Carlos Randolph

Current plan for Bitcoin Mining setups

The first and main setup is going to be a Butterfly Labs 10Gh/sec USB mining unit being driven from a Mac OS X Server. Bitcoin-QT is being used for the wallet and MacMiner will drive the mining unit. Based on some information I’ve gathered from others, I’m going to try and set this one up in a non-pooled environment. Maybe I’ll get lucky.

The second setup is going to be a collection of Erupter 333Mh/sec USB sticks being driven off of a RaspberryPi. I purchased five of these USB miners and together they will total somewhere over 1.6Gh/sec. These will operate in a pooled environment so I can gauge how much I can mine within a collective. Rather than having the USB sticks plugged into the RaspberryPi, I will use a 7-port USB hub and cooling fan. These little USB sticks run really hot, I guess too hot to even touch. So the last pic shows them with little heat sinks that I’ve purchased for them.

My third and final setup will run off one of my other machines. I’ve purchased a couple 1.6Gh/sec AntMiners. One of these AntMiners will process the same amount of hashes as 5 of the Erupters.

Bitcoins on the brain!

I’ve read about stories regarding Bitcoins and I’ve finally reached a point where my tech side curiosity has been peaked. I’m decided to make a minimal investment in some mining equipment to see how it works and make some coins if possible. Part of this setup I already have and the other stuff is on the way. Here is what I have:

I’ve got a BitCoin Wallet and use Bitcoin-Qt here on my MacBook Pro.
I’ve got a RaspberryPi setup and I’m going to use it to control some USB ASIC Miners.
I’ve joined the Bitcoin.cz pool and got it connected to my Wallet for payments

I’ve got the following items ordered and on the way:

A ButterFly Labs 10Gh/sec Miner
Three USB AntMiners that operate at 1.6Gh/sec
Some LED/LCD stuff for the RaspberryPi to display it’s progress and what not.

The goal at this point is to setup two different mining operations. I’m going to use the RaspberryPi with the three USB AntMiners (4.8Gh/Sec total) to participate in a mining pool and see how I can generate in a month of operations. I’m going to take the Butterfly Labs 10Gh/sec miner and rig it up to a Mac Mini-Server that I have but it’s not going to be a pooled miner. I’m going to see if I can catch a solution on my own. But still measure what I can generate in month.

Why do all this? Because it’s geeky fun. I’ll keep posting about this as I move forward.

Now that’s a cup of coffee!

Another good thing screwed up

Back when I lived in Chicago, and when I was in that 18-34 year old male category, I stumbled upon TechTv’s show “Attack of the Show”. This was a geek tech that covered all things geeky. I also found X-Play for great and honest game reviews. Adam Sesler and Morgan Webb were great. Morgan, who is a complete hottie and has appeared in Maxim, is the embodiment of real gamer in a world that is often seen as male dominated. You can’t bullshit a gamer with some gussied up hottie, it’s easy to see right through it.

A year or two after discovering this channel it was bought out by Comcast and all started to change. Key people were leaving or being fired. Show topics were blunted (less geeky). An most importantly, and this was there goal to win 18-34 crowd, they started marching in the bimbos. Attack of the Show became a joke. X-Play was left untouched and Adam and Morgan continue to host it. It has always been good. In April of 2012 Adam left G4 and in December it was announced that G4 was being re-lauched as the Esquire Channel targeting the metrosexual viewer. WTF!

Thank you Comcast for screwing the pooch on this. You walked by a garden and saw pretty flower but could not resist touching it. Now it’s withered and dead.

Gun laws and what should be done

I’ve been listening to all the rhetoric and news blogs. There were somethings I knew and somethings I didn’t know about. Before proceeding I do want to say that I believe people should have the right bear arms. Handguns for protection, shooting enthusiasm as well. Rifles for hunting, shooting enthusiasm as well. But there are limits.

