Avalon ASIC Batch #2 Income Sharing; arrived and hashing

[ProfMac]

Right now my script is very basic. I pull everything from blockchain.info - and i dont even store it in mysql yet, but plan to do that soon. ill work on the refund data today. i like the download all option.

thx guys

I have tried the bitcoind interface to blockchain.info.  In a linux environment:

bitcoind -rpcconnect=blockchain.info -rpcport=443 -rpcssl getblockcount

and I receive

error:  couldn't parse reply from server

[Pistachio]

Real Time Bid Info: http://getpaidtoinfo.com/BCA/blockchainauctions.php?auction=17DCms43Vu2yusDjmpjHJuZihSSWkNzgSH

Features:
1) Only counts BIDs from 1 address.
2) Sums Bids from each address
3) Remember no coins are actually stored on the my address


Looking for suggestions!
Tips to convince me to keep working on this project: 1B8g2eUo4E5TDGuMZWF3irESUg87HerCyp

Thanks all!

TheJuice

I have been following this but it does not seem to show the correct bid amount for 1JzMp55NW22xjEE4QKUhN5iAmKyFnJSUDg. It is missing the 1.0595BTC payment on 2013-04-05 02:17:21. Anyone else find inconsistencies like this?

[ProfMac]

Real Time Bid Info: http://getpaidtoinfo.com/BCA/blockchainauctions.php?auction=17DCms43Vu2yusDjmpjHJuZihSSWkNzgSH

Features:
1) Only counts BIDs from 1 address.
2) Sums Bids from each address
3) Remember no coins are actually stored on the my address


Looking for suggestions!
Tips to convince me to keep working on this project: 1B8g2eUo4E5TDGuMZWF3irESUg87HerCyp

Thanks all!

TheJuice

I have been following this but it does not seem to show the correct bid amount for 1JzMp55NW22xjEE4QKUhN5iAmKyFnJSUDg. It is missing the 1.0595BTC payment on 2013-04-05 02:17:21. Anyone else find inconsistencies like this?

I am doing the courtesy summary by hand, and mistakes are very likely.  However, the block-chain is visible to everybody, it is the authority, and I cannot introduce errors into it.

I gave a BTC 2 donation to TheJuice to encourage additional work on the other summary software.  Please feel free to donate tips to her as well.

Both TheJuice and I developed software along the lines of the original auction rules, but user behavior did not follow those rules closely.

In addition, I am also authoring some PHP + MySQL that mines this auction and will automate this process.  My software does many of the required steps now, although it is never a good idea to say "the software is pretty close to completion."  When it is ready, the summary will be correct and timely.  The snippets of SQL and PHP that I have posted are part of the software development.

I have found small differences in the way bitcoin-qt and blockchain.info interpret some of the RPC calls.  I am finding it easier to work with bitcoin-qt, but I have not found a good path to let PHP on my machine read your wallet without being a bad security design.

I suppose I could run an "auction" copy of bitcoin, and pull public keys only for all the bidders into it.  Then my PHP would read a wallet on my machine without a security risk.  Somehow I hate the idea of running an extra wallet, but that is irrational.  One concern is that importing each new key and doing a sweep takes *minutes.*  I don't know if the wallet is responsive to RPC during that sweep or not.

One thing I may do is to finish the PHP+mySQL in my bitcoin environment and publish the software.  That would let anyone with their own bitcoin+PHP+mySQL environment pull the numbers without any security risk.  When that is working and there is a healthy open source activity around it, then we could move it to blockchain.  There are also different security issues with blockchain but I have not thought through them.

I am on a business trip this week and will not produce much in the way of updates.    

[TheJuice]

Real Time Bid Info: http://getpaidtoinfo.com/BCA/blockchainauctions.php?auction=17DCms43Vu2yusDjmpjHJuZihSSWkNzgSH

Features:
1) Only counts BIDs from 1 address.
2) Sums Bids from each address
3) Remember no coins are actually stored on the my address


Looking for suggestions!
Tips to convince me to keep working on this project: 1B8g2eUo4E5TDGuMZWF3irESUg87HerCyp

Thanks all!

