Bitcoin Update 0.7.2

Bitcoin version 0.7.2 is now available from:
  http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.7.2

This is a bug-fix minor release.

Please report bugs using the issue tracker at github:
  https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues

How to Upgrade
--------------

If you are running an older version, shut it down. Wait
until it has completely shut down (which might take a few minutes for older
versions), then run the installer (on Windows) or just copy over
/Applications/Bitcoin-Qt (on Mac) or bitcoind/bitcoin-qt (on Linux).

If you were running on Linux with a version that might have been compiled
with a different version of Berkeley DB (for example, if you were using an
Ubuntu PPA version), then run the old version again with the -detachdb
argument and shut it down; if you do not, then the new version will not
be able to read the database files and will exit with an error.

Explanation of -detachdb (and the new "stop true" RPC command):
The Berkeley DB database library stores data in both ".dat" and
"log" files, so the database is always in a consistent state,
even in case of power failure or other sudden shutdown. The
format of the ".dat" files is portable between different
versions of Berkeley DB, but the "log" files are not-- even minor
version differences may have incompatible "log" files. The
-detachdb option moves any pending changes from the "log" files
to the "blkindex.dat" file for maximum compatibility, but makes
shutdown much slower. Note that the "wallet.dat" file is always
detached, and versions prior to 0.6.0 detached all databases
at shutdown.

Bug fixes
---------

* Prevent RPC 'move' from deadlocking. This was caused by trying to lock the
  database twice.

* Fix use-after-free problems in initialization and shutdown, the latter of
  which caused Bitcoin-Qt to crash on Windows when exiting.

* Correct library linking so building on Windows natively works.

* Avoid a race condition and out-of-bounds read in block creation/mining code.

* Improve platform compatibility quirks, including fix for 100% CPU utilization
  on FreeBSD 9.

* A few minor corrections to error handling, and updated translations.

* OSX 10.5 supported again

----------------------------------------------------
Thanks to everybody who contributed to this release:

Alex
dansmith
Gavin Andresen
Gregory Maxwell
Jeff Garzik
Luke Dashjr
Philip Kaufmann
Pieter Wuille
Wladimir J. van der Laan
grimd34th

Bitcoin accepted by Wordpress.com

As we all know Bitcoin is a revolutionary currency that has gain increasing acceptance in more in the tech fields and within the geeks communities.   It was hard work having businesses all over the world, especially Brick and Mortar Businesses to recognize Bitcoin.   Bitcoin has come a long way.   Initially it was only mined by those with extra CPU power.   This has evolved into GPU Bitcoin Mining Rigs, with owners willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars to build the rigs and also thousands of dollars to run the rigs as well as to cool them down.   With the development of FPGA we can see more and more Bitcoin Mining rigs that are specially built for Bitcoin Mining.  The cost of such specialized hardware is definitely more than GPU, though operations will be cheaper as less electricity is needed.  The trend shows that adopters strongly believe that the Bitcoin is here to stay.

One extremely encouraging development is that of Wordpress.com accepting Bitcoins for upgrading of the blog purposes.   The fact that Wordpress.com, one of the largest blog sites as well as the developer of Wordpress decides to accept Bitcoin is really a great stimulus to the Bitcoin Community.   At present we are seeing tremendous interest in Bitcoins with mining network of 22.183 Thash/s.   Bitcoin has been developing from strength to strength, it is hoped that in the not too long future, Brick and Mortar shops can accept Bitcoin as they had done with credit cards.   I guess the day won't be too far off.

Bitcoinica Still Out of Action

Bitcoinica is still out of action, with the postings growing more and more angry and fedup with the pace of development.   We really hope that Bitcoinica can be back in action and all funds are allocated to the correct customers.   It is a very interesting part of Bitcoin and hopefully it will continue to be a very interesting part of Bitcoin.

