Bitcoin LLTS Podcast

Why is something valuable?

1) Tough to obtain
2) limited quantities

The Dollar is Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law.

What is Bitcoin?

I call it a cryptographic currency. Wikipedia says:Bitcoin is a decentralized, peer-to-peer network that tracks and verifies transactions. Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2009 and described his work in a self-published paper.[3] The term Bitcoin is also used to refer to the digital currency implementation that users transact over that network, as well as the client software which users employ to access the network and conduct transactions.

I believe that bitcoin has more value than Fiat money.
A Bitcoin takes a significant investment to make, it is not just ink on paper, it takes time, skill & money to make.

When will the last Bitcoin be generated:

In the year 2140, the final bitcoin will be generated. Once the final Bitcoin is generated, there will be a total of 21 million Bitcoins.

How is that possible?

The difficulty of the cryptographic algorithm is changed ever 2048 blocks so that a block of 50 bitcoins is solved ever 10 minutes.

How divisible are Bitcoins?

Technically, a Bitcoin can be divided down to 8 decimals using existing data structures, so 0.00000001 BTC is the smallest amount currently possible. Discussions about and ideas for ways to provide for even smaller quantities of Bitcoins may be created in the future if the need for them ever arises.

What is the total number of Bitcoins in existence?


What is the current difficulty?

Block Explorer queries

Resources:

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/FAQ

Water Cooled Rig:














Air Cooled Rig with one inch Riser



DO NOT BUILD AN OIL COOLED RIG!

On The road with my Roku

ColdFusion consulting has taken me from the land of ColderFusion (Minneapolis) to Maine. I am doing a month on site, then working remote.

The hotel has WiFi, but has a web page that intercepts requests & displays a web page that requests a password. How do you get around it?

The Roku finds the network but can not log in & displays the MAC address.

The MAC address is also on the back of the device.

With my MAC laptop, I opened a Terminal window & typed the following:

sudo bash 

PASSWORD 

ifconfig en1 | grep ether 

This displays the current MAC address. SAVE IT!

Now enter:

ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport /usr/sbin/airport 

airport -z 

Now enter the MAC address of the Roku

ifconfig en1 ether 00:0D:4B:4B:64:DD 

Open a browser, type in the password. The MAC address of the Roku is now accepted by the network! :)

Reset your MAC's MAC Address to the original address you saved:

airport -z 

ifconfig en1 ether 00:AA:BB::64:DD 

Purchase Rooting & Tether of Verizon Samsung Galaxy S3

The reluctant Black Friday Shopper

It was Black Friday in Palm Beach, we slept late, it was almost 11:00 am before we left the house. We ended up at Costco.

The full and accurate description of the shopping event is a lot more laborious than I want to detail. The short of it is after leaving the store & wireless kiosk several times on Friday & returning on Saturday with a rain check, my wife, daughter and I all have Samsung Galaxy S3 phones! :)

The first phone was a gift for Christmas/Chanukah for my daughter. My wife, the non-techy-technophile wanted one & Friday after Costco closed, I had miss-the-deal remorse & wanted one too.

So, SkylarRose's phone was easy, add an smart phone to the plan, she shares our minutes, but not our unlimited data plan & of coarse she needs 1k sms/month. She is stuck with 2GB/month data.

So, try explaining what data is over the air vs SMS & voice to a ten year old! It all seems so simple to me, since I am older than dirt in Internet experience.

We returned later to get Teri a phone, since we are grandfathered into unlimited data, a phone deal would break that contract. We would have to pay ~$700/phone. :( The savvy kiosk manager added two dumb phone lines to our account for an extra $10/month for the next two years & everyone in the family got a $29.99 Galaxy S3

Daughter needs Data!

Being a hacker geek & it not being daylight yet... YES YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!

All I have to say is I hate/love the Internet. Opinions are like bathrooms, everyone has one. (Well you know the real saying)

I started searching & you-tubing for how to root the Galaxy S3, nothing FN worked!!! I can change a cylinder on a Lycoming O-320 quicker that I rooted the first phone!

So, if you have a MAC, and want to root with no BFD, here is what you need!

• Rooting Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xykRe9IcOE
• Rooting Files: http://ppl.ug/jpqsXbimu3I/
• Tether Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JI3ir9yAB4

The rooting video did not get the instructions exact for the contents of the file. The short is:

• Turn on USB Debugging
• Allow apps from unknown sources
• From a command line & within the same directory type:

  ./RootMac.sh  

THAT SIMPLE!!!

To properly finish rooting a phone, you need to install ClockworkMod, get the pro version! It makes life simple!

Also, add Titanium Backup.

I am sure there is more good stuff you can do as a root user!

$99 Chrome Box

Is a Chrome Box enough?

Do we really need a fully blown computer?

Do we really need hard drivers & DVD/Blue Ray burners?

http://www.slashgear.com/acer-kiev-chromebox-tipped-can-google-hit-the-99-price-point-18265850/ http://www.slashgear.com/samsung-chromebox-with-intel-core-i5-surfaces-16265466/

Is a Chrome Box enough?

I have a tablet, I use it on vacation/travel. For the most part it stays in my travel backpack. It's intended use was for a charting solution while flying. Avilution has a cool Android charting solution. They are continually updating it with new features.

I have a MSI Wind Netbook. It's purpose was to be a hackintosh. I needed to do code deployment after hours. I did not like carrying my heavy MacBook Pro back & forth to NYC on the LIRR & Subway. I used it the first year I was on the road consulting. With 2 gigs of ram I ran a VM with eclipse IIS & ColdFusion. I have built the Quad Core Hackintosh from LifeHacker. I have not seen the netbok in some time, the 9 cell battery died...

I did a side job & part of my compensation was a MacBook Pro. I have not seen my Quad Core in some time now.

I got a Retna MacBook Pro, gave my old one to my daughter. It is all solid state, no DVDR :(

My wife has a transformer with a keyboard, for the total cost, she could have had a laptop, maybe a hackintosh.

The Chrome Box is cool, I could use it for Netflix, but my Blue Ray does that, which replaced a Roku.

The Chrome Box as a set top box is a cool device, if you have a remote keybard with a trac pad, it could be a great TV/Computer device.

I am a lover of tech, but do not have a need for the Chrome Box. :(

But it might be right for you! :)

http://updates.lifehacker.com/post/34649102555/build-an-ivy-bridge-hackintosh-mini-for-under-500 http://www.apple.com/mac-mini/

Is an expensive Thunderbolt drive worth it?

Is an expensive Thunderbolt drive worth it?

Specifically the 1TB USB 3.0 & Thunderbolt interface Drive

What are the USB 3.0 Speed Numbers?

So the Thunderbolt speed must be amazing?

OMG! They are Identical!

So why would I pay 3x the cost of a USB 3.0 drive?

-OR- Even more than a 2TB USB 3.0 Drive?

I got the drive to store virtual machines on. So I wanted it for:

Thunderbolt Speed
Gives me a free USB connector, since the MacBook Pro only has two & I have a mouse dongle in one.

How about I get this USB 3.0 Drive, whose style fits the Mac

-AND- I get this bluetooth mouse to keep a free USB port?

So, I spend a little less money, have twice the disk space, with the same styling & a cooler looking mouse!

Sounds like a win!

Here is a video with the testing details