Topic: Block Erupter USB - StickMiners Horizons - 0.1BTC prize - closed (Read 1767 times)

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Ah, the venerable Block Erupter USB - many a miner's first foray into ASIC Bitcoin mining.

But what are they doing now?  Collecting dust?  Fetching $5 each in flash sales only to be found on ebay for $15 each - and selling, too?  Still hashing away, forgotten behind a computer tower at a job you were fired from for completely unrelated reasons a long time ago?

Well it's time to blow the dust off and study it and other StickMiners carefully.

To celebrate the Block Erupter USB's upcoming 2-year anniversary, I'm 'giving' away BTC0.1 (a small prize for a small device) in a contest of perception and strategy.

At noon PST on 2015-05-03 (that's May 3rd, not March 5th) I will be posting a list of side views of miners, much akin to that at the bottom of this page.  Your goal will be to either deduce, or guess, which miner it is.  Each item is valued at a certain number of points based on how good your guess is.

To partake, you will only have to list your guess for each item in the list.  No tinkering, no need to mine, just your skill in perception honed through experience, wisdom or sheer dumb luck.

Prize: BTC0.1
It's not much, but it's more than you're going to get mining with one now, short of being a solo Bitcoin mining lottery winner

Rules:
1. You may enter this contest simply by posting a comment in this thread pointing out your guesses.  See the Guesses section for details.
1.1 You may enter your guesses at any time.  If somebody before you already guessed one you were going to guess, too, you should still list it in your guesses to gain those points.
1.2 Conversely, if you have a guess but are still working on others, you should consider carefully if you want to post your guess immediately as those following and seeing your guess will surely claim it as well and may have additional guesses, potentially beating you to it.
2. Only your first guess for a given item is counted.
3. You must post or PM an address to which potential winnings should be sent (at time of submission or if selected as the winner), and - lest I send BTC into a void - you must sign the following message using that address to prove receivership:

Duration:
The list of items will be posted on 2015-05-03 at noon (12:00pm) PST, and the contest will start effectively at that time and continue until midnight PST.  Not sure when that is?  Google is ever-so-helpful: current time pst

• You may begin posting your guesses starting at 12:00pm PST on 2015-05-03.
• The contest closes at 12:00am PST on 2015-05-04 (night of 3rd on 4th)

Winner selection:
The winner of the contest will be determined by the total number of points.  In the case of a tie, the participant who had that amount of points first will be declared the winner.

The list
The list will be posted in the second post of this thread at or around 12:00pm PST on 2015-05-03.  It will include various StickMiners.  Each item on the list will be labeled by a single letter: A, B, C, etc. for reference.

Guesses:
When making a guess, consult the StickMiners - overview of low-power 'usb stick' type mining hardware thread for naming conventions to prevent ambiguity.  Be as precise as you can, it might just land you extra points.
Guesses should be posted as:
A = Your guess for item A on the list
B = Your guess for item B
C = Your guess for item C
etc.

Points:
Each item in the list carries with it a certain number of points based on the guess.  Some will only be a single point, others - deemed by me to be more difficult to guess - will be multiple points.
The solution and number of points assigned to each item is posted in encrypted form at the end of the list.  Upon the end of this contest, the solutions + points will be posted, along with the decryption key for verification.

Transparency and fraud:
The aforementioned points post will not be edited, as evidence that points were not changed to favor certain answers.
However, it is impossible for me to guarantee that I have not given people the answers in advance.  You'll just have to trust me when I say FUN > CORRUPTION.

Contest address:

• Winnings will be paid out from the following address: 1BEUSBkeLBLuhtdUqaZQA2S5aTou1MdvB
• Signature (message as in rule 3): IM69dqCFD8oTXbkIMp9B9nGF0ZGjuJSi3f6PzXVvqEWQLYTP7d19VYMutKA9myeb0xXj4+tdWQjeq74CddfXi3E=

Disclaimer / the fine print:
I will not give feedback on this thread other than clarification of rules and technical support for posting. This contest is open to any member of the BitcoinTalk Forum.  If you're not a member, now's a good time to become one.  By participating, you agree to the rules and disclaimer.  I'm not allowed to participate.  Bummer.  friedcat is totes allowed to participate, tho'.  Guesses past the closing time will be disqualified.  I won't be responsible for guesses not qualified due to technical errors.  A single winner will emerge.  Only one entrant?  Winnar!  A participant is allowed to post multiple guess posts, however only the first guess by that person for a given item is counted.  You with the shill accounts, you know who you are, play nice.  Results and winners will be announced on 2015-05-04.  That's May 4th, not April 5th.  My decision is final and no further correspondence will be entertained unless it is entertaining.  Prizes are not exchangeable for cash or other products - I mean, by me, you can do whatever you want with it when it's yours.  I do not accept responsibility for any tax implications that may arise from the prizes or the use thereof, for you poor sods whose Bitcoin is taxed strictly. This post may receive updates in the below section at any time during the contest period.  I told you this was the fine print bit, right?

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Contests:
1. Block Erupter USB mod contest 2015 - 0.3/0.15/0.05 BTC prizes
2. Block Erupter USB Three Days of Mining lottery 2015 - 0.1 BTC prize
3. Block Erupter USB - StickMiners Horizons - 0.1 BTC prize

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