cloh76.witness Update - Server and Project Updates and the importance of Voting [3.21.2018]

Dear Steemit Friends,

It has been a week since I had my Witness Server upgraded. Things seem to be back to normal and forward progress continues on many of the projects I am working on. Today I will provide a summary on a number of updates that I have already shared over the course of the past couple of weeks and give you an idea of where I am headed when it comes to the things I am working on.

I just finished a long review post on my @cloh76 account, so writers block is kicking in. Please forgive the incoherent nature of my writing. My brain is near dead and I'm pretty much working on fumes right now.

Witness Server Details and Voting

First let's recap the details for my Witness server update. I am now running a dedicated 64GB dedicated server for my witness with the following specs:

I have jumped one spot to rank 124 and am maintaining an active rank of 97. I'm usually not one for advertising and soliciting for votes, but as server requirements increase, it is getting increasingly more difficult to maintain my witness server. As a result, I have started adding a reminder (like most witnesses) to vote for my witness account on most of the Apps and Bots that I create. It makes me feel less guilty of solicitation since I'm not actively telling people to go vote for me. Instead I am giving them the option if they feel my work is of value to the communities I support while also reminding them how important voting is. We still have a lot of inactive witness accounts who are taking up spots that other more deserving witnesses can benefit from.

Because I have a separate witness account from my main account, I also constantly need to remind people to vote for the right account which is @cloh76.witness. In hindsight, this is something I should have considered and thought about when I created my witness account. Oh well... too late to go back.

The difference between the two accounts - One account (@cloh76) is focused on me, while the other (cloh76.witness) is focused on the community.

I am currently working on upgrading my 3 Development Servers. One Server is Linux based and 2 Servers are Windows based. These 3 servers house projects for the various communities I support as well as one server which is dedicated to my various projects. Not everyone is familiar with how to navigate and use Linux so I have options for both catered to the needs of my fellow community members. These servers represent a place where they can store their projects and experiment with them in a safe environment before deploying them. I'm hoping to have them back up in the next couple of weeks - I will be bringing them each back online one at a time.

Projects in Progress

My primary focus since my last update has been on KuyaBot. I purchased a piece of software called Discord Bot Maker on Steam that makes the coding process a lot simpler and a lot more organized. This simplified process has helped me to learn a lot more about coding javascript and has allowed me to quickly implement a lot of the features I have been trying to figure out for the longest time.

For most of Kuyabot's updates and added features, you can visit my two previous posts

SteemPH Bot Update - Activity Leveling and Economy System for KuyaBot

SteemPH Bot [KuyaBot] Update - User Info, Rep, DP Transfers, and More

These updates are a culmination of features and functions that I have been trying to figure out forever, and have just recently figured out how to code. They are all live now and being stress tested on the Steemit Philippines | SteemPH Discord Server.

Still in Progress and looking Forward

The following banners represent projects that are still in progress. Like KuyaBot, I continue to work on them in pieces and expect for all of them to interact with one another in the future to help build up the SteemPH and Steemit community.

Current Witness Stances and Parameters

• I support the eventual price peg adjustment of $1 USD to 1 SBD. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the current inflated price of SBD, especially when it comes to post earnings. I feel the $1 peg gives the platform stability and in time will lead to the price of Steem increasing in value. Eventually things will balance out and post payments will incorporate more Steem to make up for the loss - that is not to say it will be that much of a loss since both Steem and SBD are currently trading very close to each other in value.

• I like many other people am in favor of downvoting as a way to deal with upvote abuse. I feel the current flag system is a process that gives this functionality a bad reputation and distorts the meaning and intentions of what the system was originally designed for.

• SBD Interest Rate: My SBD interest rate is currently set to 0.01%. With the current value of SBD, there is no need to increase or change it.

• ** Price Feed**: My price feed updates regularly in short interval bursts thanks to an update applied by @someguy123

• Registration Fee: My registration fee is currently set to 0.2 STEEM, however, I will be updating this and lowering it to 0.1 Steem. I have been helping a lot of users in the communities I support create accounts. The current approval process takes longer than any of us would like, so I am doing what I can to get people signed up faster so they can start helping the community grow.

• Maximum Block Size: I current block size remains set to 65,536. Although there are those who want to raise this in order to reduce the amount of incidents that users run into bandwidth limitations, I'm good with where it is at the moment. I encourage community members to support new users and feel this is a method to weed out people who are not serious about the platform.

If you have any feedback, suggestions, or thoughts on any of the projects I am working on, or if you simply want to collaborate or join any of the project teams, please feel free to reach out to me on Discord or Steemit.Chat. You can also leave me messages in any of the comment sections of my posts and I'll respond ASAP.

Thanks again for all your support and remember to vote for your Witnesses!