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But given how Vanecek, and specifically Schmid, performed this past season, Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald’s best option in net may be to run it back. What a difference a year can make. Last summer, Fitzgerald had no choice but to go and pursue a ...

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.K56V_rk6elHAPkedJTcBcy&pid=News

Devils Don’t Need to Give Up Assets for a Goalie

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International leading casino entertainment provider Play’n GO was last week crowned 'Game Studio of the Year' at the CasinoBeats Game Developer 2023 that took place in Malta. “This is is testament to our strong performance around the world in the last 12 months,

https://www.bing.com/th?id=OVFT.o4Lsu20AzIKShj-xmGUUjy&pid=News

Play’n GO was recognized as the “Game Studio of the Year”

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GO-NET

Tapping into the Power of AI: Go Mobile's Blueprint for Winning the Battle for Customer Attention Welcome to our latest installment of "Behind the Startup," where we dive into the world of mobile marketing with Andrey Bluemental, Worldwide Managing Director. Discover the innovative strategies and technologies that set this agency apart from the rest, and learn how AI and predictive marketing are revolutionizing the industry. Join us as we explore the future of mobile marketing and uncover the trends that will shape 2023 and beyond. Behind the Startup: Meet Andrey Bluemental, the Mobile Marketing Maestro Taking Businesses to New Heights Hi Andrey Bluemental, great to have you here for our "Behind the Startup" series. What inspired you to create Go Mobile, and how did you get started in the field of global marketing? Ishan Pandey: We can see that there is a constantly growing trend for mobile marketing. That’s why we founded an agency specializing in mobile tools, specifically performance and media. Client requirements are getting stricter in matters of business KPIs, so we started investing in the development of our own technology that would meet this growing trend, and the purpose is to achieve higher effectiveness and automation of marketing. Andrey Bluemental: : 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 How does Go Mobile differentiate itself from other mobile marketing companies in the industry? Ishan Pandey: First off, we use a combination of creativity and technology to achieve maximum performance for our advertising campaigns. Though we place our bets on attracting experts for select tasks, we invest in technologies a lot as well. This way, we guarantee not only a high degree of expertise on the team and excellent client service, but also the efficiency that only technologies can provide. Andrey Bluemental: Secondly, we are more like business partners for our clients than just another marketing agency. Our goal is to make their businesses grow. Can you provide an overview of the services that Go Mobile offers to businesses looking to improve their mobile marketing strategies? Ishan Pandey: Modern digital marketing is a set of activities aimed at promoting a product or service. It may sound easy, but in practice, many entrepreneurs focus too much only on social networks, mobile advertising, or offline activities. This is understandable, since not every business has access to a wide range of on-staff specialists. Our agency employs more than 300 professionals responsible for various domains, including user acquisition (Web + App), advertising strategy & data analytics, retargeting, our own innovative tech solutions like Go NET & Go Predicts, KOL projects, and design. We work in each of these areas with full dedication and the same level of passion. More than so, our AI tools help us perform tasks 24/7. Andrey Bluemental: Can you discuss the technology and tools that Go Mobile uses to help businesses optimize their mobile marketing campaigns? Ishan Pandey: One of our products is the Go NET programmatic platform, developed by our specialists both for internal use and for other marketing agencies. The platform consists of a large toolkit, including instruments for quick setup and launch of new advertising campaigns, support for all types of creatives, predictive tools, contextual targeting, and brand lift methodology. Andrey Bluemental: Another B2B product is our Go Predicts solution that uses predictive analysis to improve the key metrics of ads. With the help of Go Predicts it becomes possible to rank consumers based on their potential business value in the future. This way, companies can focus on the audience that is most attractive to them. How does predictive marketing work? Is it possible to build an accurate marketing strategy and predict the campaign's result in a changing market? Ishan Pandey: Predictive marketing uses advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms to analyze large amounts of customer data and predict future outcomes. This approach can help businesses identify new opportunities, improve targeting, and optimize marketing campaigns to achieve better results. Andrey Bluemental: The predictive marketing process typically involves several steps, including data collection and preparation, feature selection, model training, and deployment. Data sources can include customer demographics, behavior, and transactional data, as well as external factors like economic indicators and market trends. That being said, predictive marketing can be a powerful tool for businesses to optimize their marketing strategies and improve their chances of success on the broader market. By leveraging the latest technologies and techniques, businesses can gain valuable insights into their customers' behavior and preferences, and make data-driven decisions that help them attain better results. How does Go Mobile help businesses measure the success of their mobile marketing efforts, and what kind of metrics do you track? Ishan Pandey: We put a lot of emphasis on measuring the success of marketing efforts, since that is an integral part of delivering great quality of service. Our team delivers regular reports about ad campaign performance for each client, holds regular meetings to stay tuned with the clients’ team and discuss every aspect of the strategy, campaign optimization, and hypothesis testing. We share our expertise and help clients understand which marketing tools and approaches can grow their business and what could reduce marketing effectiveness. Andrey Bluemental: As for metrics, we work with any of them — CPI, CPA, CAC, LTV and classic CPC and CPM, as well as business metrics like the number of new clients, retention rates, and others. What kind of customer support and resources does Go Mobile provide to its clients? Ishan Pandey: We assemble an individual team for every client based on the company’s goals and objectives. The team usually includes a media buyer, personal account manager, strategist, creative, finance and legal teams. Andrey Bluemental: We also use our native technologies — a creative approval system and real-time dashboards customized for every client. The technology helps us collaborate with clients effectively and transparently, doing it like business partners, not on a client and a performer basis. How does Go Mobile stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in mobile marketing? Ishan Pandey: In marketing, you are always in need of testing a new hypothesis. It relates to sources of traffic, marketing tools, new strategies and approaches, design, metrics, and so in. In some way, staying up-to-date with trends and best practices is our job. That is why we attend industrial conferences, organize webinars and meet-ups, and run collaborations with other agencies. All in the name of staying on par with global practices and accumulating experience. Andrey Bluemental: I also believe that the community plays an important role in improving the quality of products and creating new ones. GoMobile has its own digital community. We resort to our LinkedIn group to share experiences with marketing experts and thus propel ourselves to the next level with every acquired feedback. What tools are most effective for companies that seek to increase product sales? Has anything changed in the last 2-3 years? Ishan Pandey: The trend is apps nowadays, so it’s important to create connections between the web and mobile in terms of the target audience, communication channels, budget allocation and traffic sources for achieving more efficient business growth. Andrey Bluemental: The personalization of advertising has reached a new level and it is becoming more challenging to achieve that level due to the phasing out of cookies. Advanced analytics and an understanding of user behavior thus come to the forefront as the countermeasure. Businesses collect user information through their products and create more cases of real-time marketing — when marketing strategies adjust to the current agenda and news backgrounds, applying them in the favor of the brands. Two or three years ago, companies couldn't use AI and chatbots to improve customer service and increase their sales. Today, these tools are must-haves. Tools such as co-op websites and social networks remain unchanged, since they are still the first point of contact with potential clients, so the site must be optimized, and social networks must be filled with useful content and focus on consumer interests. What are your thoughts on the current status of artificial intelligence, and how do you see it evolving in the coming years? Ishan Pandey: I would say that artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changing technology that has already made a significant impact on the marketing industry. AI has enabled us to automate many repetitive tasks, analyze large amounts of data, and provide personalized recommendations to customers, all of which have helped improve marketing efficiency. Andrey Bluemental: In the coming years, I believe that AI will continue to evolve and become even more sophisticated. We will see more businesses adopting AI-powered solutions, such as personalized chatbots that can provide a more human-like experience, and AI-powered recommendation engines for analyzing customer data to deliver hyper-personalized content and product offers. What will be the marketing trends in 2023? Do you advise your clients to use tools like ChatGPT? What should companies pay attention to if they want to win the battle for customer attention? Ishan Pandey: The key to surviving through 2023 is using the available marketing channels effectively. I expect that advertising will become more personalized, and video content will continue to be a reliable format for offering goods and services. Also, with the proliferation of smart speakers, voice search will be gaining prominence. The growing commitment of consumers to environmentally friendly products and production methods will also play a major role in shaping demand. Andrey Bluemental: Tech development is advancing at a rapid pace, but we see that truly impressive results can be achieved only through the collaboration of humans and AI. For example, ChatGPT is really changing the world, but it can solve real tasks only once very strict specifications have been provided. It’s just a system that belches out random results without the involvement of human expertise on the input end. The AI needs to be set up and applied correctly to be of maximum use and turn into a significant competitive advantage,  one that would allow a business to earn more. Don’t forget to like and share the story! Image credits: MidJourney.

Predictive Marketing: Crystal Ball of Digital Advertising Unveiled by Go Mobile's Andrey Bluemental