No military style weapons (assault rifles).
No high-capacity magazines.
Anyone who has a criminal record, especially those on parole, should not have them.
Anyone on a any watch list should not have them.
No special ammunition like hollow point, armor piercing, etc.
Background checks on everyone (no gun show loopholes).
Guns sold to an individual should be licensed to that individual. Anyone who is to use it should be registered to that weapon as well.
Requirements for storage and securing of weapons. Only those registered to the weapons should be able to access them.
Laws that allow the government to go after dealers who sell and break the laws mentioned above.

So yes, you have the right to bear arms but it has to tempered with reasonable restraint. Would these prevent what just happened in Newton, probably not, but it can prevent some of the future occurrences and it makes sense. Get this behind us and then focus on the mental issues that occur and look at how to make places like school more secure.

Counter Opinion – The Surface and the iPad

Michael Gartenberg published an opinion piece on Computerworld called: Looking beneath the Surface.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9233609/Michael_Gartenberg_Looking_beneath_the_Surface

The entry paragraph states “The physical keyboard and inclusion of Office are differentiators that make a straight-up comparison impossible.” I disagree.

Let us start with the easy part, a keyboard. There are numerous cases with built-in keyboards in addition to Apple’s wireless keyboard that work. I use Apple’s wireless keyboard on a regular basis with my iPad and it’s portable enough to pack it in the bag.

Next up was his discussion about ports and how the Surface has a mini-DVI connector so you can display the output to a larger screen. The current iPad, iPad Mini and iPhone 5 have the lightning bolt ports and those who want to connect a HDMI or VGA compatibles display can and it will fully mirror the device.

UPDATE: Just read something I didn’t realize. The Surface let’s you connect another screen as a secondary display. The iPad only let’s you connect it as a mirror. So you get more real estate of the Surface then you do on the iPad.

Office is another point where Michael feels the Surface stands out. Also, with the ability to plug in an external drive you can save and share files. Personally I use Pages, Numbers and Keynote. They are on par with their desktop counterparts and they can review/edit Office format documents.

Regarding the ability to use an external drive; he is correct. But then again Apple’s focus has been toward using iCloud and eliminating the need for drive. For example, I created a Keynote presentation on my desktop and my plan was to take it on my iPad to give a presentation. Once my document was saved to iCloud, which is where I default to saving things, it was immediately available on my iPad for reading and modifying. No cables or external drives needed.

I like the Surface. But I don’t believe you can honestly sit here and provide and opinion piece saying you can’t compare it with an iPad. Now maybe the goal of the Surface is to replace a desktop and tablet with one device. For me I would rather be equipped with a MacBook Air, an iPad and an iPhone. This is what I have to today and I’m a fully functioning walking office that completely fits inside an 11″ mini messenger bag. And with iCloud services all three devices are always in sync for everything from appointments, contacts, bookmarks, Music, etc.

iPhone 5 – Is it a buy for me

It’s a weird matrix of decisions points but I’ve boiled it down to this. My girlfriend has what I call a Verizion POS (piece o’ ….). She says it works fine but I don’t think she gets it. She didn’t have an iPad and didn’t want one. I got her one as a gift and now she can’t live with out; and she admits it.

I have an iPhone 4S and it’s fine. The only thing I hate is that my new iPad has better response and reception here because of LTE. I mean to the point where my phone is useless because it can’t bring up mail or webpage.

So my plan is to buy one a 5 when it comes out but cascade my 4S to my girlfriend. So yes, I will be picking one up and this will be one less customer for Verizon and one new one for AT&T.

MacBook Air 11″ – How has it held up

I’ve got a stock 11″ MacBook Air, the 4GB/128GB model. It’s got an 1.6Ghz i5 processor and the only modification I’ve done is great skin on the top from Gelaskins.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to like the 11″ screen but to be honest it’s been fine. It’s running at a 720p resolution of 1366×768. I think one thing that helps are the gestures for zooming in and out. I’ve been MindNode Pro a whirl, mind mapping software, and it’s been really easy to use and see.