Btc-E Hacked

Btc-E was hacked which is another blow to the Bitcoin project as Btc-E is one of the more popular exchange.  I loved to use Btc-E especially it gave a lot of choices of crytographic currency.   It seemed that someone fraudulently entered a lot of USD and buy up the value of the Bitcoin until it spiked to over US$90.   The situation is still unfolding.  Best Wishes to Btc-E, may it resume operations asap.

This is a recommendation taken from the popular Bitcon forum:

1. Sell ALL USD immediately. There is definitely not enough USD to pay out.
2. Withdraw ALL BTC immediately. Unless fractional reserve or cold storage was employed, there should be enough. This is confirmed by one of DeathAndTaxes's experiments.
3. Change passwords for other websites immediately. The database is likely to leak, if a SQL injection was the culprit.

A public plea for help regarding Bitcoinica and my 24,841 BTC

I have reproduced this in full to help the member.

Please help me.
I have 24,841 bitcoins on deposit with Bitcoinica.
I have provided them with my full and complete account history including every transaction since day one.There is no question as to exactly how much I am owed. (I'm happy to provide proof to other trusted entities)
I have patiently been asking for them for my money back for months, but they have refused to return even a single Bitcoin to me.

I'm a core Bitcoin proselytizer.
I'm responsible partly or in full for:

www.Bitinstant.com
www.coinlab.com
www.lovebitcoins.org
www.ogrr.com
www.bitcoinchipin.com
www.memorydealers.com
National Bitcoin radio adds @ $2,800 a month for over the last year.
The Bitcoin Bet.
Bitcoin Billboard
Numerous national radio interviews.
Several more projects that are in the works including a Bitcoin competitor to newegg.com.

For the last 1.5 years I have spent every waking moment promoting Bitcoin,  and my 24,841 Bitcoins were to be used exactly for that.

Hacker, Tihan,  Zhou,  Patrick, Donald, Amir, or anyone else with access to my money,  please return it to
16HMoS4TryH7wWsAv2PtvxiHX8QGXMGczi

so that I can continue to effectively promote Bitcoin.
Returning my funds will likely make everyone's worth even more in the long run.
I promise I will continue using them to help advance Bitcoin.

Roger Ver
roger@memorydealers.com
Cell +1-408-313-1853

Dismantling of Deepbit

There are on and off requests to dismantle Deepbit, not because it is no good but because it is too good and attracted too many of the miners until their share of the hashing power is dominant.   As we know those who control more than 50% of the Bitcoin hashing power has the ability to manipulate the entire Bitcoin, once in a while there are talks in forums or suggestions to dismantle Deepbit.   IMHO I do not think it is fair.   Yes I do favor a pool that has lesser hashing power so that it will not be a threat to the Bitcoin.   What I suggest is the rest of the pool operators improve upon their services so as to capture more hashing powers from the Deepbit pool rather than ask for Deepbit to be dismantled.

Upgrade to Bitcoin Client 0.6.3

Do upgrade to the latest Bitcoin Client 0.6.3, and it is always a good practice to backup your wallet during the upgrading.

Bitcoin version 0.6.3 is now available for download at: http://sourceforge.net/projects/bitcoin/files/Bitcoin/bitcoin-0.6.3/ This is a bug-fix release, with no new features.

CHANGE SUMMARY

==============

Fixed a serious denial-of-service attack that could cause the bitcoin process to become unresponsive. Thanks to Sergio Lerner for finding and responsibly reporting the problem. (CVE-2012-3789) Optimized the process of checking transaction signatures, to speed up processing of new block messages and make propagating blocks across the network faster. Fixed an obscure bug that could cause the bitcoin process to get stuck on an invalid block-chain, if the invalid chain was hundreds of blocks long. Bitcoin-Qt no longer automatically selects the first address in the address book (Issue #1384). Fixed minimize-to-dock behavior of Bitcon-Qt on the Mac. Added a block checkpoint at block 185,333 to speed up initial blockchain download.