Re: [Discuss] Any miners?

2017-06-18 Thread Jeffrey Creem 
More people mining does not push price down as the difficulty adjusts
(about every 2 weeks) automatically to keep the average rate of discovery
of a block at 10 minutes.

Also, GPU mining of bitcoin has not really  been possible for a couple of
years.

You need custom ASICS. Cloud mining can be done  the cloud provider needs
hardware designed to mine bitcoin...
Not just a really fast computer.



On Jun 18, 2017 5:38 PM, "David Johnson"  wrote:

>
> Recent article, however it doesn't get into the risks.  There is
> clearly capital investment needed if you're going to be somewhat
> serious about it.
>
> https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/an-idiots-guide-
> to-building-an-ethereum-mining-rig
>
> If it's worth it depends on both electricity cost (which is highly
> variable by geo location worldwide), but also the payback of any
> hardware purchased.  If the currency falls in value before you've paid
> back your hardware investment after electricity cost you've lost money
> and potentially lots of it.
>
> My impression is the more people mine, the currency price will be
> pushed back down to find an equilibrium so there's lots of risk if
> you're making an investment.
>
> The alternative strategy would be to use cloud based GPU instances on
> demand when prices spike but not otherwise.  That way there is no
> capital investment.  Now if cloud based GPU instances ever would be
> cheap enough is a different question.
>
>
>
>
>
> Neil Schelly writes:
> > I have a coworker who makes money mining. His strategy is to mine for
> > the alternative currencies that are still comparatively easy to mine
> > than BitCoin. Whatever value he earns there gets exchanged for value
> > in BitCoin. From what I gather, he makes a decently steady side income
> > from it, though I haven't really probed for details. I suspect it's in
> > the range of a few thousand dollars a month profit.
> > -Neil
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 8:46 PM, Lloyd Kvam  wrote:
> > > Bitcoin did hit a peak value of $3,000 last week, so that would help
> the economics.
> > >
> > > My impression is that you need some edge in cost of bandwidth,
> electric power, or
> > > computer hardware for this to be an attractive business. Just tracking
> the blockchain
> > > can use enough resources to be annoying.
> > >
> > > An alternative approach would be to bet on bitcoins displacing gold:
> short gold and
> > > buy bitcoins. Of course that does not let you play with hardware.
> > >
> > > On Fri, 2017-06-16 at 18:12 -0400, Bill Ricker wrote:
> > >> Bitcoin initially did not require specialized hardware, but as new
> golden
> > >> hashes get harder to find, mining costs more in electricity and
> > >> depreciation without speciality gear (or a huge BITNET running for
> free).
> > >> If scarcity drives up BTC value, maybe, but odds of finding one still
> > >> declining as payoff increases. I haven't checked the calculation
> lately, it
> > >> would be a good exercise: what would an AWS VPS mining cluster big
> enough
> > >> to average 1 BTC mined per week cost to operate?
> > >>
> > >> Which if any of the alt-coins have legit upside is not yet clear, and
> the
> > >> most likely of them already requires a cluster and has had its first
> major
> > >> scam.
> > >>
> > >> / bill
> > >>
> > >> On Jun 16, 2017 5:58 PM, "Greg Rundlett (freephile)" <
> g...@freephile.com>
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> >
> > >> > My son is investigating crypto-currency mining and seems to think
> it's
> > >> > incredibly lucrative.
> > >> >
> > >> > I've not delved into it at all.
> > >> >
> > >> > Comments? Anyone actually making money mining?
> > >> >
> > >> > From what I've previously gathered, I thought the amount of
> computational
> > >> > power, expense and electricity just about squeezed out anybody but
> those
> > >> > with super-specialized hardware.
> > >> >
> ___
> gnhlug-discuss mailing list
> gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
> http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
>
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: [Discuss] Any miners?

2017-06-18 Thread David Johnson 

Recent article, however it doesn't get into the risks.  There is
clearly capital investment needed if you're going to be somewhat
serious about it.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/an-idiots-guide-to-building-an-ethereum-mining-rig

If it's worth it depends on both electricity cost (which is highly
variable by geo location worldwide), but also the payback of any
hardware purchased.  If the currency falls in value before you've paid
back your hardware investment after electricity cost you've lost money
and potentially lots of it.

My impression is the more people mine, the currency price will be
pushed back down to find an equilibrium so there's lots of risk if
you're making an investment.

The alternative strategy would be to use cloud based GPU instances on
demand when prices spike but not otherwise.  That way there is no
capital investment.  Now if cloud based GPU instances ever would be
cheap enough is a different question.





