Witnesses are critical to the running of the Steem blockchain. If you’re a newbie, you’re probably wondering who a witness is. Here is an official explanation:
On the Steem blockchain, witnesses serve a role of validating signatures and timestamping transactions by including them in blocks. A block is any group of transactions (posts, votes, transfers, etc) which update the state of the database. Each time a witness produces a block, they are paid for their service. If a witness fails to produce a block, then they are not paid, and may even be voted out.
Every round of block production begins with the shuffling of 21 witnesses: the top 19 witnesses (by vote), plus one randomly-selected standby witness, and one miner witness. Each is given a turn to produce a single block at a fixed rate of one block every 3 seconds. If a witness does not produce a block in their time slot, then that time slot is skipped, and the next witness produces the next block.
N.B You can check the current list of witnesses on the steemd page for witnesses
This is why I’m excited to present this interview I had with @svk – a well-known figure in the steemit’s programming community.
I hope you do learn one or two things about what it takes to be a witness. Have a great read.
@infovore(SteemMag): How did you get to know about Steemit? Plus your background?
@svk:
I learnt about Steemit from one of the developers working on the project. I know most of the Steemit team from working with them on Bitshares, especially the frontend guys that I worked with on the Bitshares 2.0 interface.
My actual background is as an Aerospace Engineer, that was my day job until last year when I changed careers to become a web developer.
I: Did you have any doubts before joining the Steemit dev team?
svk: I'm not actually on the Steemit dev team yet, but I might be in the near future.
I: What's a typical day for you as a steemit's witness?
svk:
Typical days in terms of actual witness operation are fortunately quiet, the witness is on a VPS and most of the time needs no interaction. The atypical days are the most interesting, the ones where we've had to deal with last-minute updates before hardforks or days like the one we just had with the scripting exploit!
When I'm not busy managing the server I try to get in some programming, I've already
released several Steem related project that can be found on my blog: @svk
I: What are your favorite tags on Steemit?
svk:
I try to spread the love around as much as I can, but I do of course have certain preferences. I'd say I enjoy a lot of the philosophy posts, and anything related to travelling and cryptocurrency usually gets my attention.
I: A Steemit moment you will fondly remember for a long time?
svk:
Don't think anything can beat the general buzz of excitement following the 4th of July payout, that was an awesome experience.
I: Favorite hobbies?
svk:
Programming. Crypto. Programming. And I do enjoy lots of things, yoga, working out, travelling etc..
I: Where do you see Steemit in the next 12 months?
svk: I just hope we can keep up the momentum and bring crypto to the world!
I: Your personal message to all Steemians?
svk:
Be proud of yourselves for having found Steemit so early, and start telling your friends! I'm amazed how easy it is to get people interested in Steem compared to any other crypto, if you haven't tried yet give it a shot!
It was fun having a chat with @svk. If you’ve got any question for him, please drop it below using the reply box.
From The Archives
Pre-July 4th witnessed a lot of amazing posts. And efforts were made to curate the best of them every week.
Tom @donkeypong, who is the editor of Steemit 101, started Blog Spotlight, highlighting amazing contents that deserved more love.
Also, @crytogee started the Unsung heroes of Steem catering to authors that have not been duly recognized for their talent.
{This week's Blog Spotlight issue 5 was released a few days ago here with @cryptogee joining the Blog Spotlight team. You should definitely go give it a read. }
I, however, thought something was still missing: Hundreds of wonderful posts submitted before now deserve a revival once in a while.
I pitched this idea to Tom and he suggested I develop this into a full blown feature.
Trust me, I went through all the tags looking for the best.
Here are articles I think deserve a re-read from you.
How Steemit Scooped Wall Street and Trumped Its Hottest Idea (1 month ago) by @donkeypong
@donkeypong/how-steemit-scooped-wall-street-and-trumped-its-hottest-idea
Basic Income must be global or it will fail. (1 month ago) by @dantheman
@dantheman/basic-income-must-be-global-or-it-will-fail
How to find your voice on steem (2 weeks ago) by @camilla
@camilla/how-to-find-your-voice-on-steem
The Truth About Ridiculously High Steemit Payout (1 month ago) by @cryptocotopus
@cryptoctopus/the-truth-about-ridiculous-high-steemit-payout
Nikola Tesla Was The Hottest Man On Earth: Here's Why (2 weeks ago) by @stellabelle
@stellabelle/nikola-tesla-was-the-hottest-man-on-earth-here-s-why
Optical illusion Of The Year (2 weeks ago) by @masteryoda
@masteryoda/optical-illusion-of-the-year
Who's Been Reading Your E-Mail?; A Simple Solution for Better E-mail Privacy and Security
(1 week ago) by @steempower
@steempower/who-s-been-reading-your-e-mail-a-simple-solution-for-better-e-mail-privacy-and-security
** How it feels to feel like you're dying (1 week ago) by @churdtzu**
@churdtzu/how-it-feels-to-feel-like-you-re-dying
BBQ Motivation: BBQ Timelapses from around the world (3 weeks ago) by @bbqbear
@bbqbear/bbq-motivation-bbq-timelapses-from-around-the-world
This Week on Steemit contd:
Wednesday (2016-07-13) witnessed a number of first in the history of Steemit:
Steemle charts: Highest account creation:2790 signups ; Highest votes at 54 489, Highest Posts, Replies and Edits at 13 835……..
Steemit is going to the moon….
SteemStream, a real time visualizations of all steemit's activity was launched. If you've got a few minutes to spare. It’s an exciting website to spend time on. Addictive.
Steemit got an ad on coinmarketcap and dashpaymagazine. Thanks @steempower
Bittrex and Blocktrades.us launched a platform for Steem Dollars. Where are other exchanges? You guys are missing out!
A SPECIAL NOTE FOR YOU
Thanks for the support. Though it took a lot of hard work, I had fun having the interviews and curating all these information together.
I hope you do enjoy it and gained a few stuff from this weekend digest.
Next week is going to be more exciting.
See ya next week.
P.S If you’ve got any suggestions, please make a comment using the reply box below or send a message to me on slack @infovore.
Ooh. And don’t forget to follow my blog
You’re awesome.