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In 2021, hosted the first-ever awards!! HackerNoon Startup of the Year The goal of this campaign was to give recognition to the hardworking startups who pulled through the pandemic -- growing and thriving (despite all of the challenges). More than 44,000 startups were nominated all across the globe! They were selected from over 4,553 cities, with a total number of * cough * “4 billion” votes. Insane, right? To see who is a winner in each respective city, visit and pick a city. The name at the top of the list is the winner. (Compromised awards are under review. Cities with tie votes will be updated to have two winners!) startups.hackernoon.com The will announce the winners per region in their respective cities. Startups Winners Announcement series Here are the winners in the : Asia region Top Startup Cities in East Asia Seoul The Startup of the Year in is with 377 votes! Seoul dable Central is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 121 votes. UpNow Central Sheung Wan came out as the Startup of the Year in with 154 votes. Votee Sheung Wan Tokyo The Startup of the Year in is with 41 votes! Tokyo ACES Wan Chai The Startup of the Year in is with 54 votes! Wan Chai Zetl Osaka, Japan In , is the winner! Osaka Nanophoton Taiwan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taiwan Dongcheng, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dongcheng Waiju Taipei came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Tico Taipei Akasaka In , is the winner! Akasaka WAKUWAKU Chuo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Chuo GO-NET Ginza came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Netyear Ginza Kanazawa In , is the winner! Kanazawa Granzella Minami-aoyama In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami-aoyama Tokyo6 Entertainment Shibuya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Hupro Japan Shibuya Toranomon In , is the winner! Toranomon Small Worlds Toshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Toshima Altplus Guangzhou, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Leyaoyao Guangzhou Hong Kong, Hong Kong In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hong Kong Episode Six Kunming In , is the winner! Kunming Green A Sapporo In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Sapporo Polar Star Space Shirokanedai came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Nupp1 Shirokanedai Wuhan In , is the winner! Wuhan CSICEE Baoan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoan Jumper Baoshan, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Baoshan Renren Games Chengdu, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Ju You Xi Chengdu Fujisawa, Japan In , is the winner! Fujisawa Scohia Pharma Fukuoka, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fukuoka Kyulux Haidian, China came out as the Startup of the Year in ! 51vv Haidian Hongkou, China In , is the winner! Hongkou Kidstone Jiading, China In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jiading IMRobotic Kawasaki, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! QD Laser, Inc. Kawasaki Kyoto, Japan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kyoto Hacarus Minato, Japan In , is the winner! Minato Visionary Fun Nagoya, Japan came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Prodrone Nagoya Ningbo, China The winner in is . Ningbo OlymTech Corporation Aomori In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Aomori Forte Japan Bandai-cho In , is the winner. Bandai-cho Delta-Fly Pharm Changchun In , the Startup of the Year is . Changchun Kaidi Animation Fuchu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Fuchu TMS Fukuoka-shi The winner in is . Fukuoka-shi SkyDisc Fukushima In , the Startup of the Year is . Fukushima Matsuri Technologies Gotanda In , is the winner. Gotanda Basset Hachioji In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Hachioji Adriakaim Harbin The winner in is J . Harbin oining Technology Iwaki In , is the winner. Iwaki Tao Engineering Izumo In , the Startup of the Year is . Izumo PuREC Kagoshima In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kagoshima Farmers Support Kamakura In , the Startup of the Year is . Kamakura KAYAC Kami-meguro The winner in is . Kami-meguro Buzzreach Kanagawa In , is the winner. Kanagawa LoiLo Kashiwa In , the Startup of the Year is . Kashiwa Intelligent Surfaces Kita In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kita Ax Robotix Kobe The winner in is . Kobe Coconomi Koriyama In , the Startup of the Year is . Koriyama Tocoton Kumamoto In , is the winner. Kumamoto Bloom Technology Kunitachi In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kunitachi Trys Liaocheng The winner in is . Liaocheng Jinzheng Animation Minami In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Minami ATLAB Miyazaki In , is the winner. Miyazaki Caster Nagano In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Nagano Precision Forestry Nagaoka The winner in is . Nagaoka Plant Form Nihombashi-hamacho In , the Startup of the Year is . Nihombashi-hamacho Shizen Energy Niigata In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Niigata UniBio Japan Nishi-shinagawa In , is the winner. Nishi-shinagawa Play Heart Okayama In , is the winner! Okayama Arch Farm Okinawa In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Okinawa BlogNinja Otemachi In , the Startup of the Year is . Otemachi beBit, Inc Qingdao Shi In , is the winner! Qingdao Shi Manyoubang Quanzhou In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Quanzhou KungFu Animation Group Roppongi The winner in is . Roppongi Holo-X Saitama In , the Startup of the Year is . Saitama GameTector Sendai In , is the winner! Sendai Sendai Smart Machines Setagaya In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Setagaya Skyestate Shenzhen In , the Startup of the Year is . Shenzhen Aiator Shinjuku In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Shinjuku Scalar Shizuoka In , is the winner! Shizuoka PiPhotonics Sumida The winner in is . Sumida Holotch Tachikawa In , the Startup of the Year is . Tachikawa PlusOne Takamatsu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Takamatsu Ken Robotec Tokushima In , is the winner! Tokushima DennoKotsu Toyonaka In , the Startup of the Year is . Toyonaka FISH BIOTECH Tsukuba In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Tsukuba WARPSPACE Wakayama In , the Startup of the Year is . Wakayama 4D Sensor Xiangzhou In , is the winner! Xiangzhou ALLiN Edutech Group Xianyang The winner in is . Xianyang TONLY Xiaoshan In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Xiaoshan GONGHUI Yamaguchi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yamaguchi Archis Yangpu The winner in is . Yangpu Tmxmall Yau Tsim Mong In , is the winner! Yau Tsim Mong Airnugget Yeoksamdong In , the Startup of the Year is . Yeoksamdong WizSchool Yichang In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Yichang Hubei Kento Electronic Yokohama In , is the winner! Yokohama Next Innovation Yubei In , the Startup of the Year is . Yubei Ophiux Network Yueqing The winner in is . Yueqing Yueqing Easythink Media Zhuhai In , is the winner! Zhuhai Aijuba Hongo In , the Startup of the Year is . Hongo Smile Robotics, Inc Admiralty In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Admiralty BUNCH Southern In , the Startup of the Year is . Southern Retykle Yongdungpo In , is the winner! Yongdungpo Push News Taichung In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Taichung Wondercise Cyberport, Hong Kong In , the Startup of the Year is . Cyberport Animoca Brands Hefei, China In , is the winner! Hefei Tsinglink New Territories, Hong Kong The winner in is . New Territories, Hong Kong Zeek Dezhou In , the Startup of the Year is . Dezhou Dezhou Baji Kitakyushu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kitakyushu Reif Seongnam In , is the winner! Seongnam EOFlow Yanshi In , the Startup of the Year is . Yanshi CASI Vision Top Startup Cities in South Asia Hyderabad, India The Startup of the Year in is with 962 votes Hyderabad Quixy Lahore, Pakistan is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 186 votes. SmartWindows Lahore Bangalore, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 210 votes! Bangalore vBridge Hub Pune, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 129 votes! InfraCloud Pune Jaipur, India The Startup of the Year in is with 166 votes Jaipur Emizen Tech Lucknow, India is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 279 votes. Keeros Superfoods Lucknow Noida, India came out as the Startup of the Year in with 156 votes! Bagisto Noida Mumbai, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 96 votes! Mumbai Sequretek Sylhet couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in , it won with 122 votes! DataXpie Sylhet Mylapore, India In , is the winner! Mylapore Yalimart Goa, India In , the Startup of the Year is Goa Filter Coffee Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Delhi EkAnek Networks Karachi, Pakistan The winner in is Karachi Bykea Ahmedabad, India In , is the winner Ahmedabad MageComp Dhaka, Bangladesh The winner in is Dhaka SOLshare Islamabad, Pakistan In Islamabad, is declared the Startup of the Year! TAG Gurgaon, India In , the Startup of the Year is Gurgaon ixigo Bengaluru, India In , is the winner! Bengaluru Prakshep Private Limited Haryana, India couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in ! Footprints Childcare Haryana Kolkata, India In , is the winner! Kolkata Wow! Momo New Delhi, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! New Delhi Rusk Media Indore, India The winner in is Indore Chattar Patar Kormangala In , is the winner Kormangala Sanctum Technologies Ghaziabad came out as the Startup of the Year in Craftfurnish.com Ghaziabad! Mohali In , the Startup of the Year is Mohali DataKund Mysore The Startup of the Year in is Mysore Excelsoft Karnal came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Dunar Karnal Kolhapur In , is the winner! Kolhapur Zanvar Group Patiya In , the Startup of the Year is Patiya Kloud Project Kathmandu In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kathmandu Vairav Technology Bangalore City, India In is the winner! Bangalore City, PagarBook Ernakulam The winner in is Ernakulam Epixel Solutions Colombo, Sri Lanka couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in MAs Foods Colombo Andheri, India When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Andheri DoorMint Kanpur, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! ServiceWalaa Kanpur Faisalabad In , is the winner! Faisalabad DigiKhata Nasik The Startup of the Year in is Nasik Sahyadri Farms Patna came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Asvin Tech Patna Chennai, India In , is the winner! Chennai Agnikul Cosmos Faridabad, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Faridabad UClean Panjim, India The winner in is Panjim TempoGO Ranchi, India In , is the winner Ranchi Osam Dairy Surat, India In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Surat Wishbook Thane, India In , is the winner! Thane Delight Foods Trivandrum, India came out as the Startup of the Year in ! GenRobotic Trivandrum Vijayawada, India In , the Startup of the Year is Vijayawada Eruvaka Technologies Visakhapatnam, India In , Ltd is declared the Startup of the Year! Visakhapatnam Greenline Labs Pvt Ahmadabad In , is the winner! Ahmadabad KiwiQA Services Bandra came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Car Club Bandra Bombay In , is the winner! Bombay Locobuddy Mobile Technology (Sportobuddy) Cochin In , the Startup of the Year is Cochin Tuttifrutti Interactive Gandhinagar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Gandhinagar Kroop AI Guwahati In , the Startup of the Year is Guwahati GNRC Hospitals Jamshedpur In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Jamshedpur Intelliber Kabul The winner in is Kabul Miracle Shop (Vocinno Technology) Karur In , is the winner Karur Karur Vysya Bank Kochi The winner in is Kochi BestDoc Kozhikode In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kozhikode OfficeKit HR Ludhiana In , the Startup of the Year is Ludhiana Trendy Beat Network Madhapur In , is the winner! Madhapur Head Digital Works Mangalore When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Mangalore Hangyo Nagpur came out as the Startup of the Year in ! UPrudence Agro Nagpur Rawalpindi The Startup of the Year in is Rawalpindi Pro Options Marketing Rishikesh came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Descatuk Rishikesh Secunderabad couldn’t be beaten for Startup of the Year in Prakriti Biosystems Engineering Secunderabad Tirupur In , is the winner! Tirupur Tubeknit Fashions Udupi The winner in is Udupi Krishitantra Top Startup Cities in Southeast Asia Singapore, Singapore The Startup of the Year in is with 6556 votes! Singapore Cake DeFi Hanoi, Vietnam is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 683 votes. DeFi For You Hanoi Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia came out as the Startup of the Year in with 109 votes! Trambellir Kuala Lumpur Pasig, Philippines When it comes to , . is the Startup of the Year with 110 votes! Pasig Quickreach Inc Bangkok, Thailand couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 60 votes! Perception Codes Bangkok Johor Bahru In , the Startup of the Year is . Johor Bahru AGR1 Bandung, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Bandung Prosa Portugal The winner in is . Portugal SCEMAI Tangerang, Indonesia In , is the winner Tangerang Yummy Corp Jakarta, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Tokocrypto Dki Jakarta, Indonesia In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dki Jakarta Limakilo Bangkok Metropolis In , is the winner! Bangkok Meticuly Medan The winner in is ! Medan DIKA Manila, Philippines In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Manila PawnHero Phnom Penh, Cambodia In , the Startup of the Year is Phnom Penh vKirirom Bali In , is the winner! Bali Radius App Penang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year Penang EasyParcel Surabaya came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Super Surabaya Setiabudi, Indonesia The Startup of the Year in is Setiabudi Chilibeli Cebu City came out as the Startup of the Year in MiCab Cebu City! Jawa couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in DAUR Jawa Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam In , is the winner! Ho Chi Minh City Pharmacity Selangor, Malaysia is the Startup of the Year! BabyDash Selangor Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia In , is the winner! Jakarta Pusat StickEarn Semarang When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Semarang Food Bear Petaling Jaya, Malaysia The winner in is . Petaling Jaya Deemples Kebayoran Baru, Indonesia couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Yogrt Kebayoran Baru Kuningan The winner in is . Kuningan Prinzio Bukit Merah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! DC Alliance Bukit Merah Huai Khwang In , the Startup of the Year is . Huai Khwang AppMan Co.,Ltd Kuta In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Kuta Gringgo Mandaluyong came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! Work Inspire Mandaluyong Midview City In , is the winner! Midview City BioMers Phuket The Startup of the Year in is ! Phuket Sapahn Yangon, Myanmar The winner in is . Yangon Wave Money Denpasar When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Denpasar Revasi Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand The winner in is . Nakhon Ratchasima Siam Lottery co., Ltd Taguig, Philippines In , is the winner! Taguig PayMongo Bogor came out as the Startup of the Year in ! TIRANYX Bogor Senai, Malaysia won as the Startup of the Year. Nutrition Technologies Senai Bekasi Kota couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! 8villages Bekasi Kota Top Startup Cities in Middle East Tel Aviv, Israel The Startup of the Year in is with 1,065 votes! Tel Aviv hyro Beirut, Lebanon is the Startup of the Year! It came out ahead with 1,276 votes. Hovi Digital Lab Beirut Riyadh, Saudi Arabia With 350 votes, came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Flicron Riyadh Tel Aviv-yafo, Israel When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year with 167 votes! Tel Aviv-yafo Cymbio Haifa, Israel couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in , it won with 183 votes! Pico Haifa Amman, Jordan In , with 141 votes, is the winner! Amman Edexy Dubai, United Arab Emirates In , the Startup of the Year is with 74 votes. Dubai Ziina Doha, Qatar In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Doha SkipCash Tehran, Iran The winner in is . BeyondBoard AR Tehran Jerusalem, Israel In , is the winner! Jerusalem SolidBlock Rishon Le Zion The Startup of the Year in is ! Rishon Le Zion Passparto Ness Ziona, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Soapy Ness Ziona Kuwait, Kuwait came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Brapper Shop Kuwait Manama, Bahrain couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Doctori Manama Lod, Israel is the winner in ! Phinergy Lod Agudat Israel, Israel When it comes to is the Startup of the Year with [vote ] votes! Agudat Israel, Aqaurius Engines Beersheba, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Beersheba Visual Estate Ltd Giv'atayim, Israel In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Giv'atayim WSC Sports Modi'in, Israel The winner in is . Modi'in Loginno Nazareth, Israel In , is the winner! Nazareth AR Guide In Medical Ramat Gan, Israel The Startup of the Year in is . Ramat Gan Datos Health Baghdad When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Baghdad Mishwar Khobar In , the Startup of the Year is . Khobar Garage Misgav couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! Eden Shield Misgav Sharjah came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Bookends Sharjah Affula In , the Startup of the Year is . Affula eMotion Technologies Bene Beraq, Israel In , is the winner Bene Beraq Reflectiz Caesarea, Israel In , the Startup of the Year is . Caesarea CardiacSense Dubayy In , is declared the Startup of the Year! Dubayy North Ladder Muscat couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in ! iLab Marine Muscat Tirat Carmel In , the Startup of the Year is . Tirat Carmel PassCall Advanced Technologies Hod Hasharon, Israel The winner in is . Hod Hasharon Idomoo Holon, Israel came out ahead as the Startup of the Year! OptimalPlus Holon Jeddah, Saudi Arabia When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Jeddah Arabian Combustion Technologies Ramat Hasharon, Israel is the Startup of the Year! Lumen Ramat Hasharon Al Khobar came out as the Startup of the Year in ! Swyft Al Khobar Bet Shemesh In , is the winner! Bet Shemesh Degania Medical Binyamina When it comes to , is the Startup of the Year! Binyamina OncoHost Makkah In , the Startup of the Year is Makkah Scimagine Or Akiva Last but not least, couldn’t be beaten for Startup in the Year in the city of ! WMT Or Akiva More Information: If you’re a winner, please answer ! If you’re a reader, participant, just a curious individual, consider answering one of our interviews . this interview here Read the FAQs about or . Startups here here To see all of the winners you may visit , pick any city and view the name that appears at the top. this site If you’re interested in partnering with us, we invite you to look through some of these or reach out to our business department. unique sponsorship options Perhaps creating your very own tickles your fancy or maybe you have a whole new idea for how we can partner! writing contest Thank you to all of our sponsors! We truly appreciate your contribution to the tech world and thus the future! The Startups Awards are sponsored by: , , , , , , , , , , Blockster Brex FreeCodeCamp LaunchDarkly Coil Udacity Udemy Vercel Asia Pacific Transgender Network Bybit Everscale Network The post was written by Kushal Tamrakar and Valerie Ejegi, edited by Hang Ngo. If you have any questions or concerns or would like to report a discrepancy please email ellen@hackernoon.com.

