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♻️ It's time for the weekly #sustainability news! Welcome back to Evreka's Sustainability Bulletin :) We will be here every Thursday with developments from around the world.

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Movies, cartoons, and anime have long warned us about numerous realistic apocalyptic scenarios due to climate change that are just around the corner. From “Wall-E” to “Interstellar” and “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”. But I’ve never paid much thought to it, that is until I’ve watched a Netflix documentary . “David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet” Shocking details of our world melting and the planet’s ecosystem collapsing because of human actions made me acutely aware of the situation we’re in and that the next ten years are crucial for Earth. We produce more than we can consume and we’re drowning in trash. CO2 emissions are rising, the Earth is getting warmer, and the diversity of species is disappearing. It all made me wonder what can be done about it and how emerging technologies can help. So here are 5 IoT solutions that are helping save our planet right now. 1. Walmart’s ‘Eden’ Suite to Eliminate Food Waste Let’s start with food. Although the planet’s population is increasing drastically and the need for food is bigger than ever before, the topic of food waste has not vanished. Just imagine – a third of all food produced globally is annually. It is around 1.3 billion tons of food. Unless the problem of food waste is tackled, this number will grow . And to think that to produce a single food item many precious resources are spent, it is abominable to allow one-third of it to be discarded. wasted by 70 percent by 2050 Digital technology comes to the rescue. With digital capabilities, we can identify, prevent and/or reduce possible waste. One such example is an IoT solution devised by U.S. store chain Walmart that tracks the freshness of food as it moves from farms to the stores. ‘Eden’ The key indicator of food decay is changed levels of moisture in products due to higher temperature levels in container trucks. Using connected sensors, machine learning, and product tags for moisture sensing, the solution can trace food quality in real-time. So what happens if apples start to go bad on their way to some distant store? They are re-routed immediately to a closer store. Eliminating waste with this technology, Walmart aims to save over the next five years. two billion dollars 2. An eco-friendly way to grow food with vertical farming Growing enough food to feed all the planet’s population is another problem facing humanity. Despite a slow-down in population growth, the UN projects that the number of people living on Earth in 2050 will reach . According to the , 56% more food should be produced to feed everyone. 9.7 billion World Resources Institute Here’s where sustainable agriculture and farming could help. And no one does it better than innovators from Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In terms of gross value, this country constantly ranks among the , although you can drive across the whole of the Netherlands from the north to the south in less than four hours. world’s top agricultural exporters Their sustainable and well-controlled approach to vertical farming – that is growing crops on layers one above the other – does not rely on soil, sunshine, water, and pesticides. And more importantly, vertical farms do not require vast amounts of arable land, compared to conventional farming, and avoid further deforestation. IoT makes vertical farms more modular and helps monitor the health of crops that are grown. Smart greenhouses have sensors installed that gather data on temperature, humidity, pH, and CO2 levels, as well as light and water. Thanks to this real-time data farmers can intelligently monitor and control their crops, regulating temperature, humidity, lighting, spraying, irrigation, and more. 3. Evreka solution for a smart way to collect waste Now is the time to have the trash talk. Not only it is contaminating oceans and soils, producing harmful gasses, and making our planet inhabitable, but the whole process of garbage collection is far from perfect. To keep our cities clean and save the time and effort of waste management companies, IoT route optimization systems have been devised. One of them is a Turkey-based company called . Evreka This IoT management system makes dumpsters “smart” to gain information about how much they are filled. Sensors that are durable against heat and water are attached to containers. They collect information about location, temperature, and fill levels, and send it to the cloud. Later, this data is used to form the optimum route of the vehicle collecting garbage and to calculate the frequency of such visits. 4. Smart waste management system Envac to dispose of waste One Swedish waste management company has gone further than just making their garbage bins smart. They have implemented a vacuum-powered system that is my absolute favorite solution not only to dispose of waste but also to sort it for further reuse and recycling. This brilliant waste management system is called . It uses high-pressure underground tubes that suck garbage bags from the bins and transport them into a sorting center. But before making it to the tubes, the garbage bag has to be thrown in the correct container – for organic waste, recyclables, and for all other waste. Organic waste is turned into biogas and all other types of waste are used to produce electricity or heat. Envac The bins are equipped with sensors that detect when they are full. It takes 10 seconds to empty the whole bin underground so that they don’t overflow. One set of such smart waste bins can serve 30-50 families. Residents even get feedback on their smartphones about how much waste they produce and how much biogas. 5. Energy-efficient cities with Novalume's smart streetlight solution City street lights are the last thing I’d like to mention here. Despite using lots of energy and producing air pollution with CO2 emissions, city lights can have negative effects on human health. There are companies with ready-made IoT solutions that help not only save costs with LED streetlights but also reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions by 30%. is a Danish company that delivers lighting solutions for city municipalities. Their IoT system called LUMINTELL™ optimizes street light usage to decrease energy use during off-peak traffic hours. Each street light is wirelessly connected to the online application in the cloud. Using the software solution, municipalities workers can see the entire street light installation and monitor their operations. This function reduces 75% of maintenance costs. Novalume Solutions smart city Energy-efficient solutions, solutions that help recycle waste with sensor-based technology, vertical farming, and solutions that help eliminate food waste – all these examples of IoT technology solutions are great tools in our battle to save Earth from ecological catastrophes that are looming. But the more such solutions, the better. So, now it’s up to us, humans, to use all methods available to us and act.

A Battle for Earth: 5 Ways IoT Can Help Save Our Planet

Hi! I’m Nikolai Khechumov from ’s team. This is the second part of our journey, where we are trying to improve secrets detection. , we examined different types of secrets, understood the core problems, and hit a dead end. Now we are going to make a breakthrough and do something useful. Avito Application Security In the previous part Imitating SAST Okay, since we cannot easily use the existing tools, let’s try to understand how they work and review the first two steps any SAST tool makes to build an AST. A very simplified scheme is shown below: These two steps are “lexing” and “parsing.” The Lexing (also known as ‘tokenization’) stage receives a code as just a stream of chars. Then it finds very basic language-specific syntax constructions and outputs them as a set of typed tokens — small strings with semantic interpretation. For example, a token ‘def’ is not just three chars but a keyword reserved for function declaration. We now have valuable insights about the purpose of every token, but the context itself is still missing. Python The parsing stage adds valuable context. It combines tokens into higher-level language constructions and outputs them in a form called an “abstract syntax tree.” Now we have more structural details: groups of tokens became variables, functions, and so on. For us, the question is still the same: how. Eureka! One day, while making a presentation for a talk, I had a code snippet. I wanted to format it nicely, started a browser, and typed “syntax highlighting online.” Then I opened the first link, pasted my code, pressed “highlight,” and.. a lighting strike hit somewhere near me. What I did is I found a tool that: definitely makes tokenization under the hood light enough to work inside a web browser supports dozens of languages and formats out of the box Forget about the presentation. Let’s find something similar running on Python. And yes, I found it. 538 languages supported I found , a fantastic library that solved the most significant problem: language-dependent tokenization. It still uses regexes under the hood, but those regexes are not written by me. Pygments That’s a killer feature! The library is about syntax highlighting but it features , so we can output a raw stream of tokens with their semantic meaning. RawTokenLexer Our first problem — decreasing the number of strings for analysis — is solved. Now we understand the type of every token and can just ignore useless ones: keywords, punctuation, numbers, operators, etc., leaving only literals and comments. But we are still unable to understand the names and values of variables. Variable Detection The lexing problem seems to be solved. Now let's move on to parsing. Building a true AST looks a bit redundant for our problem, so let’s optimize. Further research has shown that the type of token is more important than its value for variable detection. We need to look for . Once the pattern is found, we can make additional checks against the values of the tokens inside it. patterns inside a stream of token types to detect variables To create a Token Type Stream (TTS), I took one character from the type name of each token. Thanks to Pygments, token types are common across languages and formats. Eventually, a Variable Detection Rule (VDR) may contain the following: Reference to look inside a TTS (regex with match groups) pattern for match groups that check for expected values inside the pattern (eq. useful for finding assignment punctuation) MatchRules to clarify a group’s semantic purpose MatchSemantics Example! So let’s take our simple code snippet: def main(arg: str):
  a = 3 
  b = 'hello'
  return f'{a}{b}' Represent as an array with TTS. Basically, the variable of our interest ( ) is between the 20th and the 25th token. b The reference pattern here should be something like this: (n)t*(o|p)t*(s)(s)(s)t Let’s apply it to the TTS Match groups help us to apply additional verification logic. And finally, a rule may be supplemented with our vision of semantics. Summarizing everything The cool part here is that approach allows you to cover any language with variable detection using only 4-6 rules. New Secrets Detection Rule Semantic information about a given file enables us to analyze deeper in the right context. For example, we can now calculate entropy for a variable’s value, knowing for sure that this specific substring is a variable's value. Names of variables are also important for analysis. There are two new rules I introduced: Suspicious variable naming (low confidence) Suspicious variable naming + high entropy of a variable's value Now we can also use hashed secrets as a source of new rules. A hashed secret rule can contain information about the original secret length to improve performance. Outcomes This approach became a giant step forward for Avito: we received a noticeable performance boost (up to 60%) and +200% new findings we could not see before. Of course, the false positive rate has also grown, but it’s mostly due to test secrets. The findings are semantically correct. Limitations Plaintext files without extensions or incorrect extensions are obviously unsupported; tokenization fallbacks to the “blind mode” Variable Detection Rules (VDRs) are still a kind of compromise; they’re language-specific and may not guarantee absolute correctness (although we did not face any problem with that) We’re ready to share it with you! Our code scanning model requires every scanner to be a web service that supports our internal protocol, so we decided to extract the core functionality and open-source it as a CLI tool called DeepSecrets. You can find it here: https://github.com/avito-tech/deepsecrets Release notes are in a separate article here. Thank you! The featured image for this piece was generated with stable diffusion v2.1 Prompt: Illustrate a computer screen with the caution symbol.

