Last update of eSteem 1.2.3 was pushed to Android Google Play store and with some more improvements, it is being rolled out to iOS AppStore as well. If you haven't heard of eSteem yet, please checkout my blog posts and give it a try. It is open source and I'd like to say it is trust-less, but please check out and define yourself.
Witness nodes are now upgraded to latest hard-fork v0.14.1, as a backup witness I think we can first check those upgrades and make sure that it is stable. When new version is released I will upgrade after some witness consensus is reached or for testing purpose!
Earlier there was questionnaire for witnesses posted by community members, even though it is not final yet. I would like to answer some of the questions. I did left out some of them unanswered though!
Answer to Community questionnaire
A) Technical Questions
1)In a few sentences or less please explain the role of a witness in the Steemit/Steem ecosystem as you understand it.
Witnesses are voted and trusted member of the community, who brings value to the Steem and Steemit by various ways, be it by funding projects, curating, improve overall quality of the platform and sustain/think long term success of the project.
2)What are the most important qualities for a witness to have?
Witness should be able to maintain server, running Steem node 24/7 and provide price feed for STEEM in USD. As well as provide value to the platform and community. Also they should feel responsibility that community members put on them via their votes.
3)How do you fulfill those qualities?
Having years of experience in IT and crypto, managing server/node is not an issue. And I am working on eSteem mobile application which I believe bring value to the platform and extend use of Steem. Have few other projects in mind, either will be created by myself or work with community developers to bring those ideas to the world. My main focus is to get more users and give them tool, engage them and keep them on platform. As we know every single person has phone these days. Number of smartphone users increase daily, reaching that audience would be phenomenal and I am working towards it to provide necessary tools.
4)Is there anything beyond this that you feel makes you a better witness candidate than the average person?
There are number of great spirits, developers, contributors among community. And everybody contributes the ways they can. Some create great-quality content, some curate, comment, organize events, some provide tools, develop applications on top of Steem, etc. Any witness in top 50 is doing great work, promoting, supporting and respect to those... As for me, I am working full time on mobile applications that specifically designed for Steem users. You can expect many more mobile and web apps in future
5)What kind of hardware setup are you using and is it your own local hardware or rented?
Using Google Cloud very efficient and reliable, 100% up-time.
6)What if any contingencies do you have in case of an emergency or server failure?
Yes, I have number of other instances in case of any failure node can be switched to different zone.
7)Do you think the current compensation for a witness is fair? If not what do you think would be fair compensation?
I think, model is certainly improved over BTS and working decent, and with community input things can certainly be improved.
8)What percentage (or fixed amount) of witness earnings should be kept and what percent invested back into the steem platform?
Ideally, 100% to the future of the platform.
9)How do you intend to use your witness earnings?
To improve and provide projects/tools, form teams that can work on multiple projects that promotes the Steem(it).
eSteem signup requires faucet for new users and once it is up and running, it can be self sustained app. Currently working with Steemit team and other community members to bring more users to the platform... Marketing that can be improved, we have a lot of tools being developed everyday and marketing them would attract more users.
B) Current Witness Questions
1)What challenges or problems have you faced in your role as witness?
None, so far, though it wasn't long ago decided to run a witness node and currently I'm a backup witness.
2)What other types of decisions do you think as a witness you should be involved in voting on?
Decisions that defines the future of the platform.
C) Community Questions
1)What do you think makes Steemit special and worth supporting?
It is first app on top of Steem and shows power of Steem and certainly excellent example of what can be achieved with platform/blockchain.
2)How much do you use Steemit on average per week?
Daily, though with eSteem becoming more stable, using eSteem often :-)
3)What is your favorite type of post?
About Life in general, technical and posts that gives insight on how to improve platform.
5)What kind of posts do you dislike?
Negative and FUD posts, if they don't provide any solutions.
6)How do you feel about the Steemit governance structure?
At this early stage, it is as great as it gets.
7)How would you improve Steemit?
Contribution, contribution, contribution. You decide the form of contribution , see above A.4).
D) Personal Questions
1)How did you get into cryptocurrencies?
Hmm don't remember, but heard about Bitcoin in 2012.
2)What hobbies or interests do you have outside of Steemit and cryptocurrencies?
Playing chess, very strategic game help cognitive analysis
3)What is your favorite movie genre?
Biography, I like mathematician and their biography!
5)What is your favorite musical genre?
Classic/Ambient, helps to calm!
6)What are you favorite bands/albums?
Airport Ambient album, it helps to concentrate while working.
8)What is your favorite TV show?
Friends, not much of tv guy, but I enjoy occasionally good movies.
10)Margarine or butter?
Butter
11)The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?
The Beatles
12)Have you ever tried Marmite?
No
Hope it helps community members to know me but better... Leave me comment or reach out, will be glad to get in touch and learn your experience with Steem(it)...