Help me find a way to contribute to the community

[BMNY]

So i've been a long time lurker, only recently signed up. Been having a bad month and got screwed on a bunch of invoices by clients so posted a topic trying to sell some services/scripts to come up w/ some extra scratch w/ no luck and then out of desperation i created a topic in the lending section (knowing damn well i would catch some crap and probably have no luck) that i ended up locking because i didn't anticipate how much it'd offend the community in general, let alone specific members of the community.

Anyways, in the lending thread, it a comment was made that i haven't contributed to the community so i shouldn't be asking for anything (despite the fact i have, just not on this board / in a showy public fashion) and it got me thinking about how i might be able to contribute and frankly i'm not sure what i can do that'd make any real difference or benefit the community, i've been so swamped w/ work recently and trying to scramble to get through getting screwed, etc.. i'm a bit out of the loop, hence this thread.

I'm a software developer, primarily web based development but also do desktop and mobile development. Have over 10 years of experience doing it and i'm a pretty damn good dev. if i do say so myself. That being said, i'm wondering how my skillset could be best employed to contribute to the community and figured what better way to get ideas then to ask the community. So i created this topic to ask...

In what ways can a developer/all around technical sorta guy best contribute to the community. I obviously can't afford to work fulltime on something that'll see no returns as i have mouths to feed, etc.. but i would like to contribute more. If anyone has any ideas for scripts,programs or other things that might fall within my area of expertise that i could create/contribute, i'm all ears. I'll entertain any ideas and anything realistic that i can do with my current situation i will do simply to contribute. Along that same thread, if there's something the community needs developed that might have some real value and could be sold/resold to the community (at a reasonable price of course) i'd obviously like to do some things like that as well, however i'm not only entertaining ideas that can make me a profit, i'm entertaining anything i can reasonably do that will be widely accepted as a nice contribution to the community so please fire away.

[QuestionAuthority]

First, don't place any undue value on what anyone at this forum has to say about you. Second, Bitcoin needs another new product like Avocados need larger pits. There's enough people making new things already. If you have to donate your talent then go to GitHub Bitcoin and subscribe to the mailing list. Submit new unit tests for old code, QA testing or maybe translations. They always need help. Finally, the best thing you can do for Bitcoin is exchange your fiat cash for btc and use Bitcoin to pay for as many of your routine monthly expenses as possible. Bitcoin currently needs users more than anything else.

[matt608]

You could get a paid position working for the BitShares blockchain - the blockchain is hiring and your skills are needed!

Relevant info:
http://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/2nouij/make_2500_a_month_being_one_of_the_first_persons/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrif9uThwSY&feature=youtu.be&list=PLjgfpSQFJTLrdPBq7XCzA6XQHG2m9PTVX

General reading:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QUIWHR0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00QUIWHR0&linkCode=as2&tag=succecounc-20&linkId=MIFK4YEQ5YUWI3Q3%22%3EBitShares

Examples of delegate proposals from developers:
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=12494.0
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=11272.0
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=12027.0

Hope to see you there!
 

[Chef Ramsay]

The best way the average person can contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem is to buy some and either hold them or start buying/spending them on a reoccurring basis. Drive demand and push the bear sentiment out for good and let the good times roll.

[Nicolai Larsen]

The worst you can do is hold them. The best you can do is use them.

[MicroGuy]

Accept bitcoin only for payment or wages. That's what this currency needs most at this time.

[BMNY]

I currently accept and use bitcoin wherever i can. Was hoping to find a way to contribute more on the dev/technical front since that's what i'm good at. Also have a ton of marketing experience and a well rounded skillset in that arena. Maybe i should find a good project and try to get onboard w/ something pre-existing instead of starting / doing something from the ground up, idk.

[AnonBitCoiner]

Have you posted in the Marketplace services section? That's one thing you should do, so that the community can be made aware of your particular skillset. I'm sure that developers are high in demand. I've seen quite a few threads requesting work; whether you want a position or a gig, they're all posted there.

[charlieSeen]

The best way the average person can contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem is to buy some and either hold them or start buying/spending them on a reoccurring basis. Drive demand and push the bear sentiment out for good and let the good times roll.

I personally don't think that buy and hold does very much good for bitcoin. I would say that buying and spending bitcoin whenever you can would have a greater benefit to bitcoin as merchants would realize greater sales and their competitors would take notice and potentially also start to accept bitcoin (and potentially offer discounts for paying in bitcoin which will further drive consumer adoption)

[Elwar]

You have a talent, use it. This place is a treasure trove of ideas but short on execution. Go to the Project Discussion forum and read through a few projects going on, contribute to one of those.

Or, take your specialty at work and figure out how it can be done better with bitcoins.

It is like someone asking in 1995 how they can contribute to the Internet to make it better because they like the concept. The Internet did not need much development itself, it needed people to take their real world talents and put them on the Internet. Whether this was the pet shop owner deciding to make an online store or a computer programmer helping people make web pages. The Internet did not need pet shop owners continuing their pet store business while on the side learning TCP/IP routing protocols to maximize efficiency of the network.

Transform your career to use bitcoin so that it is not a side thing.

[Mickeyb]

Buy Bitcoins and use them!!