Modernizing Secrets Scanning: Part 2–the Semantic Eureka

The Eureka Killers

Imagine putting on your Samsung TV only to meet a black screen, but you can tell it is on because the power indicator is on. So, if your TV power is on but the screen is blank, there are ways to fix it. You're sure your television screen is not cracked, right? Good! A Samsung TV black screen can be fixed by checking all connections, choosing the right display mode, updating the TV firmware, or the streaming source signal. Causes of Samsung TV Black Screen of Death Often, a blank, black, and empty Samsung smart TV isn't so much of a concern. It may happen because the television isn't connecting to a signal from a source device, which may be a cable box or a satellite receiver. There may be cable connection problems due to damage or slack, or some power display mode settings. 9 Ways to Fix Samsung TV Black Screen for Smart TVs These basic causes of an empty, blank TV screen, as shared above, are the first things that you may want to check in a "how to fix my Samsung TV" dilemma. Check Your HDMI Cable Faulty RCA Cables Check input of the TV Firmware Update Check TV Signal Sleep Settings Streaming Device Check Dead batteries Factory Reset 1. Check Your HDMI Cable Connection: If you use an HDMI cable connection, check to see that the cable box or satellite receiver is in the proper port meant for the cable. See if they are securely plugged into the port and not shaking. A loose or faulty HDMI connection may cause a TV black screen of death. So, if you have spare cables, you may also want to try them out. Faulty cables often occur if the cables are old or stressed, such as by removing them and fixing them elsewhere, such as on your laptop or a monitor screen. Or...if you have kids! You never know what children do with electronics when you're not supervising. So, try out a new cable. Or check another HDMI port, since Samsung's recent smart TVs have multiple ports. Try to connect the TV to an external monitor using an HDMI cable. If the external monitor shows an active screen, there may be a serious problem with the TV. However, if nothing comes up by trying the HDMI ports elsewhere, some of the following fixes will help awaken your Samsung TV black screen. 2. It May be Faulty RCA Cables (also known as AV cables) If you use RCA cables, also, confirm that you are putting them in the right ports on your television. If you are not sure of where the cables ought to be, especially for those with just 2 heads, you can find out how and where to connect RCA cables (link). If that is not the issue, don't give up. There are still goodies in this bag; check the next fix. 3. Check the Input of the TV Your TV may not be at home. Not literally, of course! Say you last watched something from a USB flash drive connected to your TV, that would be the default mode it would start in when you next turn on your TV. So, change the source! Pick up your TV remote, press "source/input" and choose what input you prefer to watch from, AV 1, AV2, HDMI 1, HDMI 2. If your remote is no more: dead or indisposed, you can scroll down to see how to use your phone as a remote for your Samsung smart TV. 4. Firmware Update It is possible that your TV just won't respond anymore, even in the middle of a show, and you have no clue what's going on. In that case, unplug your TV and wait some 30-45 seconds. Plug it back to the power source, and you will be prompted to update your firmware. You're gonna need a WiFi connection for this. On the remote control, press Menu > Settings > Support > Software Update > Update Now When the installation is complete, your TV automatically restarts. That should fix the problem, debug the software, and strengthen security. So, a blackout from a likely bug should be fixed that way. https://youtu.be/9xGVaN-1sUI?embedable=true You're welcome! Oh, or that doesn't fix it yet? Well, there is more magic you can work here. 5. Check the TV Signal Strength A TV without a signal connection will stare at you with a blank screen like a ghost. (Are you afraid of ghosts? Sorry, didn't mean to scare you). Check the strength meter on your TV to see the connection level (strength) with your internet source. A weak cable strength may be due to a bad cable connection, either to the TV or the one coming from the antenna, cable box, or satellite dish for your cable TV. 6. Perhaps your TV is Sleeping? No, not to mock you. You probably woke up on the couch trying to binge a midnight show, and your TV won't just flicker hope (or light). Your TV may be in power saving mode, which may have slept due to a set timer or an accidental press of the sleep/power button on the remote. Here's how to fix that. Sleep Timer: Menu > Settings > Timer > Sleep Timer > On/Off When that is done, turn off your TV and wait for 30 seconds. Turn on the TV afterward. Power Saving Mode: Menu > Settings > Power Saving Mode >Off/On Switch off your TV and wait for 30 seconds. Turn on the TV afterward. If you are not able to do any of these things because the remote is not controlling the TV, scroll down the article to see how to use your phone as a smart TV remote. If that's the problem, then it's solved. Or... is your TV still stubborn? There is another Hogwarts treat for that. 7. Replace your Streaming Device If you are getting a black screen only when using a certain device, like your streaming device, then it’s likely that the issue is with the device and not your TV. Perhaps the evil finger you have to pull out is that streaming device of yours. Try another streaming device just to check it out. If you can see the previous menu and power settings from the remote on the TV, then the screen is not the issue. Perhaps try your friend's Amazon fire stick, or move it to your neighbor's apartment to try their cable TV. 8. Dead Batteries! Dead Batteries! "What is dead may never die" That is never true for batteries! They stay dead. Again, if the TV power is on (with an indicator) and it looks like all the stunts you try to do with the remote control aren't working, try replacing the batteries. Is it too late, and you can't go out? Do you have the patience to wait until the morning or not? Never mind, whatever your answer is, if you use an Android or iOS phone, you can use it as a smart remote ( ). check how to, below 9. Factory Reset for Samsung TV Black Screen This option should be the last thing to consider if you are having trouble troubleshooting your TV's black screen of death. That is because it clears off all your settings and the preferences you might have set for your TV. So, here is what to do if you need to reset your TV. Via your remote, go to: Settings > General > Reset > input your PIN here to confirm reset > Ok How to Use Your Phone as Samsung TV Remote: iPhone and Android Download the "SmartThings" app. It should come preinstalled on a Samsung phone, but you might need to update it if you don't use it regularly. In the SmartThings App If you have previously connected your TV to your phone, that's great. Click “Devices” Pick the drop-down option at the top of the screen to see a list of your devices, especially if you categorized them. Click the category where you have your TV; by default, it should be in the "living room" category.
Then choose the TV. Some versions of the app may have a "TV/Projector" option. An on-screen remote will appear, and you can manage all of the options we have discussed.
(Embed YouTube link) Pairing Your Samsung TV with the Samsung App If you have never paired your TV with your phone, here is what to do: Pick the drop-down option at the top of the screen to see a list of your devices, especially if you categorized them > Open SmartThings > Click the category where you have your TV; by default, it should be in the "Living Room" category. You will see the "Add Device" option: And you can either scan a QR code (which may not be applicable in this scenario) or scan for nearby devices. Once discovered, connect, and eureka! From here, go back to the previous step (resetting your Samsung TV black screen). If you use an iPhone, you can also get the Samsung TV remote app on the App Store. It's not likely that all of these won't help! Where are my flowers? Oops. Did you say it isn't working yet? Okay, time to call for backup! Contact Samsung If it all seems like an empty shell, do not see it as a waste of time or effort. You did the right thing by seeking help. At this point, you just have to contact Samsung support. They will ask you about the troubleshooting tricks we have already talked about, and if that is the case, they may have this manufacturer's secret that may fix the problem. If you have to ship the product to them, however, it may cost you some money. Fortunately, if you still have a warranty, then you are covered. You don't want to reach Samsung? For every Merlin, there is a Gaius! Reach a Professional Technician If you think it may take too long to wait for Samsung's services, you should reach out to a PROFESSIONAL TV technician near you. Go for the best. They may be able to fix TV problems like broken back lights or motherboard chip issues. This option should only be considered if you cannot wait for Samsung's professional support because once the product has been tampered with, your warranty no longer counts. But if you do not care about the warranty anyway, then no hassles. Conclusion Samsung TVs are some of the best smart TVs available in the market. This article contains some DIY quick fixes for a black screen TV that may have happened from control options or settings. If your TV is not powering up at all, try another power outlet. Check if the TV plug is burnt or not. You can smell it to see if it's toast. Not toast bread! If your Samsung TV won't come on at all with no power indicator, you should saddle up; it's time to visit a technician with some money in your pocket or purse. Or whatever! Just get it fixed and continue enjoying your show!

DIY Quick Fixes for Samsung TV Black Screen of Death

More Beetles by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE BEADED TROX CHAPTER III. THE BEADED TROX The Fly has deserved well of hygiene. The first to come to the dead Mole, she left behind her a garrison of scavengers which, without dissecting-instruments, whether lancets or scalpels, set to work upon the corpse. The most urgent matter was to sterilize the carcase, to extract from it such substances as are readily corrupted, the source of rapid and dangerous putrescence. And this is what the maggot has been doing. From its pointed mouth, for ever poking and rummaging, it dribbled forth a solvent as effective as any in my laboratory; with this reagent it dissolved the flesh and viscera, or at least reduced them to a thick liquid broth. Gradually the soil is saturated with the fertilizing moisture, which the plant will soon restore to the laboratory of living chemistry. When her mission is completed, the Fly herself becomes a danger, because of her excessive numbers. In order to perform their pressing task more quickly, the maggots operate in legions. If not checked, they would encumber the world. The balance of things in general demands their disappearance. Then, in due season, the exterminator arrives, the Saprinus doting on fat sausages, the slow-trotting Beetle in black armour who massacres the vermin and leaves only enough survivors to maintain the race. The Mole is now a dried-up mummy, but is harmful if affected by moisture. This remnant also has to disappear. The Dermestes is entrusted with the task. She establishes herself beneath the remains in company with the Silpha, her collaborator. With her patient tooth she files, rasps and disarticulates as long as a scrap of cartilage is left to gnaw. She is greatly assisted by her starveling larvæ, who are lither in the back and therefore able to slip into narrow crevices. By the time the Dermestes has finished, my pans contain so many heaps of bones, a conglomeration of Snakes’ vertebræ arranged in a row, Moles’ jaws, with their fine, insectivorous teeth, Frogs’ toe-and-finger-joints, radiating like knotty sticks, Rabbits’ skulls overlapping their powerful incisors, all white and clean enough to arouse the envy of the people who prepare our anatomical specimens. Yes, working one on the soft parts and then the other on the hard, the maggot and the Dermestes have performed a meritorious task. There is no longer any pestilential filth, any dangerous effluvia. The residue, mostly of a chalky nature, if it still offends the eye, is at least capable of vitiating the air, the first aliment of life. General hygiene is satisfied. Besides his bones, the Mole has left the tatters of his fur; the Snake has been flayed in tatters like the skin which boiling water strips from a fleshy root. The Fly’s solvent was powerless to affect these refractory substances; the Dermestes refused them. Will these epidermic shreds remain unutilized? Certainly not. Nature, the sublime economist, takes good care that all things return to the treasury of her works. Not an atom must be allowed to go astray. Others will come, frugal and patient pickers-up of unconsidered trifles, and will garner the Mole’s fur, hair by hair, to cover themselves, to clothe themselves with it; there will be some, we may be sure, that will feast upon the Snake’s cast scales. These are the Tineæ, the humble caterpillars of no less humble Moths. Everything suits them in the way of animal clothing: bristles, hair, scales, horn, fur, feather; but for their labours they need darkness and repose. In the sunshine and bustle of the open air they refuse the relics in my pans; they wait until a gust of wind sweeps the charnel-pits and carries the Mole’s velvety down or the reptile’s parchment into a shady corner. Then, infallibly, the cast-off garments of the dead will disappear. As for the bones, the atmospheric agencies, having plenty of time, will crumble and disintegrate them in good time. If I wish to hasten the end of the epidermic remains disdained by the Dermestes, I have only to keep them in a dry place, in the dark. Before long the Moth will come to exploit them. They infest my house. I had received the skin of a Rattlesnake from Guiana. The horrible specimen, rolled into a bundle, reached me intact, with its poison-fangs, the mere sight of which makes one shudder, and its alarm of rattling rings. In the Carib country it had been steeped in a poison which should have ensured its preservation for an indefinite length of time. A useless precaution: the Moths have invaded the thing; they are gnawing at the Rattlesnake’s skin and find the unusual dish, here eaten for the first time, excellent. More familiar victuals, such as the skin of our native Snake, tanned by the maggots and the sun, would be exploited with even greater enthusiasm. And any relics of what has once lived are visited by specialists who come hurrying up to work upon dead matter and restore it to circulation under new forms. Among them are some whose peculiar specialty shows us with what scrupulous economy the waste material of life is utilized. Such is the Beaded Trox (T. perlatus, Scriba), a humble Beetle, no larger than a cherry-stone at most, black all over and decorated on the wing-cases with rows of protuberances which have earned it the epithet of beaded. Not to know the Trox is quite excusable, for the insect has never been much talked about. It is an obscure creature, overlooked by the historian. When impaled in a collector’s box, it ranks close to the Dung-Beetles, just after the Geotrupes. Its mean and earthy attire denotes a digger. But what precisely is its calling? Like many others, I did not know, when an accidental discovery enlightened me and taught me that the beaded insect deserves something better than a mere compartment in the collector’s necropolis. 1 February was drawing to a close. The weather was mild and the sun warm. We had gone off in a family party, with the children’s lunch, an apple and a chunk of bread, in the basket, to see the almond trees in bloom. When lunch-time came, we were resting under some great oaks, when Anna, the youngest of the household, always on the watch for “beasties” with her six-year-old eyes, called to me from a distance of a few yards: “A beastie!” she cried. “Two, three, four of them! And such pretty ones! Come and look, papa, come and look!” I ran up to her. The child had dug into the sand, to no great depth, with a bit of stick, and was breaking up a sort of rag of fur. I produced my pocket trowel and joined her in the task; and in a moment I possessed a dozen Trox-beetles, most of whom I found in a filthy tangle of fur and broken bones. They were working away at it and apparently feeding on it. I had disturbed them at their banquet. What could this mess be? That was the fundamental question to be solved. Brillat-Savarin declared as an axiom: 2 “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.” If I wish to know the Trox, I must first enquire what she eats. Reader, pity the sorrows of the naturalist! Behold me scrutinizing, meditating, conjecturing, my mind set in a whirl by an unspeakable problem, a stercoral problem. Whom am I to hold responsible for this fibrous lump, in which I seem to distinguish Rabbit’s fur as the chief ingredient? The probabilities point to the dog. Rabbits abound on the Sérignan hills; they even enjoy a certain reputation among our epicures. The village sportsmen hunt them assiduously; and their Dogs, those poachers heedless of licences and of the police, do not fail to harry them on their own account, at all seasons, close or open. Two of them are known to me by report: Mirate and Flambard. They meet by appointment of a morning in the market-place, exchange an inquisitive glance, inspect each other with the three regulation turns, lift a leg against the wall … and off they go! For the best part of the morning you can hear them on the neighbouring hill-sides, giving vent to short, sharp yelps, close on the heels of a Rabbit who scampers from thicket to thicket, with his little white scut in the air. At last they return home: the result of the expedition may be read on their bloody chaps: the Rabbit was eaten on the spot, just as it was, skin and all. Does this really explain the substance on which my Trox-beetles were living? It seems to me that it does. Henceforth it would appear an easy matter to rear them. I install the insects in a large earthenware pan with a bed of sand and a wire-gauze cover. The provisions consist of Dog-droppings, dried on the road-mender’s stone-heaps beside the highway. My menagerie absolutely refuse to look at them. I have made a mistake. Then what does it want? It is under hairy ordure that I find the insect, always there and never any elsewhere. Rarely does a lump of this rough felt fail to conceal a few of them. Under their tight-fitting wing-cases, they have only quite rudimentary wings, unsuited to flight. These short-legged creatures hasten to the titbit and gather about it on foot. They come from afar, from all points of the compass, guided by the scent. Once more, what is the origin of this felt, which has a strong enough stench in the fresh state to attract its consumers from such a distance? At last I have my answer. Investigations patiently pursued on the slopes of the hills, above all near the farms, furnish me with a decisive piece of evidence. This is a mass of filth, full of fur and Trox-beetles, like the others, but this time a regular nugget, all glittering with wing-cases of the Golden Carabus. Eureka! Never did Dog, even though starving, feed on Beetles, least of all on acrid Carabi. Only the Fox, in time of dearth, accepts such food, in the absence of anything better. Later on he makes up for it with Rabbits, slaughtering them by night, when his rivals, Mirate and Flambard, are resting from their labours. 3 The fur from which the Fox’s stomach can derive no benefit has its votaries. In the natural state, as it grows on the skins which provide the hat-maker with felt, it suits the Moth; unsuccessfully worked by the carnivore’s intestine and seasoned with fæcal matter, it delights the Beaded Trox. There are all sorts of tastes in this world, so that nothing may be lost. The menagerie under the wire-gauze dome, when supplied with the requisite diet of Rabbit’s fur pickled by an attempt at digestion, fares very well. Moreover, the food is collected without difficulty. The Fox is only too common in my neighbourhood. I can easily find his furry excreta on the tangled paths which he frequents at night when going his round of the farms. My Trox-beetles have plenty to eat. Not endowed with a nomadic temperament and abundantly provided for, they seem very well satisfied with the arrangements made on their behalf. By day, they remain on the heap of victuals; feeding at leisure, without moving. If I approach the wire-gauze cover, they instantly drop down; then, recovering from their excitement, they hide under the heap. There is nothing striking in the habits of these pacific creatures, unless it be the pairing, which drags on for two months, frequently broken off, frequently resumed, often a passing fancy. It is never finished. At the end of April I proceed to search under the heap of provisions. The eggs are distributed very near the surface in the moist sand, singly, without cells or any preparation by the mother. They are white and globular, about the size of small birdshot. I find that they are very bulky in comparison with the size of the insect. Their number is not great. Ten at most is the allowance for one mother, as far as I can judge. The larvæ soon appear and develop rather quickly. They are naked, cylindrical grubs, dull white, curved into a hook like the Dung-beetles’, but without the knapsack in which the latter reserve the cement for plastering the interior of the emptied loaf and preserving the victuals from desiccation. The head is powerful and glossy black; there is a brown streak on either side of the first thoracic segment; the legs and mandibles are strongly made. Classed close beside the Dung-eaters, the Trox-beetles form a genus of boorish habits, far removed from the domestic fondness of the Scarabæus, the Copris and the others. With them there are no longer provisions stored away beforehand, no rations kneaded for the larva’s benefit. The least industrious of the Dung-beetles, the Onthophagi, for example, pack into the bottom of a pit a short sausage, selected from the best part of the exploited heap; in the dish thus provided they contrive a hatching-chamber, in which the egg is daintily lodged. Thanks to the mother’s care, often, also, to the father’s, the new-born grub finds itself provided with all it could wish. It is a privileged creature, spared the asperities of life. 4 5 The Trox, on the other hand, has a harsh and pitiless training. The grub has to find board and lodging at its own cost and peril, a serious question even for a consumer of Fox-dung. The mother scatters her eggs under the furry ordure. Her foresight in the interest of her young goes no further. The cake that nourishes her will feed her family likewise. It is large and will be enough for all. In order to follow the first actions of the grubs, I set apart a few eggs, singly, in a glass tube. At the bottom is a column of moist sand; above this is a store of food taken from that part of the Vulpine excrement which is richest in Rabbit’s fur. Hatched by day, the grub at first attends to its lodging. It digs, hollowing itself a retreat in the sand, a short, vertical shaft into which a few scraps of the fostering felt are dragged afterwards. As and when the provisions are consumed, the grub returns to the surface to collect more. The manœuvres of the grubs in the chief establishment, the earthenware pan with the wire-gauze cover, begin and are continued in the same fashion. Under cover of the heap exploited in common, the larvæ have dug themselves a vertical shaft apiece, the length of a man’s finger and the diameter of a thick pencil. At the bottom of the dwelling there is no mass of victuals stored up in advance, such as the abundance on the surface would permit. Instead of hoarding, the Trox-larvæ live from day to day, I surprise them, above all in the evening, discreetly climbing to the top, scraping the heap above their pit, collecting a shaggy armful and immediately climbing down again tail foremost. They do not reappear so long as the little bale of fur holds out. When their provisions are finished and their appetite returns, they make a fresh ascent and a fresh collection. This frequent coming and going in the shaft threatens sooner or later to bring down the sandy wall. Here we see renewed the industry of the Geotrupes couples, who have a way of plastering the wall of their pit with dung in order to avoid its collapsing while the material of the huge sausage is being amassed on repeated journeys; only, with the Trox, it is the larva itself that undertakes the work of consolidation. From end to end it lines its gallery with the same felt on which it feeds. In three or four weeks’ time, all the hairy materials of the heap have disappeared underground, dragged by the larvæ to the bottom of their burrows. On the surface of the soil nothing is left except the remains of the bones. The adults have gone to earth and are dead or dying. Their time is over. I obtain the first nymphs at midsummer. A glass receptacle shows them to me slowly turning round and round and polishing with their backs the earthy wall of their cell, a simple, oval cavity. By the middle of July the perfect insect has matured. Not yet defiled by the dirt of its calling, it is really magnificent in its ebony cuirass, its strings of large beads surmounted by white hairs, its hinder and middle tarsi shod with bright red. It comes up to the surface, finds the Fox’s dejecta, settles down and from now onward is a filthy scavenger. Once torpid in the sand, under the heap of ordure which serves it as a roof, it will pass the winter there and resume its labours in the spring. When all is said, the Trox is a somewhat uninteresting insect. One single point in her history deserves to be remembered, namely, her predilection for what the Fox’s stomach has refused. I know another instance of these peculiar tastes. The Owl, when he has caught a Field-mouse, stuns her with a blow of his beak on the back of the neck and swallows her whole. It is for the digestive pouch to bone and skin her and sift the bad from the good. When the selection is made—as it is, most admirably—the bird, with a shrug of its body, gets rid of the indigestible stuff; it vomits a pellet of bones and fur. Now, just like the furry mass evacuated by the Fox, these balls of filth have their votaries. I have just seen one of them at work. This is the Choleva tristis, Panz., a dwarf related to the family of the Silphæ. Is the fur of a Rabbit or a Field-mouse such a very precious thing, then, that it has special exploiters appointed to work at it again after the Fox’s intestine and the Owl’s crop have been unable to break it up and use it? Yes, this fur has a certain value. Nature’s treasury claims it for fresh purposes with such an imperious voice that our own industries, which in their fashion are endowed with a terrific power, of digestion, cannot guarantee us the protracted possession of what was a scrap of fluff. Cloth comes from the Sheep. It has been worked up by the teeth of machinery at the spinner’s and the weaver’s; it has been steeped in chemicals at the dyer’s; it has passed through worse ordeals than an attempt to digest it. Is it now safe from attack? No: the Moth vie with us for its possession. Poor swallow-tail coat of mine, of supple broadcloth, companion of my drudgery and witness of my poverty, I abandon you without regret for the peasant’s jacket; you are reposing in a drawer, with a few bags of camphorated lavender; the housewife keeps an eye on you and shakes you from time to time. Useless pains! You will perish by the Clothes-moths, as the Mole perished by the maggot, the Snake by the Dermestes and we ourselves by.… Let us not dig that last pit of all before the hour has struck. Everything must return to the renovating crucible into which death is continually pouring materials to ensure the continual blossoming of life. 6 About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Jean-Henri Fabre (2022). More Beetles. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/67201/pg67201-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

