n00b question #1:
Looking at block explorer it looks like we're on block 134516 (is that correct?)
And at the end of each block, the hasher gets to "mint" a certain number of bitcoins... (correct?)
Right now it's 50 (yes)?  Did it used to be more? (100?) or did it start at 50? (don't know how to locate older blocks that aren't on the first page...)
Anyway, assuming each block is sequential (are they?), and that they started at 1 (did they?), there would be 50 x 134516 (or 6`725`800) BTC in existence.  That can't be right-- right?
Just curious how close we are to that 2 million mark.
Edit: hmm found part of the answer here: https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=12530.0, it is about 6 million (http://blockexplorer.com/q/totalbc...)  So what's the total?  Is it 21 million?  I thought it was something with a 2...
Edit: ahh yeah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin#Monetary_differences It is 21 million.

n00b question #2:
The mining difficulty increases every so often right?  Is there a way to find the history of difficulty increases?  I was hoping to coorelate difficulty increases to the different exchanges' prices and see if there was anything to see... (yay, let's try science!)


n00b question the third:
As a pool miner, how do I know that 100% of the work I'm being sent is actualling mining work and that I'm not helping the operator build a hash table or something on the side?  (I'm assuming my client calls 'getwork', gets back data, I hash it, and send the results back, yes?) -- also if we hit that 2 million mark (or max mark, whatever), and we have all this uber Th/s infrastructure in place for mining, what's to stop those pools from collectively cracking people's wallet encryptions (or other encryptions...?)  I'm assuming since each trasnaction is signed by the sender, that addresses that have never sent anything (or only send very little) would be easier to crack (because there will be more matching solutions that can fool the network), right?


Thanks, any insight into the above would be appreciated.

Sup guys, I'm new here.  Let me out please. 

The only value that ANYTHING has, currency or not, is what people are willing to trade for it.

Right now BTC has a value that floats between $15-$20 (USD.)  So I'd say that Bitcoin, at least for the short term, has more value than the US dollar.  For the long term?  Only time will tell.

(Read Rich Dad Poor Dad, this is explained pretty well, and it's an amazing book. )

For now, there are repeaters for Amazon, and Newegg, and there are a couiple of "ebay"-like auctioning sites, and if you want to make some dough, setup a mirror for an existing site that doesn't accept BTC, or build a clone.  There are BTC classified-ads sites with tons of programmers looking for work (assuming you're not a programmer.)  So, there's no excuse.

This is a common con-game.  You meet a guy at a bar, he tells you he knows some stocks secret, and if you give him $10 he'll give you $20.

In a week you seem him again, here's your 20.

Do it again with 100.  He gives you 200...

Do it again with 500, he gives you 1000.

Then a few weeks go by and you dont' see him.

You see him again, and he's going oh man, I've got this great deal, I'm putting everything I got into it, and you go "I want in" and he goes "oh no, this one's too big for you, you need at least 40k in, and I'd feel bad if something went wrong..." and you go "no fuck that, you're good I want in" and so you give him everything you've got, mortgage the house, etc... and poof, the guy vanishes.  This is CLASSIC.

For small fees they come in good, but for large one's they game you.  If he can just double his money, then what's he fucking around with us for? 

Edit: My bad, didn't realize there was a second page.   Also it's called "Ponzi"? Gotcha.