Thanks b!z :-)

...another question.  Will the act of mining chew up my Internet Data Plan?  I suppose the question is: how many MB/GB are downloaded/uploaded in the act of mining?

Hello all!

I've tried and tried to search for an answer for this question...problem is, I think I'm asking the wrong question lol.  But here goes:

***What is being "mined" when you mine?***

I know there are algorithms involved, but are generic/fabricated algorithms created specifically for the mining of BitCoins? ...if so, who creates these algorithms? Is "BitCoin" mining the equivalent of busy-work that fundamentally does nothing except generate an online currency?

And these algorithm aren't created specifically for Bitcoin...where do they come from?  This may sound silly here, but are we using our combined processing powers to unknowingly help decrypt a code somewhere lol?

Thank you for your patience and tolerance for what must appear to a non-newbie as rather silly questions :-)