TheJuice

I have been following this but it does not seem to show the correct bid amount for 1JzMp55NW22xjEE4QKUhN5iAmKyFnJSUDg. It is missing the 1.0595BTC payment on 2013-04-05 02:17:21. Anyone else find inconsistencies like this?

I am doing the courtesy summary by hand, and mistakes are very likely.  However, the block-chain is visible to everybody, it is the authority, and I cannot introduce errors into it.

I gave a BTC 2 donation to TheJuice to encourage additional work on the other summary software.  Please feel free to donate tips to her as well.

Both TheJuice and I developed software along the lines of the original auction rules, but user behavior did not follow those rules closely.

In addition, I am also authoring some PHP + MySQL that mines this auction and will automate this process.  My software does many of the required steps now, although it is never a good idea to say "the software is pretty close to completion."  When it is ready, the summary will be correct and timely.  The snippets of SQL and PHP that I have posted are part of the software development.

I have found small differences in the way bitcoin-qt and blockchain.info interpret some of the RPC calls.  I am finding it easier to work with bitcoin-qt, but I have not found a good path to let PHP on my machine read your wallet without being a bad security design.

I suppose I could run an "auction" copy of bitcoin, and pull public keys only for all the bidders into it.  Then my PHP would read a wallet on my machine without a security risk.  Somehow I hate the idea of running an extra wallet, but that is irrational.  One concern is that importing each new key and doing a sweep takes *minutes.*  I don't know if the wallet is responsive to RPC during that sweep or not.

One thing I may do is to finish the PHP+mySQL in my bitcoin environment and publish the software.  That would let anyone with their own bitcoin+PHP+mySQL environment pull the numbers without any security risk.  When that is working and there is a healthy open source activity around it, then we could move it to blockchain.  There are also different security issues with blockchain but I have not thought through them.

I am on a business trip this week and will not produce much in the way of updates.    

Thanks Prof. Re: missing bids - I have identified the issue - I will fix it soon. I am using my own parsing method and if blockchain.info goes over a page it was missing the oldest sends. I will start displaying 'rejected' bids. Sorry for the lack of updates - I am from Boston and was hit hard by the recent events.

Your donation has enabled me to purchase a domain: http://blockchainauctions.com/

Just paste in the receiving address to the auction. 17DCms43Vu2yusDjmpjHJuZihSSWkNzgSH

TheJuice

[TheJuice]

New Version Released!

Code:

TheJuice's BlockChain Auction Manager Change Log

=====Alpha 0.4======
Now displays unlimited number of BIDS - previous versions only allowed for 50
Dedicated domain name

=====Alpha 0.2======
Summing of BIDs per unique address
BIDs from multiple addresses discarded

=====Alpha 0.1======
Initial Release, proof of concept.

[Pistachio]

Works great! thanks for putting this together.

New Version Released!

Code:

TheJuice's BlockChain Auction Manager Change Log

=====Alpha 0.4======
Now displays unlimited number of BIDS - previous versions only allowed for 50
Dedicated domain name

=====Alpha 0.2======
Summing of BIDs per unique address
BIDs from multiple addresses discarded

=====Alpha 0.1======
Initial Release, proof of concept.

[Pistachio]

Where did the 4btc go? Is the auction over?

https://blockchain.info/tx/eb69457cfebb39f974620db3d93c26cd65bcbb7cc40ce13bc0213828907640dc

[ProfMac]

Where did the 4btc go? Is the auction over?

https://blockchain.info/tx/eb69457cfebb39f974620db3d93c26cd65bcbb7cc40ce13bc0213828907640dc

The auction is not over.
I moved those 4 BTC to another account. 