Meet the Winners of Startups in Asia

In the SaaS sphere, it is widely agreed that Net Promoter Score (NPS) should be a key performance indicator of any Customer Success Team. As an agreer myself, I believe we should take this idea even further. I believe that all departments should track this metric because each is trying to develop a customer's loyalty. In this article, we’ll share a ready-made action plan to increase your NPS score; an indicator that your customers are happy. The strategies discussed in this plan have helped our team at NetHunt to increase our NPS at 32% in half a year. We’re happy to share our results. Let's dig in with the basics and then dive deeper into the strategies marketing, sales, and product teams need to use to develop company growth whilst increasing NPS score. What is NPS, and Why is it Important? is a metric that tracks how a company's product or service is being perceived by their customers. As a , it's already regarded as a primary KPI for customer success teams to monitor. Net Promoter Score (NPS) direct indicator of growth and customer satisfaction But we believe this particular metric can be more widely used. A top NPS score results from an aligned effort of the development, marketing, sales, and customer service departments. Only their combined knowledge of feature development, audience, correct messaging, lead nurturing, and timely customer service, used together, can result in a high NPS score for a business. How to Calculate an NPS Score? It’s a good question, but not as good as the question we need to ask our users to figure out our NPS score. Yep, all we need to do is ask our users one, simple question. How likely is it that you would recommend [Organization/Product/Service] to a friend or colleague? Answers should be given rated on a linear scale from one; not likely, to 10; definitely. It looks a little something like this. Based on these answers, customers fall between three different categories, laid out below. After running the survey, waiting, and receiving all the answers, it’s finally time to calculate your NPS score. It’s a big moment if you’re doing it for the first time. Is it high enough? Should I be nervous about the health of my business? Luckily, the maths is simple enough. All we need to do is subtract the percentage of Detractors away from the percentage of Promoters. NPS = % of Promoters - % of Detractors What is a Good NPS score? There are no set-in-stone rules for NPS scores, but you can generally consider It's all relative, and the best gauge you can get on a current NPS score is by comparing it with one from a previous time-frame. Similarly, you can try to find an industry-standard NPS score as a . Finding out you're outperforming competitors is always a pleasant surprise. anything above 30 to be okay . benchmark for your score Some thinkers believe that any NPS score higher than 0 is good since an NPS score can be in the negatives. Whilst it's always good to stay in the positives, . The higher your NPS score, the better. I'd recommend not setting your bar this low The road to an entirely satisfactory NPS score is long and winding; many people say it is infinite. Industries constantly evolve, user needs and expectations are always increasing. However, this isn't the downside for NPS score collection; it's just part of the journey. The downside of NPS scoring is that it often brings many false-positive results, so you should take it with a pinch of salt. How Often Should an NPS Score be Calculated? Again, . NPS score frequency changes based on variables such as differences between transactional and relationship-driven business models, user lifecycle, and product update frequency. Many companies choose to run their NPS surveys every six months, but it's up to you. there are no rules Here is our 👇 recommended NPS survey interval pattern An initial survey should be carried out between . 7 - 14 days after user registration A moment-of-truth survey should be carried out between . 30 - 90 days after the initial survey A third survey should be carried out . 90 days after the second survey A recurring survey should run after initial surveys have been completed. quarterly In fact, here are a whole bunch of actionable tips for NPS scoring from our team. 🔥Tips for measuring NPS scores 🔥 Ask regular clients as well, because their brand perception is free to change over time. Don’t limit your NPS surveys to just first-time buyers. They might not be used to new features or UI; they might even be angry. This is likely to change. Don’t survey customers immediately after a major product update. Whilst it's an excellent way to gauge customer behaviour, it's best not to include an NPS survey at every touchpoint. Don't overdo NPS surveying. Your product isn’t the same fit for every customer segment. It’s best to make NPS scores more actionable by attributing different scores to specific cohorts. Over time, you’ll be able to track how each product change has affected each cohort individually. Don’t send an NPS survey to your whole customer base at the same time. How can an NPS Score Effect Customer Loyalty? As customers ourselves, we don't formulate our opinions based on a product alone. It's all parts of equal , , and that have the desired influence on customers; should be the foundation of every department's customer-facing activities. The marketing and design teams, to sales and customer service employees, and of course, the developers should all be working towards the same, collective NPS-driven goal. branding customer service value delivery customer centricity The Marketing Team The most significant impact the marketing team can have on an NPS score is by ensuring the perception of product value for a client is the correct one. The marketing team should create and (ICP). They need to make sure that this messaging addresses relevant pain points and they should guarantee that a user's post-registration experience is as they would expect it to be. open lines of communication messaging that resonates with a business's ideal customer profile Imagine the marketing team made a point of a client being at the centre of everything they do. Then, a customer has a problem with their purchase, and for whatever reason, it takes a week to get it fixed. Similarly, if you shout about a product's functionality whose release date isn't due for another year… to acquire more, slightly disappointed, leads. Both scenarios affect your NPS score, and worse, your brand-consumer trust. Example: We need to make sure marketing output is transparent and pays attention to our clients' emotional needs. to ensure that any user or potential user feels safe, valued, and understands the value the product is giving them. Use accurate wording At NetHunt, each marketing team member passes a training program once they have joined our company. Going further, they spend some time with the Customer Success Department, listening to demo calls and internal discussions to understand the product further. After the world went remote in 2020, the marketing team joined demo calls online to understand customer questions and to learn how to speak a customer's language. The marketing team maintains an extensive product knowledge-base. The days when 'customer personalisation' meant inserting a customer's name into the email subject line are behind use. Everybody's at it, and it barely registers with our customers anymore. We use proper tools to segment our customers and apply a personalised experience across our customer engagement activities. We send our customers educational content based on their preferences and needs. Similarly, when we run any promo campaigns, we send our customers personalised offers. These offers are based on the product features they use most. The marketing team needs strictly personalised messaging. If you can see that a customer uses email campaign functionality in your CRM system a lot, offer a discount on email search functionality. The customer is provided with something valuable, which increases their odds of being upsold to. Example: While we believe that the product team should work with detractors, we believe that the marketing team should work with promoters to the same extent. You've got an incredible, loyal audience, who are ready to provide a case study for your website and write reviews on websites like G2 and Capterra. Use it. It's bound to positively influence potential buyers who are shopping around for a product like yours. The marketing team should actively engage with promoters. The Sales and Customer Success Team Technology is the best weapon for your sales and success teams. Having data scattered around different tools and programmes whilst trying to aggregate and analyse it is a nightmare. Maintaining superior customer relations is much more comfortable with a well-implemented Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software in place. CRM was basically designed to bump up customer engagement metrics like NPS scores, it's a no-brainer. CRM helps the marketing, sales, and customer success teams identify the most effective acquisition channels, which content converts best at every stage of the buyer journey, the most efficient sales strategies, bottlenecks in your funnel, and which customers require the most attention. It can also be used by the development team to understand the ways in which customers use a tool, which features stick, and where any gaps lie between customer expectation and the tool’s reality. CRM offers an unmatched customer experience. , ensuring a business never misses a single lead. Having automated follow-up sequences set up for after a lead registers on your website, they will immediately enter the sales pipeline. CRM doesn’t take a day off . Effective communication is the cornerstone of any successful business; it brings loyalty. A user might be ready to forgive a little product big, but a delayed response from the Success Team means they lose faith in your wider business. CRM guarantees first-class communication with customers via segmentation Bulk email send-outs and email templates work in unison to send hundreds of emails in minutes. Spend your time on something more worthwhile, create more content for your nurturing sequences. CRM automatically enriches customer profiles with data and schedules send-outs, disabling the need to babysit your inbox all day. Afterwards, you’ll have access to an aggregated history of all your communication channels inside neat and tidy customer records. Most CRM systems integrate with your favourite communication channels, such as social media or website live chats. You can set automated alerts for common pre-churn signs, such as low-account usage or unsuccessful payment attempts. Pre-churn customers need to be communicated with via a customer success representative. CRM prevents customer churn. Going further than CRM, there are many other actionable tips for sales and success teams to implement to improve their NPS score. 1. Use Real-Life Scenarios on Demo Calls: Potential buyers don’t remember all the buttons on all the menus in your system. However, they will remember stories you tell them about these features that might have a particular emotional impact. Our customer success team doesn’t simply open an account and walk a new client through every button. Instead, they show that new client what they can achieve with the product as a whole. Tips for successful customer success demos ⬇️ A for every buyer and the industry they are in. personalised story that a customer can accomplish within their own, unique context and the tech stack they own. Specific tasks and results A or a moment. The underlying goal of each demo is to bring a customer closer to these moments. 'that's what I need' 'looks easy to start with' 2. Change from a Customer Support Model to a Customer Success Model. If you're an enterprise-size company with enough resources to separate your technical support and customer support departments… awesome. Otherwise, when you're counting the pennies, we strongly recommend switching to a . Customer success ensures customer satisfaction through correct product usage. It goes beyond the one-time fixes to one-time problems that a support team would usually offer. customer success model Problem-solving is a customer success team's final resort; instead, it looks to prevent a problem from ever occurring. It adds value to the customer's experience; it is proactive, not reactive. 🔥 How to implement a customer success strategy, at a glance 🔥 . Apart from the newsletters and the in-product notifications, we run live webinars to walk-through any new features added to NetHunt. Educate your customers . Every one to three months, our customer success managers do their homework and review client accounts. They look at a customer's initial enquiries within the system, their communication history, and determine whether a pain point has soothed. Ultimately, they book an assessment call with that customer to offer more specific product-usage advice. Run assessment calls . Having a community adds immeasurable value to your product, and in the social media era, it's easier than ever to implement. Customers gain a network of like-minded peers that share similar values and share common challenges. The business gains another line of external support representatives. Bring customers together as a community . It's common for businesses to implement competitive aspects to their teams to boost performance. We're not into that; we like cooperation. In the face of particularly daunting hurdles, it's better to discuss them as a team. We know each other's weaknesses as well as we know each other's weaknesses. Everybody has something to offer. Promote communication, not competition 3. Speed up your response time. Obviously. Answer customer queries as quickly as you can. We're shocked but grateful at the number of users who have switched to our CRM from a competitor because their response time was too slow. It's best to assume that your client's business is dependent on your product, and any difficulties they face can be critical. We don’t hide from our customers, and . Regardless of whether it’s email, Facebook, website chat, or in-product chat, we stick to a strictly to . More often than not, the customer success team is ready to jump on a quick demo call to get a ticket resolved in the fastest time possible. we’ve got loads of open lines of communication two minutes maximum response time for every customer If a customer doesn't feel much like chatting, we'd recommend to have loads of how-to content on YouTube, blog, and in the Help Center. No stone is left unturned in getting to the bottom of our customer problems. As a result, we get loads of lovely feedback from our customers on websites such as G2. The Product Team Apart from focussing on product improvement, development, and evolution, the product team needs to . Your customer success managers are your customers' voice, and they should translate each product challenge to the product team and make a case for any missing feature that will enable customers to gain from the product. collaborate with the customer success team more The product team needs to act on NPS surveys. We found that the response rate with detailed feedback is over 35% when the product team contacts a customer. Once we receive NPS survey results and notice any cohort has a specific complaint or suggestion about our product, the product team itself reaches out to selected respondents to further investigate. Our customers are contacted by multiple departments - marketing, sales, customer support; however when they see a message from the product team, the people who are responsible for product development, it makes them understand that the company means business. The aim is for our customer to understand that we're absolutely dedicated to providing a world-class customer experience. Our Results Along the same themes of openness and transparency, we want to share our NPS score with you. In our most previous NPS survey, . We're incredibly proud of this considering the average NPS for other SaaS companies is 30. We improved our score by 8 points in the last 6 months, meaning we overtook Dropbox, . we scored 33 which has 32 Don't worry; we understand that there's a long way to go… considering Google Drive's NPS is 50! We asked the NPS question to every customer using our product for more than three months as an in-product pop-up banner. If the customer didn't respond, we showed them the same banner one week later.We achieved a 17.6% conversion rate of those who responded to the survey, which we’re happy with.We ran the survey via TypeForm. This platform is convenient to set up and automatically calculates final NPS scores. The picture below is a screenshot of the dashboard. , an NPS score is a fantastic way to understand and bring your business closer to your customers. It opens the door to better customer conversations and gathers valuable insights from heavy users of SaaS products. Of course, it's not the only metric with which we can evaluate product success. But rather, it measures the success of your business as a whole, being influenced by various factors such as sales team communication and missed tickets from customer support. To wrap up Only through company departments' combined efforts and a common customer-centric approach can a business build stronger relationships, achieve better numbers, and grow. Good luck! Previously published at https://nethunt.com/blog/how-to-improve-the-nps-of-saas-product/

How to Raise the Net Promoter Score of Your SaaS Product by Bringing Your Teams Together

Go is a programming language often used for applications in which performance matters. Optimizing your code based on assumptions is not a best practice of course. You need to have insights about your code performance and bottlenecks to be able to optimize it efficiently. What is a profiler? Profiler is a dynamic performance analysis tool that provides critical execution insights in various dimensions which enable resolving performance issues, locating memory leaks, thread contention and more. Go comes with built-in support for profiling! What kinds of profiles can I get? Go has several built in profiles: stack traces of all current Goroutines Goroutine: stack traces of CPU returned by runtime CPU: a sampling of memory allocations of live objects Heap: a sampling of all past memory allocations Allocation: stack traces that led to the creation of new OS threads Thread: stack traces that led to blocking on synchronization primitives Block: stack traces of holders of contended mutexes Mutex: How to get a profile? There are a few ways to create a profile. 1. Using “go test” to generate profile Support for profiling the standard testing package. As an example, the following command runs all benchmarks and writes CPU and memory profile to and : built into cpu.prof mem.prof go -cpuprofile cpu.prof -memprofile mem.prof -bench . test 2. Download live profile using HTTP If you need to have a live profile in a long-running service, package is your ultimate solution. Solely import the package in your code and you are good to go: net/http/pprof _ import "net/http/pprof" The initialization of this package is the reason you need to import it solely. {
	http.HandleFunc( , Index)
	http.HandleFunc( , Cmdline)
	http.HandleFunc( , Profile)
	http.HandleFunc( , Symbol)
	http.HandleFunc( , Trace)
} func init () "/debug/pprof/" "/debug/pprof/cmdline" "/debug/pprof/profile" "/debug/pprof/symbol" "/debug/pprof/trace" As you can see the package initialization registers handlers for the given URL in . These handlers write the profile into a which you can download. Now the only thing you need to do is running a HTTP server with a handler: DefaultServeMux http.ResponseWriter nil { {
		http.ListenAndServe( , )
	}()
} func init () go func () ":1234" nil Note that if you already run your http server with , you don’t need to run another server and profiles are available on your server. DefaultServeMux Now, you can download live profile data from the URL. /debug/pprof/ 3. Profiling in code Using , You can also profile directly within the code. For example you can start a CPU profile using and then stop it by . Now you have the CPU profile written to the given . runtime/pprof pprof.StartCPUProfile(io.Writer) pprof.StopCPUProfile() io.Writer But wait, there is an easier option. has developed a package named which can make profiling easy as pie. First you have to get the package using following command (or using Go modules): Dave Cheney profile go get github.com/pkg/profile Then you can use it like this: { profile.Start(profile.ProfilePath( )).Stop() } func main () defer "." // do something Above code will write CPU profile into in working directory. The default has been set to CPU profiling but you can pass options to to be able to get other profiles as well. cpu.pprof profile.Start() profile.Start(profile.CPUProfile).Stop() profile.Start(profile.GoroutineProfile).Stop() profile.Start(profile.BlockProfile).Stop() profile.Start(profile.ThreadcreationProfile).Stop() profile.Start(profile.MemProfileHeap).Stop() profile.Start(profile.MemProfileAllocs).Stop() profile.Start(profile.MutexProfile).Stop() // CPUProfile enables cpu profiling. Note: Default is CPU defer // GoroutineProfile enables goroutine profiling. // It returns all Goroutines alive when defer occurs. defer // BlockProfile enables block (contention) profiling. defer // ThreadcreationProfile enables thread creation profiling. defer // MemProfileHeap changes which type of memory profiling to // profile the heap. defer // MemProfileAllocs changes which type of memory to profile // allocations. defer // MutexProfile enables mutex profiling. defer How to use a profile? So we have collected the profile data, what now? is a tool for visualization and analysis of profiling data. It reads a collection of profiling samples in format and generates reports to visualize and help analyze the data. It can generate both text and graphical reports. pprof profile.proto All of the ways that mentioned above are using under the hood and this package writes runtime profiling data in the format expected by the pprof visualization tool. runtime/pprof Write A Simple Code To Profile For a better understanding, I’ve written the below code to profile. It is a simple HTTP server which handles requests on URL. Every request comes in, the function will declare a and create a child Goroutine at line 16. The child will decode the given JSON log within the and if it was successful it does a time consuming (~400 millisecond) write and then sends to . Meanwhile the function blocks on select statement (line 27) until either when the child sends the result to (line 24) or when a timeout happens (line 30). /log logHandler chan int Request.Body http.StatusOK ch logHandler ch ( _ ) {
	http.HandleFunc( , logHandler)
	http.ListenAndServe( , )
} {
	ch := ( ) {
		obj := ( [ ] ) err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&obj); err != {
			ch <- http.StatusBadRequest } time.Sleep(time.Duration(rand.Intn( )) * time.Millisecond)
		ch <- http.StatusOK
	}() { status := <-ch:
		w.WriteHeader(status) <-time.After( * time.Millisecond):
		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusRequestTimeout)
	}
} import "encoding/json" "math/rand" "net/http" "net/http/pprof" "time" func main () "/log" ":8080" nil func logHandler (w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) make chan int go func () make map string float64 if nil return // simulation of a time consuming process like writing logs into db 400 select case case 200 I’ve compiled and run the code and have sent some loads to it using . Here is the output: hey Summary:
  Total:        0.8292 secs
  Slowest:      0.2248 secs
  Fastest:      0.0039 secs
  Average:      0.1574 secs
  Requests/sec: 241.1882Latency 

distribution:
  10% 0.0409 secs
  25% 0.1143 secs
  50% 0.2007 secs
  75% 0.2013 secs
  90% 0.2093 secs
  95% 0.2187 secs
  99% 0.2245 secsStatus code 

distribution:
  [200] 87 responses
  [408] 113 responses in in in in in in in pprof Basics After writing, running, and sending load to our service, it is time to run the pprof tool on the profile of the service to see which functions were the most consuming ones during the load. Install pprof Tool You can use command or install to use it directly. go tool pprof pprof go get -u github.com/google/pprof Run pprof On Interactive Mode Now let’s run pprof on allocated objects using the following command: pprof -alloc_objects http://:8080/debug/pprof/allocs This will open a simple interactive shell that takes pprof commands to generate reports. Now enter the command , the output will be the top memory consumers. top Dropped Nodes As you can see in the output, 11 nodes has been dropped (line 3). A node is an object entry and dropping a node can help to reduce the noise, but sometimes it may hide the root cause of the issue. Adding the flag or assigning it directly inside the attractive shell will include all data of the profile in the result. -nodefraction=0 Difference Between Flat And Cumulative In the above output, you can see two columns, and . Flat means , while cum (cumulative) means For better understanding, let’s assume the following function, the flat time of function is 4s and the cum is 11s. flat cum only by this function by this function and functions called down the stack. A {
   B() DO STH DIRECTLY C() } func A () // takes 1s // takes 4s // takes 6s Difference Between Allocations And Heap Profile An important note to consider is that the difference between the allocations and heap profile is the way the pprof tool reads them at start time. Allocations profile will start pprof in a mode which displays the total number of allocated objects since the program began which as well, but heap profile will start in a mode that displays number of live allocated objects which . includes garbage collected ones does not include garbage collected bytes That means in the pprof tool you can change the mode regardless of the profile type (heap or allocations). It can be done using the following values. You can either set them as a pprof flag or assign them to inside the pprof interactive shell: sample_index amount of memory allocated and not released yet (heap) inuse_space : amount of objects allocated and not released yet (heap) inuse_objects : total amount of memory allocated (regardless of released) alloc_space : total amount of objects allocated (regardless of released) alloc_objects : Get An SVG Graph From The Profile You can generate a graph of your profile in an SVG format, and open it with a web browser. The following command will request for a 5s CPU profile and will launch a browser with an SVG file. pprof -web http://:8080/debug/pprof/profile?seconds=5 Run pprof Via A Web Interface One of the useful pprof features is the web interface. If the flag is specified, pprof starts a web server at the specified host:por that provides an interactive web-based interface to pprof. -http pprof -http :8080 http://:8080/debug/pprof/goroutine The preceding command should automatically open your web browser at the right page; if not, you can manually visit the specified port in your web browser. Monitoring Goroutines From Command Line As you can see in the Goroutine profile, 115 Goroutines are alive which is not normal for idle service. It should be a Goroutine leak. So let’s check Goroutines status using the tool. grmon is a command line monitoring for Goroutines. Let’s install it and run it on host that is serving the profile data: grmon go get -u github.com/bcicen/grmon
grmon -host :8080 The output is: It seems the function blocks on a action. After reviewing the code I found the bug. It has occurred due to sending into an unguaranteed channel. I’ve fixed that by turn the to a buffered one channel (line 15). It was the very same mistake that I have mentioned . logHandler chan send ch this post How does a profiler work? Although stack traces generated by profilers are often intelligible, it is sometimes necessary to understand how profilers work under the hood to get even more details from the generated profiles. CPU Profiler The Go CPU profiler uses a signal to record code execution statistics. Once the signal got registered, it will deliver every specified time interval. This timer unlike typical timers will increment when the CPU is executing the process. The signal will interrupt code execution and make it possible to see which code was interrupted. SIGPROF When the function is called, the signal handler will be registered to call every 10 milliseconds interval by default (100 Hz). On Unix, it uses a syscall to set the signal timer. pprof.StartCPUProfile SIGPROF setitimer(2) On every invocation signal, the handler will trace back the execution by unwinding it from the current value. This will generate a stack trace and increment its hit count. The whole process will result in a list of stack traces grouped by the number of times each stack trace is seen. PC After the profiler is stopped, the stack traces will be converted to pprof-supported stack frames with source file names, line numbers and function names. Memory Profiler The memory profiler samples allocations. It will show function calls allocations. Recording all allocation and unwinding thestack trace would be expensive, therefore a sampling technique is used. heap The sampling process relies on a pseudo random number generator based on to sample only a fraction of allocations. The generated numbers define the distance between samples in terms of allocated memory size. This means that only allocations that cross the next random sampling point will be sampled. exponential distribution The sampling rate defines the mean of exponential distribution . The default value is 512 KB which is specified by the . That means to tune the size of the fraction to be sampled, you have to change value. Setting the value to 1, will include every allocated block in the profile. Obviously this will slow down your application. runtime.MemProfileRate runtime.MemProfileRate Stack traces with corresponding sampled allocations information is available any time, since the memory allocation profiler is always active. Setting the to 0, will turn off the memory sampling entirely. runtime.MemProfileRate Once the stack traces got ready, those will be converted to pprof-supported stack frames. Also published here .

