04 Jul Symbol blockchain news update – 04/07/22

Good morning world! I’m back with another update. News is still slow so apologies for the gap in posts! For my Japanese friends, well done for surviving the heatwave! 😁 Looks like you now have thunderstorms to contend with! Remarkably it is sunny here so for once I am not going to complain about the English weather 😊

The crew is growing

The pirate crew is expanding and I think our newest recruit La Sirena is joining today(?). The design team have done a fantastic job with her avatar, this really is impressive work! I believe she will be working on the operational side of NEM and Symbol and ensuring that the ship runs smoothly. Hopefully we will hear some updates and formal introductions soon. Welcome La Sirena, great to have you aboard!

Testnet voting keys

I probably should have put this out sooner but I can never find enough stories to fill a daily (or sometimes weekly) blog post at the moment. For those of you that are running a testnet voting node, please check your certificate expiry date and renew if necessary. We all want to see smooth functioning of the testnet so take a couple of minutes to check so that we don’t run into any issues.

Its 6 months since the launch of the the Symbol joey testnet. Friendly reminder to update voting keys if your node is voting. #Symbol #XYM

— irie coder (@wayon) June 28, 2022

Presents!

This is a great advertisement for how generous and close-knit our community really is. Lovely to see that Kilm and Angel have sent mikun a gift parcel from Italy, just shows the strength of community and friendship we have. We may often separated by distance in real life but we are all neighbours in XYM City 😊

イタリア🇮🇹から荷物が届きました😊✈️🎁✨@bestgoldangel @GeranKlim
ありがとう❤️ pic.twitter.com/XdBSxHS4Aw

— 🧬mikun🧬🕊🌏☮️＠mikun_nem.symbol (@mikunNEM) June 27, 2022

Support those that support Symbol

I am still waiting to hear when the Symbol and NEM conference will take place and then I will be booking my flight out to Tokyo. When I get there I will definitely be supporting any businesses in the city that accept XYM payment and will write this up for a blog post. I will likely be very full and very drunk by the end of it! 😂

To see where you can spend your harvested XYM check out this video by @HANABATA_KE, apparently, there are now 28 establishments that accept Symbol payment so if you live nearby any of these places then go support them!

Symbol Accepted Here😎🎥

Currency 28 venues are available 😆

See the technology, try Symbol payment 👍

Why don’t you try Symbol blockchain? ⛓😊#Symbol $XYM #Cryptopayment pic.twitter.com/VHIeh3wnIw

— 🌻@hanabatake.symbol (@HANABATA_KE) June 30, 2022

Peace ✌️🇺🇦

Just a reminder of the community fundraiser to donate funds to support Ukraine. I think that the date for submission of artwork has now passed and we will be able to browse the artworks in the Cluster metaverse gallery from the 9th of July. There you will be able to vote for your favourite works and the voting period will end on the 31st of July. I still can’t see a donation button on the website but I will definitely be giving as soon as I find out how!

PEACE FOR UKRAINE

🇺🇦沢山のご応募ありがとうございました。
全作品審査後、公式サイト、公式メタバース美術館に展示いたします。
公開・支援投票開始は2022/7/9㈯となります。
いよいよ、ウクライナへの支援開始です。
引き続きご協力よろしくお願いいたします。#モザワン2https://t.co/OQ61oI9YYa

— モザワン2【公式】7/9～支援投票開始 (@mosaic1gp_2) June 25, 2022

A career change

So I wasn’t sure when to reveal this news but I guess now is as good a time as any. After nearly 20 years working in scientific research, I felt that it was time for a career change and so I will be following my interests and joining the pirate crew as an analyst in September. This is a huge move for me, giving up a permanent faculty position at a good university and taking up a job in crypto but sometimes you have to follow your instincts and I really couldn’t be more excited about it! 😊 Also huge thanks to my wife for being supportive of the move – she really is the best ❤️

Anyway, I will have a lot to learn when I start so expect a series of blog posts where you can follow my blockchain education and I will try my best to break everything down in an easy-to-digest manner. Might be time for me to break out my more technical side on the blog (I don’t write like this in my day job) 😁 Don’t worry though, I’ll still be bringing you the usual updates too!

Thanks

Thanks as always for reading, hope that I will be back soon with another update. We are off on a family holiday in the sun (hopefully) later in the week but I will be taking my laptop just in case there’s any breaking news! 😊