MOTD and documentation updates for 0.6.0

Author: indyjo

NEWS.md

@@ -1,5 +1,21 @@
 News
 ====
+- **2017-04-23:** Release of BitWrk 0.6.0 (Mars) brings local network rendering and usability enhancements for Blender
+- **2017-04-17:** Release candidate 1 of BitWrk 0.6.0
+- **2017-04-05:** BitWrk got [featured in Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/soon-youll-be-able-buy-and-sell-system-resources-p2p-bitcoin/)
+- **2015-11-01:** Release of BitWrk 0.5.1 "Moon": Support for Blender 2.76,
+  compressed data transmission, revised transaction logic and lots of bugs fixed
+- **2015-08-10:** Release of BitWrk 0.5.0: Bitcoin integration is finally here, allowing
+  users to pay in Bitcoin
+- **2015-01-15:** News have moved to BitWrk's website: http://bitwrk.net
+- **2014-12-30:** BitWrk was featured in a Lightning Talk by the lead developer on the
+  31st Chaos Communication Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBe5g5KKiw
+- **2014-12-05:** New participants now start with a zero balance as preparations for an upcoming
+  beta test have started. The test will include real Bitcoin transactions processed by the
+  payment system.
+- **2014-11-11:** Payment system integration is progressing. Required refactoring BitWrk into
+  separate projects:
+
 - **2014-11-11:** Payment system integration is progressing. Required refactoring BitWrk into
   separate projects:
   - **bitwrk** now contains code specific to client and server and may be refactored further at

QUICKSTART.md

@@ -7,49 +7,31 @@ systems for which binary packages are provided. Linux users can easily compile B
 [themselves](COMPILING.md) and possibly resort to other shortcuts, such as installing
 BitWrk or the Go development kit using the system's package manager.
 
-Running the BitWrk client
--------------------------
-### Mac OS X
-- **Step 1:** Download the binary file from https://github.com/indyjo/bitwrk/releases into your *Downloads* folder
-        
-        bitwrk-x.y.z-osx-x64.tar.gz
-- **Step 2:** Open a Terminal and type:
-        
-        cd ~/Downloads/
-        tar xzf bitwrk.x.y.z-osx-x64.tar.gz
-        cd bitwrk-x.y.y/bin
-        ./bitwrk-client
-- **Step 3:** Open http://localhost:8081/ in your browser.
-        
-### Windows 7 or 8
-- **Step 1:** Download the binary file from https://github.com/indyjo/bitwrk/releases
-        
-        bitwrk-x.y.z-windows.x64.zip
-- **Step 2:** Open the downloaded .zip file and drag the contained folder "bitwrk-x.y.z" on your desktop.
-- **Step 3:** In the extracted folder, double-click the file called "bitwrk-client.exe".
-  It should open in a command shell window.   
-- **Step 4:** Open http://localhost:8081/ in your browser.
-
-### Done!
-Now you should see the BitWrk client's admin user interface on http://localhost:8081/,
-showing your account number (which has been randomly chosen) and your current
-balance of **BTC 0** in the status bar at the top of the page.
-
-Your next step is to try buying and selling on the BitWrk network using Blender,
-BitWrk's first supported application.
-
-For selling, you may skip a couple of paragraphs.
-For buying, i.e. rendering, you need to first deposit some money on your account.
-
-Depositing money on your account
---------------------------------
-Before you can start buying on BitWrk, you need to deposit a small amount of Bitcoin on your
-account, which will be used to pay for the computing power you use. Deposits can be as small
+Using BitWrk for rendering 
+--------------------------
+[![5 Minute introduction to BitWrk](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KmwcxwhIRr0/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmwcxwhIRr0)
+
+You need at least Blender 2.76 (Blender 2.78 is recommended).
+
+Download the BitWrk binary release specific your OS and unpack it somewhere.
+
+Download **render_bitwrk-0.6.0.zip** and install it as a Blender add-on (see [Blender Manual](https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/preferences/addons.html)).
+
+In the settings of the Blender add-on there is an option to select which BitWrk client you would like to start. Select the executable from the archive you downloaded (bitwrk-client.exe or just bitwrk-client). Click on "Start BitWrk client".
+
+### Rendering for free
+To start a render, press F12 as usual. You will see that a number of colored tiles is shown in the render area. Before rendering can begin, you need to set the price you're willing to pay for a tile. You can do that in the BitWrk client's user interface. Click on "Open BitWrk Client User Interface". Click on "Publish". Set **"BTC 0"** as price. Set "Valid up to" to 100 trades. Click "Submit" and BitWrk will start dispatching tiles to the network, accelerating your rendering.
+
+You can accelerate it further by starting a worker on your own computer. 
+
+### Depositing money on your account
+In the long term, rendering won't always be free. In order to pay for the computing power you
+use, you need to deposit a small amount of Bitcoin on your aacount. Deposits can be as small
 as 1 mBTC (BTC 0.001), i.e. you *don't* need to put large amounts of money on BitWrk, and
 there is *no* subscription involved.
 
