Good to read your posts again . you did not post anything for a while ..

i resteem that one to share it with my followers as well dear :)

Great info here i had no idea Verge got hacked , i put some big money there 6 months ago and now i'm really wonder what should i do with it

*You highlighted some important points and in my opinion self voting is not bad when you are newbie or you are getting lack of support but in my opinion if i am getting so much money on daily basis and still i am self voting knowingly that it can effect the rewards of others then somewhere it's not sounding good and instead they are taking away the interest of the platform from the newbies because they get demotivated at times because there is an huge gap and i think this gap has to be filled. And in my opinion nowadays hacking attacks really increased and i personally think that the attack on Blockchain is not an good news and the security of Blockchain System is in question and one question can raised here how an Decentralised Platform is hacked. Let's hope that everything will be fine. Thanks for sharing and wishing you an great day. Stay blessed. 🙂*

Don't own Verge or Monero and thanks for this info @protegeaa upvoted and followed. I wrote a post on 9 facts about Monero earlier in the week if anyone is interested https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@crypticat/ninelives-of-monero

You say Verge got hacked for 46,800 blocks but they haven't experienced a flash crash or anything like that.  Is all that money untraceable and impossible to ban?  How much is that actually going to hurt Verge?

Another interesting outcome of the Monero hardfork:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Monero/comments/8aoxhp/bye_bye_asics/


The hash rate has dropped massively. Was that due to ASICs dominating the hash rate, or some other reason?

All I have is STEEM, so as long as it's secure (which I've heard it's not the most secure compared to others, but I have no idea why), then I'm okay. Even as I write this, I'm getting another 504 Gateway timeout error to my wallet. :)

The third part of your post, regarding the 'takers' from the reward pool. On a system with little governance and rules, it's actually amazing to see just how many ways there are to interpret non-existent rules. I wish I knew what the answer was, aside from putting it into code, but then the golden opportunity to be our own master would be lost.

I came here to earn rewards for my writing. I found out that I should also comment and curate, not only to earn rewards on that, too, but to help foster and build community. Make genuine connections. That meant I signed up for more than I bargained for, and that's before we throw in any of the number of dramas playing out.

I'm still here, and I'm still posting, commenting and curating, and entering community discussions when I feel competent to do so. I readily admit, I don't have  any idea about the minutiae or details required to make things better. I just know what I can affect some small amount of change through sticking to my own principles and acting accordingly.

Everyone else does that, I think things start to shake out for the better.

I share your sentiments about the abusers in Steemit. I've seen Steemit called the "anarchy of social media" and if the witnesses started targeting certain people for restrictions, who's to say there wouldn't be additional measures in the future, until all the freedom was gone. 

Now if the witnesses or developers (or whoever) wanted to make changes along the lines of preventing people from making over x amount through self upvotes, I think that's a *little* better.

Verge blockchain forks and hacks !!!! .. Its really bad effect for verge blockchainer... Hacker are searching for technical error in every crypto.... So we should be careful for our crypt..@protegeaa

Good to see you back @protegeaa, haven't seen you post in a while and was afraid you lost interest.

(you hear an engine rev and horn honk) 
    **MEEP! MEEP!**
    (the window on the humvee rolls down to reveal a warm smiling face) 
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Imho, the Monero, ETH and Bitcoin forks have exposed a kind of flaw/loophole in blockchain systems. The forked asset doesn't have the same security or user base loyalty as the original chain, but the lure of "free money" pulls in a lot of users from the original chain to sell/trade their coins, which in turn creates value for the forked chain!

I don't have any Verge. I agree that it's better or it to happen while the value is low so that not as much is lost. If it's not a project that will be able to protect itself, then it's better for the losses to happen now. 

I don't know what the solution is to the issues here on the Steem blockchain. One solution could be that anyone with SP over 50 that has been active for over a month gets a delegation from Steemit of 500 SP or something. (I know it's not a foolproof idea, so please just take it as brainstorming.) By having established accounts (not just noobs) get the bonus, then you don't have too much advantage to alt accounts, but you do dilute the value of Steem a bit because more people will have access to more voting power. This will reduce the power of the individuals who self-vote like that. 

It's probably not the most elegant of solutions, but it's an idea. I hate seeing people who are so short-sighted that they'll devalue the asset they hold just so they can make money now. The reason Steem has value is because people want the tokens. If they don't enjoy the Steeming experience, they leave and the demand goes down. Or they leave and stop producing content which adds value. I think it's important not to censor, but since Steem is still in its infancy and needs a hand getting going, Steemit might need to take more drastic measures. 

I hear alot about the upvoting in the last few days of a post. There are many people here that help plankton and minnows, and I think they out number the self promoters. I still enjoy posting here, and as long as that is the case, I will return everyday. Glad to hear you got a paid writing gig. Good job. 😎