ANNOUNCMENT: Binaries for Blur v0.1.9.9.6 ‘Radiance’ have been released!

Executables have been uploaded to GitHub, for all platforms.

Notable changes include:
- Began adding supporting files for dpow-blur
- Fixes a long-standing issue with sync, that was causing nodes to stall
- Cross-compilation now working for all platforms (compiled from Ubuntu 20.04 host)
- Updated workflows to compile on Ubuntu 20.04, as 18.04 has hit EOL
- Changes to depends build system
- Removal of expat package as optional dependency
- Database modifications for storing of BTC transactions, parsed from BLUR tx extras
- Compilation fixes for newer versions of GCC
- Compilation fixes for newer versions of Boost (ASIO)
- Resolves numerous compiler warnings

Grab them here: https://github.com/blur-network/blur/releases/tag/v0.1.9.9.6 or by following the links at https://blur.cash

Changelog may be expanded on Releases page at a later date.

Snap package for CLI tools, and GUI wallet have also been updated.

CLI Tools Install: snap install blur
CLI Tools Update: snap refresh blur

GUI Wallet Install: snap install blur-wallet
GUI Wallet Update: snap refresh blur-wallet

Progress Report for Week of March 15th - March 21st, 2021

Development Work Completed During Week:

Repositories Updated:

• blur-network/dpow-blur - Testnet repository for v11 network hardfork
• blur-network/blur-explorer - Testnet explorer with v11 changes
• blur-network/blur-api-cpp - Compatibility layer for cross-chain comms with KMD
• who-biz/nntools - Notary node monitoring tools

Development Milestones Reached:

• Base58 encoding/decoding functions added to `dpow-blur` from bitcoin core
• `blur-explorer` display style changes, code style updates to `dpow-blur` with recent btc-base58 additions
• Efficiency improvements under-the-hood in notarization-related functions/operations in blur daemon
       ‣ Sync speed improved, by minimizing calls to expensive functions (notarization data is only polled when we add a new notarizing block to blockchain/DB successfully)
• LMDB map resizing mechanics updated in `dpow-blur` to now match those present in `blur` core repo since v0.1.9.9.5
• Version for `dpow-blur` updated to `v0.2.0.0-testnet`
• Fixed a bug which ignored incoming `ntz_sig` requests from peers if `target_height = 0` in `cryptonote_core` class
       ‣ This can happen, and is normal at `init`, and at points during protocol sync (particularly when we remove a peer connection)
• Resolved a consensus bug in testnet which resulted from `komodo_update()` not being called at proper points in blockchain sync
• Added support for `sig_count/signers_index` display for tracking of NN signer identities in Pending Notarization Pool of `blur-explorer`
• Added support for graceful display of lengthy `tx_extra` field to Blur Explorer for notarization transactions
• Successfully decoded `OP_RETURN` data from KMD notarization txs with embedded BLUR data


Community Work Completed During Week:

• Began participation in Komodo's 2021 Notary Node testnet
• Began lightning Network research in conjunction with CHIPS project (KMD ecosystem)

---

Goals for Week of March 22nd - March 28th:

Development Goals:

• Add proper `decoderawtransaction`/`signrawtransaction` methods to `blur-api-cpp` compat layer
• Ensure that `OP_RETURN` data being posted to KMD (for BLUR ntz txs) is correct
       ‣ Need to embed more data than `(genesis_block | height | BLUR | 0x00)` (currently what is being displayed in each)
       ‣ Above correction of `blur-api-cpp` methods should accomplish this
• Make communication through blur-api-cpp bi-directional so that blurd can fetch information from `komodod` to embed in blur transactions
• Continued testing wtih Komodo Community

Community/Housekeeping Goals:

• Further participation in 2021 NN Testnet, LN research with Chips
• Shore up deployment procedures for Blur Notary Node setup
• Improve procedure instructions, consolidate full setup into single deployment script
• Update Roadmap for 2021, input milestones from 2020 not currently reflected on Roadmap
• Set up section for Progress Reports on https://blur.cash/, automate publishing of these releases to Medium/Twitter

Progress Report for Week of March 8th - March 14th, 2021

Development Work Completed During Week:

Repositories Updated:

- https://github.com/blur-network/dpow-blur - Testnet repository for v11 network hardfork
- https://github.com/blur-network/blur-explorer - Testnet explorer with v11 changes
- https://github.com/blur-network/blur-api-cpp - Compatibility layer for cross-chain comms with KMD
- https://github.com/who-biz/dPoW - Fork of Komodo's DPoW repository
- https://github.com/who-biz/nntools - Notary node monitoring tools

Development Milestones Reached:

