.."
Amen to that! This comment captures very well what my experience is in "the real world," when I go to work every day! Failure there is simply not an option!
Back to the writing of @evolved08gsr, we have this person's most recent post - A Light At the End of the Tunnel?.. Posted under the #weku channel ...
Hmmm. Let's see ... What was I saying above @ned, about "if we don't take care of our customers ..."
[Note: For what it is worth @evolved08gsr, now following you. I like the way you think, what you have written in your profile, and what I have seen so far, about how you communicate "in here" ...]
Selection #3: and "the Ugly" ...
You need only glance through the HF20 Update! More reasons to begin powering down! post of @bigdeej to get the general idea - this Steemian is a little less than happy!
[Waiting for my "Captain Obvious" understatement-of-the-year award ... 🏆]
I can't say how others are "processing" posts like this, but perhaps along the lines of thinking (a mistake!) a bunch of unhappy plankton isn't of much concern? Well, this Steemian has +13K SP in their wallet! And powering down, as this is written ... And if they stick with what they are saying here, leaving the Steem blockchain for good ...
A major withdrawal, from their "goodwill bank account" (I have written before about this ...) of @ned and his team of SteemIt developers, is the inevitable consequence of how HF20 has "played out" thus far. We'll find out if "lessons learned" and, if not, how many more efforts like this they can survive ...
To be clear, nonetheless, even though @steem-ua consistently reminds me "... only a few people are following you ...", I am not myself leaving the Steem blockchain. Not yet anyway. I intend to "hang in," at least for now, as I have always been long-term oriented.
With this post written and now "off my chest," I will move on ...
I am certainly hoping, though, that a very thorough post mortem is well underway at SteemIt's HQ, so we never see another hardfork like this one. Surely we (you) can do better ...
That's a wrap!
We trust you've enjoyed this Special Presentation.
We'd like to thank our Special guest,
⭐ HF20 Goes Live! ⭐
Next week, we'll return to our
(hopefully, if @thedarkhorse is also "hanging in" ...)
regularly scheduled weekly program, the
Pay-it-Forward Curation Contest!
Closing with the words of the great Clint Eastwood, "... the question is ... Are you feeling lucky punk?"
I will now click POST and see if I have enough $#%$&%*%#$ "resource credits" to post yet ...
All the best to you for a better tomorrow, as we all (well ... at least some of us ...) work (hopefully, a lot smarter next time ...) together to build our Steem Community!
"Somewhat" Respectfully 😉,
Steemian @roleerob
Posted using Busy.org and “immutably enshrined in the blockchain” on Sunday, 30 September 2018!
P.S. It is not a coincidence my post has as many images as you find in it. With this being my first post, "after the dust has settled" from HF20, I want to see what impact this post has on my "resource credits" ... And whether or not it is "sustainable" ...
Source: Glowtext.com
Yes! The following "footer" normally found at the end of my weekly contest entry intentionally left in, to emphasize all of the hard work put in by "the rest of us" to faithfully and consistently add value to our Steem blockchain ...
Interested to know how I found this community and why I support it? The following post tells you the story:
If you have found this post to be of interest, the PIFC team would love to have you join us. Here are some posts to help you in making your decision:
- @PIFC's 1st Post: The beginning of a Steem movement flowing from the tireless efforts of @thedarkhorse and all of those who consistently and faithfully work alongside him to build up our Steem blockchain.
- @PIFC's Latest Update Post: The "latest word" on how well this movement is doing, through the eyes of @thedarkhorse, along with details about the judges and curators helping make it happen!
- @PIFC's Latest Financial Post: For transparency and accountability, the latest from @thedarkhorse on the @pifc account's financial status.
- @viking-ventures' post on Curation: Help from one of the dedicated PIFC team members on writing great Steem content.