That’s right...15 months after joining the Steem community, I decided to take the plunge!
I’ve been a regular content contributor and curator around these parts since August 2016. I’ve been in a lot of community discussions since joining and have followed the progress of Steem and its community members since then. I immersed myself into the cryptocurrency culture and observed the daily happenings on Steemit.com and other Steem interfaces, as well as Steemit.chat and Discord. I’ve also been a long-time supporter of initiatives and projects like Steemit Open Mic, the Steemit Culinary Challenge, the Steem Poker League, and many others over the past year. And you can even find me helping to reduce spam and plagiarism around the platform.
For those of you who have followed or are following me, you know that I create photo and video content. I often publish some humorous posts, usually combined with my photography. And for anyone who enjoys sports and sports-related contests, you’ve likely seen my name around the platform. I’ve been running weekly sports contests since September of 2016 – contests for the NFL, NCAA football, NASCAR, and Golf.
I’ve had a lot of people ask me over the past year if I was a witness or if I was ever going to be one.
After giving it a lot of thought…
@ats-david is now in the witness game!
Well, technically, @ats-witness is in the witness game. So make sure that you’re voting for this account, which will be kept separate for various reasons.
These are my initial server specs and witness parameters.
Server:
Ubuntu OS
32GB RAM
Intel Xeon CPU @ 3.40GHz
Witness Parameters:
Version 0.19.2
4-Hour price feed (from the Steemit.chat price channel…joking, of course. Or am I...?)
1.25% APR
What’s the purpose of my witness?
I started a witness account for two main reasons.
First, I wanted to hopefully have a voice in the approval of hard fork proposals. I’ve been around here a long time now and have taken the time to understand how different protocols work and how changes can affect behavior in the community. Instead of simply talking about these changes and hoping that other witnesses will take them under serious consideration, I decided to try to make an impact with my own vote, should I ever find myself in a position to make such a decision.
It cannot be stated enough that hard forks, which are protocol changes to the Steem blockchain, should be carefully examined and considered before being rejected or implemented. These considerations are not limited to the protocols themselves, but to how such changes can impact the larger ecosystem, especially when it comes to the social media platforms which have been built on the Steem blockchain. My goal is to provide valuable input on these matters from more than just a code-review perspective.
Second, if I should find myself in a good position, I wanted to direct some of the rewards into projects that I believe will have an impact on user adoption and retention and will help bring in more mainstream social media users, which crypto communities are mostly sorely lacking.
Any funds earned through this witness account will be used for a few projects that I’ve been working on and I will update via this account when they are either brought online or if an update is necessary. So, what are my plans if I receive any witness rewards?
If I’m able to cover expenses for servers, funding will be dedicated to the following projects:
At the top of the list is a sports website for news, opinions, scores, and contests. Early development is already underway and I will be looking for partners, sponsors, and contributors over the next several weeks so that tentative plans for deployment can begin. (If you are a talented writer and a knowledgeable and/or an opinionated sports fan, please feel free to contact me on my Steemit.chat account: ats.david.)
I will be deploying a self-tailored curation system for content creators. This will be based on a personally vetted whitelist that includes many users that I have followed over the course of the past 15 months on the platform. It will be manually monitored and updated to reflect any changes in content output and to add newly discovered quality contributors. Unneeded STEEM for other projects will be kept in this account as STEEM Power to help make this project successful. More details will be shared when the project comes online, which should happen very soon.
I will make occasional donations to initiatives and projects that I want to support, such as sports, music, and verified outreach/marketing projects with legitimate real-world applications and proven results. I will also use a portion of any rewards I receive to fund my weekly sports contests.
Consider me for one of your witness votes.
I know that being a witness is not a get-rich-quick scheme, so I understand that it will take some time to get my projects where I want them to be. With enough support, they can come online in a more timely manner, so please consider approving @ats-witness. You can approve me as a witness here: Vote for Witnesses.
