This is the start of a slightly more formal way of keeping everyone updated as to what we're doing in Monero. On an ongoing weekly basis we'll post an update on what has happened over the past week, as well as a dev diary highlighting work done on major efforts. If you'd like to get involved with Monero don't ask for permission - just get stuck in:) Fork the repo, make changes, submit a pull-request, and let's discuss it.
Also an important note on updates: Our policy is to only provide announcements on projects which are either complete or near completion. We'd like to focus on providing you with the most accurate and reliable news, without generating any type of investor hype or speculation. As Monero is still a project in its infancy, and there is a great deal of work still to be done, we want to make sure you are getting an honest overview of our ongoing progress.
1. The big one...we have a logo! If you use Monero in any of your projects, [you can grab a branding pack here](http://downloads.getmonero.org/resources/branding.zip). You can also see it in all its glory right here:
2. With our logo completed, we are going to be moving forward on a major overhaul and redesign of our website. We are also in the process of architecting and designing a better repository of information - which includes a forum-style that allows for both discussion, as well an open-source, crowd-funded development incubator. We will be keeping you updated on our progress in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the best place for threaded discussions are the [/r/monero subreddit](http://www.reddit.com/r/monero), and for live discussions join us on Freenode: #monero for general chat, #monero-dev for development efforts, and #monero-otc for price talk and over-the-counter trades.
3. The pool bounty has now closed, and was awarded to zone117x and LucasJones for their excellent work on the Node CryptoNote pool. You can see the results of their hard work on [their github repo here](https://github.com/zone117x/node-cryptonote-pool) or, you know, just use pretty much any of the Monero mining pools:)
4. In order to maintain ISO 4217 compliance, we are changing our ticker symbol from MRO to XMR effective immediately. This change primarily effects exchanges at this early stage, as we are sure that MRO will continue to be used colloquially and in general discussion. We are aware that this may cause a little confusion, but we feel it necessary to make this change early on rather than later when Monero is more widely spread.
We'd also like to take the time to introduce you to our core team (in no particular order) - tacotime, eizh, smooth, fluffypony, othe, davidlatapie, NoodleDoodle
Many others are involved in peripheral and related projects, including: zone117x, Neozaru, LucasJones, Wolf, Quanttek, and so many others
Thank you for your hard work if you have been involved in Monero already, and we look forward to continuing to innovate as keep Monero the most secure, private, untraceable cryptocurrency!
