Community post
My Steemit Introduction

Greetings Steemians my name is Tom. I go by tcblack almost everywhere on the internet.... Though I have seen a few websites where others who took my name before I got there.
I’ve been playing with technology since my dad came home with a Commodore 64.
When I tore open the package and asked him how to use it, he handed me a manual and walked away. That was the greatest gift he could have given me when it comes to computer knowledge.
I learned to program BASIC (and then forgot it all). I spent so much time geeking out with computers that I formed a startup business in the 80’s and 90’s building and repairing computers named “Component Connections.” Ah those were the days.
Back then - before the Internet was a thing- I ran a Bulletin Board system called “Midnight Run” on a tricked out 16Mhz computer and a 300 baud modem don’t laugh, that was big stuff back then. I connected with a few other BBS every night on a schedule to upload and download mail/newsgroups long before everyone had an email address.
Later, I even taught myself Linux by faithfully following Gerard Beekmans’ instructions on building Linux from Scratch (#12818 to complete and register).
Today I am a Pastor in Central Illinois. And I still get my tech on by working with a company called Logos Bible Software as an MVP in their forums. (Though I’m on a bit of a overlong hiatus).
Way back before BOINC existed I was part of the United Devices (UD) experiment in Distributed Computing with a ton of Work units under my belt. When BOINC sprang into being I remember lobbying for UD and World Community Grid (WCG) to shift over to it. When it finally did... well I had to quit running BOINC because I couldn't afford it.
Cost and cash is what it comes down to. I hate to say it but science costs money. Running BOINC back then raised my electric bill to a point where I had to shut it down in order to feed my family. When it got doable again I had forgotten it.
There was a brief time when I first heard about Gridcoin at the beginning that I tried to get involved, but once again I lacked the time to invest and let it go as a fad. Whoops.
It wasn’t until Gridcoin resurfaced in my memory that I determined I might be able to make boinc pay for itself. Thus the dream of Gridcoin making it “profitable” to run boinc worked for me. Once I started plugging into BOINC and Gridcoin again I started reading about Steem.
So here I am on Steem, ready to do my part to contribute to the community of Gridcoin... for science! (And GRC).
Right now I’m working on several posts and an experiment for Gridcoin.
I can’t wait.
Replies (16)
welcome to the steemit community :)
Greetings my friend!
I am glad that our community has increased with one more member!
I hope that you will find here a way to realize yourself, and to benefit others
Be yourself, be sincere, be honest and worthy of the place you are in.
I Upvoted your post and Resteem of your greeting in my feed, where you you can search friends and other minnows...
I think you can use this collected information:
First off all! Most answers to your questions you can find here https://www.steemithelp.net/
Blockchain Explorer https://steemd.com/@_Your_Steemit_Nickname
Blockchain Explorer and statistics https://steemdb.com/@Your_Steemit_Nickname
Your account achievements https://steemitboard.com
Navigate the prices and exchanges where you can buy Steem or sell SBD
Steem
SBD
For the your first post use please #introduceyourself tag! Thank you:)
You can become a participant in the competitions, by selecting the desired in the tag #contest or invent and organize your own.
More useful tips and steemit app you can find in #steemit & #steem tag
There is a Steemit chat with various rooms, in which you can ask questions, advice, or place your post to advertise it to the community https://steemit.chat
Upvote chat in the telegram massager:
https://t.me/steem
https://t.me/intercambiosteemit
https://t.me/Steemplus
Similarly, by reading the posts of other Steemians you can find invitations to the Discord channels! They often contain upvote chats, and you can easily find friends of interest in them
Here are some of them:
_World Of Photography https://discord.gg/4Ezx2eM_
_MinnowBOOSTER https://discord.gg/k7fWQD7_
_SteemSports https://discord.gg/ApvKKUF_
_WhaleShares https://discord.gg/DX7zErC_
_Steem Gigs https://discord.gg/NuFVxKA_
_SteemTrail https://discord.gg/gHt2aGN_
_Minnow-Power channel https://discord.gg/WvFQzXu_ notify
_Steemit Lover https://discord.gg/EVKhssF_
_GuideSteemit https://discord.gg/nkwh36Y_
_BuildAWhale https://discord.gg/yebax27_
_Steemit ramble https://discord.gg/9pUSjv8_
_VotoVZLA https://discord.gg/VhgeFJQ_
_Steem Life https://discord.gg/SD3ReMm_
_SteemLab https://discord.gg/phWQveU_
_MinnowsUnite https://discord.gg/CJEEfgb_
_Steemians https://discord.gg/uR95R7t_
_Society for Narwhal https://discord.gg/repxc9v_
Territorial communities
Steemit Philippines https://discord.gg/VyG83AN | https://discord.gg/Q8956PF
Steem NIGERIA https://discord.gg/Y3u2z6T
East Coast Steem https://discord.gg/QXduBuk
Ukraine SteemOn https://discord.gg/cxq8JQd
Ru-Steem Trail https://discord.gg/8KyDBUx
Let us know if you know more or create new!
