Bismuth Toolbox, interview and reward
Months ago, Bismuth user “Whatever” developed a shiny app to monitor his BIS mining rigs, wallets and Hypernodes.
Apps you code for yourself, because you feel an urging need for it can end up most useful, and this one makes no exception.
Preview of the Bismuth toolbox main screen
As a followup, Whatever also added more useful intel with hypernodes related data and monitoring The Hypernode monitoring section This app was already showcased in previous progress report:
- June 15, 2020 progress report
- September 2020, progress report
Interview with Whatever
Very nice work and a much-needed app! So, we had to get in touch and ask him a few questions. 🙂
Getting to Know You
Q: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
A: I’m an elder guy (>25 y.o.) with a young soul (~25 y.o.), working a 9-to-5 job and enjoying hobbies like programming and cryptocurrencies.
My job isn’t in IT, and I’m not a professional coder—just an enthusiast. However, I do use programming at work (mainly MATLAB) for data modeling and process automation.
Q: When did you first encounter computers and coding?
A: I got my first PC in college—an Intel Celeron 100MHz, as I recall.
My programming journey started with Pascal and Basic (if you don’t know these, consider yourself lucky 😆).
Sadly, my career path didn’t require coding, so it remained a hobby.
Introduction to Blockchain & Bismuth
Q: How did you first get introduced to blockchain?
A: It was early 2017, just before the global crypto hype. ETH was around $10 at the time.
I asked myself, “WTF is this Bitcoin everyone is talking about?” and started reading about blockchains, BTC, ETH, and mining.
It all seemed new and complicated—which made me dive in.
I had some cash to burn, so I built my first GPU mining rig and started mining ETH. Later, I discovered BIS in late 2018.
BIS was different—it wasn’t just “another shitcoin to mine.” I actually took the time to understand the project.
What kept me around was the friendly and supportive community (shoutout to EggdraSyl, Evilpokerqueen, Raetch, and others).
Tech & Development
Q: Is there a piece of code you wish you had written?
A: I wish I had written Microsoft Windows—or, at the very least, I wish they would stop developing it (they have no idea what they’re doing 😆).
Q: Any code you’re particularly proud of?
A: None, honestly. I’m not a professional coder, and I’ve never been formally trained.
If anything, I’m ashamed of most of my code.
However, I’m proud of the scientific solutions I’ve achieved using my ugly code.
Strengths & Weaknesses of Bismuth
Q: What do you think is Bismuth’s biggest strength?
A: A talented dev team and an engaged, supportive community.
Q: And its biggest weakness?
A: Lack of marketing. It’s a result of limited resources—there aren’t enough people with the right expertise in the team or community.
A great product isn’t enough; it needs to be marketed.
The dev team has done excellent work, but now it’s time to sell it. BIS has strong features that should be showcased.
The time has come to sketch out a real marketing campaign.
Programming Preferences
Q: Your most loved programming language, and why?
A: Hard to pick just one. If I had to choose two:
- Python (for general-purpose coding)
- MATLAB (for scientific computing)
I’ve only written a handful of lines in Python, but I love its simplicity.
Q: Most hated programming language, and why?
A: Java. I do a lot of Android development in Java, and I hate it.
- Too much boilerplate code for simple tasks
- Null exceptions—hated by everyone
I’m switching to Kotlin as soon as I finish my current project (Bismuth Toolbox).
Final Words & Reward
Q: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” could be your dev motto? 😆
A: Haha! Honestly, I’m not one to give programming advice—I should be the one receiving it.
Bismuth Toolbox has proven its value, and that’s all we needed!
Thank you for your support of Bismuth and your contributions to its ecosystem—much appreciated!
Reward Time 🎉
The Bismuth team is currently redefining its bounty system and priorities, but we always reward valuable community contributions.
Since Bismuth Toolbox has been released as open-source (GitHub Repo), we are awarding Whatever a 10,000 $BIS reward for his work and dedication. 🎉