[ProfMac]

This is a red flag for me. My total bids are more than what is now left in the auction account.

My addresses:

2   14Zqn3i1iDJzmkFCRjVqDe4YqgkrrmyEYd   1.20081 BTC
3   1Fu4JaynbQrtkSPN73uoDqEPAxyzVfsqLu   1.2001 BTC
5   1Gor6F9rMXUhbKGT9iYRKpa4U4tW94Ycq8   1.2 BTC
6   12peTunkkUp88aRaUgndRBzPNSrEw3PDu7   1.17 BTC
7   1NFtyTwefVtHXbxCPVZBG9H6SrujTxk4G6   1.17 BTC
8   1JzMp55NW22xjEE4QKUhN5iAmKyFnJSUDg   1.1695 BTC
9   18jpEzLGFYeT4nACAUs5zrY2cDSwBXWVAt   1.1669812 BTC
10   1G17oxGNchntdDFQ1kCVHrRHxFHaDkhJ1S   1.165 BTC
11   1H8sdeiWCCkEQdHozeATnTu6tgDbYFBPQF   1.165 BTC

Please refund all of these bids. This no longer seems like a transparent auction. 

I don't follow your reasoning on this. 

The block-chain is visible to the world.  I think that makes it transparent.
The delivery discussion of the Avalon is in this forum, you know as much as I do about that, so it is also transparent.
The Avalon has been purchased and paid for.

To review what the auction is about, I am selling a portion of any future risk & earnings of my Batch #2 Avalon for certainty & use of coin now. 
By making a bid, you are declaring your calculation of the risk/reward for that deal.

Even if I brought the balance of the address to BTC 0.0, I don't see how this is unexpected or improper. 

Please think about this.

[Rampion]

ProfMac is right, Pistachio. You bought from him a % of his machine, and he is entitled to do whatever he wants with his money.

Nevertheless, I still think using the blockchain to bid in an auction is too confusing - but that's not the point now.

[ProfMac]

The block chain bidding is ideal. It makes the bids binding. In my auction for CH shares, I had a few bids that were not honored. Love the innovation profmac.

Too bad my auction took too long, I was gathering those coins to invest with you prof.

2 questions:

1) End date for the auction - there has to be one for me to bid.
2) Will there be refunds to original address for non-winning bids?

Thx TheJucie

The innovator is never properly rewarded.  He is forgotten under the accolades of those who make money from his innovations.
The block-chain is everything.
I am willing to pre-announce an end to the auction.  Will 24 or 48 hours of advance notice be enough?  
All non-winning auction bids will be refunded to the original payment address.

I would prefer the date be tied to something concrete, such as the arrival of the unit, and for 48 hours notice to happen. Personal preference, I'll be happy with anything that would make it certain.

I have had a call to return some bids.  I have chosen to view this as something concrete.

I have puzzled on how to best handle this, without adding or changing rules.  I have decided to announce that a portion of the auction will end.  Conveniently, my birthday is Friday, May 10, and I have chosen a block with a pleasing number that may fall on that day as the closing block for the auction.

I should be clear on how a portion of an auction ends.  The highest 3 winning bids will become permanent winners, and that portion of the auction is closed.

To be considered, your bid must be included in or before block 235,532.  If you find that time is short, you may pray a higher mining fee for any last minute transactions.

I apologize that I am ending the auction before I finished the software to summarize the bid status.  

Just in case Pistachio has winning bids after block 235,532, well, help Pistachio be a loser.

[Pistachio]

ProfMac is right, Pistachio. You bought from him a % of his machine, and he is entitled to do whatever he wants with his money.

Nevertheless, I still think using the blockchain to bid in an auction is too confusing - but that's not the point now.

Since when did bidding on something become the same as buying it. If I buy it, then yes you can do whatever you want. If I bid, I expect that to be held separately until the auction is over.