Neil Schelly writes:
> I have a coworker who makes money mining. His strategy is to mine for
> the alternative currencies that are still comparatively easy to mine
> than BitCoin. Whatever value he earns there gets exchanged for value
> in BitCoin. From what I gather, he makes a decently steady side income
> from it, though I haven't really probed for details. I suspect it's in
> the range of a few thousand dollars a month profit.
> -Neil
> 
> On Fri, Jun 16, 2017 at 8:46 PM, Lloyd Kvam  wrote:
> > Bitcoin did hit a peak value of $3,000 last week, so that would help the 
> > economics.
> >
> > My impression is that you need some edge in cost of bandwidth, electric 
> > power, or
> > computer hardware for this to be an attractive business. Just tracking the 
> > blockchain
> > can use enough resources to be annoying.
> >
> > An alternative approach would be to bet on bitcoins displacing gold: short 
> > gold and
> > buy bitcoins. Of course that does not let you play with hardware.
> >
> > On Fri, 2017-06-16 at 18:12 -0400, Bill Ricker wrote:
> >> Bitcoin initially did not require specialized hardware, but as new golden
> >> hashes get harder to find, mining costs more in electricity and
> >> depreciation without speciality gear (or a huge BITNET running for free).
> >> If scarcity drives up BTC value, maybe, but odds of finding one still
> >> declining as payoff increases. I haven't checked the calculation lately, it
> >> would be a good exercise: what would an AWS VPS mining cluster big enough
> >> to average 1 BTC mined per week cost to operate?
> >>
> >> Which if any of the alt-coins have legit upside is not yet clear, and the
> >> most likely of them already requires a cluster and has had its first major
> >> scam.
> >>
> >> / bill
> >>
> >> On Jun 16, 2017 5:58 PM, "Greg Rundlett (freephile)" 
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> > My son is investigating crypto-currency mining and seems to think it's
> >> > incredibly lucrative.
> >> >
> >> > I've not delved into it at all.
> >> >
> >> > Comments? Anyone actually making money mining?
> >> >
> >> > From what I've previously gathered, I thought the amount of computational
> >> > power, expense and electricity just about squeezed out anybody but those
> >> > with super-specialized hardware.
> >> >
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Re: [Discuss] Any miners?

2017-06-18 Thread Joshua Judson Rosen 
On 06/16/2017 06:12 PM, Bill Ricker wrote:
> Bitcoin initially did not require specialized hardware, but as new golden 
> hashes get harder to find, mining costs more
> in electricity and depreciation without speciality gear (or a huge BITNET 
> running for free). If scarcity drives up BTC
> value, maybe, but odds of finding one still declining as payoff increases. I 
> haven't checked the calculation lately, it
> would be a good exercise: what would an AWS VPS mining cluster big enough to 
> average 1 BTC mined per week cost to operate?

IIRC Amazon asks the purpose of your cluster before they rent it to you;
do they accept bitcoin-mining? And do they report you to the IRS/SEC? ;)

-- 
Connect with me on the GNU social network: 

Not on the network? Ask me for an invitation to the nhcrossing.com social hub!
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/

Boston Linux Meeting, Wednesday, June 21, 2017 - Introduction to Buildah

2017-06-18 Thread Jerry Feldman 
When:  June 21, 2017 7PM (6:30PM for Q)
Topic: Introduction to Buildah
Moderators:   Nalin Dahyabhai, Daniel J Walsh
Location: MIT Building E-51, Room 335
Note room change from last monnth
Summary:
Buildah is a command line tool which facilitates building OCI container 
images

Abstract:

The buildah package provides a command line tool which can be used to

create a working container, either from scratch or using an image as a 
starting point
create an image, either from a working container or via the instructions 
in a Dockerfile
images can be built in either the OCI image format or the traditional 
upstream docker image format
mount a working container's root filesystem for manipulation
unmount a working container's root filesystem
use the updated contents of a container's root filesystem as a 
filesystem layer to create a new image
delete a working container or an image

https://github.com/projectatomic/buildah

For further information and directions please consult the BLU Web site
http://www.blu.org

*** Parking Notice *** *** MIT just changed to new parking regulations ***
Parking at MIT without a Permit
MIT parking permits are required for all vehicles on MIT property.
Vehicles without MIT parking permits parked in any MIT parking area will 
be subject to ticketing or towing. ​

After Hours
Anyone with a valid MIT parking permit can park his/her vehicle in any 
parking facility on campus after 2:30 PM, Monday through Friday, and all 
day on weekends and MIT holidays. Please note that parking is only 
allowed in spots that are not otherwise reserved.

​Change here is that permits for any lot now valid in all lots after 
2:30; previously permits were not required per website after 5 and in 
reality after 3, but now no. Parking is at risk. Cambridge meters and 
the pay lots and garages are the only safe options.

E51 ceases to be extra awesome, now merely great (T) and A/V.  ​
http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation/parking/visitors/

The parking lot on the corner of vassar St and Mass Ave is available

After the meeting we will adjourn to the official after meeting meeting
location at The Cambridge Brewing Company
http://www.cambridgebrewingcompany.com/
-- 
Jerry Feldman 
Boston Linux and Unix
PGP key id:3BC1EB90
PGP Key fingerprint: 49E2 C52A FC5A A31F 8D66  C0AF 7CEA 30FC 3BC1 EB90






























































-- 
Jerry Feldman 
Boston Linux and Unix http://www.blu.org
PGP key id:B7F14F2F
PGP Key fingerprint: D937 A424 4836 E052 2E1B  8DC6 24D7 000F B7F1 4F2F
___
gnhlug-discuss mailing list
gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org
http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/