If you’re just not into witness voting or don’t have time to learn which witnesses are doing what and whether they’re active or offline or not, please consider using me as a witness voting proxy as well. (This account will in turn be proxied to my main account.) I interact daily with lots of people in the community, including many witnesses and whales who are actively involved in development and bettering the Steem ecosystem. If you trust me with your witness votes, you can select me as a proxy here.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me over the past year and thank you in advance to anyone who supports me in the future!
I know I'm an opinionated guy and can be blunt, and I know that's not always popular. But if you know me, you know that I'll give you my honest opinion...and sometimes I'll give it to you without you even asking! (I like to think that I'm good at anticipating an individual's or a community's needs.) I don't like to sugarcoat things or blow smoke. With me, you're almost always sure to know where you stand.
The one thing I strive for is understanding and honesty. While I may challenge prevailing wisdom and/or popular opinions, and sometimes even say ridiculous things (whether intentional or not), I do carefully consider all information and arguments and adjust my opinions as additional knowledge is gained. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't.
So, a special thank you to those who dismissed me at first (or even recently), but still stuck with me or are still sticking with me currently. I'm asking for your support again to hopefully continue building and improving the community and myself.
Even though I know we tend to disagree more than agree on most topics, I always know that we are both coming from a place of caring a lot for the platform/community. I think you will bring a valuable viewpoint to the table. Welcome to the witness community :)
Thanks, Tim! I know I can be brash sometimes. It's probably a character flaw, for sure. :)
However, I do listen to your arguments and those from others as well...and they can even change my view on things. I'm not afraid to admit that. But I am a boundary-pusher. I admit that too. It's all in good fun though!
I dig it ats-David... I have always followed what you have to say in chat, yes brash sometimes, but you know what you are talking about, this I have no doubt.
We need intelligent and competent critics of any system, who indeed also have best interest in mind. It opens users minds and keeps them from 100% agreeing with any creating team ... whom I am also a fan of 😜
Keep it up, so glad to hear you are a witness.
I have followed a lot of your arguments and have thought you were reasonable and insightful. I've followed your posts, and I've always found you to be knowledgable on current crypto issues and flexible to entertain user interests. I've received many comments and votes from you and followed your curation over the last year and a half, and I have found your interest in others to be exactly what this platform needs. You've got the right kind of brain for this job, you adjust with the times, and you're ever-aware of retention and growth needs for Steemit and how to solve those issues. I have a few favorites. You're in my top 3 consistently.
p.s. Speaking of curation trail, I went to vote for this post and found I already had through your trail. Glad to know I could be of support. :0)
Accepting each different viewpoints and we shall see great things accomplished from both of you:) awesome guys!
Love this!
You already have my vote as a witness. You've been a great supporter. Thanks for everything and good luck for this adventure.
this is good to read..thanks for commenting @sardrt
I support this fully and am rather sure many of my friends will as well, things have gotten lower than the price of steem last night at midnight ;)
A platform run like this is unsustainable, you are going to have a lot of support my friend.
b.a.
Narwhal-Phalanx, ATTACK!!! ;)
the whole stackn community I hope would be on board for him, @ats-witness
:) can't wait to talk with you guys when it's not hollidays and such, I know a lot of the African and some European trails I work with would like to see this post, will get it out there
b.a.
I will make a #SSG post :D
Thank you! I appreciate any support I can get.
MSGA w/ ATS
make steem great again, or at least tolerable and not driving people off ...... I stand with @ats-david
remember to type it in ats-witness
I may do a Vlog just for this!
I'm Swimming with my little buddy @B.A. and @ats-witness!
Her wish is my command... :D
Is that a tag that you guys use?
I just made it up ...MSGA , cause I do things like that, but it's caught on a little bit
was joking with a couple people of just making a hat, hats for ats
oh, am glad you used the traditional colors on this post, my two pesos
Tats for ATS, I will stick the minty Steemit logo right across my stomach so I can frighten people while trying to re-enact the "truffle shuffle"
Mmmm...truffles...
