Only if you get the deluxe model! More like .2c...

I'm going to have to disagree on several points.

First, the cost to manufacture chips is pretty miniscule. The initial cost is development, and making the mask. Once that's done, it's pretty much just the cost of the silicon and the manufacturing run. Once the NRE is out of the way, they can lower their prices substantially. If they are smart, they will do it incrementally in response to market conditions, thus making enough profit to repeat the cycle on a higher order chip next time round without having to do the pre order thing. Face it, AMD, Intel, and their ilk are NOT selling 'obsolete' chips at a loss. They have recovered their R&D costs and have continued to manufacture the chip on it's actual cost basis, then market it for what they can get. I doubt they ever get below 100 percent markup over all costs before discontinuing a line.

As for the game being up for the small operator?

I think not. I think the game for the small operator RIGHT NOW is wait and see. You are looking at an arms race for who can deliver better, faster, and cheaper $/BTC/<insert fiat>  per GH/s or even TH/s. Sit and wait a few months and you'll see all sorts of first gen hardware in the secondary market for satoshis on the BTC initial price. Just like in the PC world, today's Badass is tomorrow's dumpster treasure. If you can get it damn near free, it WLL give you a positive ROI fairly quickly unless the cost of electricity skyrockets. Every gamer, whether in business, life, or chess, has to be able to adapt to changes in the game. This one has so many variables that I think there are still many MANY winning strategies for the little guy. You just have to fake patience.

It is my thought, based on them saying they were working on a second gen design already, that they probably went standard cell on the first gen in order to get quickly to market with a viable product that they knew they could produce, while reserving the "work of art"  for the next iteration.

I don't know this, of course, it's just my speculation.

But it's the way I would do it. Promise what you are sure you can achieve, and work to blow it out of the water in the meantime.

So far, other than some marketing hiccups out of the gate, KNC has seemed the most professional of the lot, and I'm taking nothing from Bitfury on that. He and his collaborators did deliver the high grade goods ahead of everyone, almost when predicted in fact. That's outstanding. I think he and the KNC crew are worthy competitors in an arena where there are too many dodgy at best operators and a great many straight out scams. Had I been able to raise the funds for my own speculation, I would have bet on KNC to deliver first. Bitfury looked a little scammy to me. I would have bet wrong on delivery, but I still think in the long term KNC has the goods. I also think Bitfury does. This is an interesting game, is it not?

Also, as Bitcoinorama pointed out, KNC have consistently had the mantra of "under promise and over deliver". We only know what they want us to see regarding their actual power consumption. They are playing a close hand, and it may actually be significantly better than we've been told. We will hopefully all know in a couple weeks.

In the meantime, Congratulations to Bitfury. You did a bang up job from left field.

so you don't believe in the idea that government is to SERVE the people, rather than be our masters?

Bligh did survive that you know...

first one is correct. Developed by the Marines in the 1800's.

I would amend the second line to are not willing to kill, as quite often the intent is to defuse the situation, and the third isn't really a rule but is a good adjunct. I have not memorized the rest of the list, as it's all clarification of the first rule. Such as be sure of your back drop, aim carefully, things like that.

I am happily surprised that someone was so quick with that. In the cities I've lived in, people come up with all kinds of really wacky stuff. The one I hear the most often is never point a gun at someone. That makes me nuts. In a SHTF situation, even just a personal one, you are of course HOPING to point your gun at the aggressor before they can do unto you.

Never met a country boy (or girl for that matter) who didn't know the rule.

Mine's almost seven. Still don't sleep, unless there's a chore to be done...

Congrats, Bar.

Damn, ya beat me to it! (sorry "Rama, it's just funny)

This. +1

I want to reiterate that ALL of the mass shootings in my lifetime have been in places where it is illegal to carry a weapon, rendering the victims defenseless. I have heard of maybe three incidents in that time where some fool tried it in an area where arms were extant, with very different results. Either the perp dead or disarmed with little or no harm inflicted on innocents.

As to why *I* want an "assault" weapon, specifically an AK variant, is because it's a damn fine rifle with better reliability than practically anything, and it's simple.

I had the single fire version in the past, and it is decent for hunting as long as you're not after bear or elk or some other ridiculously tough animal, but it's best for shooting back in a bad situation. I actually prefer pistols for myself, as my visual acuity makes gun-sights an iffy proposition due to astigmatism, but at the ranges a pistol is best for (which is not coincidentally the ranges that the maniacs go for against targets they know to be unarmed), sights are unnecessary. But in a SHTF scenario, I would want a rifle. The reliability and simplicity of the AK make it my rifle of choice.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not a particularly powerful rifle. A 30.06 is a much more dangerous gun against an armored target, and it's long range accuracy is superb. It also kicks like an angry mule, which makes it impractical for a small framed guy like me. That it's far less likely to be banned is kind of amusing, as it was originally developed as a sniper's gun back around the turn of the 20th century.

