This is an open source quad spartan-6 LX150 board designed by The Seven and myself in collaboration.

Since it was completed way behind schedule we didn't see much point in releasing this version.
However some people kept asking for open source boards recently so we figured why not.

Version 1.0 has been manufactured and tested, but rev 2.1 has not. The differences are however minor.
The software is not very complete nor user friendly at the moment but The Seven has been mining with this board for a while now.
The plan is to make a  28nm version of the P7 platform where the software will include support for the LX150 version as well.

We will try to give as much support as possible through this forum and IRC, but the files are delivered as
is with no warranty of any kind. Use at your own risk.

Read the txt file included for more information.

~Pusle


download link:https://mega.co.nz/#!PcNlnBKJ!PN44_C7M2L0aiEd8BxyZNEbpGtJoytkXHbfSBkTAdFQ

I'm wondering if there are hashing algorithms out there which would favor CPU's with general computing power  (intel, amd ,arm)
Motivation here is for normal peoples computers to be more competitive against custom hardware like GPU's, FPGA's , ASIC's
This could make the donation of CPU power from regular clients a much more effective way to help secure the network.

A while back I vaguely remember reading something about algorithms which was not easy to make into small blocks of logic and then massively copy them on a chip. 

Does such hashing algorithms exist?
If not could  and additional layer be added to facilitate this goal?  (arithmetic coding?)

Sorry I'm a newbie here, maybe this has been discussed before.

After reading several posts here it seems there is a conflict between the need for high speed of transactions/verification and security.
I think security is the most important factor in order to make sure the big bucks  in the system are safe and resistant to various attacks.
However there is a strong need to pay at the 7/11 etc without waiting a long time, and also the use of "light clients".

In Hong Kong they have this amazing thing called an octopus card. You load it with money, and just drag it past an rfid reader when you pay. Very fast and easy to use, no code to enter etc.  It was originally made to pay for public transport but gradually more and more stores started to accept this payment method. Sure if it gets lost or stolen your money is gone. But you don't put thousands of dollars on there at once anyway. Then it's up to each user to balance risk vs convenience (money lost vs frequency of reloading)

Waiting 10 minutes (or more?) is not a problem for Transaction between banks, buying a house or a car.
The foundation must be solid.
The "quick cash" bitcoin would be like the octopus card, giving users the convenience while limiting potential damage.


 

I see no problem with this since those who collect the new blocks/BTC's are distributed at random with probability modulated by computing power.

If somebody skews this probability to their favor at minimum they have created a large computer (cluster), which has value by itself
and gave work/money to lots of people, and at best they have advanced the state of computing in general.

This type of system of money creation is completely different from the way the banks do it today where the created money eventually
ends up in the pockets of a small rich minority at the expense of all the others.

My argument why there should be a small inflation is not so much the deflation spiral, which I don't think would be a problem,
but as more to do with human psychology.

As we progress through life we want to "climb upward". We except reward for our productivity.
We gaining knowledge, skills etc and hence we expect our salaries to rise.

This simple "feedback" makes us happy. Our real purchasing power may have gone down over time even though we got several big fat raises,  but most people
don't see it that way. It's a question of feeling more than intellectual understanding.

As the value of bitcoin rises, you could argue your productivity is helping make everything cheaper. So in fact your salary stays the same, but you reap the reward
when prices go down.  I would say I'm a reasonable smart person, but even I don't get the same emotional satisfaction from seeing prices fall, as I do from my salary rising.

Intellectually I understand that my hard work (or not so hard?..) has contributed to increase productivity and hence purchasing power, but the emotional connection
gets lost on most people. Even worse, I may have to take a pay cut because the value of the currency climbs too fast by productivity in other areas. (or I'm a lazy tard )
One could say that in deflation, the awards are distributed evenly across the entire population but this is too abstract for the naked ape. ( communism doesn't work in practice )

A modest inflation of say 1% ?  would preserve the award mechanism to promote productivity for individuals/small groups, without "punishing" those who aren't doing so well.
This would also alleviate other issues like lost coins and  "super nodes" would not have to rely on fees alone for their finance in the future.

All this is based on bitcoin becoming an established currency with enough nodes to dwarf any single entity when it comes to computing power.
Right now it's in it's infancy and there will be growing pains. I'm happy to spend some money I might never see again to help it become reality.

What we need now is more businesses/people accepting and using bitcoins on a daily basis. Owning bitcoins doesn't make it a viable currency by itself.