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Author Topic: bitcoins  (Read 8033 times)

flipper

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2013, 10:38:04 AM »
Time is money and I'm out of both.
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"It all trickles down from the hot sex. I'm not saying you don't need cheese, just that if you concentrate on the hot sex, the cheese will follow. Naturally."--PsiDefect 03-19-2002 11:28 AM

random axe

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #16 on: April 25, 2013, 11:48:45 AM »
Quote
I tried to follow an explanation of what Bitcoin(s) is/are, but I still don't get it.

If I've followed it correctly . . .

Bitcoins are artificial money (I know, all money is artificial, but hang on) that don't have a physical form.  Instead, they're computer-code bits that theoretically can't be copied or forged.  They're like valuable World of Warcraft magic items that there aren't a lot of, except they're only valuable because people agree they're valuable, not because they help you kill dragons LOL.

You can buy bitcoins with other money, or you can 'mine' them.  The mining process is complicated but involves doing a lot of number crunching.  If your mining computer system does enough number crunching, then the Bitcoin Central computer will release a bitcoin to you.  The reason it's set up this way is so that you have to do something to get bitcoins.  It takes work to earn them.

Also, there are three other wrinkles meant to enhance the value of bitcoins:

1)  There will only ever be so many bitcoins, and then no more.  The Bitcoin Central knows how many it's released, and a few decades from now it will stop releasing them, forever.  I think the total number that can be released has also been set.  So there's a finite supply.

2)  As bitcoins get released due to 'mining', the Bitcoin Central makes it harder to mine more bitcoins.  It takes more and more number crunching, sort of like a mine where you have to keep digging deeper to find more gold.  The easy bitcoins have already all been mined, so a computer rig that could mine them last year can't realistically get any this year.

3)  Bitcoins are a currency not controlled by any government.  The Federal Reserve doesn't control how much they're worth and can't arbitrarily buy them up (in theory).  You can buy stuff with them tax-free (in theory), and it's hard for a government to track their use (in theory).

So they're pretend cybermoney, except they're actually worth something.  Honestly, probably the biggest threat to their value is that they may be replaced by some more popular form of cybermoney.  Like how MySpace got replaced by Facebook. 

Although if people get all hot for Facecoins, it'll just be another nail in our species' coffin.
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flipper

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #17 on: April 25, 2013, 01:40:06 PM »
Amazcoins are where it's at dude.
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"It all trickles down from the hot sex. I'm not saying you don't need cheese, just that if you concentrate on the hot sex, the cheese will follow. Naturally."--PsiDefect 03-19-2002 11:28 AM

Sidious

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #18 on: April 26, 2013, 08:05:55 AM »
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Quote from: random axe on October 02, 2014, 09:30:50 AM
Rich people won't kill the rest of us off until there are really good robots.

Dr. Leonard HmofCoy

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #19 on: April 26, 2013, 08:44:26 AM »
I might invent in Asscoins. Because :knotty:
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mybabysmomma

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #20 on: April 26, 2013, 10:09:53 AM »
Asscoins not accepted here. 
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flipper

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #21 on: April 26, 2013, 11:36:56 AM »
Don't we already have asspennies?
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"It all trickles down from the hot sex. I'm not saying you don't need cheese, just that if you concentrate on the hot sex, the cheese will follow. Naturally."--PsiDefect 03-19-2002 11:28 AM

Dr. Leonard HmofCoy

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #22 on: April 26, 2013, 02:25:00 PM »
They're good luck.
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"Parasitic wasps laying eggs in other insects is a better love story than Twilight." - :bitzero:
"Anyhow, it was the best sentient food movie since Killer Tomatoes Eat France." - :flipper:
"lee marvin in drag is no way to spread the gospel, son." - TFJ
"It failed. My enemies have been purged." - Sidious
"It's not like there was ever a time I didn't think Rudy Giuliani was a smug gibbering imbecile." - random axe
"*drags taint* Oh cool, I didn't know you could do that." - mo.d

Sidious

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #23 on: April 26, 2013, 04:43:20 PM »
But only if you DON'T pick them up.
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Quote from: random axe on October 02, 2014, 09:30:50 AM
Rich people won't kill the rest of us off until there are really good robots.

TFJ

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #24 on: April 26, 2013, 05:11:28 PM »
Asspennies! Band name thread
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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #25 on: May 01, 2013, 06:38:40 PM »
ESEA o lawd

Basically, everybody that plays Counter Strike with any seriousness got worked on this one.

(as long as people can still use them to buy drugs on Silk Road and etc, bitcoins will be a thing)

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the other andrea

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #26 on: May 01, 2013, 07:25:12 PM »
Quote
Bitcoin miners use up 100% of GPU processes and lead to a lowered hardware lifespan, and can actually damage it permanently.

 :trance:

I feel stupid for still not understanding this...
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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #27 on: May 01, 2013, 08:22:54 PM »
yea it's weird. Here's a deeper explanation...

One way to visualize it is a CPU works like a small group of very smart people who can quickly do any task given to them. A GPU is a large group of relatively dumb people who aren't individually very fast or smart, but who can be trained to do repetitive tasks, and collectively can be more productive just due to the sheer number of people.

It's a little extreme for a hardware malfunction to result from 100% usage though, but it can happen. Normally that would be an indicator of more extensive issues, but on the other hand it doesn't help performance much.



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pdrake

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #28 on: May 01, 2013, 09:39:47 PM »
i think the computation being done should have some purpose other than being awards an imaginary monetary symbol. something like seti at home.
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Dr. Leonard HmofCoy

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Re: bitcoins
« Reply #29 on: May 01, 2013, 11:22:01 PM »
Quote from: the other andrea on May 01, 2013, 07:25:12 PM
Quote
Bitcoin miners use up 100% of GPU processes and lead to a lowered hardware lifespan, and can actually damage it permanently.

 :trance:

I feel stupid for still not understanding this...

You know, run electrons through a component, component gets hot, component lifetime goes down. The big power drain is the fans of course. Run more electrons through the component, the faster it goes through the lifetime ...
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"Parasitic wasps laying eggs in other insects is a better love story than Twilight." - :bitzero:
"Anyhow, it was the best sentient food movie since Killer Tomatoes Eat France." - :flipper:
"lee marvin in drag is no way to spread the gospel, son." - TFJ
"It failed. My enemies have been purged." - Sidious
"It's not like there was ever a time I didn't think Rudy Giuliani was a smug gibbering imbecile." - random axe
"*drags taint* Oh cool, I didn't know you could do that." - mo.d
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