BIP-101 requires 750 of the last 1000 consecutive blocks to have a version bits set to 0x20000007 in hex to trigger a hard fork to remove the block size limit. Qntra recently published an article indicating the negligible miner support for XT, of which Jonathan Toomim commented the brothers' mining initiative would be supporting BIP-101 with blocks they solve. This lead into a brief investigation of the Toomim brothers who use GPG, yet are not in the Web of Trust.
Toomim Bros. Bitcoin Mining Concern LTD. is a mining co-op that hosts physical mining rigs for clients. The customer will pay a fixed fiat fee for power, and are responsible for shipping their mining rig(s) to the Toomims' hosting facility somewhere in the Northwest Pacific USA. The biggest concern is lack of any sort of insurance policy disclosed in the FAQ for miner loss due to damage or theft. In regards to theft their FAQ states simply:
"When it comes to fraud and theft, we hope to never have to say "once is enough." One time is one too many."
An accident due to natural disasters or a theft of some kind creates a situation where the Toomins are responsible for reimbursement. Their stance above presumes there will never be an incident, and implies there may be no disaster recovery plan currently implemented. If this is the case the customers may end up with the loss for mining equipment that suffers casualties.
The second major concern regarding cooling is addressed in their FAQ, but the evidence for their claims is somewhat insufficient. Evaporative cooling cools air through the evaporation of water. In a dry environment an evaporative cooler is able to cool the surrounding air energy with far less energy than a traditional AC unit utilizing refrigeration, thus making it cheaper. However it does raise the humidity of the surrounding air, which is addressed in the FAQ:
Yes, some. Our relative humidity during summer is typically 20%, so increased humidity turns out to be helpful. The ASHRAE recommends datacenters have a humidity between 40% and 60%. Humidity below 40% results in static electricity buildup, and thus higher rates of equipment failure. Humidity above 60% is problematic due to condensation on refrigeration units, which we will not be using.
Although this seems reasonable in theory, many evaporative cooling systems are subject to mold growth, which easily spreads undetected in a building. A mold infestation is mainly a health hazard for humans but can cause complications in the hosting building, which may lead to a potentially uninsured disaster.
The Toomim Bros. Mining Concern raises many concerns, among which is the eagerness to support BIP-101. Many miners who seem reputable have been ousted as scammers, the Toomim Bros. may join them in due time.
Hello, I'm Michael Toomim of the Toomim Bros.
We are an LLC, not a coop. We have insurance. We have no mold. Our name is spelled "Toomim", not "Toomin."
Got any backing whatsoever for any of these claims ?
You can read about our reputation and see what our customers think here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=622998.340
The Czar of Nobodies on a Stick or whoever the fuck keeps sending you schmucks really gotta do a little more training, this shitshow ain't gonna stick. The exact quote isn't "on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog", it's "on the Internet nobody* knows you're a dog" and you're talking with the very star in question.
So, specifically :
You can't be "a LLC". You can be "a LLC registered in X jurisdiction under Y number. Here's our certificate/letter from the secretary/etc". Got a letter ?
You can't "have insurance". You can "have insurance with X for Y under limits k, l, m, n etc". Got a policy ?
And the fact that I have to tell you this means you ain't got no college education, no matter what ridiculous piece of paper some scammers might have given you, so don't even raise that point.
Try using Google. In 10 seconds you can find this:
http://washington.intercreditreport.com/company/real-toomim-llc-603451609
Noty.
The 100-day OODA loop these people have.
https://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/search_detail.aspx?ubi=603451609
The actual registration information of their LLC on the State of Washington Sec. of State website, took all of about 10 secs to find.
That's not their physical location, though – *THAT* information took me about 2 minutes to track down, and about 10 to verify it was still accurate and CURRENT AS OF 30 May 2017 – and all via information accessable via Google.
As it turned out I know the area they're in to a degree – I was looking at a place earlier this month about 2 blocks from their location as a potential place to move MY operation into.
I can't speak to their insurance, as that's not information normally available in public records.
As far as mold from using evaporative cooling in Central Washington goes – the only thing I can do is ROFLMAO (I'd SC if I had a cat).
Happens I've been running *my* mining operation in the same county for about a year now – and I have no idea how they're getting as HIGH as 55% RH, I was barely making it to 45% on MID-WINTER days when it was snowing outside while running my evaporative gear.
Hint – Central Washington is a "semi-arid" climate, near-desert – which is why the Grand Coulee dam was built initially, primarily for IRRIGATION (the power generation mostly came later).
On average we get 8 inches of precipitation a year (the Mojave desert averages 5 inches, for perspective).
Meanwhile that particular brand of usg shill melted in the woodwork. But, nice digging in any case.