On the train I can sit with it on my lap and there is no issues with people sitting beside me and feeling cramped. This past week a gentleman was sitting beside me with a Wintel sub-note/netbook and he kept staring at my MacBook Air. He finally leaned over and asked how I was on the Internet with it and I explained that my iPhone was acting as hotspot for it.

The battery is a stumbling point for me. The 11″ can last up to 5 hours while the 13″ can last up to 7 hours. I’m finding that under regular usage, with wi-fi, that I’m getting 3-4 hours. It has warranted that I get a power adapter and leave it at work so I can charge when I get to the office. And BTW, DON’T buy the adapter from Apple for $80, you can get it on Amazon for around $50.

I really do like this system but I have to look at where it fits in the lineup and why. I have a MacBook Pro 17″ that really functions as my main home system. I can take it when I need it but it’s very large. I have an iPad and I found that I use it for most of my online stuff and games. I can type on it and use it for working, I’ve done it for 2+ years now, but still there are times when I want to use the desktop version of apps and a keyboard. The MacBook Air is small enough to be mistaken for an iPad when closed and fits neatly between a full desktop system and the iPad.

The price is the biggest sticking point for people. This model, off the shelf, is about $1,250 with tax. But if you are mobile and want to bring your home system/data with you then it’s a small price to pay. I’d be happier if this model was the entry model at $1,000.

So overall I give it a thumbs up but it most people will balk about the price.

MacBook Air 11″ – just some thoughts

I stopped by the Apple store today for lunch and found myself plugging away on an 11″ MacBook Air. I have to say overall I’m generally impressed by what I saw. The size of it and how you can set it in your lap and type away is really impressive.

The fact that it doesn’t have a HD and uses Flash storage is a bit reassuring. It comes in an 11 & 13 inch models but I focused on the 11″ one. The entry model comes with 2GB and 64GB storage. The storage is hard for me to stomach. The next model comes with 4GB and 128GB that can be configured to 256GB. The 2GB/64GB model is priced at $999 and the 4GB/128GB model is $1,199.

Kind of pricey but like the other Apple products this is a great machine. If you really need to the power of a computer and keyboard (iPad won’t cut it) then this is a great machine. Yes, you can buy a MacBook Pro 13″ with 4GB/500GB Disk for $1,199 but there is a large difference on the size, form factor and weight. Picking up and using the MacBook Air is like an overgrown iPad.

If you think you need a very small laptop alternative, you should stop in the Apple store and check one of these out. If you want to save some money then go to Apple’s online store and on the bottom left side there are links for Clearance items. You can get a complete/refurbished system with full warranty for 15-20% off.

Life, do you have control or not?

A friend of mine on Facebook just asked that question. Someone he knew with two kids and a wife just passed away at the young age of 37. Those of you that know me know I lost my wife who was 40 and I’m now raising two very young kids. So this question of control is something that I have thought about for the past three years. I’ve changed my position on it a couple of times but today I’m going to write down and share what I think and then hopefully I can revisit it in the future and see where I differ on it.

Do we have direct control of our lives? No. Can we influence our life and set its direction? Yes. I’m going to simplify this down to illustrate my point. First I need to breakdown “life” into its major components. Life can be considered as an individual’s Health, Family, Friends and Career. Yes, I’m sure you can break that down or separate it further but I need to keep it simple so I can write about it.

Let’s focus just on Health for the moment. If you stay and agree with me on this then you can see how it would apply to the others. Your “health” is not predetermined. Picture health as a road and there are various roads that make of the quality of health. Once again for simplicity let’s assume health can be broken down into the three roads of Poor Health, Average Health and Great Health. You can influence which road you are on by choosing to eat well or work out. People with certain disabilities may argue that but even in those instances there are different things you can do to raise or lower the quality of health. You may not be able to change the road you are on but you move yourself up or down on that road.

In general you can influence what road you are on and where on the road you lie. You have to actively choose to do this. Yes some people will die sooner than others but even those who die young controlled how they lived. Passing away at a younger age is an event, it doesn’t make your whole life good or bad.