Not to throw in a conspiracy theory, but I have been questioning btcguild's honestly as of late...

The "luck" of btcguild has been:
Luck this difficulty (1690906)       1937899 shares   (-12.7%) (weighted down 54% since in progress = -6.9%)
Luck at difficulty 1563027       1690231 shares   (-7.5%)
Luck at difficulty 1379223       1384144 shares   (-0.4%)
Luck at difficulty 876954       875473 shares   (+0.2%)

Given the hashrate > 2 Th/s, being consistently low on luck makes me think something is up.  I understand probability, and the fact that there are up days and down days, but this shows a 2 month average of -5.4%.  This should be extremely unlikely, and makes me wonder if BTC Guild isn't holding back a good percent.  Any math majors out there want to calculate the probability?

I'll send your btc as soon as I confirm you are gone by our luck increasing

Agreed, I'll donate another .0420 BTC

Did you come back?  Suddenly back up to 1.5 hour block and counting...

+0.0420 to you, just because I like the number

I picked up a bunch of iBoot devices on ebay for under $50 each.  They intercept the power, and allow you to reboot machines manually through a web interface or automatically via an auto ping feature.  When the computer locks up, it automatically reboots, and if a driver craps out (and I can't ssh to the box), I can always reboot it manually

If it keeps pools from banning hoppers, then it might even out, and it'll make hoppers look better

Is it just me, or are stales going steadily up?  I was at .3% stales, then it went up to .5%, and now I am at .8%.  At what point should I start to get concerned? 

Even I can get behind this idea.  I'd be more than willing to donate some time to the development of it.  Question is, would people use it?

Being content taking what you have earned doesn't make you a pansy, it makes you honest.  If the cashier gives me an extra $20 in change, and I return it, that is honesty.  I should be more appreciative to my mother, I guess I was raised right.

It is obvious, gaming the system for an unfair share is dishonest.  The scenario I described is evident of an example of how you are gaining money while others are losing it.  See my first statement, you simply passed over it and refused to even give it due consideration because you have your rationalization in your head.  It's like trying to convince a Christian that the idea that the earth is 6,000 years old is ridiculous, you have your vision of the world, and without realizing it you dismiss the evidence to the contrary.  


Proportional payouts are perfectly fair, if miners were honest.  The fact that they aren't means that the pools have to find alternatives.  The PPS scheme is problematic, since it pays regardless of a block being found, and the pool operator can lose money.  I'm sure there are other payout schemes, and hopefully they will be implemented, but that takes time and shouldn't even be necessary if it weren't for the pigs at the trough.


Again, I did, remember, I mine at btcguild where they go out of their way to discourage people like you.  Problem is, there are still people who try to game the system, and I find that despicable

We all choose what game we play in life.  One of the level 1 games is exactly as you describe: "Pigs at the trough".  I, for once, choose not to step over everyone else for the slightest advantage, and I disagree that every last percent needs to be squeezed out.  People who feel that way care nothing for the fellow miners or community, only care about taking whatever they can get at whatever cost.  Not very enlightened if you ask me.

This is how rationalization works: you get a perfectly logical reason why pool hopping is unethical, and your brain filters it before you even give it due consideration.  

Case in point:

You start at pool a
After x minutes, you do not get a block, so you move to pool b
the hash rate at pool a just got smaller, you might have been the one to find the block, but now it will take that much longer because you left
Therefore everyone who stayed at pool a now waits longer to get that block, and while you got 10% more, that 10% is split as a loss to everyone else

Thus you are taking money from honest miners.

People who pool hop are not extra savvy, you are merely taking someone else's math and someone else's code and saying: look how smart I am, I get an extra 10% yay!

I am now wondering just how much money I am losing because of pool hoppers, thanks guys

Look at the comment right above yours, btcguild is going out of their way to discourage pool hoppers, and yet he triumphantly claims to still pull it off.

I would agree that anyone who thinks it is perfectly ethical to pool hop is an unethical person and I would not casually do business for them...  after all what other ways do they "maximize their profits"...  If I want to buy a card from someone, maybe they don't mention it locks up after an hours use.  After all, that is just maximizing profits. 

You can rationalize it all you want, but you have to acknowledge it is only a rationalization.  I'm sure you have yourself convinced, but people like me do not see it that way.  We see it as dishonest, and the people who do it as dishonest.

Well stated, sir

I draw the line at causing undue harm to innocent people.  None of your examples results in me causing harm to people, by pool hopping, you are taking money away from people who are content with receiving their fair share for their work.

I wish that were not the case, but that is probably the most succinct rationalization for pool hopping I have seen.  Claiming it is ethical, is flat out false, but claiming the only way to fix it is to do it, that I can't argue.  Wouldn't it be nice if people would have enough self respect to not sell their ethics for a few extra btc.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?

Yeah, Ponzie schemes exist in the free market, cheating...
There are MANY MANY MANY examples of cheating in the free market...  Bait and switch, false advertising,

Unless you meant your post ironically, in which case please use the ironic emote in the future

After reading a thread on pool hopping, I am a little discouraged by the number of people who think there is nothing wrong with pool hopping.  Now, I am wondering if I am in the minority here, so I ask you...  is pool hopping ethical?

I agree pool hopping is cheating, plain and simple, and you people suggesting otherwise just shows a lack of ethics.  Nothing wrong with maximizing profits?  So if a pool owner decided to not announce a block won and keeps it for himself, isn't that just maximizing profits?  If you drop out of a pool, you decrease the hashrate of the pool which decreases the chances of a block being found.  That in turn increases the length for a new block to be found, thus taking from the hands of honest miners. 

I for one definitely have the technical skills to pool hop, not that it takes any more technical skills than being honest.  The difference is I am an ethical person and I am in the game with the other miners in the pool.  I will not steal from them, and I would hope they will not steal from me.

tl;dr: you are all a bunch of assholes