After the last difficult increase, my 8x block erupters are mining between .004 and .005 bitcoin every 24 hrs. It hardly seems worth the effort.
Yesterday I was thinking that small miners like myself would start shutting down and getting out of the game entirely over the next few months. That's unfortunate, because as more and more mining power concentrates with big mining operations, there's more opportunity for a corrupt few to collude to abuse or damage the network. Large numbers of small miners are important to keeping bitcoin widely distributed and resistant to attack.
So, to keep the miners running despite diminishing returns, I propose the following:
Forget about mining to earn back your initial hardware investment. Those days are long gone.
Instead, use your miners to support your favorite bitcoin charity or organization. Update the payout address at your favorite pool to pay directly to Sean's Outpost, or Let's Talk Bitcoin. Whatever group you like most, send them the fruits of your hashes. Whenever you pay out, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that you're supporting the bitcoin community.
Here are a couple options to get you started.
Sean's Outpost - feeding the homeless in Pensacola, Florida
Payout to:
1M72Sfpbz1BPpXFHz9m3CdqATR44Jvaydd
See how donations are going:
https://blockchain.info/address/1M72Sfpbz1BPpXFHz9m3CdqATR44JvayddConfirm that you're donating to the right place:
http://seansoutpost.com/donate/Let's Talk Bitcoin - high-quality news and analysis
Payout to: 1LTBShowv5nZ2fgZ4hWU7ieeDRNKSAxtov
See how donations are going:
https://blockchain.info/address/1LTBShowv5nZ2fgZ4hWU7ieeDRNKSAxtovConfirm that you're donating to the right place:
http://letstalkbitcoin.com/e50-georgia-in-october/#.UmBHMWSgkUA (see general support address)
Post more charities/organizations in the comments if you have suggestions.