To me it looks like an uptrend followed by a downtrend (doesn't mean that there can't be an uptrend anymore but I am only pointing out your mistake)

Waiting, you can't really do anything else (short of contacting them)

Software: I am using Windows 10 but I heard that Linux sometimes has better results because their kernel is very different.

And why would you use your laptop? Build your own mining PC. That's a solid investment because: The worst case is that you can't mine any coins anymore but then you will still have your hardware. In that case you don't have a total loss. ROI happens very fast and let's face it: It is highly unlikely that you can't mine coins anymore or that the power costs are higher than the money you get for your coins.

Nope, alive

You got that right!

That is normal market movement, nothing to worry about

I know, that's why I imposed the dangers. You can either sell your Ether as soon as you get them or you can hold and hope that the price rises (which is risky cause the price can fall too)

The people who are only seeing the high volume and then they do not look at the cause of it (devs buying their own coins in large amounts)

Ethereum is still worth mining as you get more money Ethereum than your expanses (power, hardware....)

At the moment Ethereum but that can change quickly with the rising difficulty and the somewhat low prices (if you compare with all time high some weeks ago)

It think it is a good idea to have some money in both coins.....both have the opportunity to rise and if one falls then you still have some of your money in the other one

Holding it is the best idea cause it is unlikely that the price will go down to 0. It is the same with holding fiat, the money will either be worth more or less. With bitcoins the price drops or rises all the time, if you hold long enough, you will win. That's logic - simple and right.

1$ is a little bit high.....maybe 40-50 cents.......staying reasonable is everything