January is a wrap! We at ARK are proud of our determined and bright community, and our monthly Community Spotlight newsletter will keep you apprised on some notable community activities. Let’s dive into just some of the ways the ARK community shined in January 2019.

10,000 ARK VIDEO CONTEST

Community Member Gonggrabber is Running a 10,000 ARK Video Contest

In January, long time community member ‘gonggrabber’ decided to put forth a video contest with 10,000 ARK up for grabs! Here’s what gonggrabber had to say in the initial launch post:

I have been preaching in this community that in order to grow this community and push the ARK name into the light, you need to do something. Not just complain, not FUD or troll, not yell at team members, not make fun of community trying to learn, but get off your ass and use that free time to teach someone or do something good. Now, I am going to take my own advice, putting my money where my mouth is by giving away 10k ARK. This contest is for anyone. Delegates, team, community, non-community, haters, lovers. The first 25 accepted videos will receive 350 ARK per video and one video will receive 1250 bonus ARK. After 25 approved videos are collected, I will start a new thread with all 25 listed. From that second thread there will be some community voting via up votes for your favorite video. The winner of this community vote will receive the grand prize of 1250 ARK! Good luck everyone!

Here’s what you need to do:

View the Contest Update Post. You can check out all the accepted and pending entries, and get some additional information. Enter if you can. The contest ends February 5th, and if you squeeze your entry in, it can be considered for acceptance into the 25 slots. There is already a growing list of pending entries. SUBSCRIBE to reddit.ark.io. Do not miss out on future opportunities to earn and win ARK via contests by ARK.io, Delegates, and community members. Stand by for the voting post. When it appears, you can vote for your favorites that will compete to win the grand prize.

Special thanks to gonggrabber for coming up with this idea and making this contest possible!

FEATURED COMMITS

As they say, the best things happen with help. That’s why ARK runs monthly bounty programs for coders who contribute to our codebase on the ARK Ecosystem GitHub. Independent programmers can work side by side with our international team and make the ARK toolkit even more powerful and stable. ARK is awarded to GitHub participants by way of the ARK GitHub Bounty Program. Learn more about the bounty program here.

The community Spotlight Newsletter will only include three featured commits moving forward, and you can see all the hard work of our GitHub participants at blog.ark.io!

GitHub member ‘dated’ implemented a tabular layout in the ARK Desktop Wallet. This gives a better overview of all the addresses in the wallet.

implemented a tabular layout in the ARK Desktop Wallet. This gives a better overview of all the addresses in the wallet. GitHub member ‘itsanametoo’ designed a feature in the ADW that lets users broadcast transactions to multiple peers if desired. This provides more stability in broadcasting a new transaction, making sure it gets included in the unconfirmed transaction pool.

designed a feature in the ADW that lets users broadcast transactions to multiple peers if desired. This provides more stability in broadcasting a new transaction, making sure it gets included in the unconfirmed transaction pool. GitHub member ‘highjacker’ improved the sorting feature of the ARK Explorer, making it persistent and providing a smoother sorting experience.

Multiple coders are contributing to the ARK toolkit 24/7, and you can too — it’s fun, rewarding, and you can earn ARK as well!

This guide will show you how to get started.

NOTABLE REDDIT POSTS

The Ark Ecosystem Subreddit is a great place to seek ARK knowledge, and you can always find new and engaging content there. New to ARK? Check out my Welcome to ARK Reddit Post with simple instructions to follow.

Here are some notable January posts:

You can browse more content and contribute your own voice to the ARK Subreddit- who knows, you may even receive an ARK tip from a community member using Delegate Cryptology’s intuitive ArkTippr Reddit tipbot.

JANUARY 2019 PODCASTS

COMMUNITY SERVICE SPOTLIGHT

Some members mentioned in the community newsletter are ARK delegates, who secure the ARK network and provide community services. Their inclusion in the newsletter is in no way an endorsement from ARK.io to vote for specific delegates, and you should always do your own research and consider all the options when choosing a delegate for whom to vote. ARK.io does not run the ARK network.

Here’s the January 2019 Community Service Spotlight:

Introducing T-Grexx, the newest game from ArkFun.io

Deploy your own ARK custom blockchain, a step-by-step guide

ACC Member ‘ARKjd’ launched a blog discussing legal topics in crypto. ARKjd, also known as Ray Alva, is a bar-certified lawyer.

First post of The Blockchain Bench Blog

‘Arkstickers.com’ is running a sticker photo contest, with 200 ARK prize provided by Delegate Jarunik. Find all the details here. Now until Valentine’s Day, snap a photo of ARK Stickers on your stuff and submit to social media, then fill out this entry form. ArkStickers also intends to enhance its website, and development is ongoing.

Enter to win 200 ARK in the ArkStickers.com Sticker Photo Contest

‘frankreddit5’ made a post announcing the launch of a cold storage physical ARK wallet, featuring artistic designs by Lynx Art Collection.

Cold storage physical ARK wallet available on Lynx Art Collection.

‘BroadcastJunkie’ created an ARK Desktop Wallet setup guide. Examples include creating a profile and ARK address, how to vote, and more.

Delegate ‘Cryptology’ gave a detailed presentation on ARK Core v2 architecture at The Foundry’s ARK meetup in Utrecht, Netherlands on January 25th. Also, on Reddit, clarifications on voters were provided. Delegate Cryptology also implemented the REWARD function on ArkTippr, allowing multiple users to receive ARK tips in one public Reddit comment.

Delegate Cryptology giving an ARK presentation in Utrecht

Delegate CYJ’s What is ARK DPoS Video

TEAM IN THE COMMUNITY

The ARK team has been sighted in the crypto community in January. Here are just some of the activities:

I recently participated in a virtual conference at DecentralizedSummit.com hosted by Mainframe. Watch my presentation here.