My current witness choices (Part II - Top 20 Picks! )

My intention was to make this a monthly thang. Surprised me that it has been two months since the last installment.

A couple of things before we get to it...

If there is a Witness missing from my Following list, please let me know.

My first cut tried to balance technical abilities, engagement in the community as well as their take on issues that may fall more under that of 'political nature'. Using that metric 30 candidates were chosen.

In this review things will be weighted more towards the 'political nature' concerning issues that mean something to me, personally. The plan will be to trim the present 30 list down to 20. So from the original list the picks for top 20 from that list will be presented.

Witnesses will be chosen, over time, to fill the 10 unused votes created in this exercise.

It would have been impossible to choose, but by lotto, on technical merit alone. All the first cut have proven themselves in that area; perhaps with one exception.

Not surprisingly different Witnesses engage with the community in different ways. Some are more visible than others. However, they all bring value to the Community. All of the first cut were thought to be engaged with the Community in different ways. As different as snowflakes coming from the same cloud.

Maybe Snowflakes has a demeaning meaning these days... but damn it, it can get cold up here so it's being used in the context.... oh never mind!

Here's my latests (second cut - sacred 20 pick) list in alphabetical order....

@aggroed : Currently actively ranked at 9th. Aggroed is a member of the sacred 20; those top 20 ranked witnesses who get to vote for software changes.

My choice goes a bit further than that, in that we share other views of life. Following his blog would be an activity of mine regardless of Aggroed being a witness or not. 😎

https://steemit.com/@aggroed

@anyx : Actively ranked at the 15th position. They are also a member of the sacred 20. Those witnesses who get to vote for software changes.

What really warmed me to Anyx is their @guard utility bot project which searches for phishing links and presents a warning, any time one is detected, by making a comment on the post. To me this shows a witness who cares a great deal for their community. Its a great example of some of the quiet, yet incredibly valuable, contributions which some Witnesses make.

https://steemit.com/@anyx

@arcange : This witness is actively ranked as the 50th. Although not a household word, Arcange is the developer of the four impressive projects :

SteemSQL, SteemitBoard, steem.net and SteemToolbar.

So glad to see @arcange in the top 50 now!

https://steemit.com/@arcange

@asbear : This is a very humble witness. They weren't even mentioning in their profile that they were a witness. Although physically located in the UK, they seem to focus much of their work in the Korean community of the steem blockchain.

A very engaging and available Witness.

https://steemit.com/@asbear

@devcoin : Devcoin is one of the original alt coins. For full transparency my position is HR Admin in the Devcoin Project.

The devcoin account is currently being funded by the Devcoin Project in a merge mining endevor with Devcoin and Steem.

It is hoped that Devcoin can bring a second layer of earning to content creators while supporting Proof of Brain Voting.

https://steemit.com/@devcoin

@drakos : 23rd on the active witness ranking. Drakos seems available and engaging. One can often find him live on the Witness Chat channel. Drakos seems a solid choice for a top 20 spot. It is that sacred 20 which get to vote on the software direction of the project.

https://steemit.com/@drakos

@firepower : Rated 54th on the active witness ranking.

Firepower engages with the community as a Steemit.chat Admin, Steemfest Crew, Project Curie and SteemCleaners & RHW!

This would be a good person to make decisions in the sacred 20 in my opinion.

https://steemit.com/@firepower

@good-karma : 5th in the active witness ranking. Developer of eSteem, SteemMonitor, eSync, SteemFest and SteemAPI!

Not sure where he finds the time, but he has a pretty active blog. We're lucky to have him in my opinion. 😎

https://steemit.com/@good-karma

@gtg : gtg is the topped ranked position in the active witness list. The chairman of the Board if you will.

After days of reading through outdated guides with outdated links of where to download the blockchain, @gtg took the time to leave a link, in the comments of a frustrated post of mine. He let me know where he has the blockchain available for download.

A good top 20 choice in my opinion.

https://steemit.com/@gtg

@jatinhota : It is my intention to try to support witmesses ftom different geographical areas. This physical decentralization should bode well for the blockchain.

That said, jatinhota is from India and does a lot of community work with users from there.

Jatinhota is a core member of #thealliance group and the founding member of the @IndiaUnitied Community.

Jatinhota is currently ranked 73nd in the active witness listing.

https://steemit.com/@jatinhota

@liberosist : Liberosist is 52th in the active witness ranking.

Liberosist seems to be a strong supporter of the @curie project. After dropping support for @curie when taking on a more independent witness criteria (with the exception of @devcoin) @liberosist was offered support in their steed.

https://steemit.com/@liberosist

@lukestokes.mhth : Ranked 13th on the active witness ranking.

Based in Germany, Luke explores his interests more in his non-witness account, @lukestokes.

https://steemit.com/@lukestokes.mhth

@patrice : Ranked 42rd in the active witness.

Patrice is a member and supporter of @steemcleaners and @spaminator, two worthwhile projects.

https://steemit.com/@patrice

@pfunk : Pfunk was probably the first witness that came to my attention from their activity in the Open Mic Contest. My understanding is that it was that fan based which swept pfunk to the 20th position of the active witness ranking.

So glad that Pfunk has made it to the sacred 20! They are those top 20 ranked witnesses which get to vote on software changes to the Steem Project.

https://steemit.com/@pfunk

@riverhead : Ranked 22nd on the active witness list Riverhead hosted steemit chat for a year before passing the torch on to a new team recently. Riverhead has also been a BitShares, Peerplays & MUSE witness.

Riverhead is not a prolific poster so it is only assumed that they have acquired a large voting base from their contacts on the many projects mentioned.

It would be nice to see them in the sacred 20; those top 20 ranked witnesses that get to vote on changes to the production software.

https://steemit.com/@riverhead

@someguy123 : Ranked 8th! Someguy123 is a well respected and active witness. They have worked as a developer on the Litecoin Project as well as a lot of third party development with STEEM.

If in doubt about who to vote for, someguy123 is a pretty safe vote, in my opinion.

https://steemit.com/@someguy123

@steemychicken1 : Rated 61th on the active witness list, steemychicken1 came to my attention while researching setting up witness nodes. They had published guides on their blog. They seem to be there to help, particularly with technical issues.

https://steemit.com/@steemychicken1

@themarkymark : The 44th member of the active witness listing.

The only disagreement we share seems to concern voting bots. Themarkymark feels they are here to stay. Software solutions may still be available in my opinion.

Its not a big enough deal to remove my support.

https://steemit.com/@themarkymark

@timcliff : Ranked 4th in the active witness listing. Tim is a very active witness who keeps an open line of communication with the community through his blog.

A fitting member of the sacred 20 in my opinion.

https://steemit.com/@timcliff

@ura-soul : This is definitely the last but not least of my witness votes. Ranked 68th in the active witness list. Ura-soul is the creator of steemocean and Ureka.

A cool and competent Witness!

https://steemit.com/@ura-soul

#DevSteem On My Peeps!