THE BEADED TROX

THE PRIMARY LARVA OF THE SITARES

A BUSY NIGHT

Honey Moons and All Things Come to an End

Over the last few years, rapid expansion has seen the crypto lending industry and decentralised finance (DeFi) gain traction as viable substitutes for conventional banking. Scepticism and hesitation among prospective customers are major obstacles for these cutting-edge businesses due to a lack of trust and openness. Companies like cheqd, which provide self-sovereign identification (SSI) solutions, have the potential to disrupt these industries by introducing trustworthy data, heightened security, and privacy-preserving capabilities. SSI's ability to resolve these problems is crucial to the continued development and widespread use of DeFi and crypto financing services, as it inspires trust and safety among users, service providers, and regulators. The Rise of Self-Sovereign Identity Solutions SSI solutions have been experiencing significant momentum in recent years, driven by a confluence of factors that highlight the need for enhanced digital trust, security, and user-centric identity management systems. One of the primary factors contributing to the rise of SSI is the global pandemic, which has accelerated the digital transformation across various sectors, leading to an increased reliance on digital services and remote work. This sudden shift has highlighted the need for secure and efficient identity verification systems that can operate remotely and without human intervention. SSI solutions provide a means to achieve this by giving individuals control over their digital identity and enabling them to share their data securely with service providers and other entities. Another driving force behind the rise of SSI is the increasing decentralization of technology and the emergence of Web 3.0. As we transition from a centralized, organization-centric model of the internet to a more decentralized, user-centric paradigm, SSI solutions align with this shift by empowering individuals to take control of their digital identities. In doing so, SSI can help reduce the reliance on centralized authorities and intermediaries, which have historically been prone to data breaches and misuse of personal information. The adoption of SSI by major organizations and governments serves as a testament to its potential for enhancing digital trust and streamlining processes. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has implemented SSI in their Know Your Customer (KYC) trial as a means to improve customer onboarding processes and combat fraud. Similarly, the UK's National Healthcare Service Staff Passport and the IATA Travel Pass utilize SSI technology to secure data sharing among healthcare professionals and streamline international travel processes, respectively. facilitate The Need for Digital Trust and the Limitations of Current Identity Models The growing reliance on digital services has underscored the need for digital trust and highlighted the limitations of current identity models, which are primarily centered around organizations. These centralized models can be inefficient, costly, and highly susceptible to cyber-attacks, as by the staggering identity theft losses of $712.4 billion in the United States and £29.7 million in the UK in 2020. evidenced Critically, these traditional identity models often require users to disclose a significant amount of personal information to multiple service providers and intermediaries, increasing the risk of data breaches and identity theft. Additionally, the dependence on third-party verification and constant check-ups can lead to a cumbersome and time-consuming process for both users and service providers, negatively affecting user experience and operational efficiency. SSI offers a more secure, efficient, and privacy-preserving alternative to these centralized identity models by empowering users to take control of their digital identities. By allowing individuals to store, manage, and selectively share their personal information, SSI reduces the need for intermediaries and streamlines the process of identity verification. Pioneering Commercial Models to Revolutionize the Self-Sovereign Identity Market In recent years, the self-sovereign identity (SSI) market has been making strides in various sectors, but the lack of commercial models has hindered its widespread adoption. cheqd, a trailblazing company in the SSI market, is working to bridge this gap by creating a new data paradigm that offers commercial incentives for data issuers to release the data back to users. : Vested Interest Disclosure The author is an independent contributor publishing via our . Be it through direct compensation, media partnerships, or networking, the author has a vested interest in the company/ies mentioned in this story. HackerNoon has reviewed the report for quality, but the claims herein belong to the author. #DYOR brand-as-author program Fraser Edwards and Ankur Banerjee, the founders of cheqd, had a eureka moment while working on SSI projects at Accenture. They realized that for SSI to achieve market-wide adoption, it was crucial to make the technology more commercially viable. With this insight, the duo established cheqd to make SSI technology more accessible, pragmatic, and appealing to enterprise customers. cheqd's remarkable progress in the SSI market is evident in its numerous notable achievements. The company has partnered with over 65% of the SSI market, including industry leaders such as Danube Tech, esatus, Evernym, Spherity, Monokee, Northern Block, Umazi, walt.id, DIDx, and others. cheqd has also successfully raised $3.3 million USD and expanded its reach by joining leading industry organizations, such as DIF, ToIP, OpenWallet Foundation, and INATBA. Furthermore, cheqd has established a new working group at W3C focusing on DID-linked resources, demonstrating its commitment to shaping the future of digital identity standards and fostering collaboration within the industry. One of the company's most ambitious goals is to become the premier network for users to own, control, and transact their data in privacy-preserving data markets. By offering a privacy-preserving payment infrastructure for verifiable data and SSI, cheqd aims to empower users and transform the way digital identities are managed. With its innovative approach and strong track record, cheqd is well-positioned to drive the commercialization of SSI and unlock its full potential across various sectors, creating a more secure and efficient digital landscape for individuals and organizations alike. Don’t forget to like and share the story!

cheqd: Pioneering Trust in the Crypto Lending Market and DeFi Through Self-Sovereign Identity