- Testnet explorer with real-time display of pending notarization in ntzpool/txpool is now live at https://testnetexplorer.blur.cash
- Completed approximately 100 successful notarizations to KMD mainnet blockchain (partially valid)
- Improvement of `dpow-blur` testnet synchronization speed by minimizing expensive calls to database
- Added support for importing bitcoin-like public keys to blur daemon via `--btc-pubkey` commandline option
- Addition of `scriptPubKey` generation for for valid mocking of BTC `P2PK` scripts(necessary for iguana transaction-handling)
- Surpassed 1100+ notarizations on Blur Network testnet
- Added support for pending notarizations to Blur Network Explorer
- Forked https://github.com/who-biz/nntools from https://github.com/webworker01/nntools, for notary node data monitoring on Komodo
- Successful testing with Komodo of blur<->kmd cross-chain comms
- Resolved crashes in `blur-api-cpp` due to concurrent RPC calls for Blur chain data coming from iguana

Community Work Completed During Week:

- Discord bridge between Komodo Discord and Blur Network Discord has been created in channel #kmd-bridge, for live feeding of messages from their chat to ours
- Began planning for participation in Komodo 2021 NN tesnet
- Researched with help of Telegram community Member "Ultimate": ways to automate press releases for weekly/monthly progress reports (plan to use Zapier to post WordPress blog posts to Medium/Twitter)

Goals for Week of March 15th - March 21st:

- Continued testing wtih Komodo
- Shore up deployment procedures for Blur Notary Node setup
- Improve procedure instructions, consolidate full setup into single deployment script
- Add `sig_count`/`signers_index` fields to explorer's Pending Notarization Pool
- Make communication through `blur-api-cpp` bi-directional so that `blurd` can fetch information from iguana to embed in blur transactions
- Update Roadmap for 2021, input milestones from 2020 not currently reflected on Roadmap
- Set up section for *Progress Reports* on https://blur.cash, automate publishing of these releases to Medium/Twitter
- Decoding of `OP_RETURN` data posted to Komodo's blockchain for BLUR notarizations, fetch data for publishing data to BLUR blockchain in back-notarization portion of feedback loop
- Add `decoderawtransaction` to `blur-api-cpp` compat layer, make `signrawtransaction` functional rather than just a dummy method

Progress Report for Week of March 1st - March 7th 2021

Development Work Completed During Week

Repositories Updated:
- https://github.com/blur-network/dpow-blur
- https://github.com/blur-network/blur-api-cpp
- https://github.com/who-biz/dPoW

Development Milestones Reached
- Successful completion of Blur-side checkpointing scheme for eventual completion of DPoW
- Thorough regression testing of blur notaries and consensus rules (~950 notarization cycles completed to date)
- Fine-tuning of `blur-api-cpp` compatibility layer for interfacing with Komodo network
- Mock bitcoin-like RPC calls between `blurd` and KMD's `iguana` for notary network testing functionally
- Testing in conjunction with QA team at Komodo for future deployment and proper functionality

Community Work Completed

- Added a #github-activity channel in Discord for piping of github commits in major repositories to Discord
- Established #weekly-updates-and-milestones channel in Discord for weekly progress reports and future goal setting
- Began investigating bridge between Komodo discord's #blur channel, and our own
- Looking into ways to automate these weekly progress reports and publish as press releases on both https://blur.cash and https://medium.com/blur-network
- Opened dialogue with STEX exchange regarding possible listing, sent applications to a handful of other exchanges

Goals for Week of March 8th - March 14th

- Continued testing with Komodo and amongst BLUR notary network
- Automation of press release publishing
- Update roadmap on website for 2021
- Further exchange outreach
- Get full notarization cycles working with `iguana` and a completed notarization to `KMD` chain
- Make communicatin through `blur-api-cpp` bi-directional so that `blurd can fetch information from iguana to embed in blur transactions

Hey strato.  We are no longer listed on Txbit.  We were included in a round of delistings they did due to low volume.  It appeared that our users were no longer satisfied with trading on their exchange after they implemented KYC.  We were delisted sometime in the beginning of January.

Citex, not sure. But we are still listed there.  My guess would just be low liquidity.

Cheers.

We just published "51% Attacks for Newcomers: Blockchain's Majority Problem Explained" on Medium!

This article is a "no-prior-knowledge-necessary" detailing of 51% attacks and the building blocks necessary to understand them.

We wrote this with newcomers in mind,. We sought to provide a resource for those wishing to learn more about what 51% attacks are, and how they are performed. This article is the first in series that will culminate in a spotlight on Delayed Proof of Work as a means to mitigate these attacks.

Additionally, you can now follow Blur on Medium at https://blur-network.medium.com.

If you don't have a Medium account, worry not! Click the "friends" link below, to guarantee that you can read the article, even without a Medium account.

https://blur-network.medium.com/51-attacks-for-newcomers-blockchains-majority-problem-explained-580cd8f96f18?source=friends_link&sk=535ff3f5b68fa46a4c0f75c6a6b1689c

Feedback is encouraged as we continue writing!

For those who are interested in specifically our interoperability with BTC-like chains and Komodo's iguana... there is a compatibility layer currently under development here: https://github.com/who-biz/blur-api-cpp.  Alternatively, it's also forked on the Blur Network org github: https://github.com/blur-network/blur-api-cpp

Please check our channel in the Komodo discord.  You'll find that development is still quite active, and we are working with multiple devs/notary node operators from KMD.

