Is the pool down?
exactly. I am new to mining and spent a lot of time understanding what I am doing. This is definitely the easiest but definitely not the best! But then again its a lot of hard work if you want to do this yourself
Well, I DID mine altcoins (mostly ltc and ppc)and traded them on exchanges (mostly vircurex) myself and it was actually fun and not THAT hard to do, just takes lots of time since you have to be monitoring the exchange constantly.
This, middlecoin, pool is for the lazy and/or noobs. Don't get me wrong, I've been mining here for a couple months now and I like the convenience. I've had my fun mining and trading on my own, so here I am.
The point is, you are missing out if you don't try it on your own for at least a little bit. You may lose some money but the epxerience you gain will be invaluable.
Too many people looking for a get-rich-quick scheme; it just doesn't exist, even in bitcoins, you have to pay a price.