 To deposit money on your account:
-- Make sure you have a Bitcoin client installed (either on you PC, or on your cell phone, tablet
+- Make sure you have a Bitcoin client installed (either on your PC, or on your cell phone, tablet
   etc.) that has some money on it. Please refer to http://bitcoin.org for more information on that
   topic.
 - In the BitWrk client's user interface, go to the "Accounts" tab (http://localhost:8081/ui/account)
@@ -61,37 +43,8 @@ To deposit money on your account:
   about one hour, which equates to 6 Bitcoin confirmations.
 
 
-Blender Integration
--------------------
-Starting with the 20140124 release, BitWrk supports the popular 3D rendering
-software, Blender (http://blender.org/), as a proof-of-concept project.
-
-
-### Accelerating Blender with BitWrk
-In order to use BitWrk to accelerate Blender's "Cycles" rendering engine, perform
-the following steps: 
-- Setup the BitWrk client as described in the previous section.
-- Start Blender (if in doubt, use the version supported by the latest BitWrk release).
-- Select a scene you like. Verify that it looks
-  good when rendered with the "Cycles" rendering engine.
-- Go to **User Preferences -> Addons -> Install From File**
-- Select **render_bitwrk.py**. You find it in BitWrk's **bitwrk-blender** folder.
-- An add-on called "Render: BitWrk Distributed Rendering" should show up. If not,
-  search for the new add-on by entering "bitwrk" in the add-on search field.
-- Activate the add-on by pressing the checkbox next to the running man icon.
-- Click "Save User Settings" to have the BitWrk add-on load every time you start Blender. 
-- Back in the main window, you can now select "BitWrk distributed rendering" as the
-  active rendering engine.
-- You should see a new panel, "BitWrk distributed rendering". Everything can be left as is
-  for now. There should be a button labeled "Open BitWrk Client User Interface".
-- Next time you hit render (F12), the task is dispatched to the BitWrk service as several
-  small tiles.
-- You now need to browse to the BitWrk client's user interface (on http://localhost:8081/)
-  permit the buys you just made. You can choose a price you are willing to pay for each
-  tile. The minimum price allowed by BitWrk is 10 uBTC (BTC 0.00001).
-
-
-### Selling rendering power on BitWrk
+Selling rendering power on BitWrk
+---------------------------------
 This is a little bit more involved and requires some knowledge abort networking and using
 the command line.
 

README.md

@@ -1,62 +1,31 @@
-BitWrk - A Bitcoin-friendly, anonymous marketplace for computing power
-======================================================================
+BitWrk - Bitcoin-fueled Peer-to-Peer Rendering (and more)
+=========================================================
 
-BitWrk introduces a new kind of _cloud computing_, in which resources are shared in a peer-to-peer
-fashion.
+[![5 Minute introduction to BitWrk](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KmwcxwhIRr0/0.jpg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmwcxwhIRr0)
 
-This is interesting for two groups of people:
-- The **buyers**: Users who require lots of computing power at their finger tips.
-  For example, artists using rendering software such as [Blender](http://blender.org)
-  to create impressive movies.
-- The **sellers**: Hardware owners who have computing power to spare and would like to
-  monetize that resource in times of low workload.
-  
-BitWrk provides a service to both groups by connecting them in an easy-to-use way.
+Artists use [Blender](http://blender.org), a powerful yet free 3D software, to create impressive
+pictures and movies. This a requires a time-consuming, and costly, production step called _rendering_.
 
-Users of BitWrk can even be a buyer and a seller at the same time, enabling them to compensate for
-bursts of high need for computing power by continuously providing some computing power to others, at
-virtually no cost.
+BitWrk integrates with Blender and makes rendering much quicker by dispatching it to a swarm of
+computers. 
 
-> Keep in touch with this project and be informed about news and updates:<br>
-> **Website:** https://bitwrk.net/  
-> **Facebook:** https://www.facebook.com/bitwrk  
-> **Twitter:** https://twitter.com/BitWrk
+By creating a _marketplace for computing power_, BitWrk introduces a new kind of
+_cloud computing_, in which resources are shared in a peer-to-peer fashion. It
+works like a stock exchange, using crypto currency [Bitcoin](https://bitcoin.org/)
+for payment.
 