Timelines are difficult when designing interoperable solutions.  Real tech takes some time to build.  Sit tight

ANNOUNCEMENT: Snap packages for v0.1.9.9.5 have been released!

These upgrades incorporate the changes from latest point release to each package. 


Links to Snapcraft pages:
Command-Line Tools: https://snapcraft.io/blur
Graphical Wallet: https://snapcraft.io/blur-wallet

How to upgrade your current installation:
Command-Line Tools: `snap refresh blur`
Graphical Wallet: `snap refresh blur-wallet`

How to install:
Command-Line Tools: `snap install blur`
Graphical Wallet: `snap install blur-wallet`

Additionally, the icon for the GUI's desktop integrations has been changed from a PNG to an SVG, since the former was not scaling properly.  This led to a pixelated icon in desktop menus/launchers.  You'll find things much crisper looking upon updating.

A graphical wallet for BLUR is now available over snapcraft!

Complete with desktop integrations, and one-click mining!

Grab it here: https://snapcraft.io/blur-wallet

Or with snap install blur-wallet

Binaries for Blur v0.1.9.9.5 'Radiance' have been uploaded to GitHub!

Grab them here: https://github.com/blur-network/blur/releases/tag/v0.1.9.9.5

Notable changes include:
- Simplification and speedup of dynamic portion of proof-of-work algorithm
- Quicker connection with the network due to seed node addition on daemon initialization
- Auto-resizing of database while running (no restart required)
- More efficient use of space on disk by DB, and more efficient resizing mechanics

Changelog has more details on the above.

Blur was recently featured on the first ever episode of Gigacast, on The Daily Chain!

Check it out here: https://thedailychain.com/gigacast-episode-1-meet-biz-lead-dev-of-blur-network/

This podcast is only about 30 minutes in length, but packed full of information about Blur, DPoW, current development progress, and our collaborations with other projects!

The podcast with MineYourBiz was over an hour, so for those who might not want to listen to that long of an interview, this one might be more your speed.

BLUR was recently featured on a MineYourBiz podcast!

Check it out at the following link to hear our lead developer Biz talk with Seth Estrada about DPoW, BLUR, privacy, crypto, and much more!

https://mineyour.biz/blur-network/

I’m not sure what this is about. We will be contacting all exchanges to ensure that they update by the TBD fork date (we haven’t had a network-wide update in around a year).

No one has lost assets on an currently listed exchange that I’m aware of. All of the exchanges we are currently on, are extremely active in terms of support.

That said, if you feel you’ve been mistreated or have lost coins, provide some proof and we’ll help out in what ways we can do so.

DPoW has entered the testing phase with Komodo (KMD).  See here for details: https://github.com/KomodoPlatform/dPoW/pull/126

Miner is embedded in the daemon. There are instructions in the README here: https://github.com/Blur-network/blur

DPoW development is indeed coming along nicely

Very close to completion, at present.

A snap package for the Blur Network GUI (Graphical Wallet) has been released, as well as an update to v0.1.9.9.2 for the CLI Tools snap package!

This packaging makes the GUI available on most distributions of linux, and retains all functionality of the blur-network-gui repository's releases.  Snap packaging seems to make networking/connectivity markedly smoother, as well as potentially making the GUI more private and secure.  This is due to the unique confinement feature of snaps.

Grab the package here: https://snapcraft.io/blur-wallet

Or simply install it with a sudo snap install blur-wallet

Once you've downloaded it, you can run the package with the command blur-wallet from a terminal.  That command will launch the GUI interface.  Support for standard desktop launchers may not yet work.  Please let us know if they (i.e. Start Menu) work for you!

Command-Line Interface:
https://github.com/blur-network/blur/releases
Blur Network CLI Tools Snap Package:

Or install with: sudo snap install blur
When launching the snap, include the startup flag blur.blurd --p2p-bind-port=52541 for the best network connectivity.

Graphical Wallet:
https://github.com/blur-network/blur-network-gui/releases
Blur Network Graphical Wallet Snap Package:

Or install with: sudo snap install blur-wallet
Run with 'blur-wallet' from a terminal, once installed

We are very much open to new contributors and any assistance that the community can volunteer.  Contributions are evaluated based on their merit, and we don't ever say "no" to ideas.  

Thanks for the support and for believing in Blur!  We have only been able to keep going, thanks to the massive response we got from community members willing to help out.  While we do now have enough hands on deck to keep things properly decentralized on the administrative-side of things... We can always use more. Drop by our discord chat, post a message, and we'll see how your skills might fit into our current committee.

Please note: We are driven entirely by volunteer efforts.  Unfortunately, we can't provide bounties for work, etc.  Community funding can be inquired about, directly to the community members in-chat, though.

This is kind of funny, because I wrote the first article predicting the Haven fallout that would come around a year afterward.

Link: https://whalereports.com/the-munnypot-2-haven-protocol-xhv-a-critical-review/