Alternative interfaces:
https://zappl.com
https://busy.org
https://steepshot.io (-mobile app have to)
Forums https://chainbb.com
Mobile app - eSteem :
for Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netsolutions.esteem&hl=ru
for iOS https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/esteem-mobile/id1141397898?mt=8
Forget about youtube! There is https://d.tube!
Have fun and joke yourself with https://dmania.lol/
A public SQL database with all blockchain data http://steemsql.com https://sql.steemhelpers.com
From Developers https://steemconnect.com
Rewarding Open Source Contributors
https://utopian.io | https://discord.gg/kPYBCYK
Autocuration1 https://steemvoter.com
Autocuration2 https://streemian.com/profile/curationtrail/trailing/943
Bot Tracker https://s3.amazonaws.com/yabapmatt/bottracker/bottracker.html#paid
Use @minnowbooster for boost your rewards!
More https://www.minnowbooster.net
https://www.minnowbooster.net/minnowbannericon.jpg
You also need to select witnesses and vote for them. These are people who ensure decentralization of the work of the blockchain. Make your choice consciously, by choosing responsible and useful delegates
https://steemit.com/~witnesses
Golos wait for you too! Find more here about Golos.io blockchain platform - analogue Steemit! This is Steemit,s younger brother! Join us: https://golos.io/create_account
Regarding the correction, insertion or deletion of your information, please contact @Dimarss
Welcome to steemit @tcblack
This post may help you :)
https://steemit.com/introduceyourself/@asadullah/sharing-my-two-month-steemit-journey-and-introducing-grand-alliance
Welcome to Steemit @tcblack. I had an Atari 64k computer back in the 80's, and some of my friends had Commodore 64's. I really loved that computer, so I can relate to you. In my town we had an Atari users group called ACUSOFT. It was a very good group that had it's own software library for sharing with members. Those were great times!
As for the cryptocurrencies, I'm invested in several incuding Steem, and Steem Power, but it looks as though governments around the world including the USA are starting to crack down on them. Crypto's threaten their fiat currencies, and monopoly on money you know. I'm afraid they're going to choke them through banking regulations, much like they did with the online gaming industry. By making it illegal for banks and visa/mastercard etc. to allow funding through these institution. Said differently, they'll block those purchase transactions. This will effectively kill crypto's by choking off their cash flow. I hope I'm wrong. Yes, I really hope not, but it looks that way in light of recent news. Maybe it's time to start writing congress, but I doubt they'll help.
Again, welcome @tcblack! Good luck Reverand, and I hope to get to know you better.
Take are,
James @jamesgun
Welcome to Steemit! Thanks for supporting Gridcoin!
For some reason Steemit is returning the error:
no callback registered to handle error Voter has used the maximum number of vote changes on this comment.after I tried to upvote your post a number of times so I upvoted this random comment of yours instead.Get it together Steemit!
Thanks James. It's strange, but we never forget our first computer.
Hah! Thanks for your diligence. I'm sure I'll learn about more of Steem's quirks.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Welcome to steemit, always good to have another Gridcoin and BOINC fan here
welcome...thanks for sharing.
i wish your good success..
Hi Tom, and welcome. The Gridcoin community grows by the day!
Congratulations @tcblack, you have decided to take the next big step with your first post! The Steem Network Team wishes you a great time among this awesome community.
The proven road to boost your personal success in this amazing Steem Network
Do you already know that awesome content will get great profits by following these simple steps, that have been worked out by experts?
Yeah, it does that if you change your vote too often. Another quirky thing it does, is that removing an upvote or flag does not return the voting power to your pool.
Wow...
I wish that was clearer. Good to know. Thanks @dutch!