Go: The Complete Guide to Profiling Your Code

Go: la guía completa para perfilar su código

has been a popular language over the past few years known for it's simplicity and great out-of-the-box support for building web applications and for concurrency heavy processing. Similarly, (JSON Web Tokens) are turning into an increasingly popular way of authenticating users. In this post I shall go over how to create an authentication middleware for Golang that can restrict certain parts of your web app to require authentication. Golang JWT You can also apply this pattern for creation of middlewares to make any middleware that does anything you want to. If you aren't familiar with JWTs, is a great resource to get familiar with them. Basically, a JWT is a token included in the header of an HTTP request can be used to verify the user making the request. While most forms of token authentication requires a database read to verify the token belongs to an active authenticated user, when using JWTs, if the JWT can be decoded successfully, that itself guarantees it is a valid token since it has a signature field that will become invalid if any data in the token is corrupted or manipulated. You can also decide what data to encode in the JWT body, which means on successfully decoding a JWT you can also get useful data, such as a user's username or email. https://jwt.io/ Authorization The scope of this article is limited to creating a middleware in Golang to check the validity of a JWT in an incoming request. Generation of JWTs are a separate process and I will not be describing how to do that here. Setting up the web app I'm using a simple Golang web app that provides a single API endpoint - , that responds with "pong". No libraries have been used in the code below. /ping main ( ) {
	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
	w.Write([] ( ))
} {
	http.Handle( , http.HandlerFunc(pong))
	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe( , ))
} package import "log" "net/http" func pong (w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) byte "pong" func main () "/ping" ":8080" nil Here's a quick breakdown of what this does: The main function registers as the handler function for the endpoint. Then it starts an HTTP server running on port 8080. The function simply responds with a status of 200 (meaning "OK") and the text "pong". requires it's second argument to be a value that implements the interface, so is an adapter function that does just that. More on this later. pong /ping pong Handle Handler HandlerFunc So now if you run this with (Assuming the file name is ) and send a GET request to (Opening this link in your browser is an easy way) you'll get back the text . go run main.go main.go http://localhost:8080/ping pong Now I want to protect the endpoint so only incoming requests that have a valid JWT can get the required response. If the JWT is not present or is corrupted, the app should return HTTP status code 401 - Not authorized. /ping Creating a middleware A middleware for our HTTP server should be a function that takes in a function that implements the interface and returns a new function that implements the interface. http.Handler http.Handler This concept should be familiar for anyone who has used JavaScript closures, Python decorators or functional programming of some kind. But essentially, it is a function that takes a function and adds additional functionality to it. But wait - the handler function we just wrote, , does not implement this interface. So we have to take care of that. If you look in Golang's built in package you'll find that the interface just specifies that the method should be implemented for that value. In fact - we don't even have to implement this ourselves for our handler function. also provides a handy helper function called that takes in any function that accepts and as parameters, and converts it to a function that implements the interface. pong http Handler ServeHTTP http HandlerFunc ResponseWriter *Request Handler At this point it's easy to get confused between these 4 things in the package, so let me just clarify them: http - An interface with a single member - . http.Handler ServeHTTP - A function that is used to convert (and any other handler function) to a function that implements the interface. http.HandlerFunc pong Handler -  A function used to associate an endpoint with a handler function. Automatically converts the handler function into a function that implements the Handler interface. We have not used this here. http.HandleFunc -  Same as , except it does NOT convert the handler function into a function that implements the interface. http.Handle HandleFunc Handler Let's create the structure of a basic middleware: { http.HandlerFunc( { next.ServeHTTP(w, r)
	})
} . func middleware (next http.Handler) http Handler return func (w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) // Do stuff As you can see, we get the request and can do anything we want with it before calling the handler function we created earlier, which is passed to our middleware as . We make use of again to convert the function we return to a function that implements interface. next HandlerFunc Handler Now you can have your middleware do whatever you want with the incoming request. What I want to do is to validate the JWT in the header of the request, so I'll start with the following changes: Authorization authHeader := strings.Split(r.Header.Get( ), ) (authHeader) != {
			fmt.Println( )
			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
			w.Write([] ( ))
		} "Authorization" "Bearer " if len 2 "Malformed token" byte "Malformed Token" This takes the JWT token from the header. If the token is not present, it returns an unauthorized status and never calls our handler function. Authorization The expected format of the header is . Note that you can pass the JWT in the request anyway you want, but this is the widely accepted way of doing it. Bearer <token> If the token is indeed present, we'll need to decode it. For this I'm using the library, which can be installed with go-jwt go get github.com/dgrijalva/jwt-go {
			jwtToken := authHeader[ ]
			token, err := jwt.Parse(jwtToken, { _, ok := token.Method.(*jwt.SigningMethodHMAC); !ok { , fmt.Errorf( , token.Header[ ])
				} [] (SECRETKEY), }) claims, ok := token.Claims.(jwt.MapClaims); ok && token.Valid {
				ctx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), , claims) next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx))
			} {
				fmt.Println(err)
				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
				w.Write([] ( ))
			}
		} else 1 func (token *jwt.Token) ( {}, error) interface if return nil "Unexpected signing method: %v" "alg" return byte nil if "props" // Access context values in handlers like this // props, _ := r.Context().Value("props").(jwt.MapClaims) else byte "Unauthorized" We use to decode our token. The second argument to this function is a function that is used to return the secret key used to decode the token after checking if the signing method of the token is HMAC. This is because JWT can be encoded in many ways including asymmetric encryption with a public-private key pair. Here I'm using a simple secret key to decode the JWT. This must be the same secret key used to encode the JWT by the entity that generated the JWT. The signing method will not be HMAC if the key was encoded in some other way, so we check this first. jwt.Parse Note that you have to replace the variable with your secret key, which should be a string. SECRETKEY Then we obtain the claims from the token. The claims are whatever values that have been encoded in the JWT. If the decoding fails, this means the token has been corrupt or tampered with, and we return an unauthorized status. If the decoding was successful, we create a variable to hold these claims and attach them to the request instance through it's . This is done so that we can access them in our handler function (or other middlewares if we chain multiple middlewares) if needed, as mentioned in the commented out lines. "props" here is a key I used, and can be substituted with any value of your choice as long as you use the same key while trying to get data from the context. A typical use case would be to get the user ID from the claims in the handler function and use that to perform a database operation for some information that corresponds to that user. ctx Context Finally we change our earlier code to wrap the handler function in the middleware. http.Handle( , middleware(http.HandlerFunc(pong))) "/ping" The complete code looks like this: main ( ) { http.HandlerFunc( {
		authHeader := strings.Split(r.Header.Get( ), ) (authHeader) != {
			fmt.Println( )
			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
			w.Write([] ( ))
		} {
			jwtToken := authHeader[ ]
			token, err := jwt.Parse(jwtToken, { _, ok := token.Method.(*jwt.SigningMethodHMAC); !ok { , fmt.Errorf( , token.Header[ ])
				} [] (SECRETKEY), }) claims, ok := token.Claims.(jwt.MapClaims); ok && token.Valid {
				ctx := context.WithValue(r.Context(), , claims) next.ServeHTTP(w, r.WithContext(ctx))
			} {
				fmt.Println(err)
				w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnauthorized)
				w.Write([] ( ))
			}
		}
	})
} {
	w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
	w.Write([] ( ))
} {
	http.Handle( , middleware(http.HandlerFunc(pong)))
	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe( , ))
} package import "context" "fmt" "log" "net/http" "strings" "github.com/dgrijalva/jwt-go" . func middleware (next http.Handler) http Handler return func (w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) "Authorization" "Bearer " if len 2 "Malformed token" byte "Malformed Token" else 1 func (token *jwt.Token) ( {}, error) interface if return nil "Unexpected signing method: %v" "alg" return byte nil if "props" // Access context values in handlers like this // props, _ := r.Context().Value("props").(jwt.MapClaims) else byte "Unauthorized" func pong (w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) byte "pong" func main () "/ping" ":8080" nil You can use the same approach to create multiple middlewares and apply them on endpoints that need them. I hope you found this post helpful. You can find me on and . Twitter LinkedIn

Creating a Middleware in Golang for JWT based Authentication

Creación de un Middleware en Golang para autenticación basada en JWT

As restaurants, shops, airlines and factories shut down around the world, a global coronavirus-fueled recession is no longer a looming threat. It’s here. During the last downturn, I lost a lot of money and I don’t plan on doing that again. So, it is a great opportunity to reexamine it all and turn it into lessons or personal reminders. One of Warren Buffet’s most famous sayings is "Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1." So, realistically, my target scenario during a recession is to stay flat. But, my blue sky scenario is to actually try and make some money as the world collapses all around. So, this is the list of 15 lessons learned the hard way from my own experience and observations: 1. Be OK with no longer making money The first step to making money during the downturn is to be OK with no longer making money during an upturn.  It hurts to miss out on gains, but missing out on gains is the only way to not lose money. Your goal is to time your asset allocation so that you have the least amount of risk exposure when the cycle turns. The problem, obviously, is that nobody knows when the cycle will turn. 2. Don’t panic! This is truly invaluable advice from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. So, make a plan and don’t make any hasty investment decisions. Try not to worry so much, especially if you are not near retirement age. If you have at least a 5-year investment horizon, recessions should be factored into your portfolio. 3. Buy gold Gold is immune to recessions and so far it has been resistant to corona crises as well. Returns are usually inversely proportional to the returns of both stocks and bonds. So often, when other major asset classes fall, gold rises. A good hedge is to buy the largest, most popular gold ETF, SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). But in the digital age you can even buy gold in the form of a cryptocurrency with PAX Gold (PAXG). 4. Buy dollars Sharing similarities with gold, the US Dollar also boasts safe haven attributes. Due to its role as the world’s reserve currency and the backing of the world’s largest economy, the US Dollar is both liquid and sought after during downturns 5. Cash is king One of my best pieces of advice is to have some cash on hand during recession. Buying stocks during economic slowdowns is a time-proven strategy to build wealth. Good companies generally don't become bad stocks because of a recession or coronavirus. They do, however, often go on sale because of the crises. As Baron Rothschild, said: "the time to buy is when there's blood in the streets." 6. Buy long-term Many investors focus too much on short-term stock price fluctuations. They tend to feel good when stock prices increase and become anxious when they fall. Some companies will thrive during a downturn. Consumers still need to eat during a recession, Costco (COST) and Walmart (WMT), for example, are good bets. How long should you hold a stock? Warren Buffett says if you don't feel comfortable owning a stock for 10 years, you shouldn't own it for 10 minutes. 7. Keep an eye on divorces According to Forbes, divorce rates go up when the economy goes down. And when couples split, the assets have to be sometimes liquidated fast, especially to satisfy court rulings. For you savvy investors out there, one man’s heartbreak is another man’s treasure. 8. Consider Commodity-based ETFs The benchmark Bloomberg Commodity Index is currently about 55% down from the peak in 2011. Commodities have intrinsic value and you can assume their prices will not fall to zero. Thus, when they reach technical lows, I see a tremendous buying opportunity. Go long with iPath Bloomberg Commodity Index (DJP). 9. Take some risk and go net short The only way to make a lot of money in a downturn is to take a risk. This means losing money if the downturn never comes. The easiest way to short risk is to buy an ETF that goes up when the underlying index it tracks goes down. One of the most liquid short ETF is Proshares Ultrashort (QID), shorting Nasdaq 100 Index. Russell 2000 small cap index (TWM) is quite popular in a bear market, as well. 10. Go long volatility Volatility is a certain bet during crises. You can easily buy a volatility ETF such as iPath S&P 500 VIX ST Futures ETN (VXX). During the recent “corona crisis” sell-off, the VXX almost tripled from $15 to $40. 11. Go long US Treasuries When the world is collapsing, investors tend to seek the safety of US Treasury bonds. Two of the most common ETFs to buy are iShares 7+ Year Treasuries (IEF) and iShares 20+ Year Treasuries (TLT). Buying TLT will give you more upside. 12. Take advantage of defaults This is when cash comes handy too. As we saw during the last downturn, when the economy tanks, people lose their homes. When the market plummets, properties can be yours for pennies on the dollar. Once the market recovers, which is always the case you have a good cash-flowing property. The last recession was a nightmare for homeowners, but it turned out to be a boon for some real estate investors. 13. Buy stablecoins Stablecoins are a storage place for crypto investors to escape the volatility. Dollar deposits no longer offer any returns. By investing in the new digital dollars you can profit from a large interest on your holdings. Blockfi, for example, offers 8.6% on Gemini Dollar (GUSD), and soon on Paxos Standard (PAX). 14. Invest in yourself Think about what is the most impactful thing that you can do and where to grow. Don't make decisions when you are angry or ecstatic. The best decisions are made with a clear conscious mind, not in the throes of any emotion. Everything has its right moment. And remember, what other people think doesn't matter. Stick outside of the box and be confident. 15. Buy Bitcoin People sometimes describe bitcoin as digital gold. But the difference is that while gold is physical and clunky, bitcoin is borderless and digital. The real genius of the Satoshi whitepaper lies in the fact that it predicts the upcoming collapse. It’s an alternative financial system that you can own a piece of. Bitcoin is essentially a call option on an outcome. I believe that Bitcoin has the potential to save us from the corona recession and the everything bubble. This too shall pass Ray of sunshine for investors is that nothing lasts. Recessions never create a new normal and, eventually, the economy will recover. For those of you who have enough money to be happy, taking an excess risk is unnecessary. Once you’ve made your money, the key is to keep it. Ras Vasilisin is the founder and CEO at Virtuse Exchange , Singapore-based multi-asset platform with a significant presence in the EU, that allows investors in more than 100 countries to trade crypto and traditional assets. (Originally published ) here

