Bitcoin Forum

This is so awesome, no words can describe it :)

CoinLab released a desktop client mining software which generates goats for needy families.

http://www.geekwire.com/2012/geeks-charity-bitcoin-mining-give-goat/#utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+geekwire+%28GeekWire%29 (http://www.geekwire.com/2012/geeks-charity-bitcoin-mining-give-goat/#utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+geekwire+%28GeekWire%29)

http://pool.coinlab.com/partners/goats (http://pool.coinlab.com/partners/goats)

http://www.youtube.com/versusdebates

If you are switching to this because mining for Bitcoin is unprofitable, then you are only fooling yourself.

Scenario 1)
- You give $100 to the goat-needing families

Scenario 2)
- You mine 5 BTC for Coinbase, using $100 of electricity.
- Coinbase converts the BTC to USD.
- Coinbase sends $67.50 to the goat-needing families.

And no one sees the problem with this?

If you are switching to this because mining for Bitcoin is unprofitable, then you are only fooling yourself.

Scenario 1)
- You give $100 to the goat-needing families

Scenario 2)
- You mine 5 BTC for Coinbase, using $100 of electricity.
- Coinbase converts the BTC to USD.
- Coinbase sends $67.50 to the goat-needing families.

And no one sees the problem with this?

Now, if mining is still profitable for you, then all power to ya!  Just don't fool yourselves by thinking that this is a good idea if you can't already make money Bitcoin mining.

Also, Coinlab hasn't mentioned if 100% of the proceeds are indeed going to these needy families, or if they are taking a cut for "server" usage or something.  Would be nice if they put what percentage that cut is up front.

We are donating 100% PPS for all shares earned by people running the goat client.  So, no fee at all, we're actually taking a slight loss on this (due to orphaned blocks).  In addition, CoinLab is kicking this off by donating one full goat and our test-machine's 7970's hashing power.

This is mostly just a fun project for the holiday season while everyone is in the giving spirit.  (And to possibly introduce some people to the idea of Bitcoin mining who aren't familiar with it).

If you cant mine profitably anymore, we would love to hear that you're donating to Heifer directly: we're hoping this will both raise money for and awareness of their great organization.  Please feel free to post in this thread if you do!

If you are switching to this because mining for Bitcoin is unprofitable, then you are only fooling yourself.

Scenario 1)
- You give $100 to the goat-needing families

Scenario 2)
- You mine 5 BTC for Coinbase, using $100 of electricity.
- Coinbase converts the BTC to USD.
- Coinbase sends $67.50 to the goat-needing families.

And no one sees the problem with this?

Now, if mining is still profitable for you, then all power to ya!  Just don't fool yourselves by thinking that this is a good idea if you can't already make money Bitcoin mining.

Also, Coinlab hasn't mentioned if 100% of the proceeds are indeed going to these needy families, or if they are taking a cut for "server" usage or something.  Would be nice if they put what percentage that cut is up front.

Nice PR stunt.
Not trying to talk the effort down or anything, but if you really care for those people, you may wanna think of a way to generate goats once ASICs arrive.

Nice idea anyway!

P.S.: Has anyone told @Goat (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=44233) yet?

To be quite honest, I'm not sure if all this talk about giving goats / mining for goats is serious, or if it is satire.. WTF?!

Re: Phinneas's last post (not quoting because lots of images)

We've chosen to donate through Heifer International because of their great reputation, and are aware that they are other services which donate goats at a lower cost.  However, we trust that Heifer is spending the $120 per goat wisely: they include education on how to raise the goats and ongoing support to the families who receive them, which is likely why it costs them more than their "competitors".  

It's serious!

What, because an agrarian life is so far from most people's reality, they think it doesn't exist?

You're right-- people ALL OVER THE WORLD live like Americans. They live in planned subdivisions with names like "Deer Creek", "Whispering Valley" with identical-looking, poorly constructed 2-story houses a few feet from each other and surrounded by 8-foot-tall privacy fences, with garish consumer items in the lawns, large trampolines in the backyard, etc. They all have strip malls a couple miles from their house, homeowner's associations, and they work at retail establishments for a living. They drive there in their sedans and SUVs that they're leasing, etc. You get the idea.

No, plenty of countries actually grow/raise their own food. Usually because they don't have a choice, and that's the way it's always been done for them. They haven't been "Americanized" yet.

To be quite honest, I'm not sure if all this talk about giving goats / mining for goats is serious, or if it is satire.. WTF?!

.25833333 of goat unless it's a Greek entree.

Later, bud.

~Bruno K~

I couldn't help but think of this...

Exactly what I thought.

heifer international do not supply the goats.. their partners do

guess who the partners are.

OXFAM

heifer make profits.. oops that word should not be used when they call themselves non-profit.. so lets use the phrase, huge managerial labour costs.

so get rid of the middleman and put the cash through OXFAM send 2 goats to the needy instead of just 1

Quoted for importance.