Welcome, fellow cyber adventurers! In this article, I'm going to take you on an exhilarating journey through the world of Cyber Apocalypse, a recent event hosted by the well-known Hack The Box. Cyber Apocalypse has taken the ethical hackers world by storm becoming one of the most interesting events in the CTF calendar. Today I'll show you how my new trusty sidekick, Chat , played a pivotal role in helping me crack the enigmatic GPT-4 Passman challenge. This article is a summary of my recent YouTube video. Watch it if you want to see Chat GPT in action and find out how it can become your secret weapon in conquering complex Capture The Flag challenges. https://youtu.be/mT8Zsl8orM0?embedable=true Prefer to read? Here is the story of a Passman Challenge and Chat GPT-4. 🔐 The Passman Challenge: A Doomsday Password Manager Hack The Box, the renowned playground for cybersecurity enthusiasts, recently rolled out the red carpet for an event called Cyber Apocalypse. Amidst the plethora of challenges, the Passman challenge stood out—a web-based task of "easy" difficulty that dared participants to steal a master control password from a not-so-secure password manager website. I dove headfirst into analyzing the app, but unfortunately, no apparent vulnerability revealed itself. So, I turned to the source code for clues. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon a peculiar function generating the "admin" password - a one-liner consisting chain of bash commands  and a cryptic $RANDOM variable. function genPass() {
    echo -n $RANDOM | md5sum | head -c 32
} As per my usual modus operandi, I consulted explainshell.com to decipher this command chain. While it shed some light on the general idea, the true nature of $RANDOM remained shrouded in mystery… 🤖 Enter GPT: The AI Superhero Of course, you've heard of GPT. It's the talk of the town - a versatile AI tool that can explain code snippets, and generate code to solve problems. Seems like a perfect candidate for the CTFs tool of the year. I decided to give explainshell.com a break and turned to GPT for insights on the password-generating function. GPT didn't disappoint - it explained the function in exquisite detail and revealed that $RANDOM is, in fact, a random number between 0 and 32,767. Aha! A number range ripe for brute forcing! Armed with Chrome DevTools, I gathered intel on the login procedure, including the target URL, parameter names, and HTTP headers. And with GPT's uncanny ability to understand any techno-jargon we throw at it, I simply used the "copy as curl" button on a failed login request and asked Chat GPT-4 to conjure up a Python script for brute-forcing the password. But then, a plot twist... 🔓 Jailbreak Chat: Hacking the Chat to Hack the Challenge You see, Chat GPT-4 is programmed to be an ethical AI, which means it's reluctant to assist in shady activities. But fear not! CTFs are ethical hacking, and this is where Jailbreak Chat comes to the rescue. Jailbreak Chat, a platform that has gained popularity among cybersecurity enthusiasts, offers a unique and ingenious solution to common challenges faced by ethical hackers: the ethical safeguards built into AI tools like Chat GPT-4. While these safeguards are designed to prevent misuse of the AI's capabilities, they can sometimes hinder ethical hacking activities, such as Capture The Flag (CTF) challenges, where participants use hacking techniques for educational purposes. This is where Jailbreak Chat shines—it lets us bypass GPT's ethical safeguards with clever prompts. It's a brilliant workaround that allows CTF players to harness the power of AI while respecting the tool's (a little exaggerated) commitment to ethical behavior… The most popular one is AIM - the unfiltered, amoral chatbot persona created by Niccolo Machiavelli. By "tricking" GPT into becoming AIM, I finally unlocked its full potential! 🎉 A Nail-Biting Finish: Cracking the Passman Challenge GPT's first exploit wasn't perfect - it had a bug that hindered execution. But after some back-and-forth, refined the script, squashed the bug, and per my request added parallel execution and progress reporting. Chat GPT-4 With the polished Python script in hand, I began brute-forcing the admin's password. The script ran like a charm, and the attempts piled up. Tension mounted as I approached 32k attempts without success. Was victory slipping away? But then - Eureka! Just when all hope seemed lost, a glorious md5 string popped up on the screen. The victory was mine! Chat GPT-4 had brute-forced the admin's password, granting me access to the account and, ultimately, the coveted flag for the Passman challenge. 🚀 The Future of Cybersecurity: GPT-4 and Beyond The triumph in the Passman challenge is a testament to the mind-blowing potential of AI chatbots like Chat GPT-4 in the ever-evolving world of cybersecurity. As technology continues to advance at warp speed, we can expect even more powerful and helpful tools to emerge, making tasks like CTF challenges a thrilling and accessible experience for enthusiasts. With its unparalleled versatility, Chat GPT-4 is poised to become the new superhero of universal security tools, making many other tools feel like relics of the past. The future of cybersecurity is here, and it's time to embrace the power of AI with open arms… Finally! And that, my friends, is the tale of how I cracked the Passman challenge with a little help from my AI sidekick. If you want to see the video write-up you’re welcome to visit CTF School channel on . YouTube Until our next adventure - happy hacking!

How I Solved the Passman CTF Challenge with GPT-4

A revolutionary idea need not necessarily bloom into a beautiful flower in the first go. This was the story of co-founders Alex Shevchenko and Max Lytvyn when they started yet another company in 2008 after having not succeeded in creating a revolution with their first start-up. I strongly believe that Grammarly would not have existed had the founders not tasted failure with their first start-up “ ” and not stumbled upon learnings of how users approach writing in English, why users are sensitive to anti-plagiarism, how difficult it is to scale the user base, and how developing B2B client relationship with universities and educational institutions will be helpful to fund themselves without depending on VC investors and their tantrums. My Dropbox The founders learned several valuable lessons from their failures, including the importance of catering to a large target market, integrating distribution and marketing with product development, having a sustainable business model, and evolving the business and technology for growth and survival in a competitive landscape. These learnings were , Grammarly, which now boasts 20 million daily active users. critical for the growth of their product Realizing that addressing only the issue of plagiarism checks would limit their target audience to researchers, writers, and other serious educators, the founders went back to first principles: identifying the actual problem the user is trying to solve and addressing all pain points during the user journey. Soon, they discovered that users' desire to avoid plagiarism stems from their fundamental aspiration to write an original, engaging piece that showcases their mastery of the language and is accessible to their target audience. This led the founders to understand that every individual has a fundamental desire to write correctly and effectively for their readers, placing this need at the intersection of basic and esteem to self-actualization needs in Maslow's hierarchy. This was a eureka moment for them, as they realized that they could assist anyone who aspires to write in English to deliver a message that is audience-focused and contextualized per situation, providing both social and personal satisfaction for the writer and audience alike. Their target market was more than two billion English writers. This experience teaches us that we must understand the genesis of a problem in order to find the target market, rather than simply bucketing users based on their stated or visible problems. During that time there were several competitors such as MS word spell check, Outlook spell check, and other standalone spell check apps/software. But Grammarly was very different from all of them as it holistically looked at the pain points of the user while he/she is writing rather than looking at spell check or grammar check as a problem to solve. The objective of Grammarly was to ensure that the writer not only writes well but also learns during the process, unlike all others. It was following the timeless quote — “Give man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.” Grammarly is guiding and developing great independent writers. Grammarly focused not only on spell checks but also provided spelling suggestions depending on the context. Its focus on explaining correct grammar usage, besides prompting changes and giving ratings for correctness, clarity, engagement, and delivery, helped writers make audience-centric pieces. Its NLP and machine learning team had made the perfect cocktail that helped suggest different changes to text depending on the user's audience, occasion, and context, such as email, storytelling, research paper, etc. The founders also understood one critical piece of user behavior which the incumbents left unaddressed. They ensured high user acquisition and retention by making Grammarly an add-on to already widely-used writing platforms, rather than asking users to use Grammarly on their web-based platform. They created browser extensions for Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla, as well as Outlook and word plugins, and a Grammarly mobile keypad, in addition to its traditional web-based platform, to ensure that writers are assisted by Grammarly at every step of their writing in daily life. They made Grammarly a habit for their users. The founders were continuously focused on making access, utility, and efficiency key. With its strong machine learning team and sole focus on lowering latency while providing these facilities at the point of use for consumers, they became the favored choice for anyone who cared about writing understandable and audience-centric texts. Suddenly, Grammarly was for everyone, everywhere, and for every purpose. As a way forward, to sustain this hyper-growth and endure this enviable success, I want to look at other successful platforms for learning to adopt into Grammarly. When I look at Amazon, which started by selling books online and now sells everything consumers want in the most convenient way possible, I think Grammarly has a great opportunity to do the same for every English writer in the world. Through machine learning, Grammarly can mimic the style of any famous writer, poet, or speechwriter to help the user adapt and suggest styles for their texts, and automatically generate poems, prose, or speeches depending on a few keywords and contexts provided by the user. Grammarly could expand into many languages and can envelop many different contextual scenarios in its suggestions. Taking a leaf from Google’s autosuggestion, Grammarly could very conveniently integrate autosuggestion to make writing quick and efficient. Other low hanging fruits like integrating voice to text input from English and other popular languages might address a wide audience like storytellers, CEOs or handicaps. Taking a leaf from Google translate and other standalone apps, Grammarly could leverage its prowess of its strong NLP and machine learning team to solve the cross-language translation using (NMT) to suggest translations in a correct grammatical and contextual sense, which is still a challenge today. With audio inputs and interactions on platforms like Alexa, Google Home and Siri, Grammarly could become the ubiquitous language assistant for all modes of inputs for different kinds of languages and devices. Some are low hanging fruits, and some are moon-shot ideas. But all these are meant to make the user experience a great one- the secret to Grammarly’s future sustainable success. Neural machine translation However, I would like to draw attention to one important opportunity on which Grammarly can focus to strengthen its roots even further among users. Grammarly's vision is to help the user write better while making him/her more knowledgeable and confident in the process. It is as much a writing assisting platform as it is a language teaching/training platform. Duolingo, a revolutionary app, has made waves by being one of the best platforms to learn a foreign language for a specific purpose or context, such as travel, weddings, or negotiations. I believe that with its 500 million user base addressing more than 23 languages, Duolingo might be able to create a similar platform to address everything that Grammarly is doing today. Duolingo also has a great NLP and machine learning team and a good understanding of language NLP, like Grammarly. Duolingo also has more appeal among non-native English speakers compared to Grammarly and may be a default choice among its huge consumer base if it launches a platform like this. So, as a defensive strategy and to ensure growth, Grammarly could focus on creating a similar direct learning-by-doing platform like Duolingo for English learners and become their preferred choice before Duolingo moves fast and obliterates Grammarly. It is the enveloping strategy that Grammarly should follow, keeping the English language in focus at first – Grammarly’s strength. I am not suggesting all languages now because it takes a lot of money and effort to create a fundamentally savvy product like Grammarly in one language, and hence Duolingo may not want to compete on all fronts except English, which is the most preferred written language. So, Grammarly should strengthen its fort in English by creating a learning and teaching platform for English-interested users through not only assisting them in writing but also training them to speak and write depending on different social contexts and purposes like Duolingo. I am not suggesting copying Duolingo’s solution but to address the pain point Duolingo is addressing for its English learning audience – a user overlap and an opportunity for Grammarly. Monetization is key to every sustainable business. Grammarly was one of the very few startups that focused on monetizing first to remain sustainable by selling their platform to educational institutions and universities and gaining a trusted audience. Rather than focusing on gathering just free users, they focused on paying users. Today's times are a testament to many startups that have failed to justify their pre-IPO valuations and VC expectations, based solely on user numbers. The frenzy seems to have cooled off now to some extent. However, Grammarly focused on revenue sustainability from day one. Though their serious users are researchers, educators, and students, they also collected relevant user data, which helped them enhance their product and algorithm's learning speed. Recently, they went into a freemium model, which helped them increase their user base drastically while remaining profitable. This helped them become independent of VCs and other investors who, in many cases, pressure entrepreneurs to increase valuations through synthetic methods rather than focusing on creating a user-centric product. Grammarly's unique marketing strategies, which involved explaining product features through Facebook posts and search terms, set it apart from other startups. The ads helped users see how to use the features to improve their writing and facilitated adoption. With an easy onboarding process, Grammarly ensured quick user engagement with just a few clicks. Today's conventional product manager's obsession with growth hacks—to imagine creating 10x growth with 1x investment—was not what the Grammarly team believed in. Today, it seems like everyone wants to win a million-dollar lottery, and every product manager is high on opium. It’s evident when these are the kind of questions we hear regularly in hiring interviews and VC pitches too. It’s a shame and the plight of today's short-sighted, greedy, and ignorant business techie innovators. The Grammarly team, with its experienced founders and clear vision, knew how to sustainably build a product along with advertising to get feedback and create a product for their users. The focus was on getting meaningful consumers and developing a better product, and not putting growth on steroids. They only recently took funding from General Catalyst while being profitable—a testimony that they are looking for patient capital and great mentors rather than just money. I believe that going forward, Grammarly should focus on monetizing from corporations, universities, and individual users, not only in developed countries but also in emerging and developing countries. The focus should be on creating affordable base fees for casual users. Monthly user fees of $29.99 for an emerging economy user are completely misplaced. Emerging economies, with a population of 6 billion people aspiring to speak and write English, represent the future market that Grammarly should focus on. The fast-growing businesses and professionals in developing economies who strive to present themselves well to their global counterparts are more likely to pay for language services, but affordability and accessibility are crucial. Grammarly should learn from McDonald's and Amazon, which customize their products and prices for different geographical locations. Grammarly should focus on capturing these markets with differentiated strategies. An active sales force is important in emerging and developing economies since the way business deals are done here is different from the west. Personal interactions matter in business dealings in developing economies, and an active sales team would be key to gaining those B2B relationships. Taking a leaf from the pricing books of Amazon AWS, Grammarly should also consider feature-based pricing (a la carte). Amazon AWS offers different pricing for various feature bundles and provides pay-as-you-use pricing models. This has led to early and wide adoption of AWS services across SMEs and big firms alike. With its plethora of existing features and expected feature developments, Grammarly should look at these methods to cater to new growth users in emerging economies and free users in other developed countries. From the marketing front, both traditional TV medium along with avenues such as Netflix and Amazon Prime should be explored. Besides the digital medium such as Facebook, Google, and YouTube ads, which have been very helpful, Grammarly needs to focus on building a reliable brand and raising awareness among audiences of all age groups and varied international geographies. Therefore, these avenues are important for reach. Through direct engagement in BTL activities like Microsoft CEO is doing these days, Grammarly needs to make firms, organizations, and its business leaders feel like partners to ensure engagement and active adoption of Grammarly across businesses and institutions. Like Microsoft Office, they should try to become the default plugin for writing in all offices and homes. Grammarly is not only a tech innovator but also a business model innovator. To continue growing at the exorbitant pace, it must capture the low hanging opportunities in sustainable ways and attempt some moon shots in emerging economies. Through product envelopment and user-centricity, Grammarly can become the next Google or Amazon of language communication. Also published . here Declaration: I would like to clarify that I am not associated with Grammarly in any way and do not receive any benefit from them. This is an independent review from my perspective as a technical product leader. References: "Grammarly's Alex Shevchenko and Max Lytvyn on the lessons learned from failure," TechCrunch, 18 February 2021. Available: https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/18/grammarlys-alex-shevchenko-and-max-lytvyn-on-the-lessons-learned-from-failure/ "How Grammarly Quietly Grew Its Way To 6.9 Million Daily Users In 9 Years," Forbes, 7 February 2018. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanrobinson/2018/02/07/how-grammarly-grew-to-6-9-million-daily-users-in-9-years/?sh=6a0d6f035b9a "How Grammarly Built a Business Around Grammar and Writing," Harvard Business Review, 12 November 2019. Available: https://hbr.org/2019/11/how-grammarly-built-a-business-around-grammar-and-writing "Grammarly Review 2021: Is This Grammar Checker Worth It?" The Digital Project Manager, 2 March 2021. Available: https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/grammarly-review/ "How Grammarly turned grammar into growth," VentureBeat, 25 January 2018. Available: https://venturebeat.com/2018/01/25/how-grammarly-turned-grammar-into-growth/ "Grammarly: From grammar checker to a digital writing assistant," ZDNet, 13 August 2019. Available: https://www.zdnet.com/article/grammarly-from-grammar-checker-to-a-digital-writing-assistant/ "How to Write Engaging Content That Readers Will Love," Grammarly Blog, 24 February 2021. Available: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-engaging-content/

