[Cryptography] Bitcoin, fork you very much

[Dave Horsfall]

> Only in the short run, since the difficulty adjust every two weeks to 
> keep the rate about 0.1 block/minute gather there's a little used rule 
> that says that when two chains are of the same length the one with more 
> work wins, so if they have more than half of the hashing power they'll 
> probably win.  Or if the split's only for a few days, there probably 
> won't be time for an adjustment.

OK, I've grepped the 'net a few times, but I'm still trying to grok 
Bitcoin in small words (the Aussie media is currently frothing at the 
mouth over B$ falling off a cliff, for example, and it may as well be 
written in Urdu).

Yes, I know the saying about the servants getting into the market...

Assume that I majored in Computer Science and Mathematics in the 70s, once 
supported a financial package (but I've never invested so much as a cent 
anywhere), and am an utter egg when it comes to crypto...

I grok the "proof of work" concept (why else are IoTs hijacked, for 
example?) but I don't quite understand the ramifications, and why there's 
a finite limit (aside from sheer hardware).

I hope I've made myself clear...

-- 
Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU)  "Those who don't understand security will suffer."