is butterfly labs mining with those ASICs at the moment?

[greyhawk]

It's so buried on giant threads, I should just make it my sig, lol.  For the record, this is from BFL's own Facebook page, lol.  But I assume most of you are as smart as me and don't use Facebook.

Jalapeno

I like how they double as hoverboards.

[1714946287]

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[Desolator]

Why does EVERYONE say it's hovering?! rofl.  I threw it into photoshop and enhanced all shadows and gradients in the background and under the object.  It's 2 sources of lighting, at seemingly standard angles for a shot like this in a studio.  The backdrop suggests a somewhat professional material in a somewhat not so professional arrangement.  It swoops up in an arc from the ground so there's no background crease visible but the right side shadowing suggests it was either hastily made or was of insufficient size.  In other words...

http://www.justhungry.com/files/images/studio_in_a_box.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/3948479048_db827e4091.jpg

But one that's actually good would have been more like:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/107/0/d/Studio_Backdrop_good_version_by_Mr_Lobo.png

and had zero shadowing whatsoever in the background other than shadows cast by the object itself.

[reeses]

Who are you calling a dumbass?

Oh, wait.

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[SgtSpike]

Why does EVERYONE say it's hovering?! rofl.  I threw it into photoshop and enhanced all shadows and gradients in the background and under the object.  It's 2 sources of lighting, at seemingly standard angles for a shot like this in a studio.  The backdrop suggests a somewhat professional material in a somewhat not so professional arrangement.  It swoops up in an arc from the ground so there's no background crease visible but the right side shadowing suggests it was either hastily made or was of insufficient size.  In other words...

http://www.justhungry.com/files/images/studio_in_a_box.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/3948479048_db827e4091.jpg

But one that's actually good would have been more like:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/107/0/d/Studio_Backdrop_good_version_by_Mr_Lobo.png

and had zero shadowing whatsoever in the background other than shadows cast by the object itself.

Ermm... it's a computer rendering, not a real picture.

[MrTeal]

Why does EVERYONE say it's hovering?! rofl.  I threw it into photoshop and enhanced all shadows and gradients in the background and under the object.  It's 2 sources of lighting, at seemingly standard angles for a shot like this in a studio.  The backdrop suggests a somewhat professional material in a somewhat not so professional arrangement.  It swoops up in an arc from the ground so there's no background crease visible but the right side shadowing suggests it was either hastily made or was of insufficient size.  In other words...

http://www.justhungry.com/files/images/studio_in_a_box.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2459/3948479048_db827e4091.jpg

But one that's actually good would have been more like:
http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/107/0/d/Studio_Backdrop_good_version_by_Mr_Lobo.png

and had zero shadowing whatsoever in the background other than shadows cast by the object itself.

Huh... that is one of our design renderings from the case manufacturer, though I hadn't seen an all black one yet.  I was initially against all black, but we had a discussion today about the iPhone's gunmetal black (iPhone 5) so I think someone was getting a bit antsy.

That's actually intended to be all metal BTW, not plastic.

[Desolator]

Well wtf is wrong with their software's light settings then? lol.  Also, I guess 1 dumbass (now that I remember, I think it was reeses aka some trolltard who posted it originally).  For the record, I do believe someone else posted that claiming it was a real pic before I did and since it doesn't look obviously 3d, I assumed it was.  Kinda hard to tell when the item is all 1 color and the background is all 1 color

[420]

its a good business model...here preorder my product and basically fund ME so that i can use to gain much of the bitcoin market share and profit more than you until I then sell you the product where you wont' be able to profit as much as I just did

It's not LOGICAL to just keep the project and mine and not sell it. First off you needed the funding to build, and people want the product and a good experience to gain reputation (future profit) for the company

Second, other organizations are building simliar products and could do the same thing; if these organizations kept to themself why would us making less and less money stay on bitcoin? It would be just a big war between big money and implode on itself when the average (computer intelligent right now) person drops out of the bitcoin market

[Desolator]

I'm not sure I follow that one.  Spending less on electricity and honestly less on hardware too wouldn't make us make less money.  It makes us make more money!  Yeah, it'll even out again most likely but not for a while.

For the record, BFL says they're not using preorder money to fund their research and development or whatever and that it's all investor money.  It is kinda a "sure thing" in the bitcoin world that the product will come on and a working prototype would convince anyone to invest heavily in it.  But, quite a lot of investors heard only negative things about bitcoins and won't touch anything related to it.  I'm not sure I necessarily believe them.  Also, anyone background checking their CEO would back off pretty quickly, lol.

[420]

I would not say that it doesn't make sense until an ASIC is proven to exist.

They better!  They have $1 mil in pre-orders for them, lol.

I don't think it's up to me saying how much he has now. I do know though.

:-O

[#machinist]

oh if i worked at BFL.. i would happily "working" overtime and nights to get the jobe done

[firefop]

I had the same thought yesterday and honestly i would not doubt it.  If you need to test the units anyways, why not make some $?

BFL has stated they test against a "testnet in a box" meaning it's not the normal test-net, it's completely isolated and inhouse.

[crazy_rabbit]

How is BFL mining with their own ASICs the developed any different then some well heeled hobbyist (read: ASIC engineer) rolling their own ASICs and the mass producing them for their own use? BFL is at least nice enough to offer us ASICs too.

Their money is in selling ASICs if they make a few bucks between now and then, who cares. There are enough competitors who wouldn't mind mining on their own ASICS that it seems like a moot point to stress over.

[Troll Toll]

A company's goal is to maximize profits, if mining asics while selling asics achieves this goal, then they should do it. it is not immoral at all.

[nedbert9]

A company's goal is to maximize profits, if mining asics while selling asics achieves this goal, then they should do it. it is not immoral at all.

True.  Still, this is a one dimensional statement. 

Taken in context we are all in competition for the same revenue source - mining subsidy.  It is every participants responsibility to

1)  Understand their business/market.
2)  Make informed decisions.
3)  Protect their interests.


So, we shouldn't be surprised if miners challenge Bitcoin mining hardware vendors in order to understand/criticize vendor's business plan/practices.  Ultimately, "hobby" or "pro" miners should always be vigilant to monitor any potential market competition and take whatever action available to them to ensure their survival. 

It's surprising and sad that the "mining community" lacks sufficient cohesion to form a semi-formal mining association to represent interests and provide leverage in cases where vendors might threaten their existence.

 

[MrTeal]

A company's goal is to maximize profits, if mining asics while selling asics achieves this goal, then they should do it. it is not immoral at all.

It is when you've already sold the product. If BFL had inventory on the shelf and they disclosed that units that hadn't been sold were mining prior to your purchase, that would be one thing. Keeping units that customers have already paid for months in advance in order to mine with them for profit before shipping them out is another thing entirely.

If you bought a new truck from a dealership and it arrived on Wednesday but you can't pick it up until the following week because the salesman wants to haul a couple loads of lumber up to his cabin on the weekend, you'd be pretty pissed off too.

[psilan]

They said they wouldn't do it. I'll believe until proven otherwise.

Mining with them does ruin future revenue. If they want to continue to sell hardware, then they need to be taken seriously and be honest and open.

[SgtSpike]

They said they wouldn't do it. I'll believe until proven that otherwise.

Mining with them does ruin future revenue. If they want to continue to sell hardware, then they need to be taken seriously and be honest and open.

Where did they say this?

[Kaliecious]

Do some searching you will find it.

[SgtSpike]

Do some searching you will find it.

The search feature sucks.  I'd prefer that someone else who knows where it is simply link to it here.

[MrTeal]

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/showthread.php/52-ASIC-Pre-Shipment-Testing-Policy