[ProfMac]

My perspective is that the BTC is not your until the auction is over. If someone can out bid me at any time then how is it that you can do wahtever you want with the bid money? This smells of a scam. What about the bids lower than the first ten? How long will they be held hostage? I have not received a refund for that bid.

If this is legit then refund my bids. Otherwise, I assume it is a scam.

I apologize if you had wanted the funds for the 11th place bid returned to you.  I actually have the option of increasing the number of winners, and you have made many bids to win in this auction for many shares, so it was not immediately clear to me that you wanted the 11th bid to be considered as non-winning and the funds returned.

Now that you have called for them, I have initiated the return of the 11th bid.

I don't agree with your perspective.  I believe the winning bids are mine to dispense.  I think this is true in any auction, but it is particularly true in this auction where I did procure and pay for an Avalon purchase order where many others tried and failed.

As part of the back story on this, I walked in -20°F winds of 50 MPH in blowing and drifting snow on a day the banks were closed, and the Batch #1 Avalons were not delivered and many were calling Avalon itself a scam.  I risked frostbite to take my gloves off and operate the ATM machine, and I trusted yufi to deliver.  I have spent time and funds to purchase a TP-Link 703n router, and I have flashed it with the OpenWRT firmware from Avalon and explored it.  I have even made that router available over the net to Luke-jr so that he could test some software without putting someone else's Avalon out of production.

I have announced the closing of 3 slots in the auction in an attempt to generate additional bids from TheJuice and others.  This should make you no longer a winning bidder, and thereby accommodate your desire to cash out without any need for exotic actions.  I invite you to think through how this might work if there were zero funds at the address today.

Closing the auction frustrates some of my plans, but I recognize that people need to cash out of ventures for any number of reasons.

[svenp]

I agree.  Withdrawal of funds from an incomplete auction is a bit scammy.  I don't believe profmac is a scammer but it is 'bad form'.

[TheJuice]

I agree.  Withdrawal of funds from an incomplete auction is a bit scammy.  I don't believe profmac is a scammer but it is 'bad form'.

Is it? The sum of the top 10 bids is clearly > 4 BTCs. I find it reasonable that he could withdraw BTCs from the top 10 bids. If he withdrew all 27 BTCs when the top 10 were only 13 BTCs then yes, this is scammy.

Ideally in the future, one could use an escrow as the receiving address in the blockchain auctions. This will even the playing field. There is just way to many fake bids by new accounts here.

I added an FAQ onto the BlockChainAuctions.com site.

[Pistachio]

Is it? The sum of the top 10 bids is clearly > 4 BTCs. I find it reasonable that he could withdraw BTCs from the top 10 bids. If he withdrew all 27 BTCs when the top 10 were only 13 BTCs then yes, this is scammy.

First, I want to say thank you to Profmac for issuing a refund for the non-winning bid and I apologize for being overly critical of how this auction is being run. It seems I may have become a little too paranoid. I now see this as a disagreement on how auctions should be run, rather than evidence of some kind of scam. I still disagree with transferring funds before the auction is over, but I no longer see this as a mark of a scam. I retract my request to refund my other bids and hope others will not be dissuaded from bidding because of my comments.

At the time I saw the 4btc transfer, this auction had been going on for a month with no end in sight and the discussion on this thread had gone down to a trickle. I was not concerned with the amount of the transfer, but the fact that the amount left was less than the sum total of my bids. If all of my bids were out bid and Profmac did not want to extend the number of winners, then how would I know he still had enough btc to refund my bids. For example, if you go to a bookie to place a bet and you watched the bookie hand off a sizable chunk of the money you just gave him to someone else. Then you might get worried that the bookie may not be able to cover your bet. Although in this case, my concern is not if I win the auction but getting a refund if I loose.

I hope this clears the air some.

[ProfMac]

Is it? The sum of the top 10 bids is clearly > 4 BTCs. I find it reasonable that he could withdraw BTCs from the top 10 bids. If he withdrew all 27 BTCs when the top 10 were only 13 BTCs then yes, this is scammy.