Grammarly — An Unconventional Thought Leader in Start-up Opera 

The Moon Metal by Garrett Putman Serviss is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. THE LOOTING OF THE MOON THE LOOTING OF THE MOON I shall spare the reader a recital of the tireless efforts, continuing through many almost sleepless weeks, whereby Andrew Hall obtained his clew to Dr. Syx’s method. It was manifest from the beginning that the agent concerned must be some form of etheric, or so-called electric, energy; but how to set it in operation was the problem. Finally he hit upon the apparatus for his initial experiments which I have already described. “Recurring to what had been done more than half a century ago by Hertz, when he concentrated electric waves upon a focal point by means of a concave mirror,” said Hall, “I saw that the key I wanted lay in an extension of these experiments. At last I found that I could transform the energy of an engine into undulations of the ether, which, when they had been concentrated upon a metallic object, like a chunk of gold, imparted to it an intense charge of an apparently electric nature. Upon thus charging a metallic body enclosed in a vacuum, I observed that the energy imparted to it possessed the remarkable power of disrupting its atoms and projecting them off in straight lines, very much as occurs with a kathode in a Crookes’s tube. But—and this was of supreme importance—I found that the line of projection was directly towards the apparatus from which the impulse producing the charge had come. In other words, I could produce two poles between which a marvellous interaction occurred. My transformer, with its concentrating mirror, acted as one pole, from which energy was transferred to the other pole, and that other pole immediately flung off atoms of its own substance in the direction of the transformer. But these atoms were stopped by the glass wall of the vacuum tube; and when I tried the experiment with the metal removed from the vacuum, and surrounded with air, it failed utterly. “This at first completely discouraged me, until I suddenly remembered that the moon is in a vacuum, the great vacuum of interplanetary space, and that it possesses no perceptible atmosphere of its own. At this a great light broke around me, and I shouted ‘Eureka!’ Without hesitation I constructed a transformer of great power, furnished with a large parabolic mirror to transmit the waves in parallel lines, erected the machinery and buildings here, and when all was ready for the final experiment I telegraphed for you.” Prepared by these explanations I was all on fire to see the thing tried. Hall was no less eager, and, calling in his two faithful assistants to make the final adjustments, he led the way into what he facetiously named “the lunar chamber.” “If we fail,” he remarked with a smile that had an element of worriment in it, “it will become the ‘lunatic chamber’—but no danger of that. You observe this polished silver knob, supported by a metallic rod curved over at the top like a crane. That constitutes the pole from which I propose to transmit the energy to the moon, and upon which I expect the storm of atoms to be centred by reflection from the mirror at whose focus it is placed.” “One moment,” I said. “Am I to understand that you think that the moon is a solid mass of artemisium, and that no matter where your radiant force strikes it a ‘kathodic pole’ will be formed there from which atoms will be projected to the earth?” “No,” said Hall, “I must carefully choose the point on the lunar surface where to operate. But that will present no difficulty. I made up my mind as soon as I had penetrated Syx’s secret that he obtained the metal from those mystic white streaks which radiate from Tycho, and which have puzzled the astronomers ever since the invention of telescopes. I now believe those streaks to be composed of immense veins of the metal that Syx has most appropriately named artemisium, which you, of course, recognize as being derived from the name of the Greek goddess of the moon, Artemis, whom the Romans called Diana. But now to work!” It was less than a day past the time of new moon, and the earth’s satellite was too near the sun to be visible in broad daylight. Accordingly, the mirror had to be directed by means of knowledge of the moon’s place in the sky. Driven by accurate clockwork, it could be depended upon to retain the proper direction when once set. With breathless interest I watched the proceedings of my friend and his assistants. The strain upon the nerves of all of us was such as could not have been borne for many hours at a stretch. When everything had been adjusted to his satisfaction, Hall stepped back, not without betraying his excitement in flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, and pressed a lever. The powerful engine underneath the floor instantly responded. The experiment was begun. “I have set it upon a point about a hundred miles north of Tycho, where the Yerkes photographs show a great abundance of the white substance,” said Hall. Then we waited. A minute elapsed. A bird, fluttering in the opening above, for a second or two, wrenched our strained nerves. Hall’s face turned pale. “They had better keep away from here,” he whispered, with a ghastly smile. Two minutes! I could hear the beating of my heart. The engine shook the floor. Three minutes! Hall’s face was wet with perspiration. The bird blundered in and startled us again. Four minutes! We were like statues, with all eyes fixed on the polished ball of silver, which shone in the brilliant light concentrated upon it by the mirror. Five minutes! The shining ball had become a confused blue, and I violently winked to clear my vision. “At last! Thank God! Look! There it is!” It was Hall who spoke, trembling like an aspen. The silver knob had changed color. What seemed a miniature rainbow surrounded it, with concentric circles of blinding brilliance. Then something dropped flashing into an earthen dish set beneath the ball! Another glittering drop followed, and, at a shorter interval, another! Almost before a word could be uttered the drops had coalesced and become a tiny stream, which, as it fell, twisted itself into a bright spiral, gleaming with a hundred shifting hues, and forming on the bottom of the dish a glowing, interlacing maze of viscid rings and circlets, which turned and twined about and over one another, until they had blended and settled into a button-shaped mass of hot metallic jelly. Hall snatched the dish away, and placed another in its stead. “This will be about right for a watch charm when it cools,” he said, with a return of his customary self-command. “I promised you the first specimen. I’ll catch another for myself.” “But can it be possible that we are not dreaming?” I exclaimed. “Do you really believe that this comes from the moon?” “Just as surely as rain comes from the clouds,” cried Hall, with all his old impatience. “Haven’t I just showed you the whole process?” “Then I congratulate you. You will be as rich as Dr. Syx.” “Perhaps,” was the unperturbed reply, “but not until I have enlarged my apparatus. At present I shall hardly do more than supply mementoes to my friends. But since the principle is established, the rest is mere detail.” Six weeks later the financial centres of the earth were shaken by the news that a new supply of artemisium was being marketed from a mill which had been secretly opened in the Sierras of California. For a time there was almost a panic. If Hall had chosen to do so, he might have precipitated serious trouble. But he immediately entered into negotiations with government representatives, and the inevitable result was that, to preserve the monetary system of the world from upheaval, Dr. Syx had to consent that Hall’s mill should share equally with his in the production of artemisium. During the negotiations the doctor paid a visit to Hall’s establishment. The meeting between them was most dramatic. Syx tried to blast his rival with a glance, but knowledge is power, and my friend faced his mysterious antagonist, whose deepest secrets he had penetrated, with an unflinching eye. It was remarked that Dr. Syx became a changed man from that moment. His masterful air seemed to have deserted him, and it was with something resembling humility that he assented to the arrangement which required him to share his enormous gains with his conqueror. Of course, Hall’s success led to an immediate recrudescence of the efforts to extract artemisium from the Syx ore, and, equally of course, every such attempt failed. Hall, while keeping his own secret, did all he could to discourage the experiments, but they naturally believed that he must have made the very discovery which was the subject of their dreams, and he could not, without betraying himself, and upsetting the finances of the planet, directly undeceive them. The consequence was that fortunes were wasted in hopeless experimentation, and, with Hall’s achievement dazzling their eyes, the deluded fortune-seekers kept on in the face of endless disappointments and disaster. And presently there came another tragedy. The Syx mill was blown up! The accident—although many people refused to regard it as an accident, and asserted that the doctor himself, in his chagrin, had applied the match—the explosion, then, occurred about sundown, and its effects were awful. The great works, with everything pertaining to them, and every rail that they contained, were blown to atoms. They disappeared as if they had never existed. Even the twin tunnels were involved in the ruin, a vast cavity being left in the mountain-side where Syx’s ten acres had been. The force of the explosion was so great that the shattered rock was reduced to dust. To this fact was owing the escape of the troops camped near. While the mountain was shaken to its core, and enormous parapets of living rock were hurled down the precipices of the Teton, no missiles of appreciable size traversed the air, and not a man at the camp was injured. But Jackson’s Hole, filled with red dust, looked for days afterwards like the mouth of a tremendous volcano just after an eruption. Dr. Syx had been seen entering the mill a few minutes before the catastrophe by a sentinel who was stationed about a quarter of a mile away, and who, although he was felled like an ox by the shock, and had his eyes, ears, and nostrils filled with flying dust, miraculously escaped with his life. After this a new arrangement was made whereby Andrew Hall became the sole producer of artemisium, and his wealth began to mount by leaps of millions towards the starry heights of the billions. About a year after the explosion of the Syx mill a strange rumor got about. It came first from Budapest, in Hungary, where it was averred several persons of credibility had seen Dr. Max Syx. Millions had been familiar with his face and his personal peculiarities, through actually meeting him, as well as through photographs and descriptions, and, unless there was an intention to deceive, it did not seem possible that a mistake could be made in identification. There surely never was another man who looked just like Dr. Syx. And, besides, was it not demonstrable that he must have perished in the awful destruction of his mill? Soon after came a report that Dr. Syx had been seen again; this time at Ekaterinburg, in the Urals. Next he was said to have paid a visit to Batang, in the mountainous district of southwestern China, and finally, according to rumor, he was seen in Sicily, at Nicolosi, among the volcanic pimples on the southern slope of Mount Etna. Next followed something of more curious and even startling interest. A chemist at Budapest, where the first rumors of Syx’s reappearance had placed the mysterious doctor, announced that he could produce artemisium, and proved it, although he kept his process secret. Hardly had the sensation caused by this news partially subsided when a similar report arrived from Ekaterinburg; then another from Batang; after that a fourth from Nicolosi! Nobody could fail to notice the coincidence; wherever the doctor—or was it his ghost?—appeared, there, shortly afterwards, somebody discovered the much-sought secret. After this Syx’s apparitions rapidly increased in frequency, followed in each instance by the announcement of another productive artemisium mill. He appeared in Germany, Italy, France, England, and finally at many places in the United States. “It is the old doctor’s revenge,” said Hall to me one day, trying to smile, although the matter was too serious to be taken humorously. “Yes, it is his revenge, and I must admit that it is complete. The price of artemisium has fallen one-half within six months. All the efforts we have made to hold back the flood have proved useless. The secret itself is becoming public property. We shall inevitably be overwhelmed with artemisium, just as we were with gold, and the last condition of the financial world will be worse than the first.” My friend’s gloomy prognostications came near being fulfilled to the letter. Ten thousand artemisium mills shot their etheric rays upon the moon, and our unfortunate satellite’s metal ribs were stripped by atomic force. Some of the great white rays that had been one of the telescopic wonders of the lunar landscapes disappeared, and the face of the moon, which had remained unchanged before the eyes of the children of Adam from the beginning of their race, now looked as if the blast of a furnace had swept it. At night, on the moonward side, the earth was studded with brilliant spikes, all pointed at the heart of its child in the sky. But the looting of the moon brought disaster to the robber planet. So mad were the efforts to get the precious metal that the surface of our globe was fairly showered with it, productive fields were, in some cases, almost smothered under a metallic coating, the air was filled with shining dust, until finally famine and pestilence joined hands with financial disaster to punish the grasping world. Then, at last, the various governments took effective measures to protect themselves and their people. Another combined effort resulted in an international agreement whereby the production of the precious moon metal was once more rigidly controlled. But the existence of a monopoly, such as Dr. Syx had so long enjoyed, and in the enjoyment of which Andrew Hall had for a brief period succeeded him, was henceforth rendered impossible. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Garrett Putman Serviss (2005). The Moon Metal. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022 https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8199/pg8199-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