And stomachs...
I can leave a Star Wars Gif too! Wow, what would be even greater is if you get in the top 20, there are a lot who would like that to happen
I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table we need good witnesses.. as a matter of fact, I will be making a new witness list since my 1st one disappeared over a month ago. Will support you. :)
Resteeming to remember and to be sure my followers see this. 🚀
wise decision!
Thank you very much! I hope my projects are to your liking. Would you happen to be a sports fan at all?
I am at times.. we have college football where I live in Nebraska .. this is a university town that supports the Huskers. When there is a game the stadium becomes the 3rd largest city based on population in Nebraska. This is a family state, not sure we will always live here.
I grew up in Texas and it was the Cowboys since I was born football went with Thanksgiving.
Been to the Horse track once in Louisana years ago not too good on the horses. Beautiful animals. I played football pools when I worked at the hospital and have won. What fun.. nothing for years now. I will have to check out what you are doing. @ats-david
Ah...good ol' Lincoln, Nebraska! I used to be a fan of the Huskers program back in the day, with Tom Osborne and Tommie Frazier. That was a beast of a team. But since they've joined the Big 10, I can't say that I have much love for them, being a Buckeye fan and all.
You should definitely check out my sports contests. Tonight I will be reviving one of the favorites from last season. Give it a shot and try to win some SBD!
you are going to really play a sport "running for witness" beware .. Lol
@ats-david I will check it out tomorrow afternoon.. I looked and it looks like older contests.. thanks for the invite :)
Yeah, the contest will be posted in the morning. It should be fun for everyone!
Cannot go wrong here:
I approve of this message!
Voted ❎
Best price talk in all of crypto!
Finally! Great decision, go and grab your Top 10 Spot
Resteeming this of course - brings back motivation and trust! Well done and good luck!
I'll do my best for you.
Great - don't do it for me, don't do it for you, don't do it for any user - do it for the sake and survival of this community!
And a Hellelujah to that.
:)
Count me in sir! You know you have my vote! I wish you good fortune on the wars to come my Lord!
Good to have you aboard as a witness.
Glad to see you make the jump over to Witness. You earned my vote and hopefully a lot of other people's votes as well. We've had some previous discussions on different topics regarding the platform and definitely share a lot of the same opinions. Congrats!!!
You definitely have my vote, best of luck with this @ats-david!
Though it took that long, 15 moons..Finally, I can somehow be able to return the favor back for your never-ending support to us in the community. Stay awesome!
Haha! Welcome to the witness roles, man! You have my witness vote and I've resteemed this to my meager following. You have always been a voice of reason here on Steemit, and I've been in agreement with you most of the time. That bluntness and no-shit attitude is one of the reasons I trust your opinion on things.
I'm looking forward to your input on hardfork decisions and engaging in the community from another angle!
I will vote for you, but only for the same deal Jerry made to his witness upvoters.
I try not to read his posts. What was his deal?
You're supposed to pay us for our upvotes sillyhead. Where's muh 10 SBD brobriber?
Well, earlier today, I had read somewhere that I am susceptible to bribery and other coercion. So...anyone who approves me as a witness will get 10 SBD!*
*Nobody will really get 10 SBD by approving me.
Round One..... Well, not fight
This made me laughed out loud!! :)
Damn.
Haha! Indeed - good spot :-)
Good luck in the project friend!!
Upvoted as witness and reestemed
Ive seen you active in debates and you have always asked the hard questions. We need that in our witnesses. No one is going to agree 100% all the time, but we need witnesses that stand up for what they believe is best for the community and not just keeping Stinc happy. Plus I know you spend a lot of time and effort on the weekly sports contests! You have my vote and support
Congratulations for this new step and success in your goal.
I can't think of a better witness! You got my votes. Hurrah!!