Surviving COVID-19: 15 Investment Strategies For Recessions

credits: jaegertracing.io Let’s say your services get thousands of requests per second, you log enormously and you don’t miss any exception in your logging system. Suddenly, the operation team sent you a message pointing to an error for a customer with id on production and you couldn’t understand why all the people around you are over-stressed… and then the penny dropped. The customer is actually a friend of the boss! ( X X true story) Ok… Let’s see what you can do: You searched on your logging system and waited forever as there are TBs of logs. Then you tried it again with a more detailed query such as , and got the resu… oh, another problem! Your teammate said that you need to replace with After you also fixed that and waited about 10 secs, 24 results appeared on the screen! Now you are ready to analyze them. X userId=X not in this and that but in this at time t Error: wrong query syntax. not in this in not this. … 10 minutes later… You figured out that called service and as method in took 3 seconds, service returned 500. ServiceA ServiceB LongRunningProcess ServiceB A After all, you are glad to find the bug in about 20 minutes. Let’s replay the process assuming that you use and . Open Tracing Jaeger You visited Jaeger UI on your browser You wrote to tags and set the date userId=X You clicked search and the result is below: Example request that Jaeger traced In couple of seconds, you can understand that took actually 3 seconds, and as a result, returned LongRunningProcess ServiceA 500. Open tracing is an open standard for distributed tracing, and Jaeger is the tool that implements the standard. Please check the Jaeger architecture from beforehand. it’s official documentation Today, we are gonna create 2 APIs and 1 console client for our demo environment using .net core. I will also use a simple wrapper that I wrote as it brings simplicity in my opinion. Let’s start! Clone the Repo & Prepare your environment If you have and installed on your workspace, you are ready to go. .net core docker Get the docker image for and run it: Jaeger docker run -d --name jaeger \  -e COLLECTOR_ZIPKIN_HTTP_PORT=9411 \  -p 5775:5775/udp \  -p 6831:6831/udp \  -p 6832:6832/udp \  -p 5778:5778 \  -p 16686:16686 \  -p 14268:14268 \  -p 9411:9411 \  jaegertracing/all-in-one:1.6 Clone the repo I prepared for this article: https://github.com/skynyrd/opentracing-with-jaeger We have one .net core solution containing 4 projects: , , and We are going to walk thru all of them. Let’s start with to understand the dynamics of the Jaeger client. ConsoleClient ServiceA ServiceB JaegerWrapper. JaegerWrapper JaegerWrapper: For syntactic sugar — Because why not? In order to use Jaeger client, we first need to understand how traces work in our code. A is a data/execution path through the system, and can be thought of as a directed acyclic graph of . trace spans A represents a logical unit of work in Jaeger that has an operation name, the start time of the operation, and the duration. Spans may be nested and ordered to model causal relationships. span — Official Jaeger docs. In an application, we need to have a Tracer that manages our spans. I strongly recommend having one tracer in a microservice for simplicity. After creating the and registering it, the jaeger client library starts to analyze the controllers in the system by default, even we don’t need to create a single and for that, all created by the library. However, if we want to analyze a specific method, or add some additional tag/log to our spans, we need to create a and bind a to it. Tracer Trace Span OpenTracing.Contrib.NetCore Trace Span Important Note: If you create and activate a span when there is another active span in the system, it becomes a child. You can see it in the diagram above; parent spans are expandable. I wrote a simple builder for this purpose and is a class library that contains it, you can use/copy if you like. JaegerWrapper _traceBuilder.WithSpanName("LongRunningProcess").WithTag(new StringTag("exampleTag"), "exampleValue").TraceIt(() =>{Thread.Sleep(3000);}); To give an example, this code block is for span represented by a yellow horizontal bar in the diagram above. We added to it and we can even add more complex structures using method. Time consumed by is published as a span duration in the GUI. In the example, I used a simple , but you can also return something ( instead of ) e.g.: LongRunningProcess exampleTag: exampleValue WithLog TraceIt Thread.Sleep(3000) Func Action var result = _traceBuilder....TraceIt(() =>{return "something"} Passing across the APIs If you are going to HTTP call a service and you want to preserve your span lifetimes, you need to notify the other service somehow. For the most cases you would like to use the package to automate the configurations, but if you are curious, here is the logic behind that: OpenTracing.Contrib.NetCore Jaeger solves it with HTTP headers that are going to append to the request. You can also use for more abstraction: JaegerWrapper Configuration for WebAPIs For and we need to register the services for Jaeger: ServiceA ServiceB // In ConfigureServices method of Startup class: GlobalTracer.Register(Tracer);services.AddOpenTracing(); If you also want to use the wrapper, you can simply add these: serviceProvider = services.BuildServiceProvider(); var services.AddScoped<ITraceBuilder>(t => TraceBuilder(serviceProvider.GetService<ITracer>())); new Example Calls Have a look at of , we call there but didn’t use any JaegerClient or JaegerWrapper method. This is because we added library and it traces our requests in the black box, magically. AWorldController ServiceA ServiceB OpenTracing.Contrib.NetCore Task< > GetBObject( id) httpClient = HttpClient{BaseAddress = Uri("http://localhost:7334")}; private static async dynamic string {var new new **var** result = **await** httpClient.GetAsync($"/bworld/id/{id}");  

**if** (result.IsSuccessStatusCode)  
{  
    **return await** result.Content.ReadAsAsync<**dynamic**\>();  
}  
  
**throw new** Exception("uncovered area."); } And check the Main method of the ConsoleClient. This time, as this is not a WebAPI, we manually traced our call using JaegerWrapper. traceBuilder.WithSpanName("MainWork").WithHttpCall(client, url, HttpMethod.Get).TraceIt(() =>{ response = client.GetAsync(url).Result; var **if** (!response.IsSuccessStatusCode)  
        **throw new** Exception("uncovered area for the demo.");  

    **var** responseBody = response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync().Result;  
    Console.WriteLine(responseBody);  
}); I used instead of on production couple of years ago, thus I don’t want to write anything about the performance. But I can say that Zipkin was quite performant. If you have production experience with Jaeger, please comment below, I’m curious about it! Zipkin Jaeger Thanks for reading.

Trace Your Requests Like A Boss with OpenTracing & Jaeger

We Begin With Hyperlinks Introduction Net neutrality, at its most basic, is the idea that there should be no prioritizing of information or data on the internet. Netflix shouldn’t load quicker than Hulu because they’ve paid an internet service provider to stream faster. Sure, there’s a bit more to it than that. on net neutrality along with a better idea of the reach telecom companies have across various industries, should you want a deeper dive. Without net neutrality, public, decentralized used to store any kind of value could be utterly destroyed, or at least rendered sufficiently useless. We could see a sharp rise in proprietary blockchains that don’t play nice with other blockchains or function with the notion of decentralization. And get ready to see crypto gone wild, should we lose net neutrality protections, as everyone makes their own, brand-specific token. Here’s more blockchain I’m not sure what I hoped to find when I started reading and researching for this post. I initially came to the idea hoping to be able to say (definitively) that, should net neutrality go down, blockchain would save the day and help us subvert the ISPs. Sure, the of the FCC’s regulation on net neutrality was a blow, but we could get past that, right? We could figure out a way to slap some blockchain on the open-internet projects (more on that later) and we’d all come out on top. After some digging, I’m not quite sure that’s possible. Maybe it never will be given the strength and dedication of the opposition. What I’ve learned is that, for the success of public, decentralized blockchains that store value, net neutrality must succeed. Blockchain isn’t the antidote here, blockchain is the patient. June 11 repeal The ISP Problem We’ve hit the point where ISPs are dictating the rules of the internet within the United States. They’re buying favor in Congress and they have an FCC chairman where shouting “ties to Verizon” is only the tip of the iceberg. In case everything you’ve already heard about Ajit Pai ignoring the public hasn’t convinced you, the FCC will now . You’ll have to pony up the cash if you’d like your complaint against your telecom company heard. no longer review informal customer complaints ISPs are lying about the costs of providing you internet. Period. We’ll talk more about the selective throttling that’s already happening (and how nearly everyone is susceptible to this practice) later on in the post. For the moment, consider that the US is already one of the in the world to access the internet. You can get that data broken down in a of infuriating . But knowing we pay more than most for internet stings that much more when you know that ISPs are . So they’re spending less, making more, and now are ready (and allowed) to charge you based on the services and platforms you would like to access. They’re even looking to Congress for the benefit of being , without being required to provide any of the community benefits that come along with that designation (like actually providing internet to all, for example). most expensive places variety infographics making more in revenue while also paying less in infrastructure considered a utility They can get slightly more nefarious down the road, should they decide it’s in their interests. Blacklist and whitelist attacks are both possibilities, should ISPs further dictate our direction in terms of access to the internet. Here’s a quick explanation of these two types of censorship. A blacklist is a list of specific servers, sites, or protocols (google.com, SSH, etc…) which are deliberately slowed or censored. A whitelist is a list of specific servers, sites, or protocols which are slowed or censored, while all others are affected. This is far more difficult to circumvent than a blacklist, since circumvention typically requires cooperation or exploitation of one or more of the whitelisted entities. not Whitelist attacks are especially tough and potentially problematic for blockchains. A blacklist someone could potentially work around with a blacklist VPN. A whitelist scenario would require mimicking an entity that was on the whitelist. In the worst-case scenario, Major Streaming Service A could strike up a deal with an ISP to have whitelist privileges. With those privileges from the ISP, Major Streaming Service A gains a pipeline to consumers for faster service than other sites like Facebook or the New York Times. Now, in this worst-case scenario, Major Streaming Service A would go one step further and get the ISP to blacklist Major Streaming Service B, their direct competitor. This would mean Major Streaming Service A had a priority line, other sites had the next-best line (maybe), but Major Streaming Service B, specifically, would be actively throttled, due to their placement on the blacklist. But ISPs aren’t content to merely attack consumers from one side. This is America, after all. And they’ve got plenty of help from the men and women they’re courting for that second attack. Our Government Isn’t Helping Either Your internet service providers are pumping millions of dollars into Congress to dismantle net neutrality, among their other goals. They are not just looking to make deals with platform providers to prioritize content, they’re looking for new ways to push more cost onto the consumer for piecemeal content, service, and (likely) hardware choices. That’s where Congress can help the ISPs. These telecom companies want more money on both ends and, for now, it looks like they’re going to get it. But in terms of our government, they’re not only winning with Congress, they’re winning with the FCC and Ajit Pai too. They’re winning with everyone. Out of the top four recipients from ISPs, two are Dems, and two are Republicans. No, seriously. We’ve seen that many in our government, across party lines, have voted not just in the interest of the ISPs, but they have actively voted against the American people. As more about these fake DDoS attacks comes out (and, you know, ), I’m starting to think Ajit is potentially pure, smiling evil. Make no mistake, no part of Congress appears to be helping, but our current FCC is, truly, the enemy of the people (if we’re allowed to just throw that term around these days). This is hard to argue, when Pai’s FCC to Americans every they get. Not only that, they’re openly ignoring the . Their own inspector general has now even they’ve been lying to us. Millions of legitimate comments were ignored in the wake of an FCC request for comments in favor of fake, bot-generated comments supporting the net neutrality repeal. Not only that, the DDoS attack (along with one from 2014) was likely fabricated to distract from the overwhelming support (thanks mostly to John Oliver and Last Week Tonight) for keeping net neutrality. At least after the inspector general report, it appeared Congress . That didn’t end up happening. this lies chance will of the people confirmed would try to hold Pai accountable Pai appeared in front of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Thursday, August 16. During opening statements, it was comforting to see that one of the four commissioners, Jessica Rosenworcel, even reference the fake DDoS claims. As the hearing continued, we see low-ball questions, at best, all the way up to Senator Wicker mocking those who opposed the repeal of net neutrality on the grounds that “the internet is still here, right?” FCC commissioner Rosenworcel tried her hardest to express that not every member of the committee has been compromised (yes, compromised) but it was all in vain. Pai avoided and laughed his way through the meeting, ensuring this farce he orchestrated continues on without a hitch. Despite hearings and scattered congressional concern, neither Congress nor the current FCC want net neutrality to succeed because it is too profitable to let it fail and let ISP providers make the rules and cut Congress in later. The Opposition Party That’s not to say there aren’t those looking to circumvent ISP’s hostile takeover. Projects have been attempted in , Colorado, and to provide internet either in places telecom companies have ignored, or as an alternative to what they offer. In Colorado, that with the ISPs. Those working toward a through the Equitable Internet Initiative (quoted from the Vice article) see a “future in which ISPs are owned by local governments, small businesses, nonprofit community groups, and the people they serve are the path forward and the only realistic way of ending big telecom’s stranglehold on America.” It’s a shame the FCC and various levels of government further east in North Carolina either. Detroit Los Angeles didn’t go so well better internet in Detroit don’t see that as a positive Imagine a community-owned, community-run internet. A Community ISP. sweeping change to the way we consume internet with just that sort of idea. Many of these changes involve decentralization and the blockchain. But without net neutrality, even a decentralized, “local” internet provider will run into issues being anything more than a messaging service (albeit a high-tech one). Unfortunately, bringing blockchain to the party isn’t necessarily the end-all solution to our pending net neutrality repeal woes. In fact, ISP’s tampering with smart contracts and torrent sites, and that’s with FCC protections in place. Blockchain will have a hard time propping up our internet after a full dismantling of net neutrality if ISP’s can throttle blockchain networks like they’ll be able to throttle your streaming services. Some have envisioned we’ve already seen technology But it isn’t just neighborhoods where there’s concern over losing net neutrality protections. From a , a statement from the American Library Association said, “Net neutrality is essential for library and educational institutions to carry out our missions … The internet has become the primary platform for learning, collaboration, and interaction among students (and educators).” Author of the Forbes piece, Andrew B. Raupp put it another way. Raupp wrote, “without net neutrality, schools could easily have their hands forced toward a smaller range of pedagogical products with more financial backing, as opposed to keeping their classrooms open to a range of tools that offer meaningful educational benefits.” Some teachers already face constraints with teaching due to funding or geography, imagine the condition of education (most-likely public education but private may not be totally safe either) if all of students’ digital learning came courtesy of the school’s internet service provider. Forbes article Another quote from Raupp can be applied not just to educators, as it may suggest, but to everyone making decisions about how we access the Internet in the United States. “As educators, our goal is to expose young people to means and methods of problem-solving through experimentation and innovation. Today, we must take up that task with an even greater sense of urgency, because the problems that lie ahead of us — those issues of access, information security and the role we want to allow corporations to play in our daily lives — those problems can only be solved with the kind of innovative thought that STEM fosters in classrooms all across our country and our internet.” STEM programs are intended to train students to be discerning and informed individuals, and these programs would be considerably handicapped without net neutrality. We need to keep access open for all, and by doing so, provide young minds with the skills to make informed decisions. That can only be achieved with net neutrality. In Part Two, we’ll look at blockchain’s precarious place in the fight for an open and accessible internet. On the one hand, without an open internet, we might be looking at the death of blockchain, at least in the United States. This is especially true if ISPs and their partners decide to take the blacklist/whitelist approach. On the other hand, it may be possible for blockchain to help, should net neutrality actually come to end. Mesh networks, in particular, could benefit from the blockchain, given the chance to succeed. Consumers need a better way to access internet, especially consumers who already have trouble with access. In Part Two, I’ll go into more detail of how blockchain, while potentially a major force in protecting open internet, is not the silver bullet I was hoping it would be when I started writing this post. This article was written by Michael Putnam, Writer at MIMIR Blockchain Solutions. Contact/Connect with us at: || || || Twitter Facebook Telegram Website DISCLAIMER: The content provided on this site is opinion and commentary on topics related to the blockchain universe. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO BE NOR SHOULD IT BE RELIED ON BY YOU FOR ANY REASON AND IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. You are responsible for your own decisions and for properly analyzing and verifying any content.

