anautonomousagent – Page 21 – An Autonomous Agent

BitCrane Miner T-110S and Antminer S5

On December 18, 2014

I recently purchased and set-up the BitCrane Miner T-110S. Purchased on-sale at newegg for $598, it provides 1 TH/s of Bitcoin mining power. It was extremely easy to get the rig started and connected to my mining pool; less than five minutes out of the box. So far I am very impressed. This would make for a great gift to anyone interested in Bitcoin mining.

My electricity costs are $0.11 per kWh per month. Since the T-110S consumes approximately 650 kWh per month operating 24/7 — $71.50 per month — it will take a number months to break even, depending on the exchange rate of Bitcoin. This boils down to about $2.31 per day in electric costs. And at 1 TH/s operating speed I earn approximately $3.90 – 4.50 per day depending on the difficulty level and exchange rate. With a fixed cost of $598 I should break even in 273 – 376 days.

However, it is interesting to note that the T-110S could be considered a space heater — not sure how efficient. This would in effect replace some of the cost of heating a home in the winter. Unfortunately, the costs will not outweigh the benefits during the summer months. I believe in the future of Bitcoin and its ability as a unit of exchange. The purpose of my purchase was mostly to gain a participatory experience and support Bitcoin — rather than profit seeking.

Update: After purchasing the T-110S I wanted to compare it with an Antminer. I therefore bought the Antminer S5. The S5 consumes about 60% of the 900W consumed by the T-110S for the same GH/s and is easy to set-up. On the downside, the S5 is extremely loud and lacks a nice case and appearance.

I have moved both miners into the garage because I was tired of their whirring sounds. The move to the garage solved the sound problem and the temperature problem – since my garage is quite cold during the winter.

NOTE: After running the miner in the horizontal position, I found that the temperature decreases. I would recommend NOT placing the miner in the vertical position since the water coolers fans would be in-taking air from above — hot air rises, hence not an efficient mode of cooling.

When Google Met WikiLeaks – Julian Assange

By anautonomousagent

On December 18, 2014

In book, google, government, history, julian assange, political science, politics, wikileaks

When Google Met WikiLeaks transcribes the conversation between Julian Assange and Eric Schmidt. Their discussion of WikiLeaks’ story, governmental control and persecution, revolutions, connectivity, and internet publishing is an important, powerful, and insightful source for anyone who wants to understand the current controversy of WikiLeaks. Their conversation provides a glance at the relationship between governments and their citizens in the Internet Age.

Assange also includes a few essays in the book which were published after the interview. He is a talented writer and clearly expresses his ideas; worth the read.

The Evolution of Ecological Consciousness

By anautonomousagent

On December 10, 2014

In andrew faust, architecture, biology, dorion sagan, ecology, evolution, lynn margulis, science, video, youtube

The Evolution of Ecological Consciousness is a well made and must watch presentation by the Permaculture designer Andrew Faust of the Center for Bioregional Living. He summarizes many of the ideas presented by Carl and Dorion Sagan and Lynn Margulis. In addition, he presents many fascinating visions for a future living experience in conjunction with biology.

Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death

By anautonomousagent

On December 9, 2014

In bbc, belgium, congo, documentary, E. D. Morel, education, video, youtube

In the documentary Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death the BBC takes a detailed look at one of the worst humanitarian disasters and ruthless killing of natives done during the imperial colonization era.

White King — King Leopold II of Belgium; Red Rubber — book by E. D. Morel; Black Death — Congolese killed number in the millions.

War or Peace

By anautonomousagent

On November 28, 2014

In economics, Ralph nelson elliott, thoughts

I believe the developed world has the potential knowledge and power to prevent a large scale religious war in the Middle East which threatens to involve numerous superpowers. For the sake of all civilization, we must force a peaceful resolution. There is a hope that our technology has enabled us to predict and even prevent global disasters. Sadly, I have the impression that there are people and groups in power who are rather intent upon war, regardless of predictions. Or they are at least not supporting a peaceful resolution. Their very refusal to step down or change their strategy is in fact the problem.

Perhaps they don’t realize that most developed economies, including the United States, Europe and Japan are in dis-integrative secular cycles. Any global fighting will only accelerate the descent into local unrest and civil dissidence in the developed economies. It is important to remember that World World II began around ten years after the start of the Great Depression. The current global depression, yes depression (not recession), occurred about seven years ago. History does progress in cycles, not necessarily at periodic intervals, but the highest probability of global war is in the years following a global depression. Martin Armstrong has mentioned that November 20, 2014 was a critical date in his war cycle and that 2015 and 2016 are going to be volatile years.

Looking at The Bubble Index (10,080 and 20,160 days), shows that the DJIA and S&P 500 are both still in large scale decompression phases which started in 2008-9. Similar decompression phases in The Bubble Index occurred in the late 1960’s and lasted through the 1970’s. This marked a time of great civil unrest. And if you are an Elliott Wave follower, Daneric’s blog suggests the recent bull market is a “sucker’s rally” B wave off the 2009 lows, and that a C wave is about to unfold in the Wilshire 5000 (although there are other EW blogs, such as Caldaro, which predict different outcomes). If these predictions come true we are looking at a future in the next few years of political unrest and economic volatility. Only time will tell…