I see a lot of talk and interest here but very little in the way of an actual product.  How far along is development and when can we see something tangible. 

Also, did I miss the whitepaper?

OK

So if I invest 1 BTC and get my 2,000 or so Ether, what happens when people start mining?  Is some dude with a jacked up rig going to be able to mine 10,000,000 Ether in the first couple hours?  How is this being handled so that my investment is actually worth something?