Source please?

i know that bothar is linked with oxfam for the supplys stuff.. but heifer is not a goat SUPPLIER.

heifer ask for £120.. but oxfam/bothar only ask for £50/£55.. so i would prefer to give oxfam the £120 so they can buy atleast 2 goats and 40% towards a 3rd goat. which adds up the more that is donated.

heifer keeps atleast £60-£70 of funds..

i got nothing against a charity that atleast gathers some money for worthy charities as its better then no money.. but for the most effective use of the money. give it to oxfam

Wow... I personally understand that as a scam. This was not disclosed so far in the Coinlab internet page:

I wouldn't go that far.  Perhaps, a less efficient user of their resources.

Definition of fraud
noun
[mass noun]
wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal

As Coinlab mentioned, perhaps heifer takes up the task of teaching the people who receive these goats how to care for them, while offloading the responsibility of acquiring and delivering said goats to a 3rd party?

There is a promise: 'For every $120 raised through the Bitcoin mining, they’ll be able to send a goat to one family.'

That implies that the coast to delivery a goat is $120.

Now evidence shows that the delivery of a goat is almost the half of the value promised. This indicates that there are hidden costs which were not disclosed for the general public. This hidden costs are above any reasonable threshold expected from a charity organization. For each goat obtained for delivery, the charity organization is keeping an extra goat for themselves.

This is attempt of fraud because the hidden costs were not disclosed. The people which will donate is being tricked to believe that $120 is the price to delivery a goat.

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/fraud?q=fraud


This is a attempt of wrongful deception which Heifer (or Coinlab) intended to result in financial gain for themselves.


This is a joke, right?

The people which receive the goats do not need a special lessons to receive a goat or to care for goats. People which receive the goats already know what to do, how to do and why to do with a goat. It is part of their cultural formation. What they lack is the goat, not the skills to look after the goats.

People who have never had a goat may not know how to properly care for one to ensure its health and longevity.  Even though their neighbors may have a goat and have taken care of it, that doesn't mean it's the best method either.  Maybe their neighbor's goats could be living twice as long, and produce better milk in greater quantities if they had the knowledge that this organization could provide.  The thing is, you just don't know - you're only making assumptions.

Certainly, many charities could be considered frauds, given how much "overhead" they have, but I think you need more information to go by in this case. Start digging.  Find out what the $120 goes towards, besides just the acquisition of a goat.  Look at that charity report website that shows what percentage of donations go towards the people.  But don't go around calling charities frauds when you have no evidence to support it.

heifer is classed as charity sponsers/advertisers/campaign managers.. not charity ground troops doing the hard work for the needy.

Do you have proof of this?

Poor populations in developing countries learn skills related to their needs more than you and me will even learn in our whole life time. Living there is more than just wait for the waiter to serve the lamb meal you choose in a fancy menu.

[img.../img]

Poor populations in developing countries learn skills related to their needs more than you and me will even learn in our whole life time. Living there is more than just wait for the waiter to serve the lamb meal you choose in a fancy menu.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3809

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4288

Interesting read...  ::)

I thought that was a reasonable expectation: Where was my donation used? I asked Heifer International roughly where my donation was used so that I could start marking my map, and continue to donate. What Heifer Internation stated was they couldn't tell me where my funds were used. Furthermore, they didn't even provide me any message (card/email/letter) to provide me of proof that I even had made the donation. They told me to print my own statement from the website.

In 1980 I worked as a student in international development in Panama. I met a development worker there who excoriated Heifer International. He said HI's gift of an animal trapped impoverished farmers in a cycle of debt because they could not afford the necessary feed so Heifer gave them a loan for it which they could only pay back by selling the food they produced rather than eating it.

So with goats they're likely to butcher it and eat it right away rather than what may be best for the long term. If the program has strings attached like passing on the first born female goat then this won't happen unless monitoring, enforcement or incentives are present.

People in developed countries really do not know how uneducated people in less developed countries actually are, and even more so they don't understand how hard it is to change things.

Charity organizations are not supposed to enforce agreements on the poor, they are supposed to offer assistance for the poor. Heifer is a non-profit organization, not an enforcement agency.


I am not 'uneducated' because I come from a 'less developed' country. I got an excellent academic, scientific and moral education from Brazilian schools, from my family and from society. Your assumption is based on a false premise, which presumes that only developed nations have 'educated' people'. No... I am sorry for you, but we the Brazilians are very busy with our developing civilization. We are not barbarians, may I say... You are an idiot, sir.

In 2010, Heifer International President Jo Luck was named a co-laureate of the prestigious World Food Prize.

Heifer International received the 2006 Social Capitalist award from Fast Company magazine.

Heifer International also received the 2004 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for its efforts to eliminate hunger and help communities become self-sustaining. It was the first US-based organization to win the $1 million award since 1997.[3]

In 2003, Heifer International was named one of Forbes magazine's top 10 charities.[4]

In 2007, the Heifer International Headquarters building was named one of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Projects.[5]

In 2008, the Heifer International Headquarters building was named a National AIA (American Institute of Architects) Institute Honor Award Winner.[6]

I never said that all people are uneducated in developing countries. Read carefully what I did say. There's plenty of educated people in developing countries but the ones who are uneducated are the ones I'm talking about. And I'm not making stuff up. I've lived the past 10 years in a developing country and have plenty of first hand knowledge. So before calling me an idiot perhaps you should check your own reading comprehension.