The truth regarding the banning of assault rifles is that they are kind of a connoseur's weapon, and thus an easier target for the politicians than the guns that are actually most often used in crimes. No, I don't think those should be banned either, as I believe the first requisite of liberty is general competent armament.

While taken as a whole, the US has more gun violence than all other nations that I am aware of (by population, at least), the US is NOT a homogenous culture. Those areas where armament is pretty general have low crime rates. The places that report the most gun violence also have the most restrictive laws regarding legal possession of firearms. This correlation is too specific to be a fallacy, and is one of the things the gun bannin' crowd never likes to respond to. I live in Idaho, which has the loosest gun laws in the country to my knowledge, except wrt concealed carry. Armament is common and unremarkable in this society, and we have a very low violent crime rate. Thugs like to HAVE guns, not face them.

I'm not sure if it's still true, but for a very long time the District of Columbia was the murder capital of the world (the private sort, not government wars). It was illegal to even OWN a handgun or long gun in the District, yet it had the most gun deaths. When you disarm the potential victim, that potential goes WAY up.

As to the argument that most people can't handle the responsibility, I'm divided. Given that modern society/government goes to great lengths to protect the willfully stupid, you have a valid argument, but I believe that the key there is education, not regulation. Any idiot can operate a gun, which is why I make the distinction between merely being armed and being COMPETENTLY armed. I am not going to shoot somebody by accident or in a fit of rage. I understand and respect the power of my weapons and will keep my head in a tense situation. This is not the result of temperament, but of training and education. I have handled firearms, safely, for nearly four decades. I have taught many others how to do so. I will teach my son to shoot and when NOT to shoot before much longer. He's still too young, but he already knows the first rule of gun safety.

And I think I will end off with a question of my own, for whoever wants to take a stab at it, because I find that Americans are woefully undereducated on this.

What is the first rule of gun safety?

, hell, I can't even organize my life! But I agree with you in general. Some people just walk in with "kick me" plastered on their forehead.

In a totally unrelated matter, does your screen name refer to Rush's 2112? If so, there's a subject I've not been a newbie on since 1978

Just escaped Charleroi in June. The liquor board is bad enough, so bad it got used by the soviets in anticapitalist propaganda, but damn what a PIT! I spent 8 years in that hell hole that I can never recover. I don't understand why the youth of western PA don't leave en masse. It's a horrible, ugly, dystopian nightmare. And I AM being nice.

There's something honest in PA? Can't be near Pittsburgh.

Thanks for the correction. It's been a lot of years. I had thought, though, that the 50Hz was supposed to be significantly less dangerous than 60Hz. Could be wrong.

The main lesson I took from Dear ol' Dad was to avoid becoming part of the circuit, regardless of frequency

LOL!

So much for brevity. The human body "syncs" with a 60hz signal really easily, and at household voltage that can cause your heart to stop or to beat wrong. At 50 hz this effect is much less likely.

My dad is an electrician, so I grew up around this stuff. 50 Hz doesn't make a lot of difference as far as stepping up or down, but it is safer to handle , as your heart also runs at about 60Hz. Still  a bad idea to make yourself part of the circuit

At any rate, there is just as much flexibility in the USA as in EU, just depends on how you want to install it. In a house or shop that you own, you can get pretty much any power configuration you desire if you have the resources to have it properly installed. In a rental you're pretty well stuck with 220/110. And, unfortunately, most residences have a 200 amp service, so you can't expand a hell of a lot without getting your panel and meter replaced (or a second setup installed).

What I"ve seen being a bigger issue is the incredible variance in generated power in the US. In most of the western states it's pretty clean, and tends to run 3-5 volts RMS above rated. In some of the midwest and the eastern states, I have put a meter on the wall and over a period of an hour seen a +/- variance of up to 30 percent. That will let the smoke out of your electronics. It is well worth the money to get a UPS and very good line spike protection when dealing with potentially sensitive electronics. Line power hasn't gotten any better, but electronics have gotten tougher over the last decade. ASIC mining manchines are likely NOT up to consumer grade standards. Don't let a utility company kill your investment.

This. I am a newbie to bitcoin, been involved for a few months. When I first started posting here, a couple of people were extremely helpful, and a few were extremely abusive. I'm not in any way a newbie to fora, in fact they were called  electronic bulletin board services when I started with posting lo these several decades ago. As time passes, they seem to become less civil.

Heated discussion is one thing, newbie bashing is another. We all were a newbie at whatever it is we do at some point.

Just a joke, based on a typo

seems a bit extreme to me. Could get you in trouble with those bothersome "human traffciking" laws and what not...

I would take the jail time to bust a cap in a rapist. Worth the trade. I go to jail, he goes to hell.