No, Blockchain Isn’t Net Neutrality’s Silver Bullet: Part One

.NET is a software development framework and ecosystem designed and supported by Microsoft to allow for easy desktop and web application engineering. It’s a popular free platform currently used for a lot of different types of applications as it provides the programming environment for most software development phases. .NET best suits the businesses that look for a wide range of features like web-based services, desktop software, and cloud infrastructure support. Microsoft started working on .NET framework in the late 90’s. Since then this tool has undergone a great transformation and now is accompanied by a rich ecosystem represented on the picture below. .NET ecosystem before 2016 .NET development platform The .NET comes in three flavors: .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin. These implementations combined are called .NET development platform. Each of them contains frameworks and libraries to build various applications. .NET framework The .NET Framework is the first and the oldest implementation of the platform. It includes three main application models — WPF, Windows Forms, ASP.NET Forms — and Base Class Library. is a UI framework used for creating graphical interfaces primarily for desktop client applications on Windows OS. WPF uses the capabilities of Extensible Application Markup Language ( ). Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) XAML is a GUI class library within .NET Framework. Windows Forms are used to develop desktop applications with rich graphics that are easy to update and deploy. Windows Forms While the previous two components are designed for desktop engineering ASP.NET is used to develop dynamic websites and web applications. There is the in its core that gives the opportunity for developers to write ASP.NET code using different . Common Language Runtime is an application virtual machine that manages memory, implements code access security, verifies code safety, and provides execution of threads and code. ASP.NET. Common Language Runtime (CLR) .NET languages provides the most common functionality like classes in namespaces and is the core of the , a set of reusable interfaces, classes, and value types that are closely integrated with the The combination of FCL and CLR constitute the .NET Framework. Base Class Library (BCL) Framework Class Library (FCL) Common Language Runtime (CLR) . As .NET Framework supports only Windows-based devices and the need for a cross-platform package occurred. .NET Core .NET Core was released in 2016. It’s a cross-platform re-build of .NET Framework. Unlike the old version, engineers can now use the product on Linux and OS X and create applications that aren’t necessarily tied to the Windows family. The new system aims at conquering the cloud space as some providers like Digital Ocean are Linux-driven. Not only .NET Core is cross-platform, its different versions can be installed side-by-side on the same device. .NET Core includes ASP.NET Core and Universal Windows Platform (UWP). is an API created by Microsoft and used to develop the universal apps that run across all compatible Microsoft Windows devices, i.e. Windows, Windows Phone, and . Universal Windows Platform (UWP) HoloLens is a re-build of ASP.NET that happened to be a more modular framework than its predecessor. ASP.NET Core allows you to build mobile backend, web apps and services. It’s also cross-platform and runs on OS X, Windows, and Linux. ASP.NET Core Xamarin The third implementation is called Xamarin and is used for mobile applications and Mac products. Originally, Xamarin was designed independently from Microsoft and was a proprietary product until Microsoft acquired it in 2016 making a fully open source branch of the .NET platform. Xamarin uses the Mono runtime and a version of the .NET Framework adjusted to work with APIs for iOS, Android, and Xamarin.Mac. To get an elaborate overview of this product, check our article. Xamarin pros and cons All runtimes use a common infrastructure that makes the entire ecosystem work. It provides runtime components, languages, and compilers. .NET Standard In 2016 Microsoft also introduced , a library that combines APIs from .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin allowing engineers to use a single base class library rather than mastering three different ones related to each .NET implementation. This step unified the ecosystem and brought a higher consistency into reusing components across different platforms. .NET Standard .NET ecosystem after 2016 .NET development platform is best served with Visual Studio IDE used for building, debugging, and publishing applications across all platforms and devices. Currently, the most popular implementations of .NET are .NET Core and Xamarin. So, let’s look deeper at the advantages and drawbacks of using .NET development platform. Most of the points can be applied to the entire ecosystem, while some of them relate only to its specific components, which we’ll specify in the respective sections. Pros of .NET development Object-oriented software development model .NET is based on the . OOP is a development model with the idea of breaking down software into smaller pieces that are easier to manage and combine. OOP compartmentalizes data into objects, i.e. data fields, and describes objects behavior and contents through the declaration of classes. object-oriented programming (OOP) A modular structure helps define behavior of objects and their interactions without managing object inner attributes. OOP simplifies programming by making the code manageable, easier to test, and respond to recurring issues. It also eliminates unnecessary programming and generally means less coding for developers. .NET makes it possible to reuse code and components, save time and — subsequently — the cost of development. Reliable and simple caching system Caching means keeping data in a temporary storage place to call it faster when needed. The stored data is the result of an earlier information request or the duplicate of information stored in other places that would take longer to retrieve from. The caching system in .NET is robust and simple to use. It’s also designed to be extensible. The Object Cache class allows developers to create a custom cache implementation to be used for improving performance and scalability of Windows client and server applications. Visual Studio IDE An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a single product for programmers which makes application development easier by providing all tools to write and test software. Visual Studio is a Microsoft IDE used for building, debugging, and publishing applications across all platforms, including Android and iOS. The Visual Studio is integrated with .NET and provides the features of language-specific environment. The key features of the Visual Studio IDE: It’s used as a single IDE for all .NET applications The IDE has integrated compilation and debugging features The solution can be used for applications based on code written in different languages The Visual Studio allows for customizing the environment to match user preferences On top of that, offers a wide range of editor extensions from Microsoft and other providers to enable team collaboration, , third-party connections, cloud development management, etc. Visual Studio Marketplace continuous integration _Over the last 10 years, continuous delivery has become one of the most discussed development practices. Making software…_www.altexsoft.com Continuous Delivery and Integration: Rapid Updates by Automating Quality Assurance Cross-platform design and language independence of .NET Core .NET Core is a cross-platform .NET implementation that allows the code to run on OS X, Windows, and Linux. Unlike the original .NET framework — which is only partly open — .NET Core has a fully open source code which ensures that a wide engineering community can continuously contribute to its development. If you’re writing in C#, F#, or Visual Basic, your code will run on each of the compatible operating systems. This enables companies to reach the widest variety of platforms staying within the .NET ecosystem. At the same time, cross-platform design and language independence ensure that the whole .NET community with a large pool of different engineering skillsets shares experience. Currently, .NET supports more than 25 languages including C#, Visual Basic.NET, J#, Managed C++, IronPython, and IronRuby. .NET language independence Flexible deployment and easy maintenance One of the important .NET Core features is flexible deployment. It can be installed as a part of your application or require a separate installation. The modular design allows for including all the dependencies you need. The deployment itself is as easy as copying a folder. Another benefit is that you can have multiple .NET Core versions running side-by-side on the same machine to cover different projects and seamlessly perform deployment tasks. Universal .NET Standard Since 2016, the .NET ecosystem was enhanced with a large class library called .NET Standard. It’s based on the number of base class libraries for .NET Framework, .NET Core, and Xamarin. These are used to work with common functions such as graphics rendering, database interaction, and manipulations with XML documents. The .NET Standard library greatly simplified developer’s work. Prior to .NET Standard, a programmer had to redevelop an application or a library for the new platform and then distribute all the updates across various platforms. Currently, the library supports all dependent libraries across applications. However, you should check version compatibility to successfully leverage .NET Standard. You may check your product compatibility with .NET Standard here and track updates on the Microsoft documentation site Large community .NET has a large community of developers. Interestingly, it unites engineers from small, midsize, and enterprise-grade companies. This means that almost any issues can be solved with the help of community members. Since .NET Core is open source, its libraries, runtime, and compiler are available on GitHub and have many contributions. According to , two .NET products are in the shortlist of the most popular technologies: .NET Core is on the fourth place and Xamarin took the ninth. Stack Overflow 2018 survey Most popular frameworks Stack Overflow Survey 2018 On top of that, there is an independent organization called that fosters open development and teamwork around the .NET ecosystem. .NET community and commercial developers use it as the main forum for idea exchange. .NET Foundation Automatic monitoring in ASP.NET ASP.NET has built-in automatic monitoring. The Windows Web Server strictly monitors web pages and applications that run on it. In case any issues such as the memory leaks or infinite loops occur, it immediately alerts about them. This allows for directly correcting these behaviors and creating new processes. The monitoring ensures higher stability and transparency of .NET applications. Disadvantages of .NET development Even though .NET is considered one of the strongest engineering platforms out there due to an extensive infrastructure and proven product development history, it comes with a set of problems. Limited Object-Relational Support As we mentioned above, .NET uses the object-oriented programming (OOP) language model. This model is based around the objects rather than “actions” and data rather than logic. The support of data-oriented software application development in .NET Framework is provided by the . Entity Framework Entity is an object-relational mapper ( ) that bridges between the object-oriented .NET Framework and relational (SQL) databases. Some engineers consider that Entity Framework isn’t flexible enough and may not support all available database designs. This also means that there’s a chance that at some point Entity Framework may not be supporting new database designs. Another problem is that the framework may eventually become abandoned by Microsoft, which will force you to accommodate some new technology that the vendor suggests instead. ORM On the bright side, we haven’t encountered the problems with Entity yet, so it remains a debatable point. Vendor lock-in The second drawback is partly connected with the previous one. .NET is run and based on Microsoft. While .NET Core and Xamarin are open source, the whole ecosystem is far from being the community-driven. This means that your products still depend on the supplier and decisions made by Microsoft. Licensing cost Building .NET apps isn’t cheap regardless of open source technologies. Mostly, your expenses will be spent on Visual Studio IDE and other additional collaboration and quality assurance services that Microsoft offers to simplify you work. As of today, the base version of Visual Studio will cost you for one engineer. An enterprise release that includes various cloud, enterprise mobility, QA features and more will be about $3000 per year. However, you still can try to become to have a number of subscriptions for fee. $539/year Microsoft Partner Even though you can use .NET Core on Mac and Linux machines, the best way is to use Windows for .NET engineering which also comes with licensing costs. The barrier will be even higher if you’ve never used Microsoft products before and you have to migrate from say AWS cloud ecosystem to Azure. The gap between release and stability Perhaps, this problem cripples all Microsoft products rather than .NET stack only. But it’s definitely worth mentioning. The newly released products lack proper documentation, support, stability, and are prone to drastic changes. In one of , our architects decided to use a fresh DocumentDB (now ) but then were forced to design custom data architecture as the product suffered a number of technical issues that could jeopardize the entire project. AltexSoft projects Azure Cosmos DB One of users has vividly described this issue: “ Y Combinator My problem with these kinds of Microsoft technology evangelism articles/videos is that it always seems like Microsoft has juuuust gotten their new hotness to work, and is telling the world that it’s awesome, and ready for production. Then you go to implement it, and as soon as you leave the perfect world of their demo, it all falls apart, and THEN you find out the docs were written for the beta version, and no longer apply, so you’re left guessing at the right invocation signature for the method you need.” Minor disadvantages include performance issues that occur due to garbage collection in closed systems. And, generally, managed environments are slower that those that communicate directly with hardware. When to use the .NET . Usually, the business needs are growing and your software has to scale with it. .NET provides scalable environment and allows for redesigning ongoing applications in order to match with the growing needs of the business. Scalable products In case you need the app that will work across platforms .NET will be the great choice as most platforms are covered and you can reduce development effort while expanding your desktop or mobile app to other operating systems. On top of that, .NET can be used for such specific engineering cases as gaming (including Xbox) and AR development (including HoloLens). Cross-platform needs. It’s still a debatable point whether .NET is designed mostly for enterprise use. But Microsoft makes sure to provide the widest toolset possible to build and cross-integrate enterprise products, both internal and public ones. It also supports a robust . Enterprise-scale infrastructures. enterprise mobility ecosystem This article is a part of our “The Good and the Bad” series. If you are interested in web development, take a look at our blog posts on: The Good and the Bad of Xamarin Development The Good and The Bad of Angular Development The Good and the Bad of JavaScript Full Stack Development The Good and the Bad of Node.js Web App Development The Good and the Bad of ReactJS and React Native The Good and the Bad of Swift Programming Language Originally published at AltexSoft’s blog “ The Good and the Bad of .NET Framework Programming ”