-master: [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk)
-experimental: [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk.svg?branch=experimental)](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk)
+This is interesting for two groups of people:
+- The **buyers**: Users who require lots of computing power at their finger tips.
+- The **sellers**: Hardware owners who have computing power to spare and would like to
+  monetize that resource.
 
-What next?
-----------
-- Visit BitWrk's website at http://bitwrk.net
-- For the impatient: Following the [Quick Start Instructions](QUICKSTART.md) gets you
-  started in 5 minutes.
-- [About BitWrk](ABOUT.md) explains what BitWrk is and what it is meant to become.
-- [Compiling BitWrk Yourself](COMPILING.md) caters to developers and Linux users.
-- Read more about the [Concepts Behind BitWrk](CONCEPTS.md).
-- Consult [this file](COPYING) about the license under which BitWrk is distributed (GPLV3).
+BitWrk provides a service to both groups by connecting them in an easy-to-use way.
 
+### On the web
+[bitwrk.net](https://bitwrk.net/) | [Download](https://github.com/indyjo/bitwrk/releases) | [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/bitwrk) | [Twitter](https://twitter.com/BitWrk)
 
-News
-----
-  - **2017-04-17:** Release candidate 1 of BitWrk 0.6.0 brings local network rendering and usability enhancements to Blender
-  - **2017-04-05:** BitWrk got [featured in Bitcoin Magazine](https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/soon-youll-be-able-buy-and-sell-system-resources-p2p-bitcoin/)
-  - **2015-11-01:** Release of BitWrk 0.5.1 "Moon": Support for Blender 2.76,
-  compressed data transmission, revised transaction logic and lots of bugs fixed
-  - **2015-08-10:** Release of BitWrk 0.5.0: Bitcoin integration is finally here, allowing
-  users to pay in Bitcoin
-  - **2015-01-15:** News have moved to BitWrk's website: http://bitwrk.net
-  - **2014-12-30:** BitWrk was featured in a Lightning Talk by the lead developer on the
-  31st Chaos Communication Congress: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBe5g5KKiw
-  - **2014-12-05:** New participants now start with a zero balance as preparations for an upcoming
-  beta test have started. The test will include real Bitcoin transactions processed by the
-  payment system.
-  - **2014-11-11:** Payment system integration is progressing. Required refactoring BitWrk into
-  separate projects:
-  - **bitwrk** now contains code specific to client and server and may be refactored further at
-  a later time.
-  - **bitwrk-common** contains code that is shared amongst client, server, and payment processor.
-  - **cafs**, the Content-Addressable File System, has been extracted for use in third-party projects.
-- [More news...](NEWS.md)
+### Documentation
+[News](NEWS.md) | [Quickstart instructions](QUICKSTART.md) | [Concepts](CONCEPTS.md) | [Compiling](COMPILING.md) | [License information](COPYING)
 
 Status
 ------
@@ -90,3 +59,7 @@ As of version 0.6.0:
   local programs and dispatching them to the BitWrk service. For sellers, it
   provides the service to offer local worker programs to the BitWrk
   exchange and to keep them busy.
+
+### Build status
+master: [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk)
+| experimental: [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk.svg?branch=experimental)](https://travis-ci.org/indyjo/bitwrk)

bitwrk-server/src/github.com/indyjo/bitwrk-server/server_motd.go

@@ -54,16 +54,14 @@ func getMessageOfTheDay(r *http.Request) motd {
 	minor, _ := strconv.ParseInt(matches[2], 10, 16)
 	micro, _ := strconv.ParseInt(matches[3], 10, 16)
 
-	if major == 0 && minor == 6 && micro == 0 {
-		return motd{"Thanks for supporting BitWrk by trying out Version 0.6.0!", false}
-	} else if major > 0 || major == 0 && (minor > 5 || minor == 5 && micro >= 1) {
+	if major > 0 || major == 0 && (minor > 6 || minor == 6 && micro >= 0) {
 		return motd{fmt.Sprintf("Welcome to the BitWrk network!"+
 			" Your client is up to date (version %d.%d.%d).", major, minor, micro), false}
 	} else {
-		return motd{fmt.Sprintf("BitWrk proudly announces version 0.5.1!"+
+		return motd{fmt.Sprintf("BitWrk proudly announces version 0.6.0!"+
 			" You are currently running client version %d.%d.%d."+
 			" For information on what's new and how to upgrade please visit"+
-			" <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http://bitwrk.net/\">bitwrk.net</a>.",
+			" <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https://bitwrk.net/\">bitwrk.net</a>.",
 			major, minor, micro), true}
 	}
 }