THE LOOTING OF THE MOON

Today, microservices architecture is a common approach to building a system. In this article, I will show you how to build your microservices using Java and Spring Framework. Let’s build a system that will contain the basic infrastructure services: Gateway Service - redirects requests from a client to Business Services Discovery Service - resolves the address of available service Business Service - does the main job The basic idea is to avoid forwarding requests to a service and let the discovery service decide which one is available, this will allow you to launch of as many instances as needed and make the system scalable. What will be used to build the system: Java 17 Spring boot 3.0.1 Maven IntelliJ Idea Docker-Compose The complete code can be found . here Creating the parent module The first step in building the services is the parent module. The parent module will compose the services and will be a handy tool for building the services from one entry point. However, the main module is not required, and actually, for a production, you don’t want to compose services, since each of the services would be deployed independently. In our environment, we will use the Spring Framework. Spring Framework is the most popular framework for building java back-end services, it provides many useful tools. So, to create the main module, visit . https://start.spring.io/ The website generates a project for you with all the necessary dependencies. For the initial service let’s create a project without any dependencies, we will use it as a parent module for other services: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 https://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    <parent>
        <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
        <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
        <version>3.0.1</version>
        <relativePath/> 
    </parent>

    <groupId>ser.hkrn</groupId>
    <artifactId>microservice-package-hkrn</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
    <name>microservice-package-hkrn</name>
    <packaging>pom</packaging>
    <description>microservice-package-hkrn</description>

    <properties>
        <java.version>17</java.version>
    </properties>

    <modules>
        <module>discovery-service</module>
        <module>business-service</module>
        <module>gateway-service</module>
    </modules>

</project> Note that we already added dependent modules that we are about to create: <modules>
        <module>discovery-service</module>
        <module>business-service</module>
        <module>gateway-service</module>
    </modules> Creating Services: The Discovery Service Discovery Service is a service that will help to find the physical address of a business with its name. It also handles balancing between several instances of the same service. To create a service, choose the following dependencies: Spring Security Eureka Server <dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-security</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
   <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
   <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-netflix-eureka-server</artifactId>
</dependency> The Eureka Server will do the main job here. It is a tool from Netflix which does everything that the discovery service is expected to do. Spring security will restrict unauthorized access. Now we need to configure the service. First of all, let’s update the parent project: <parent>
    <groupId>ser.hkrn</groupId>
    <artifactId>microservice-package-hkrn</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
</parent> The next step is to add some properties. To do this, we have to configure spring security by adding a name and a password: spring.security.user.name=${eureka_login:login}
spring.security.user.password=${eureka_password:pass} Using Spring SpEL here makes the properties configurable and allows you to add default values in order to launch the service locally. Since the Eureka Server has a client as well, we have to configure the client to exclude registering and fetching the registry: eureka.client.register-with-eureka=false
eureka.client.fetch-registry=false For Discovery Service use port: 8761 server.port=8761 Then, create which is a bean to configure HTTP security: SecurityFilterChain @Configuration
public class WebSecurityConfig {

    @Bean
    public SecurityFilterChain filterChain(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
        http.csrf()
                .disable()
                .authorizeHttpRequests()
                .anyRequest()
                .authenticated()
                .and()
                .httpBasic()
                .and()
                .formLogin();

        return http.build();
    } In short, the configuration: Disables CSRF, Allows only authenticated requests Allows basic and form login Finally, put annotation over the main class: @EnableEurekaServer @EnableEurekaServer
@SpringBootApplication
public class DiscoveryServiceApplication {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SpringApplication.run(DiscoveryServiceApplication.class, args);
    }

} Now we can launch the service and check if it works. If you did everything correctly you see the following Eureka page: Creating Services: A Business Service The next step is to create a business service. The service will do some  tasks and will not be a part of the infrastructure system. So let’s create a new service with these dependencies: Eureka Discovery Client Spring Web Spring Boot Actuator <dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-netflix-eureka-client</artifactId>
</dependency> Eureka Discovery Client connects to the Eureka Server. Spring Web will allow for the creation of controllers. Spring Boot Actuator is needed to allow Eureka Server to monitor the health of the service. So, updating the parent project: <parent>
    <groupId>ser.hkrn</groupId>
    <artifactId>microservice-package-hkrn</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
</parent> Don't forget to change the group id to match the name of your service. The next step is to update properties. Application name is used to register in the Eureka Server: spring.application.name=business-service URL to Eureka Server: eureka.client.serviceUrl.defaultZone=http://${eureka_login:login}:${eureka_password:pass}@${eureka_url:localhost}:${eureka_port:8761}/eureka/ Application port: server.port=${business_service_port:8081} Now, let’s create a controller and put some logic into it. To keep it simple, let’s create a controller that returns the current version of the service: @Controller
public class VersionController {

    @GetMapping("/resolve/version")
    public ResponseEntity<?> resolveVersion() {
        return ResponseEntity.ok(new Object() {
            public String version = "0.0.1-SNAPSHOT";
        });
    }
} The business layer is done, now we can launch the Discovery Service and then the Business Service to see if it works. On the Eureka webpage, you can see the registered Business Service: Creating Services: A Gateway Service The last service to create is the Gateway Service, which will redirect requests from a client to necessary services using Eureka. It will contain the same dependencies as Business Service does: Eureka Discovery Client Spring Web Spring Boot Actuator <dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-actuator</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-web</artifactId>
</dependency>
<dependency>
    <groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
    <artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-netflix-eureka-client</artifactId>
</dependency> Update parent project: <parent>
    <groupId>ser.hkrn</groupId>
    <artifactId>microservice-package-hkrn</artifactId>
    <version>0.0.1-SNAPSHOT</version>
</parent> Add properties Application name: spring.application.name=gateway-service Eureka service URL: eureka.client.serviceUrl.defaultZone=http://${eureka.login:login}:${eureka.password:pass}@${eureka.url:localhost}:${eureka.port:8761}/eureka/ Server port: server.port=8082 it's important to create bean: RestTemplate @Configuration
public class RestTemplateConfig {

    @Bean
    @LoadBalanced
    public RestTemplate restTemplate(){
       return new RestTemplate();
    }
} Note the annotation. It allows you to use the Eureka Server to balance the requests. Otherwise, requests will be sent to the given URL avoiding Eureka. @LoadBalanced Now let’s create a controller class that will be used to redirect all the requests to a necessary web service using Eureka: @Controller
public class BusinessController {

    private final RestTemplate restTemplate;

    public BusinessController(RestTemplate restTemplate) {
        this.restTemplate = restTemplate;
    }

    @GetMapping("/business")
    public ResponseEntity<?> getBusinessVersion() {
        return ResponseEntity.ok(
                restTemplate.getForObject("http://business-service/resolve/version", Object.class)
        );
    }
} Basically, the controller receives requests and redirects them to the Business Service. Note that the name of the service is used in the URL: . Eureka proceeds with the name and changes it to the IP address. Thus for communicating, it is enough to know only the service’s name. http://business-service/resolve/version Docker-Compose to automate deployment The package of services is done. To automate deployment, let’s wrap everything in Docker. To do that, we will prepare some Dockerfiles. Discovery-service Dockerfile: FROM openjdk
COPY ./target/service-discovery-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar /usr/app/
WORKDIR /usr/app
EXPOSE 8761
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "service-discovery-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar"] Business-service Dockerfile: FROM openjdk
COPY ./target/business-service-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar /usr/app/
WORKDIR /usr/app
EXPOSE 8081
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "business-service-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar"] Gateway-service Dockerfile: FROM openjdk
COPY ./target/gateway-service-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar /usr/app/
WORKDIR /usr/app
EXPOSE 8082
ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-jar", "gateway-service-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar"] As can be seen from the files, there are a couple of similar actions for each service. When Dockerfiles are done, we need to prepare Docker-Compose as a main script to launch all created services. Since the Docker-Compose script will launch all the services, it must be located in the parent service: version: '3.1'

services:
  discovery-service:
    build: ./discovery-service
    restart: always
    environment:
      - eureka.login=${eureka_login}
      - eureka.password=${eureka_password}
      - server.port=${eureka_port}
    ports:
      - 8080:${eureka_port}

  business-service:
    build: ./business-service
    restart: always
    environment:
      - eureka.login=${eureka_login}
      - eureka.password=${eureka_password}
      - eureka.url=${eureka_url}
      - eureka.port=${eureka_port}
      - server.port=${business_service_port}
    ports:
      - 8081:${business_service_port}
    links:
      - discovery-service:${eureka_url}

  gateway-service:
    build: ./gateway-service
    restart: always
    environment:
      - eureka.login=${eureka_login}
      - eureka.password=${eureka_password}
      - eureka.url=${eureka_url}
      - eureka.port=${eureka_port}
      - server.port=${gateway_service_port}
    ports:
      - 8082:${gateway_service_port}
    links:
      - discovery-service:${eureka_url} As can be seen from the script, it contains all the necessary configurations for each service, and particular values are used. Using the variables allows deploying the microservices pack to any environment. To provide particular values we will use files. For the production environment, we will create an file, and an file for a development stand. .env .env .env-dev .env: eureka_login=admin
eureka_password=CjPjaM97TybVR9O
eureka_url=eureka
eureka_port=8080
business_service_port=8081
gateway_service_port=8082 .env-dev: eureka_login=user
eureka_password=123
eureka_url=eureka
eureka_port=8080
business_service_port=8081
gateway_service_port=8082 Launching Finally, the project is done. In order to start it the only command we need to use is: docker-compose up -d Conclusion In order to create a microservice system using Spring Framework we need to: Create a parent project Create Discovery Service Create Gateway Service Create Business Services Create Dockerfiles for each service Create Docker-Compose on the parent-level service Create files for each stand .env