First, I want to say thank you to Profmac for issuing a refund for the non-winning bid and I apologize for being overly critical of how this auction is being run. It seems I may have become a little too paranoid. I now see this as a disagreement on how auctions should be run, rather than evidence of some kind of scam. I still disagree with transferring funds before the auction is over, but I no longer see this as a mark of a scam. I retract my request to refund my other bids and hope others will not be dissuaded from bidding because of my comments.

At the time I saw the 4btc transfer, this auction had been going on for a month with no end in sight and the discussion on this thread had gone down to a trickle. I was not concerned with the amount of the transfer, but the fact that the amount left was less than the sum total of my bids. If all of my bids were out bid and Profmac did not want to extend the number of winners, then how would I know he still had enough btc to refund my bids. For example, if you go to a bookie to place a bet and you watched the bookie hand off a sizable chunk of the money you just gave him to someone else. Then you might get worried that the bookie may not be able to cover your bet. Although in this case, my concern is not if I win the auction but getting a refund if I loose.

I hope this clears the air some.

Thank you. 

I'm really a nerd, and doing things that work with people is all a deep mystery to me.  So when I ask all these questions, they are genuine.

[ProfMac]

I agree.  Withdrawal of funds from an incomplete auction is a bit scammy.  I don't believe profmac is a scammer but it is 'bad form'.

During an auction, I strive to keep the rules stable.  Before the next auction, I try to revise the rules.  

I hope to have a pretty good set of rules developed, and to cause some software to be developed that implements these rules.

You guys have been helpful in making me think carefully.  Thank you.

The set of rules for this auction does not translate very well to the auction of 10,000 ASIC chips from Avalon's latest sale.  It is clear that there will need to be several sets of rules, for different auction environments.

I have posted my current thinking of the rules on Google Documents.  Please feel free to read them, and to post comments and questions.

I posted this discussion in it's own thread also.

[sealkid]

I have decided to announce that a portion of the auction will end.  Conveniently, my birthday is Friday, May 10, and I have chosen a block with a pleasing number that may fall on that day as the closing block for the auction.

I should be clear on how a portion of an auction ends.  The highest 3 winning bids will become permanent winners, and that portion of the auction is closed.

To be considered, your bid must be included in or before block 235,532.  If you find that time is short, you may pray a higher mining fee for any last minute transactions.

Is this still valid? And if so, are the top three bids up to block 235,532 as follows?:

1   14Zqn3i1iDJzmkFCRjVqDe4YqgkrrmyEYd   1.23359794 BTC
2   1Fu4JaynbQrtkSPN73uoDqEPAxyzVfsqLu   1.2141 BTC
3   1cCXNG5mNFkErBWtCLaVLA9fZrGAzFCB1   1.211 BTC

And many happy returns on your birthday ProfMac!

[ProfMac]

I have decided to announce that a portion of the auction will end.  Conveniently, my birthday is Friday, May 10, and I have chosen a block with a pleasing number that may fall on that day as the closing block for the auction.

I should be clear on how a portion of an auction ends.  The highest 3 winning bids will become permanent winners, and that portion of the auction is closed.

To be considered, your bid must be included in or before block 235,532.  If you find that time is short, you may pray a higher mining fee for any last minute transactions.

Is this still valid? And if so, are the top three bids up to block 235,532 as follows?:

1   14Zqn3i1iDJzmkFCRjVqDe4YqgkrrmyEYd   1.23359794 BTC
2   1Fu4JaynbQrtkSPN73uoDqEPAxyzVfsqLu   1.2141 BTC
3   1cCXNG5mNFkErBWtCLaVLA9fZrGAzFCB1   1.211 BTC

And many happy returns on your birthday ProfMac!

I have not updated the summary page, but the highest 3 bids as of block 235,532 are winners.