Welcome to BitShares, here is your new desk.  Nevermind the fact that it has the name Brian Page carved into it.

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind having Brian and his budget now that there's a product he could actually sell.

I am grateful every day. This is a transformative technology that can improve the world in many, many ways. I guess I have a different perspective on the forum, because to me criticism (if it's done well) is usually a good thing. When you're only self-congratulatory about what you have achieved, that is when progress slows to a standstill. There is little reason to improve or strive for the next level. I see constructive criticism as absolutely mission critical unless one feels that we've already earned the right to be complacent. I've very much enjoyed reading peoples' thoughts on how we can improve (which, I suppose, is easy enough for me to say since I'm not in the developers' shoes). If some people take constructive criticism the wrong way, then I'm sorry, but a thick skin serves everyone far better in the long run. For what it's worth, I have done an awful lot of positive posting in the last couple of years, probably the majority of my posts have been extolling the virtues of BitShares and what it can achieve. I have personally thanked some of the devs.

Rather than celebrate achievements, I think the most positive contribution is to identify practical uses. Empirical put together a GREAT list here:

https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php/topic,21115.msg274117.html#msg274117

I personally was a fan of SPERM.  I shouldn't admit it openly but it made me laugh.

Twasn't me. My brother fancies himself a comedian sometimes.

Thanks for the update. Looking forward to getting this project started in earnest!

It's time for my New Year's confession. I'm usually nice and am one of the first people to welcome and help new community members, but at times I can be a bit of a curmudgeon. It's tough love, but quite understandably some may take it the wrong way. More specifically, I had doubts about a couple of community members when they first came here. I was wrong and I'd now like to apologize to those people.

@kenCode , you are working tirelessly on behalf of BitShares and I want to thank you. I hereby apologize for doubting your sincerity some months back. You seem like a very good person and full of great effort.

@kuro112 , I poked fun at you in a couple of threads when there was some disagreement over your software delivery. I knew little-to-nothing of the situation and had no business saying anything negative. You Freebie guys are developing a great track record. You seem honest, you seem committed, you get things done, and I think you've been wonderful for BitShares. Thank you for all your good work.

@fuzzy , I don't think I've ever slandered you, but I have sometimes publicly disagreed with the direction. I do appreciate what you are doing and thank you for working so hard to build a decentralized community.

Please find it in your hearts to forgive me. But please, don't send me any more of your crapcoins! 

Yeah, Brent's been in BitShares since before me. He was trying to get us all to go in on his consensus work, remember? Glad he's still trading.

Kraken's expansion is another excuse:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/41vhzz/im_jesse_powell_cofounder_ceo_at_kraken_ama/cz5lt3w