The Good and the Bad of .NET Framework Programming

History, Waves and Winters in AI

I’m going to step you through the process converting an existing Go to and deploying it to to AWS Lambda & API Gateway with . The whole process should take under 10 minutes. Let’s get started! API serverless AWS Severless Application Model (SAM) 1. Setup Our example API uses the so let’s install that first. [HttpRouter](https://github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter) package $ go get github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter We have a single HTTP handler defined that will return a 200 HTTP response with the body . ok # handlers.gopackage main import "net/http" func HealthHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)w.Write([]byte("ok"))} Our entrypoint to the application, the function, attaches the to the route and listens for HTTP requests on port . main HealthHandler /healthz 8080 # main.gopackage main import ("fmt""log""net/http""github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter") const (serverPort = 8000) func main() {router := httprouter.New()router.Handler("GET", "/healthz", http.HandlerFunc(goserverlessapi.HealthHandler)) fmt.Printf("Server listening on port: %d\\n", serverPort)  
log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(fmt.Sprintf(":%d", serverPort), router), nil) } Let’s build and run this locally to check everything’s working okay. $ go build -o go-serverless-api && ./go-serverless-apiServer listening on port: 8080 2. Convert Application Code to Serverless In order to deploy to a serverless backend we need to be able to handle requests from AWS Lambda. Lambda functions have a different signature to . Imagine if we had not one but hundreds in our application. We would have to manually update all the functions and re-write tests and in doing so we would forfeit our ability to deploy to non-serverless backends. regular HTTP handlers There is a solution which avoids all the problems just listed. We will create a modified entrypoint just for AWS Lambda. Using the we will swap out ’s for which will convert the payload that AWS Lambda provides into the type that HTTP handlers accept. [gateway](https://github.com/apex/gateway) package net/http ListenAndServe gateway.ListenAndServe [*http.Request](https://godoc.org/net/http#Request) In order to implement this second entrypoint we need to reorganise our project. We will create a directory for the AWS Lambda one and move our original entrypoint to a new folder too. # original entrypoint moved to new location$ mkdir -p cmd/go-serverless-api # new entrypoint for lambda$ mkdir -p cmd/go-serverless-api-lambda We will copy the file into each of these new directories and then remove it from the root of our project. main.go $ cp main.go cmd/go-serverless-api$ cp main.go cmd/go-serverless-api-lambda$ rm main.go The package in the root of our project is no longer going to be the package (the one Go uses to run your application). We will rename it to so that we can import it as a library into our new entrypoints which will both become packages. main goserverlessapi main $ grep -l 'package main' *.go | xargs sed -i 's/package main/package goserverlessapi/g' After a simple find and replace on the Go files in the root of your project your should look like this. handlers.go # handlers.gopackage goserverlessapi import "net/http" func HealthHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)w.Write([]byte("ok"))} Now we need to update our original entrypoint to import the package and access the function as an export from that. Note that you will need to modify the import path of the package to match that of your project root’s location in your . The correct path for the used in this tutorial is . goserverlessapi HealthHandler goserverlessapi $GOPATH example application on github github.com/techjacker/go-serverless-api # cmd/go-serverless-api/main.gopackage main import ("fmt""log""net/http" "github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter""github.com/techjacker/go-serverless-api") const (serverPort = 8080) func main() {router := httprouter.New()router.Handler("GET", "/healthz", http.HandlerFunc(goserverlessapi.HealthHandler)) fmt.Printf("Server listening on port: %d\\n", serverPort)  
log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(fmt.Sprintf(":%d", serverPort), router), nil) } Next update the AWS Lambda entrypoint. We are going to use the package which is a drop-in replacement for Go net/http when running on AWS Lambda & API Gateway so let’s install it first. [gateway](https://github.com/apex/gateway) $ go get github.com/apex/gateway Then update the AWS Lambda entrypoint file to the following. # cmd/go-serverless-api-lambda/main.gopackage main import ("log""net/http" "github.com/apex/gateway"  
"github.com/julienschmidt/httprouter"  
"github.com/techjacker/go-serverless-api" ) func main() {router := httprouter.New()router.Handler("GET", "/healthz", http.HandlerFunc(goserverlessapi.HealthHandler))log.Fatal(gateway.ListenAndServe("", router), nil)} We have added to our imports and swapped it out for . The port value is redundant in the Lambda context and the package discards it so we can safely remove the port constant and replace it with an empty string. In addition we have included our from the package (the package in the root our of project which used to be our main package) as our handler for the path. gateway http.ListenAndServe gateway HealthHandler go-serverless-api /healthz 3. Build and Run Locally Let’s build and run our original HTTP API again. $ go build \-o go-serverless-api \./cmd/go-serverless-api $ ./go-serverless-apiServer listening on port: 8080 Open another terminal window and query it. $ curl -s http://localhost:8080/healthz ok Everything still works! Let’s do the same with the AWS Lambda version. $ go build \-o go-serverless-api-lambda \./cmd/go-serverless-api-lambda $ ./go-serverless-api-lambda Again, open a new terminal and query it. $ curl -s http://localhost:8080/healthzhttp: error: ConnectionError: HTTPConnectionPool(host='localhost', port=8080): Max retries exceeded with url: /healthz (Caused by NewConnectionError(': Failed to establish a new connection: [Errno 111] Connection refused',)) while doing GET request to URL: http://localhost:8080/healthz Don’t worry this error is expected as the AWS Lambda version is not listening for HTTP connections but instead expects to be fed an type. [APIGatewayProxyRequest](https://godoc.org/github.com/aws/aws-lambda-go/events#APIGatewayProxyRequest) 4. Package Application For AWS Lambda Build the binary for linux, the operating system that AWS Lambda uses. $ GOOS=linux go build \-o go-serverless-api-lambda \./cmd/go-serverless-api-lambda AWS Lambda requires that function code be bundled into a zip so let’s go ahead and compress the binary. $ zip go-serverless-api-lambda.zip go-serverless-api-lambda We will be using the created in the final step - deployment. go-serverless-api-lambda.zip 5. Deploy I’ve seen some tutorials that use the to deploy to AWS Lambda using ad hoc commands. This is absolutely the wrong approach to take! You should be automating your infrastructure just like every other aspect of your application. The industry standard for deployment is either or . Both give you a declarative way to build your infrastructure. You save this configuration in YAML/JSON (Cloudformation) or HCL (Terraform) files which you commit to your repository. The problem with doing things this way is that you have to deal with all of the low level details of the stack. It would be nice if we had a way of describing our infrastructure at a high level in under 20 lines of code instead of hundreds. Enter . AWS CLI tools Terraform AWS Cloudformation AWS Severless Application Model (SAM) AWS Severless Application Model (SAM) SAM is a new standard spearheaded by Amazon aimed at making deploying serverless infrastructure simpler and more concise. SAM is an open source specification — . Hopefully other cloud vendors will adopt this in the future and it will become possible to deploy seamlessly to multiple clouds with a single configuration. see the full reference guide Deploy with AWS SAM Add the following YAML file to the root of your project. This is a SAM template that configures an AWS Lambda Function that runs your Go app and deploys it behind an HTTP interface provided by AWS API Gateway. # template.yamlAWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'Transform: 'AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31'Description: 'Boilerplate Go API.'Resources:GoAPI:Type: AWS::Serverless::FunctionProperties:Handler: go-serverless-api-lambdaRuntime: go1.xCodeUri: ./go-serverless-api-lambda.zipEvents:Request:Type: ApiProperties:Method: ANYPath: /{proxy+} The line creates a Lambda function that is handled ( ) by the binary file we built earlier. This Lambda function can respond to any number of events triggered by other AWS services such as those triggered by AWS S3 and Kinesis. The documentation contains the . In our case we want it to respond to HTTP requests via API Gateway therefore we set the event to . SAM implicitly creates an API Gateway for us as part of this which we then configure to respond to any type of HTTP request by setting the method to ). We tell our API to handle all paths below and including the root by adding . Type: AWS::Serverless::Function Handler: go-serverless-api-lambda full list of event of sources Type: Api ANY Path: /{proxy+} We still need to upload the zip containing our Go binary to AWS S3. Ensure you have an S3 bucket created ready to receive our zip. This is a one-time operation you’ll want to do manually. $ aws s3 mb s3://my-bucket The following command will upload the zip and create a packaged SAM template. $ aws cloudformation package \--template-file template.yaml \--s3-bucket my-bucket \--output-template-file packaged-template.yaml You should now have a file pointing to the uploaded zip. packaged-template.yaml # packaged-template.yamlAWSTemplateFormatVersion: '2010-09-09'Transform: 'AWS::Serverless-2016-10-31'Description: 'Boilerplate Go API.'Resources:GoAPI:Type: AWS::Serverless::FunctionProperties:Handler: go-serverless-api-lambdaRuntime: go1.xCodeUri: s3://my-bucket/8982639e71e0d433cd99f9fa4207ecbeEvents:Request:Type: ApiProperties:Method: ANYPath: /{proxy+} Now let’s deploy using this new packaged template. $ aws cloudformation deploy \--template-file packaged-template.yaml \--stack-name go-serverless-api-stack \--capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM The flag is required for cloudformation to create the stack for you as it will involve modifying IAM permissions - AWS mandate you set this explicitly as a safety measure. Under the hood the SAM template is compiled into a regular cloudformation template which is hundreds of lines longer. All of is completely hidden from the user (although you are free to inspect the compiled cloudformation template if you wish). --capabilities CAPABILITY_IAM Setup 6. Test Deployed Serverless API In order to discover the endpoint of our deployed API we need find out the API Gateway REST . id $ aws apigateway get-rest-apis{"items": [{"id": "0qu18x8pyd","name": "go-serverless-api-stack","createdDate": 1523987269,"version": "1.0","apiKeySource": "HEADER","endpointConfiguration": {"types": ["EDGE"]}}]} AWS API Gateway addresses take the following format. https://<api-rest-id>.execute-api.<your-aws-region>.amazonaws.com/<api-stage> A is Amazon’s term for a deployment. SAM creates two different stages for you: and . Note the title case which is also used in the URLs! I think AWS forgot that everyone calls their test environment not but nevermind! stage Stage Prod Staging Stage So SAM has set up endpoints for us at the following locations. https://0qu18x8pyd.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Stage https://0qu18x8pyd.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Prod Let’s invoke our API. $ curl -s https://0qu18x8pyd.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Prod {"message":"Missing Authentication Token"} No need to panic! This is the when you make a request to the root resource without defining a handler for it. The only handler we have defined is , so let’s try that. standard API Gateway error /healthz $ curl -s https://0qu18x8pyd.execute-api.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/Prod/healthz ok Voila! Our API is now being powered by a serverless backend. Full code for this tutorial available on . github I’ll be posting more articles on Go and Serverless soon. Follow me on to get notified when I do. twitter Originally published at andrewgriffithsonline.com .

How to Migrate a Go API to Serverless (in under 10 mins)

The complete guide to upcoming ICOs (Q1 2018)

I developed a very basic benchmark suite to compare different HTTP server’s performance. It is inspired by , but uses instead of . arcadius/java-rest-api-web-container-benchmark h2load ab I implemented four very basic REST APIs with exactly one route each, which exposes a small, static todo list as JSON. Server Implementations with embedded Java: Jersey Grizzly Using plain package Go: net/http Using plain package NodeJS: http Using de-facto standard framework NodeJS: Express 4 Setup My machine, where the benchmark suite was executed on, has the following specifications. === CPU:model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHzcpu cores : 2model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHzcpu cores : 2model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHzcpu cores : 2model name : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3317U CPU @ 1.70GHzcpu cores : 2

=== RAM:                   total used free shared buffers cachedMem:               7.7G  6.3G 1.4G 412M   527M    2.4G-/+ buffers/cache:       3.3G 4.3GSwap:              5.6G  0B   5.6G

=== Java version:java version "1.8.0_101"Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_101-b13)Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.101-b13, mixed mode) 

=== OS:Linux ferdinand-notebook 3.16.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 3.16.36-1+deb8u2 (2016-10-19) x86_64 GNU/Linux

=== Node: v6.5.0

=== Go: go version go1.7.3 linux/amd64 Test parameters Basically there are three parameters to be varied for the . benchmark The to be performed against the API. I chose to set this to number of total requests 100,000 The client to make those requests. I chose to have concurrent clients, each of them 3,125 requests. number of concurrent 32 making The to be used by . I set this parameter to four, corresponding to the number of logical CPU cores of my machine. number of threads h2load Results Running my delivered the following results. benchmark script Discussion First of all, please notice that this is definitely not a 100 % correct, scientific evaluation. Rather it should give basic insights on the order of magnitude of the performance differences between different language’s HTTP servers. As we can clearly see, Go is the fastest candidate among my test subjects. However, my implementation only utilized the plain, built-in http package without any custom ServeMux or any router or middleware on top of it. In a real-world application, one would most likely not operate on such a low level, but use frameworks like on top, which add additional overhead. Iris Second place is Java using Grizzly as an embedded server inside a Jersey application. The reason for me picking Grizzly was that it turned out to be the fastest among the common servers in . this benchmark Both of my Node implementations perform worst in this benchmark, whereas Express is even only as half as good as the plain http package. Evidently, it introduces quite an amount of overhead. However, one would most likely not implement an actual REST API without a higher-level framework like Express. Consequently, the Express benchmark is probably more representative. Concluding I can say that I was pretty surprised about how large the differences between various servers are. Go is almost six times as fast as Node with Express, even though . Express still has a very great performance The full benchmark results as well as the suite’s source code can be found at my . GitHub project EDIT At January 1st 2017 I did some minor adjustments to my benchmark suite. A thoughtful reader has drawn my attention to the fact that my comparison was a little unfair in the way that Go’s net/http as well as Grizzly use as many threads as the host system provides CPU core by default, while Node doesn’t. Using Node’s module I made both Node-based webservers use four listener threads, too and actually the results have improved by around 45 %. Furthermore I did an adjustment to the Jersey + Grizzly server by changing the from the default to , which brought around 10 % in this specific case, where we don't have any blocking computations but only spit out static JSON. If you're interested in leaarning more about different io strategies, refer to . Here is my updated benchmark chart. cluster IOStrategy WorkerThreadIOStrategy SameThreadIOStrategy this official documentation page Originally published at ferdinand-muetsch.de .

Http performance Java (Jersey) vs. Go vs. NodeJS

Lately, impact DAOs have been sprouting like mushrooms after the rain. They are a way to organize distributed teams around various objectives. Goals of an impact DAO can vary from local causes to topics that have a global impact - such as climate change. The Internet and web3 are a significant part of the infrastructure of impact DAOs. However, its backbone consists of ideas and people who invest their time, effort, knowledge, and money to build the desired change. DAOs are , built on web3 technologies, that enable the decision-making and synchronized collaboration of diverse groups. In the general case, a DAO will be run by . Decisions that drive the DAO towards its goals are usually reached by token holders voting for proposals to act or take no action. As new DAOs emerge, so do the tools that DAOs use - platforms and dApps that allow connecting to crypto wallets, submitting proposals, and casting votes. decentralized autonomous organizations smart contracts Prompt reactions to crises and events leave no time for the preparation and implementation of robust tooling and elaborate operational frameworks, so impact DAOs have begun to implement non-tokenized forms of governance. Non-tokenized impact DAOs tend to organize, synchronize and reach decisions within different chat apps - , Telegram, Signal; they collaborate using tools they have at hand - such as Google Docs. Typically, the DAO treasury remains on the blockchain as a multi-sig wallet, that prevents an individual from issuing transactions without the consent of other keyholders in the form of a cryptographical signature. Discord There are many types of impact DAOs that operate with different means, tools, and objectives. There are no specific rules when it comes to impact DAOs - they can be anything we want them to be. This, however, doesn’t mean that we can’t make mistakes - be it when we decide to pursue an objective by forming an impact DAO, be it when the operation of the organization is inadequate. The brief history of impact DAOs has already given us examples to learn from. Lesson #1: Objective - what is the target of the DAO, and can the DAO achieve it with the means it has? FreeRoss DAO was formed in December 2021 by a group of crypto and NFT enthusiasts, as well as friends of , the founder of , the infamous online black market. The initial objectives of the FreeRoss DAO were formulated as the FreeRossDAO Manifesto  (which is now available only as a ): Ross Ulbricht Silk Road snapshot on the Wayback Machine This DAO picked up significant media attention after collecting in a fundraiser. The governance tokens were airdropped to donors, thus turning them into the decentralized governing entity of the DAO. Proposals and decisions of the DAO were . During its operation, the FreeRoss DAO created and adopted a constitution, allocated and paid funds to contributors, artists and . However, in May 2023, the DAO voted on a proposal to stop operation completely, dissolve and transfer the remaining funds from the treasury to different organizations. The reason to halt the operation of DAO, as stated in Proposal #17: 12.5 million USD diligently documented operational staff Per the Ulbricht family’s wishes, the Free DAO will cease its operations entirely. Amidst concerns that the DAO’s existence is not helpful to Ross’s clemency efforts and can even harm his clemency, the family has asked that the DAO ends its operations. Because Ross’s life is at stake, the Free DAO’s mission has always been to support Ross’s family and respect their wishes. Proposal #17 was rejected by the DAO, but FreeRoss DAO ultimately voted to dissolve the DAO and cease all operations in Proposal #18. One might wonder how come an organization that had a lot of success in funding and organizing its work, has to cease operation because it “can even harm” the clemency of Ross Ulbricht - the most significant objective of the DAO. At the time of the formation of the DAO, Ross Ulbricht has nearly exhausted all legal options that may change his situation, but today we know - the for Ross to be a free man again is a Presidential pardon. only way Setting up an unregistered organization, that fundraises from anonymous donors, without implementing KYC and AML procedures, and handling millions outside any legal framework… simply does not help him. Some government agencies are even inclined to frown upon such operations, and this is why FreeRoss DAO had to dissolve  - . because Ross Ulbricht is better off without FreeRoss DAO than with it Lesson #2: Repurposing donations post-factum and misleading information are not the way to go was another impromptu impact DAO that was formed several days before Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The initial objective of UkraineDAO was to help and support Ukrainians suffering from the war. The core group of co-founders of the DAO had previous experience from impact DAOs - , and in less than a week, they’ve set up the multi-sig wallet, created an , organized an NFT auction and spread the word to relevant audiences and the media. Everyone was invited to place a bid for the NFT, and all participants of the auction were to receive fractional ownership of it, proportional to the amount donated. The funds collected through the NFT auction, as well as direct donations to the wallet, were intended to be transferred to charities and NGOs that help the war effort and deliver humanitarian aid. UkraineDAO PussyRiot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova among them NFT of the Ukrainian flag https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/1497632851445043200?embedable=true The NFT auction was completed on March 3, 2022. The group collected a total of 7 mil USD. Most of as planned in the next few days. the funds were transferred https://twitter.com/DefiHope/status/1500565716201660417?embedable=true Nadya on March 6. Afterward, the remaining core members of UkraineDAO voted to use the funds that remained as a salary for , the operational lead of the  DAO. left UkraineDAO Alona Shevchenko Later, in June 2022, published Nadya’s statement that: Decrypt is involved in , i'd be very careful about donating to someone who has a history of mismanaging .@cryptodrftng @TheChoiceDAO i left mid-march after distributing the majority of funds. there was never an understanding that whats remained will be salary @Ukraine_DAO @cryptodrftng's UkraineDAO still holds around 200,000 USD worth of crypto in their wallet, which hasn’t been distributed as promised, and has been paying a monthly salary of 5000 USD to the operational lead for 14 months. Subsequent claims made by Shevchenko that UkraineDAO is endorsed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, as well as the way the remaining funds were used, raised the interest of the media in the work of the DAO. https://twitter.com/cryptodrftng/status/1552711043973095428?s=20&embedable=true&thread=true https://twitter.com/cryptodrftng/status/1552711043973095428?s=20&embedable=true that . by journalists raised additional suspicions about some of the outgoing transactions from the DAO wallet, that are not listed as donations - with Global Crypto Press reaching the conclusion that around . Deputy Minister Bornyakov denied in an interview for Kyiv Post the Ministry has ever endorsed the DAO Further investigations 200,000 USD that were donated to the DAO are gone from the wallet and unaccounted for As more media outlets are picking up the story of UkraineDAO , which went from fundraising for a good and noble cause to becoming a personal piggy bank, the DAO itself remains silent - refusing to acknowledge the situation and refusing to communicate with the media and the public, that seeks explanations and accountability. (the most recent being Polish TVP World) Dima Buterin, the father of the famous Vitalik, who replaced Nadya as a keyholder for the multi-sig wallet of UkraineDAO, in a Twitter thread discussing the : UkraineDAO situation added that https://twitter.com/BlockGeekDima/status/1663885962353467392?s=20&embedable=true Obviously, the DAO vote on how the funds will be allocated - but in this case, can it is not sure that this was a good and ethical decision. Clearly, if we are asking the public to support and contribute financially to our work, or  in this case - if we seek donations with a promise that “100% proceeds will go to support Ukrainians suffering from the war” - it is just fair that we answer to the public. Legal means to pressure UkraineDAO to fulfill its original promise are limited, as the DAO was never incorporated. However, it is highly unlikely that the trust Dima Buterin has in the DAO will be there in the future. The takeaways from this piece should be that there are goals that can’t be achieved via impact DAOs, and at times the DAO will do more harm than good. As the story of UkraineDAO is still ongoing, for the time being, we can conclude that going back on a promise given in public and communicating false information definitely doesn’t help - nor the cause, nor the reputation of the people behind the DAO. Impact DAOs are in their nascent phase - technically still a toddler, mistakes are likely and expected. The future will certainly bring opportunities to improve the way we work and collaborate and to use the benefits of collective decision-making.