Man you surely have my support! :) you have curated a lot of my content and openmic stuff, really appreciate it! best luck my friend!
Good to hear ! iam going to vote directly .....
voted as witness, I just hope you include literature in your items of interest. Just hoping though, not demanding. lol...
Ok, you can also tell me, in what is in my hand, greetings. @ ats-testigo
Great news, I'm sure your going to do a great job.
Got my witness vote.
Voted.
Thanks for contests and all you are doing for the Steemit community.
In a place like this, in a time like these, candor is often seen as a negative. I appreciate it, however, even when it's difficult to hear.
Voted and look forward to you being able to do more good for this community as a whole!
And no true witness should.
Good luck in your venture, man - You have a vote from me!
Good luck @ats-david! You deserve it, @Uwelang brought me here and definetly his post helped me decide which it was an easy decision let's say from what he posted.
You got my vote for witness. I enjoy your regular content and the content you curate. You are one of the upstanding people on here. Good luck with this new endeavor.
welcome aboard brosef
maybe just maybe something will actually go to the moon lol ;)
@ats-david -> witness == steem --> m00n?
Your formula looks accurate to me.
Good luck David!
Some Steemians I trust have issued a recommendation for you. I followed the recommendation and cast my vote for you.
You have my vote. As a friend of @uwelang who brought me here, I trust you will act in the best interests of our community.
May the force be with you!
Thanks mate for the mention :-)
my pleasure ;)
What's your opinion on hf19? In my opinion it killed the platform and opened up for money grabbers. The social aspect died and I see the consequences where ppl power down and move on.
I was not in favor of hard fork 19 for exactly the reasons you’ve stated...which were predicted and now observed. The linear algorithm and the 10-vote target (with 4x “super” vote) should be rolled back. There is plenty of room to find a better algorithm between ‘n’ and ‘n2‘ and there was nothing at all wrong with the 40-vote target.
OK. I'll add you to my list.
Good luck @ats-witness @ats-david!
I am very happy to read this post. Because I know you are a sports-loving person. I'm sure the sports community on this platform will get brighter.
I voted you for witness. I have enjoyed your contests, especially NASCAR, and also like that you are engaging in the community and often give us small fish some upvotes, which most other witnesses do not do. Your wit is top notch as well... Good luck!!
I see a strategy and this looks good.
You have my vote!
Thanks for all your support at the Steemit #BeerSaturday Challenge
You know you have my vote, support!
Resteemed
You got it...
Youve got my vote for witness no fuckin doubtttt, little late on the news though haha
Anytime Im reading a post about important steemit debates I see your name throughout the comment section. Its apparent you truly care about the steemit platform and the actual users/posts...in my personal case, youve always supported my girlfriends posts (@marialaluna), which is how I found you here on steemit but then I saw how you conduct multiple contests and try your best to talk to your commenters. It made me realize you should have more say on what goes down here at steemit glad you made the choice to do so
Cool. Congratulations on your leap into the Witness realm. Best of luck to you ;)
This was a great news! I've been following you for a good pair of months (maybe one year already) and I recognize how you have been supportive to many of us, also cleaning spam and BS and entering on debates about the community sustainability. You have my upvote, my first witnesse upvote!
Posted to my #SSG peeps, here:
https://steemit.com/steemsilvergold/@underground/the-thinking-stacker-s-witness-ats-witness-for-your-onsideration
Great Fortunes, @ats-witness!
You have my vote and resteemed :-)
Done sir!!! May you continue to slay that content!!
Great news @ats-david. Congratulations to your new step and I wish you all the success.
Resteemed your post for get more votes.
you are making a very big effort. You have my support.
Glad to hear news. Thanks for the going witness community.
I give you my vote @ats. Count me. Best wishes sir and you will go for success. Welcome to witness society.
I resteemed this post for more votes to your witness acc.
Climbs out from under bridge and steals a vote for witness from @captainobviou3.
#troll-life