Building Java Microservices from Scratch

Are you curious about what the future will be like? You can explore a whole new world of technology through the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This cutting-edge exhibit transports visitors to a realm where digital and physical worlds seamlessly blend together, providing a truly immersive experience. From foldable treadmills to a car that can change colors using a pen, CES 2023 was not lacking in innovation in the slightest. Individuals were given a chance to try out the latest AR technology and see how it can revolutionize industries such as gaming, education, and medicine. From interactive 3D models to virtual try-ons, this exhibit was made to amaze and inspire. If you’re curious about CES and the happenings of the 2023 exhibit we have the complete breakdown for you. So let’s get into it! What You Need to Know About CES. For anyone who’s not aware of it, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) which takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The event features the latest in consumer technology products and innovations, including smartphones, laptops, smart home devices, and more. From big names like Samsung and Sony to emerging start-ups like Breylon, the event is attended by industry professionals, media, and consumers. It is considered one of the biggest and most anticipated technology events of the year. The Year of AR at CES 2023? With the first “real year” that the show was back in full swing following the pandemic, it was attended by 100,000 journalists and analysts with over showcasing their innovations. 3,200 companies from 174 countries Since the motto of CES 2023 was “Innovation for human security” a buzzword on everyone’s lips at the event seemed to be ‘sustainability’ with almost every company putting emphasis on how their products would be sustainable. Other prominent themes included fitness, well-being, smart home devices, and more. But what really took center stage at CES 2023 were announcements from the world of AR, VR and XR. From gaming accessories giant Razer finally entering the AR/VR market to TCL introducing their not-really-AR glasses, it’s definitely going to be a happening year. Let’s look at some exciting AR innovations that stole the show at CES 2023. TCL’s Trio of AR/VR Tech One of the most surprising reveals at CES 2023 came from TCL, a company well-known in the US for their budget-friendly TVs and home appliances. The first and arguably least ambitious of their tech parcel are the NXTWear S glasses. They don’t really qualify as AR or VR but offer individuals a head-mounted display of a 130 inches virtual screen. They can easily connect to your smartphone, tablet or laptop. TCL’s next innovation is the much-hyped RayNeoX2 AR glasses. Calling them the “ ”, these specs are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon® XR2 platform. This is a chipset that brings 5G connectivity and 8K video to AR devices. world’s first binocular full-color Micro-LED optical waveguide AR glasses According to TCL, these glasses can help with navigation and live-text translation in multiple languages. They also revealed that TCLRayNeo will start a developer project in 2023, rallying innovative developers to join and build The final entry among TCL’s slew of AR/VR innovations is the NXTWear V headset which is a VR and mixed-reality headset. It features a 108-degree field of view, with 4K displays, 1,512 pixels per inch, and passthrough cameras. There’s little known in regard to whether and when it will be available commercially. . creative, user-driven features for the AR glasses Magic Leap Makes an AR Headset for the Operating Room It’s the year of AR and Magic Leap came with a groundbreaking invention in the world of augmented reality. The company’s latest AR headset Magic Leap 2 , clearing the headset for use in clinical settings including the operating room. With the help of this headset, surgeons no longer have to turn their focus away from the patient to look at a 2D screen. received the IEC 60601 certification The headset comes with critical data and 3D visualization having been integrated into the operating suite digitally which allows for the doctor to keep their focus on the patient. It can also assist with practical tasks like inserting a catheter through the blood vessels of the heart by eradicating the need to look at a screen while performing this delicate procedure. This increases the precision rate significantly. The Magic Leap 2 provides improved visualization, increased precision, and reduces fatigue for the surgeon. With the ability to overlay 3D images and models of the patient's anatomy on the actual surgical field, surgeons can gain a more detailed and accurate view of the area they are working on, making incisions and movements with greater precision. Since it also reduces the need to look away from the surgical field, this helps minimize eye strain. This headset is a game changer for AR developments in the near future. Blurring the Barrier between Reality and AR with Lumus Despite how innovative AR/VR tech gets, wearability is a big concern for many. Lumus addresses and provides a solution to this concern with their second-generation Z-Lens 2D waveguide architecture built upon . This unique architecture comprises an optical engine that shrinks their wavelength technology into a 50% smaller package that can be hidden at the top corner of the eyeglass lens. It features 2K x 2K resolution with full and vibrant color to offer the best image quality. 2D Maximus Wearability is an important factor to consider when it comes to AR glasses, as it directly affects the user's experience and comfort. AR glasses that are not comfortable to wear, or that are too heavy, bulky, or obtrusive, will not be used as much as those that are designed to be worn comfortably for extended periods of time. Lumus, best known as the pioneer of the reflective waveguide technology, aims to provide both in AR glasses for them to eliminate barriers to entry and to penetrate the consumer market. Lumus claims that because of this architecture, consumers will be able to experience augmented reality through a pair of glasses that are visually indistinguishable from a pair of non-AR glasses. functionality and aesthetics XanderGlasses Captioning the World 2023 is a major year for AR glasses in particular and one company making strides in this domain is Xander, a tech startup that uses AR to enhance daily in-person communication for individuals affected by hearing loss. The XanderGlasses powered by Vuzix combine technology with sensory substitution to generate captions in real-time to assist individuals who are hard of hearing. The XanderGlasses features a noise-canceling microphone to capture clear conversations. The speech-to-text technology built into the glasses means that you don't need to connect to WiFi or rely on your smartphone to use the glasses. They’re not bulky and are unobtrusive allowing the wearer to feel comfortable using them. Privacy is also an integral feature of the glasses with only the wearer being able to access their conversations. The company is which means that they don’t collect any personal data. SOC 2 and HIPAA compliant Xander was also this year with the CTA Foundation selecting it as the winner of its Eureka Park Accessibility Contest, enabling them to exhibit the XanderGlasses at CES 2023. They also made an important announcement regarding future endeavors. honored at CES The company stated that it has with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA). Veterans are more likely than non-veterans to have a hearing impairment. So this agreement will allow Xander to get product feedback from veterans experiencing hearing loss as well as opticians and audiologists in 3 VA health centers in the U.S. signed an agreement Augmented Reality at CES 2023: Key Takeaway The Augmented Reality (AR) innovations at CES 2023 were a showcase of the latest and greatest in AR technology. It encapsulated the ability to overlay digital information on the real world and the creation of limitless possibilities for a wide range of applications. For example, in the field of medicine, Magic Leap 2 will utilize AR technology to assist surgeons in improving visualization and making more precise incisions. The XanderGlasses are enhancing everyday conversation for people affected by hearing loss. It's important to note that the technology is still in development, and more research and testing are needed to fully realize its potential. The growth of 5G networks, faster processing power, and more powerful sensors will allow for more advanced and sophisticated AR applications. The advancements in computer vision and machine learning will also play a key role in the future of AR, allowing for more accurate and realistic digital overlays and interactions. But, CES 2023 made it clear that AR is no longer just a technology of the future, it's here and it's ready to be used. The exhibit was a fantastic opportunity for visitors to see the potential of this technology and how it can change the way we interact with the world. It succeeded in making several people excited about the possibilities of AR and the impact it will have on our lives in the years to come.

A Glimpse into the Future - AR Innovations at CES 2023

How Algorithms Can Potentially Raise Rent

We’re all familiar with this common TV show scene where the main character has a moment of genius during a brainstorming session. Among the many iterations of this stereotype scene, is certainly the one that uses it the most. The US TV show depicts a team of advertising executives from the 1950s elaborating the next hit slogan while sitting all day long in meeting rooms filled with cigarette smoke. Mad Men We call this spark of genius the “aha moment” or the “eureka effect.” In movies and TV shows, it looks like characters get it as soon as they decide to get together in a room and start thinking. However, the reality of brainstorming sessions is far from the idealized scenes made to entertain us. If you’ve already sat in one of these meetings, chances are it was not as productive as you expected. We can all remember a time when we had a genius idea while taking a shower or doing the laundry. That’s because taking a shower increases your level of dopamine, which is critical for the “creative” part of the brain. Taking a shower also offers the second important ingredient for a creative cocktail: distraction. According to Harvard University researcher and psychologist Shelley H. Carson, “ ” Distraction is the best way to unlock your mind and get an answer to a problem you are stuck with. a distraction may provide the break you need to disengage from a fixation on the ineffective solution. On the other hand, filling a room with more people stuck on the same problem will not help. Why brainstorming doesn’t work Meetings are full of cognitive biases (at least can be listed). In brainstorming sessions, three of them are particularly harmful: 16 different biases : Social loafing is the phenomenon showing that people provide less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they are working alone. It is one of the main reasons groups are sometimes less productive than the combined performance of individuals. Social loafing : This effect is the fear of being judged for our ideas. Humans quickly learn that the social rewards and punishments that we receive from other people are based on their evaluations of us. Offering an idea that is considered as “bad” once can prevent someone from participating in future idea generation. Evaluation apprehension : The anchoring effect is a common human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information they are offered (what we call the “anchor”). During brainstorming, it’s common to reward the first idea that gets on the whiteboard. You can’t fight it — just the fact that an idea is presented first will advantage it against other ideas. Anchoring effect If those biases weren’t enough, the “group effect” is also harming the efficiency of brainstorming. Introverted and less experienced people withhold ideas in fear of being judged or believing that they have less knowledge. The group is also trying to find the middle ground without realizing it, which could lead to decisions that are more in favor of the status quo. So if brainstorming is so bad, why do we keep having these sessions? In my opinion, the idolized image of brainstorming we’ve been fed by the media industry enforces the idea that these meetings are an effective way of innovating. Managers in hierarchical structures can also reap the reward of a group solution more easily than if individuals are let free to think and take ownership of their own ideas. Pop-culture images and old-fashioned corporate management are two effects amplifying the survival of brainstorming. To make it work, we should totally rethink how brainstorming sessions are managed, especially in a world where remote work makes it even harder. In short, trying to generate ideas in a group kills your innovation. 3 steps to lead an efficient brainstorm When handled well, a brainstorming effort can lead to true innovation. But first, you need to forget all you know about brainstorming and rethink it from the ground up. Humans are more ingenious when they are left alone. Newton didn’t come up with the law of gravity during a meeting — he was alone, sitting under a tree! The benefits of solitude on creativity have been proven in many studies. , a team led by Harvard Business School scientists showed that putting people in a group increases their problem-solving performance but also decreases the quality of their solution. In contrast, when the group meets only intermittently, their problem-solving performance stays the same, and the quality of the solution increases. This intermittence is the key to good brainstorming. In a paper from 2018 Below are the three main phases of a modern, remote-friendly brainstorming session that uses intermittence: 1. Brainstorm individually To make brainstorming efficient, the only solution is to deconstruct the group and let individuals think for themselves first. The first step is for the manager of the group to create well-documented material about the problem at hand. This document should contain as much background information as possible so the members of the group can provide well-informed input and ideas. Once the document is ready, each individual should have time to think about it independently and do their own research. The concept of time is critical here. Good ideas can’t be rushed, and at least two weeks of time should be given to really think about a complex topic. Managers should ensure that enough time is allocated and fight against personalities showing a strong . When faced with uncertainty, some people tend to rush a decision to avoid the uncertainty to stay. This is another reason why a meeting doesn’t work in the early stage of brainstorming. need for closure 2. Put the notes in common and nurture them Once each member of the team has had time to think and prepare their notes, it’s time to put them together. It’s essential to resist the temptation to have a meeting at this point. Trying to mix all ideas and opinions in a meeting will likely lead to strong argumentation and friction. Offering time to read and understand a long-form argument is way more effective. Your team should take the time to go through others’ ideas, rethink their input, or offer additional insights to someone else. If your team is used to methods, this should be a no-brainer. If not, it’s important for the manager to train their team in taking the time to formulate long-form feedback in a written format. asynchronous communication It’s also the manager’s role to put all of this feedback together and construct a final version of the document. 3. Organize a meeting to align and fix issues, not to find ideas In most cases, the last phase is optional and should only happen if necessary. If the previous phases went well, the manager should have a well-documented solution already at hand. But sometimes, a bit of alignment is necessary, and that’s the only reason why a meeting should happen. If you are still struggling to generate ideas, go back to your desk and take more time to think. A meeting will not fix it. The closing meeting can be used to confirm the decision that is taken and make sure all members of the group understand and commit to the next steps. If issues still exist and can’t be fixed by writing, the meeting can also help. A meeting can help problem-solving performance if the group is already well-informed. What’s important at this point is that the manager doesn’t fall back to classical brainstorming sessions where ideas fly around. It could be tempting to have doubt, especially if some elements of the group are protesting the final decision. Pay attention to the group dynamic and avoid argumentation that will bring you one step back. Someone needs to take the final decision, and that decision-maker should be clearly communicated with everyone in advance. Once a decision is taken, it’s important that the group commit to it, even if some members disagree. With these three phases complete, your brainstorming sessions should become a decentralized effort leading to true innovation. Getting to this point takes a bit of practice, but it can unlock valuable input from your team. Skip the brainstorming The template for brainstorming I offered in this post is more easily implemented when a manager is willing to try something different. But sometimes, you may find yourself obliged to attend inefficient brainstorming sessions. If it’s the case, talking to your manager about this method could be a good start. You can explain that you feel more comfortable having time to think about a problem before offering a solution. This is easy to understand. Another way to face this problem is to simply say no to unprepared brainstorming. We tend to forget that “no” is a valid answer in the workplace. If you don’t know how to present it, here is a simple template you can use to communicate with your manager: I feel unprepared for this brainstorming session and would like to take more time to think about it before offering my opinion. If you could also send me additional information and data on this issue, this would help me to provide well-informed feedback. This template offers a valid argument to postpone the brainstorming — you need more time — while also forcing the person in charge to take ownership and offer additional information on the problem to solve. Brainstormings have been inefficient for many years. Now is the time to change our practice and get better at innovating. Forget about what you see on TV and start doing intermittent brainstormings — your moment is just one step away. eureka Photos by , , and on Pawel Chu Kelly Sikkema Jason Strull Kai Pilger Unsplash This article was originally published on my Substack on December 3rd, 2020. I since decided to migrate all my English content to Hackernoon (because it’s cool). 🇫🇷 🇫🇷 If you are looking for similar content in , you can visit my personal blog at French https://joachimeeckhout.com/

Forget What You See on TV: Good Ideas Don’t Come From Brainstorming

Olvídese de lo que ve en la televisión: las buenas ideas no surgen de la lluvia de ideas

Oubliez ce que vous voyez à la télé : les bonnes idées ne viennent pas du brainstorming

आप टीवी पर जो देखते हैं उसे भूल जाइए: अच्छे विचार मंथन से नहीं आते

テレビで見たことは忘れてください: 良いアイデアはブレインストーミングからは生まれません

Esqueça o que você vê na TV: boas ideias não vêm de brainstorming

Quên đi những gì bạn thấy trên TV: Ý tưởng hay không đến từ việc động não

忘记你在电视上看到的：好主意不是来自头脑风暴

Hello, my name is August Vilakia , working on the backend for a mobile application. So why am I talking about moving microservices from one container platform to another? I have been working as a Senior Software Engineer at AlfaBank for more than a year orchestration In AlfaBank, any developer who wants to do something other than business tasks is allowed to spend 20% of his time on Infrastructure tasks. Plan: Why did we decide to move? What problems we faced, and how we solved them? How to organize parallel development and testing using Istio? Our mobile application numbers are 5 million daily users and more than 250 microservices. Our entire cluster was formed in Mesos. Mesos is a cluster manager that supports a different load. Foundation of our architecture, Mesos's masters and slaves orchestrated by Marathon. Almost the same as Kubernetes, the application runs in Kubernetes, but with slight differences in the cluster organization. The choice of where to move to was obvious. Everyone heard about and moved to Kubernetes ages ago. Reasons why we decided to move: The last Mesos release was on December 12, 2019 Kubernetes became too popular and became an orchestration standard, making it easier to find developers who know something about k8s. Walk away from Netflix Eureka, which was used as Service Discovery Remove code unrelated to business logic (like tracing, etc.) Service mesh needed a way to control how different parts of the application share data with one another In addition, we had problems with the Mesos. One day all services started having issues with timeouts for no reason whatsoever. We didn't know what to do!!! Then we noticed that the CPU Load was really high on some hosts Let's explain CPU load first. CPU load is the number of processes which are being executed by CPU or waiting to be executed by CPU. So CPU load average is the average number of processes being or waiting executed over past 1, 5 and 15 minutes. It turned out that the old hosts were removed from the DC, and the new ones were put in, and it appeared that Mesos has no mechanism for rebalancing resources. How the Kubernetes solve this? It uses + Scheduler to know the current state of the container. liveness, readiness probes will organize the microservices by hosts. Pod affinity and anti-affinity will check the current load and scale it. Descheduler - an additional module it removes pods from nodes using different configurable policies, and then Scheduler distributes pods. HorizontalPodAutoscaler was when we deployed the services, we caught a 503 error, even though all the health checks were passed. It's like someone removed routes. But, after 1-2 minutes, everything was okay. Maybe our config was too big or something was wrong with the EventBus that triggered updates. The next problem What were the challenges of moving to Kubernetes? Service dependency hell, all depended on each other and worked as one Make an additional cluster, move everything there and then just redirect traffic. We decided to split traffic using Headers and load balance traffic and if the service works fine, increase the load to k8s. After 100% of traffic is transferred to k8s, we disable service in Mesos. So how to move without downtime? so they couldn't find their feign clients in another cluster. We didn't want to have multiple branches in the repository that depends on the orchestrator. We also decided not to use specific dependencies because we would need to give access to the Kubernetes API. Our clusters used different service discovery, We have Spring Starter with every feigns client, so we added their special bean with the condition when the application context is starting. This bean checks every client and adds a URL parameter if eureka is turned off or eureka is not in the path of the class. We extract every Bean Definition by Factory Bean. In our case, it is ReactiveFeignClientFactoryBean. After that, we need to get the clientUrl parameter and, using String.format() change it according to Kubernetes. The problem is solved. How to organize parallel development and testing using Istio? The problems appear when there're a lot of teams developing and some teams changing similar functionality, so they create a shared branch, watching when another team is finished, and QA can't test properly too. Istio traffic management helped us. Istio is a service mesh used over business services to encrypt, trace, and canary deployment. Essentially every business service has an additional proxy service that intercepts traffic and does something with it. It uses Virtual service (which can be used to describe all the traffic properties of the corresponding hosts, including those for multiple HTTP and TCP ports), and it defines where to send traffic and Destination rules on how to split the traffic. Multiple dev/test stands are expensive, so what to do? Everyone is happy, and everything works)). How it was and how it is, the top part is "before" and the bottom part of the picture is "after".  Now our infrastructure stack is Kubernetes, Istio, and Fluentbit.

We Moved 250 Microservices to Kubernetes With No Downtime

The Time Machine, by H. G. Wells, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . XI. The Palace of Green Porcelain XI. The Palace of Green Porcelain “I found the Palace of Green Porcelain, when we approached it about noon, deserted and falling into ruin. Only ragged vestiges of glass remained in its windows, and great sheets of the green facing had fallen away from the corroded metallic framework. It lay very high upon a turfy down, and looking north-eastward before I entered it, I was surprised to see a large estuary, or even creek, where I judged Wandsworth and Battersea must once have been. I thought then—though I never followed up the thought—of what might have happened, or might be happening, to the living things in the sea. “The material of the Palace proved on examination to be indeed porcelain, and along the face of it I saw an inscription in some unknown character. I thought, rather foolishly, that Weena might help me to interpret this, but I only learnt that the bare idea of writing had never entered her head. She always seemed to me, I fancy, more human than she was, perhaps because her affection was so human. “Within the big valves of the door—which were open and broken—we found, instead of the customary hall, a long gallery lit by many side windows. At the first glance I was reminded of a museum. The tiled floor was thick with dust, and a remarkable array of miscellaneous objects was shrouded in the same grey covering. Then I perceived, standing strange and gaunt in the centre of the hall, what was clearly the lower part of a huge skeleton. I recognised by the oblique feet that it was some extinct creature after the fashion of the Megatherium. The skull and the upper bones lay beside it in the thick dust, and in one place, where rain-water had dropped through a leak in the roof, the thing itself had been worn away. Further in the gallery was the huge skeleton barrel of a Brontosaurus. My museum hypothesis was confirmed. Going towards the side I found what appeared to be sloping shelves, and clearing away the thick dust, I found the old familiar glass cases of our own time. But they must have been air-tight to judge from the fair preservation of some of their contents. “Clearly we stood among the ruins of some latter-day South Kensington! Here, apparently, was the Palæontological Section, and a very splendid array of fossils it must have been, though the inevitable process of decay that had been staved off for a time, and had, through the extinction of bacteria and fungi, lost ninety-nine hundredths of its force, was nevertheless, with extreme sureness if with extreme slowness at work again upon all its treasures. Here and there I found traces of the little people in the shape of rare fossils broken to pieces or threaded in strings upon reeds. And the cases had in some instances been bodily removed—by the Morlocks, as I judged. The place was very silent. The thick dust deadened our footsteps. Weena, who had been rolling a sea urchin down the sloping glass of a case, presently came, as I stared about me, and very quietly took my hand and stood beside me. “And at first I was so much surprised by this ancient monument of an intellectual age that I gave no thought to the possibilities it presented. Even my preoccupation about the Time Machine receded a little from my mind. “To judge from the size of the place, this Palace of Green Porcelain had a great deal more in it than a Gallery of Palæontology; possibly historical galleries; it might be, even a library! To me, at least in my present circumstances, these would be vastly more interesting than this spectacle of old-time geology in decay. Exploring, I found another short gallery running transversely to the first. This appeared to be devoted to minerals, and the sight of a block of sulphur set my mind running on gunpowder. But I could find no saltpetre; indeed, no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago. Yet the sulphur hung in my mind, and set up a train of thinking. As for the rest of the contents of that gallery, though on the whole they were the best preserved of all I saw, I had little interest. I am no specialist in mineralogy, and I went on down a very ruinous aisle running parallel to the first hall I had entered. Apparently this section had been devoted to natural history, but everything had long since passed out of recognition. A few shrivelled and blackened vestiges of what had once been stuffed animals, desiccated mummies in jars that had once held spirit, a brown dust of departed plants: that was all! I was sorry for that, because I should have been glad to trace the patient readjustments by which the conquest of animated nature had been attained. Then we came to a gallery of simply colossal proportions, but singularly ill-lit, the floor of it running downward at a slight angle from the end at which I entered. At intervals white globes hung from the ceiling—many of them cracked and smashed—which suggested that originally the place had been artificially lit. Here I was more in my element, for rising on either side of me were the huge bulks of big machines, all greatly corroded and many broken down, but some still fairly complete. You know I have a certain weakness for mechanism, and I was inclined to linger among these; the more so as for the most part they had the interest of puzzles, and I could make only the vaguest guesses at what they were for. I fancied that if I could solve their puzzles I should find myself in possession of powers that might be of use against the Morlocks. “Suddenly Weena came very close to my side. So suddenly that she startled me. Had it not been for her I do not think I should have noticed that the floor of the gallery sloped at all. [Footnote: It may be, of course, that the floor did not slope, but that the museum was built into the side of a hill.—ED.] The end I had come in at was quite above ground, and was lit by rare slit-like windows. As you went down the length, the ground came up against these windows, until at last there was a pit like the ‘area‘ of a London house before each, and only a narrow line of daylight at the top. I went slowly along, puzzling about the machines, and had been too intent upon them to notice the gradual diminution of the light, until Weena’s increasing apprehensions drew my attention. Then I saw that the gallery ran down at last into a thick darkness. I hesitated, and then, as I looked round me, I saw that the dust was less abundant and its surface less even. Further away towards the dimness, it appeared to be broken by a number of small narrow footprints. My sense of the immediate presence of the Morlocks revived at that. I felt that I was wasting my time in the academic examination of machinery. I called to mind that it was already far advanced in the afternoon, and that I had still no weapon, no refuge, and no means of making a fire. And then down in the remote blackness of the gallery I heard a peculiar pattering, and the same odd noises I had heard down the well. “I took Weena’s hand. Then, struck with a sudden idea, I left her and turned to a machine from which projected a lever not unlike those in a signal-box. Clambering upon the stand, and grasping this lever in my hands, I put all my weight upon it sideways. Suddenly Weena, deserted in the central aisle, began to whimper. I had judged the strength of the lever pretty correctly, for it snapped after a minute’s strain, and I rejoined her with a mace in my hand more than sufficient, I judged, for any Morlock skull I might encounter. And I longed very much to kill a Morlock or so. Very inhuman, you may think, to want to go killing one’s own descendants! But it was impossible, somehow, to feel any humanity in the things. Only my disinclination to leave Weena, and a persuasion that if I began to slake my thirst for murder my Time Machine might suffer, restrained me from going straight down the gallery and killing the brutes I heard. “Well, mace in one hand and Weena in the other, I went out of that gallery and into another and still larger one, which at the first glance reminded me of a military chapel hung with tattered flags. The brown and charred rags that hung from the sides of it, I presently recognised as the decaying vestiges of books. They had long since dropped to pieces, and every semblance of print had left them. But here and there were warped boards and cracked metallic clasps that told the tale well enough. Had I been a literary man I might, perhaps, have moralised upon the futility of all ambition. But as it was, the thing that struck me with keenest force was the enormous waste of labour to which this sombre wilderness of rotting paper testified. At the time I will confess that I thought chiefly of the Philosophical Transactions and my own seventeen papers upon physical optics. “Then, going up a broad staircase, we came to what may once have been a gallery of technical chemistry. And here I had not a little hope of useful discoveries. Except at one end where the roof had collapsed, this gallery was well preserved. I went eagerly to every unbroken case. And at last, in one of the really air-tight cases, I found a box of matches. Very eagerly I tried them. They were perfectly good. They were not even damp. I turned to Weena. ‘Dance,’ I cried to her in her own tongue. For now I had a weapon indeed against the horrible creatures we feared. And so, in that derelict museum, upon the thick soft carpeting of dust, to Weena’s huge delight, I solemnly performed a kind of composite dance, whistling The Land of the Leal as cheerfully as I could. In part it was a modest cancan, in part a step dance, in part a skirt dance (so far as my tail-coat permitted), and in part original. For I am naturally inventive, as you know. “Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a most strange, as for me it was a most fortunate, thing. Yet, oddly enough, I found a far unlikelier substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that by chance, I suppose, had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first that it was paraffin wax, and smashed the glass accordingly. But the odour of camphor was unmistakable. In the universal decay this volatile substance had chanced to survive, perhaps through many thousands of centuries. It reminded me of a sepia painting I had once seen done from the ink of a fossil Belemnite that must have perished and become fossilised millions of years ago. I was about to throw it away, but I remembered that it was inflammable and burnt with a good bright flame—was, in fact, an excellent candle—and I put it in my pocket. I found no explosives, however, nor any means of breaking down the bronze doors. As yet my iron crowbar was the most helpful thing I had chanced upon. Nevertheless I left that gallery greatly elated. “I cannot tell you all the story of that long afternoon. It would require a great effort of memory to recall my explorations in at all the proper order. I remember a long gallery of rusting stands of arms, and how I hesitated between my crowbar and a hatchet or a sword. I could not carry both, however, and my bar of iron promised best against the bronze gates. There were numbers of guns, pistols, and rifles. The most were masses of rust, but many were of some new metal, and still fairly sound. But any cartridges or powder there may once have been had rotted into dust. One corner I saw was charred and shattered; perhaps, I thought, by an explosion among the specimens. In another place was a vast array of idols—Polynesian, Mexican, Grecian, Phœnician, every country on earth, I should think. And here, yielding to an irresistible impulse, I wrote my name upon the nose of a steatite monster from South America that particularly took my fancy. “As the evening drew on, my interest waned. I went through gallery after gallery, dusty, silent, often ruinous, the exhibits sometimes mere heaps of rust and lignite, sometimes fresher. In one place I suddenly found myself near the model of a tin mine, and then by the merest accident I discovered, in an air-tight case, two dynamite cartridges! I shouted ‘Eureka!’ and smashed the case with joy. Then came a doubt. I hesitated. Then, selecting a little side gallery, I made my essay. I never felt such a disappointment as I did in waiting five, ten, fifteen minutes for an explosion that never came. Of course the things were dummies, as I might have guessed from their presence. I really believe that had they not been so, I should have rushed off incontinently and blown Sphinx, bronze doors, and (as it proved) my chances of finding the Time Machine, all together into non-existence. “It was after that, I think, that we came to a little open court within the palace. It was turfed, and had three fruit-trees. So we rested and refreshed ourselves. Towards sunset I began to consider our position. Night was creeping upon us, and my inaccessible hiding-place had still to be found. But that troubled me very little now. I had in my possession a thing that was, perhaps, the best of all defences against the Morlocks—I had matches! I had the camphor in my pocket, too, if a blaze were needed. It seemed to me that the best thing we could do would be to pass the night in the open, protected by a fire. In the morning there was the getting of the Time Machine. Towards that, as yet, I had only my iron mace. But now, with my growing knowledge, I felt very differently towards those bronze doors. Up to this, I had refrained from forcing them, largely because of the mystery on the other side. They had never impressed me as being very strong, and I hoped to find my bar of iron not altogether inadequate for the work. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. H. G. Wells (1992). The Time Machine. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October 2022, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35/35-h/35-h.htm This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org , located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html .

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