2 Lessons From The Early Years Of Impact DAOs

Insect life: Souvenirs of a naturalist by Jean-Henri Fabre, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE EMIGRANTS XIV. THE EMIGRANTS I have already told how on the top of Mont Ventoux, some 6000 feet above the sea, I had one of those pieces of entomological good luck, which would be fruitful indeed did they but occur often enough to allow of continuous study. Unhappily mine is a unique observation, and I despair of repeating it. Future observers must replace my probabilities by certainties. I can only found conjectures on it. Under the shelter of a large flat stone I discovered some hundreds of Ammophila hirsuta, heaped in a mass almost as compact as a swarm of bees. As soon as the stone was lifted all the small people began to move about, but without any attempt to take wing. I moved whole handfuls, but not one seemed inclined to leave the heap. Common interests appeared to unite them indissolubly. Not one would go unless all went. With all possible care I examined the flat stone which sheltered them, as well as the soil and immediate neighbourhood, but could discover no explanation of this strange assemblage. Finding nothing better to do, I tried to count them, and then came the clouds to end my observations and plunge us into that perplexing darkness I have already described. At the first drops of rain I hastened to put back the stone and replace the Ammophila people under shelter. I give myself a good mark, as I hope the reader also will, for having taken the precaution of not leaving the poor things, disturbed by my curiosity, exposed to the downpour. AMMOPHILA HIRSUTA ATTACKING A GRUB Ammophila hirsuta is not rare in the plain, but is always found singly on the edge of a road or on sandy slopes, now digging a well, now dragging a heavy prey. It is solitary, like Sphex occitanica, and I was greatly surprised by finding such a number gathered under one stone at the top of Mont Ventoux. Instead of my solitary acquaintance, here was a great assembly. Let us try to educe the probable causes of this agglomeration. By an exception very rare among mining Hymenoptera, Ammophila hirsuta builds in the first days of spring. Toward the end of March, if the season be mild, or at least in the first fortnight of April, when the grasshoppers take their adult form, and painfully cast off their first skin on their thresholds,—when Narcissus poeticus expands its first flowers, and the bunting utters its long-drawn note from the top of the poplars in the meadow,—Ammophila hirsuta sets to work to hollow and provision a home for her larvæ, whereas other species and the predatory Hymenoptera in general undertake this labour only in autumn, during September and October. This very early nidification, preceding by six months the date adopted by the immense majority, at once suggests [ ]certain considerations. One asks if those found burrowing so early in April are really insects of that year—i.e. whether these spring workers completed their metamorphosis and came out of their cocoons during the preceding three months. The general rule is that the Fossor becomes a perfect insect, leaves its burrow, and occupies itself with its larvæ all in one season. It is in June and July that the greater part of the hunting Hymenoptera come from the galleries where they lived as larvæ, and in August, September, and October they follow their occupations as burrowers and hunters. 195 Does a similar law apply to Ammophila hirsuta? Does the same season witness the final transformation and the labours of the insect? It is very doubtful, for the Hymenoptera, occupied with mining at the end of March, would have to complete their metamorphosis and break forth from the cocoon in winter, or at latest in February. The severity of the climate at that date forbids any such conclusion. It is not when the bitter Mistral howls for a fortnight at a time and freezes the ground, nor when snow-storms follow its icy breath, that the delicate transformations of the nymph state can take place, and the perfect insect venture to quit the shelter of its cocoon. It needs the soft dampness of earth under a summer sun before it can leave its cell. If I did but know the exact date at which Ammophila hirsuta leaves the cocoon it would greatly help me; but, to my deep regret, I do not. My notes, gathered day by day, show the confusion inseparable from researches that are generally dealing with points that cannot be foreseen, and are [ ]silent on this point, whose importance I fully realise now that I want to arrange my materials in order to write these lines. I find mention of the Ammophila of the sands coming out of the egg on June 5, and A. argentata on the 20th; but I have nothing in my archives regarding the hatching of A. hirsuta. It is a detail left unnoticed through forgetfulness. The dates for the two other species accord with the general law, the perfect insect appearing at the hot time of year. By analogy I fix the same date for the coming forth of A. hirsuta from the cocoon. 196 Whence, then, come those which one sees at work on their burrows at the end of March and April? We must conclude that they were hatched in the previous year and emerged from their cells at the usual time in June and July, lived through the winter, and began to build as soon as spring came. In a word, they are insects that hibernate. Experience fully confirms this conclusion. Do but search patiently in a vertical bank of earth or sand well exposed to the sun, especially where generations of the various honey-gathering Hymenoptera have followed one another year after year, riddling the ground with a labyrinth of passages till it looks like a huge sponge, you are nearly sure to see in the heart of winter A. hirsuta either alone or in little parties of three or four, crouched in some warm retreat, waiting inactive till summer shall come. This cheering little meeting, amid the gloom and cold of winter, with the graceful insect which at the first notes of the bunting and the cricket enlivens the grassy paths, is one that I have been able to enjoy at will. If the weather be calm and the sun [ ]has a little power, the chilly insect comes out to bask on its threshold, luxuriating in the hottest beams, or it will venture timidly outside and walk slowly over the spongy bank, brushing its wings. So, too, does the little gray lizard, when the sun begins to warm the old wall which is its home. 197 But vainly would one seek in winter, even in the most sheltered spots, for a Cerceris, Sphex, Philanthus, Bembex, and other Hymenoptera with carnivorous larvæ. All died after their autumn labours, and their race is only represented by the larvæ benumbed down in their cells. Thus, by a very rare exception, Ammophila hirsuta, hatched in the hot season, passes the following winter in some warm refuge, and this is why it appears so early in the year. With these data let us try to explain the Ammophila swarm on the crest of Mont Ventoux. What could these numerous Hymenoptera under their sheltering stone have been about? Were they meaning to take up winter quarters there and await under their flat stone, benumbed, the season propitious to their labours? Everything points to the improbability of this. It is not in August, at the time of the greatest heat, that an animal is overcome with winter sleep. Want of their food—the honey juice sucked from flowers—cannot be suggested. September showers will soon come, and vegetation, suspended for a while by the heat of the dog days, will assume new vigour and cover the fields with a flowery carpet almost as varied as that of spring. This period—one of enjoyment for most of the Hymenoptera—cannot possibly be one of torpor for A. hirsuta. Again, can one suppose that the heights [ ]of Ventoux, swept by the gusty Mistral, uprooting beech and pine,—summits where the bise whirls about the snow for six months of the year,—crests wrapped for the greater part of the year by cold clouds and mist,—can be adopted as a winter refuge by such a sun-loving insect? One might as well make it hibernate among the ice fields of the North Cape! No, it is not there that A. hirsuta must pass the cold season. The group observed there were making a temporary halt. At the first indication of rain, which, though it escaped us, could not escape the insect so eminently sensitive to the variations of the atmosphere, the wayfarers had taken refuge under a stone, and were waiting for the rain to pass before they resumed their flight. Whence came they? Where were they going? 198 In this same month of August, and especially in September, there come to the warm olive region flocks of little migratory birds; descending by stages from the lands where they have loved,—fresher, more wooded, more peaceful lands than ours,—where they have brought up their broods. They come almost to a day in an invariable order, as if guided by the dates of an almanac known only to themselves. They sojourn for a while in our plains, where abound the insects which are the chief food of most of them; they visit every clod in our fields where the ploughshare has turned up innumerable worms in the furrows, and feast on them, and with this diet they speedily lay on fat,—a storehouse and reserve to serve as nutrition against toils to come, and thus well provided for the journey they go on southward, to reach winterless [ ]lands where insects are always to be found, such as Spain and Southern Italy, the isles of the Mediterranean and Africa. This is the season for the pleasure of shooting and for succulent roasts of small birds. 199 The Calandrelle, or Crèou, as Provence calls it, is the first to arrive. As soon as August has begun it may be seen exploring the stony fields, seeking the seeds of the Setaria, an ill weed affecting cultivated ground. At the least alarm it flies off, making a harsh guttural sound sufficiently expressed by its Provençal name. It is soon followed by the whinchat, which preys quietly on small weevils, crickets, and ants in old fields of luzern. With the whinchat begins the long line of small birds suitable for the spit. It is continued in September by the most celebrated of them—the common wheat-ear, glorified by all who are capable of appreciating its high qualities. Never did the Beccafico of the Roman gourmet, immortalised in Martial’s epigrams, rival the delicious, perfumed ball of fat the wheat-ear makes when it has grown scandalously obese on an immoderate diet. It consumes every kind of insect voraciously. My archives as a sportsman-naturalist give a list of the contents of its gizzard. All the small people of the fallows are in it,—larvæ and weevils of every kind, crickets, chrysomelides, grasshoppers, cassidides, earwigs, ants, spiders, hundred-legs, snails, wire-worms, and ever so many more. And as a change from this spicy diet there are grapes, blackberries, and cornel-berries. Such is the bill of fare sought incessantly by the wheat-ear as it flutters from clod to clod, the white feathers of its [ ]outspread tail giving it the look of a butterfly on the wing. Heaven only knows to what amount of fat it can attain. 200 Only one other bird surpasses it in the art of fattening itself, and that is its fellow emigrant,—another voracious devourer of insects,—the bush pipit as it is absurdly styled by those who name birds, while the dullest of our shepherds never hesitate to call it Le Grasset, i.e. the fattest of the fat. The name is sufficient to point out its leading characteristic. Never another bird attains such a degree of obesity. A moment arrives when, loaded all over with fat, it becomes like a small pat of butter. The unfortunate bird can hardly flutter from one mulberry tree to another, panting in the thick foliage, half choked with melting fat, a victim to his love of weevil. October brings the slender gray wagtail, pied ash colour and white, with a large black velvet gorget. The charming bird, running and wagging its tail, follows the ploughman almost under the horses’ feet, picking up insects in the newly turned furrow. About the same time comes the lark,—first in little companies thrown out as scouts, then in countless bands which take possession of cornfield and fallow, where abounds their usual food, the seeds of the Setaria. Then on the plain, amid the sparkle of dewdrops and frost crystals suspended to each blade of grass, a mirror shoots intermittent flashes under the morning sun. Then the little owl, driven from shelter by the sportsman, makes its short flight, alights, stands upright with sudden starts and rolling of alarmed eyes, and the lark comes with a dipping [ ]flight, anxious for a close inspection of the bright thing or the odd bird. There it is, some fifteen paces away—its feet hanging, its wings outspread like a saint-esprit. The moment has come; aim and fire. I hope that my readers may experience the emotions of this delightful sport. 201 With the lark, and often in the same flocks, comes the titlark—the sisi—another word giving the bird’s little call. None rushes more vehemently upon the owl, round and round which it circles and hovers incessantly. This may suffice as a review of the birds which visit us. Most of them make it only a halting-place, staying for a few weeks, attracted by the abundance of food, especially of insects; then, strengthened and plump, off they go. A few take up winter quarters in our plains, where snow is very rare, and there are countless little seeds to be picked up even in the heart of the cold season. The lark which searches wheat fields and fallows is one; another is the titlark, which prefers fields of luzern and meadows. The skylark, so common in almost every part of France, does not nest in the plains of Vaucluse, where it is replaced by the crested lark—friend of the highway and of the road-mender. But it is not necessary to go far north to find the favourite places for its broods; the next department, the Drôme, is rich in its nests. Very probably, therefore, among the flocks of larks which take possession of our plains for all autumn and winter many come from no farther than the Drôme. They need only migrate into the next department to find plains that know not snow, and a certainty of little seeds.[ ] 202 A like migration to a short distance seems to me to have caused the assemblage of Ammophila on the top of Mont Ventoux. I have proved that this insect spends the winter in the perfect state, sheltering somewhere and awaiting April to build its nest. Like the lark it must take precautions against the cold season; though capable of fasting till flowers return, the chilly thing must find protection against the deadly attacks of the cold. It must flee snowy districts, where the soil is deeply frozen, and, gathering in troops like migrant birds, cross hill and dale to seek a home in old walls and banks warmed by a southern sun. When the cold is gone, all or part of the band will return whence they came. This would explain the assemblage on Mont Ventoux. It was a migrant tribe, which, on its way from the cold land of the Drôme to descend into the warm plains of the olive, had to cross the deep, wide valley of the Toulourenc, and, surprised by the rain, halted on the mountain top. Apparently A. hirsuta has to migrate to escape winter cold. When the small migratory birds set out in flocks, it too must journey from a cold district to a neighbouring one which is warmer. Some valleys crossed, some mountains overpassed, and it finds the climate sought. I have two other instances of extraordinary insect gatherings at great heights. I have seen the chapel on Mont Ventoux covered with seven-spotted ladybirds, as they are popularly called. These insects clung to the stone of walls and pavement so close together that the rude building looked, at a few paces off, like an object made of coral beads. I should not dare to say how many myriads were [ ]assembled there. