From my early days of activity on the steem blockchain, it had been my habit to follow each and every active witness. After having worked through a couple of Witness Vote Reviews my 30 witness picks have remained fairly constant since then and following every active witness seemed to no longer be required. The culling has begun. 😎
Those witnesses which presently have my support give me, great, confidence that the Network is well managed on a technical level. As Steemit, Inc. makes a pivot toward Blockchain Consultants, the upcoming rocksDB HF gives the promise of a reasonable cost to the Network's future maintenance. The resently released Hiveminds supports that promise.
As Steemit, Inc. steps back from its leading role on the blockchain our choices of witnesses are more critical than ever before to the continuance of the blockchain.
So without further ado, in alphebetical order, allow me to present my Witness Picks....
Hive account@aggroed : Currently actively ranked at 2nd. Following Aggroed would be an activity of mine regardless of Aggroed being a witness or not, as we seem to share common views and interests beyond the steem blockchain. 😎
https://steemit.com/@aggroed
Hive account@anyx : Actively ranked at the 17th position. What really warmed me to Anyx is their 
Hive account@guard utility bot project, which searches for phishing links and presents a warning any time one is detected. To me this shows a witness who cares a great deal for their community. Its a great example of some of the quiet, yet incredibly valuable, contributions which some Witnesses make.
https://steemit.com/@anyx
Hive account@arcange : This witness is actively ranked as the 41st. Although not a household word, Arcange is the developer of the four impressive projects of SteemSQL, SteemitBoard, steem.net and SteemToolbar.
https://steemit.com/@arcange
Hive account@blockbrothers
Ranked 37th on the active witbesses' list. This witness team is another exception of not normally supporting such team witness accounts. This is primarily because of 
Hive account@exyle who always brings a positive and enthusiastic take on the blockchain. At this time of change such influences are needed more than ever, in my opinion.
https://busy.org/@blockbrothers
Hive account@bobinson : Ranked 73 on the active witnesses list. Hive account@bobinson came to my attention during the HF20 adoption. They showed themself to be someone who could help code us out of a, potential, disaster.
https://busy.org/@bobinson
Hive account@c0ff33a : Ranked 75th in the active witnesses list, Hive account@c0ff33a is an exception to my rule of, generally, not supporting witness teams. My belief is in one witness one vote and not witnessing by committee. However Hive account@c0ff33a already had my witness support prior to him witness teaming with 
Hive account@derangedvisions, so my support remains. They do seem to make a great team. 😎
https://busy.org/@c0ff33a
Hive account@devcoin : Devcoin is one of the original alt coins. For full transparency my position is HR Admin in the Devcoin Project.
The Hive account@devcoin account is currently being funded by the Devcoin Project in a merge mining endevor with Devcoin and Steem.
It is hoped that Devcoin can bring a second layer of earning to content creators while supporting Proof of Brain Voting.
More can be found about the Devcoin Project at:
http://devcoin.org
https://steemit.com/@devcoin
Hive account@dragosroua : Ranked 58th on the active witnesses list. Hive account@dragosroua is very engaging with the community. He may also be known as the creator of steem.supply. A solid Witness choice in my opinion.
https://busy.org/@dragosroua
Hive account@drakos : 19th on the active witness ranking. Drakos seems available and engaging. One can often find him live on the Witness Chat channel. Drakos seems a solid choice for a top 20 spot. It is that sacred 20 which get to vote on the software direction of the project.
https://steemit.com/@drakos
Hive account@enginewitty
Ranked 89th.on the active witnesses list.
Hive account@enginewitty's work with Steem Monsters cannot be hailed enough. Here is a dApp that could justify the steem network on its own. If you don't trust your addictive personality to participate in Steem Monsters, like me, one can at least support Hive account@enginewitty as witness. 😎
https://busy.org/@enginewitty
Hive account@firepower : Rated 46th on the active witness ranking.
Firepower engages with the community as a Steemit.chat Admin, Steemfest Crew, Project Curie and SteemCleaners & RHW. This would be a good person to make decisions in the sacred 20 in my opinion.
https://steemit.com/@firepower
Hive account@good-karma : 4th in the active witness ranking. Developer of eSteem, SteemMonitor, eSync, SteemFest and SteemAPI!
Not sure where he finds the time, but he has a pretty active blog, as well. We're lucky to have him in my opinion. 😎
https://steemit.com/@good-karma
Hive account@gtg : gtg is the topped ranked active witness. The chairman of the Board! 😎
After days of reading through outdated guides with outdated links of where to download the blockchain, Hive account@gtg took the time to leave a link, in the comments of a frustrated post of mine. He let me know where he has the blockchain available for download.
Engaging and a skilled programmer, Hive account@gtg is a great top 20 choice in my opinion.
https://steemit.com/@gtg
Hive account@jackmiller
Ranked 44th on the active witnesses list.
Jack is a self proclaimed "facts and figures" kind of guy. That, seems to me, a sensible approach of a steward of the the blockchain.
https://busy.org/@jackmiller
Hive account@justyy
Ranked 65th in the active witnesses list.
Hive account@justyy is a proven coder and generously shares many of his python scripts as open source. We need such talent and generousity in our witnesses in my opinion.
https://busy.org/@justyy
Hive account@liberosist : Liberosist is 62nd in the active witness ranking. Liberosist seems to be a strong supporter of the 
Hive account@curie project. After dropping support for Hive account@curie when taking on a more independent witness criteria (with some exceptions) Hive account@liberosist was offered support in their steed.
https://steemit.com/@liberosist
Hive account@lukestokes.mhth : Ranked 11th on the active witness ranking. Based in Germany, Luke explores his interests more in his non-witness account, 
Hive account@lukestokes.
https://steemit.com/@lukestokes.mhth
Hive account@patrice : Ranked 45th in the active witness. Patrice is a member and supporter of 
Hive account@steemcleaners and 
Hive account@spaminator, two worthwhile projects.
https://steemit.com/@patrice
Hive account@pcste
Ranked 136th in the active witnesses' list.
It is hard for me to remember what lead me to support Hive account@pcste exactly. Their photography is great and they seem very dependable in supporting the network through their witness node; however there was likely an even better reason for my support which now evades me. More when this senior's moment passes. 😎
https://busy.org/@pcste
Hive account@petertag
Ranked 137th in the active witnesses' list. It was only after interacting with Peter for a while that his activity as a witness became aware to me. He is presently studying Computer Science and seems ethusiastic and a great addition to the active witnesses.
https://busy.org/@petertag
Hive account@pfunk : Ranked 24th on the active witness listing. Pfunk was probably the first witness that came to my attention from their activity in the Open Mic Contest.
https://steemit.com/@pfunk
Hive account@pharesim
Ranked 28th in the active witnesses' list.
If memory serves it was Hive account@pharesim's involvement in the critically important steeminvite.com project which brought them my support.
https://busy.org/@pharesim
Hive account@quochuy
Ranked 95th in the active witnesses' list.
Hive account@quochuy has always been approachable and engaging, as well as having coding skills. He appears to be a solid witness by all indicators.
https://busy.org/@quochuy
Hive account@riverhead : Ranked 23rd on the active witness list Riverhead hosted steemit chat for a year before passing the torch on to a new team recently. Riverhead has also been a BitShares, Peerplays & MUSE witness.
Riverhead is not a prolific poster; yet is very active in the community. It is my assumption that Riverhead acquired a large voting base from their contacts on the many projects mentioned above.
https://steemit.com/@riverhead
Hive account@someguy123 : Ranked 9th! Someguy123 is a well respected and active witness. They have worked as a developer on the Litecoin Project as well as a lot of third party development with STEEM.
If in doubt about who to vote for, someguy123 is a pretty safe vote, in my opinion.
https://steemit.com/@someguy123
Hive account@steemychicken1 : Rated 76th on the active witness list, steemychicken1 came to my attention while researching setting up witness nodes. They had published guides on their blog. They seem to be there to help, particularly with technical issues.
https://steemit.com/@steemychicken1
Hive account@themarkymark : The 29th member of the active witness listing.
The only disagreement we share seems to concern voting bots. Themarkymark feels they are here to stay. Software solutions may still be available in my opinion.
Its not a big enough deal to remove my support; particularily how Hive account@themarkymark stood up, showing leadership, during HF20's failed launch.
https://steemit.com/@themarkymark
Hive account@timcliff : Ranked 3rd in the active witness listing. Tim is a very active witness who keeps an open line of communication with the community through his blog. He is also an able programmer which the project shall need as Steemit, Inc. takes a more blockchain focused approach going forward.
A fitting member of the sacred 20 in my opinion.
https://steemit.com/@timcliff
Hive account@ura-soul : Ranked 72nd in the active witness list. Ura-soul is the creator of steemocean and Ureka.
A cool and competent Witness!
https://steemit.com/@ura-soul
Hive account@yehey
Ranked 107th in the active witnesses' list.
Hive account@yehey massively supports their community through their curation project and stays engaged with weekly witness updates.
https://busy.org/@yehey
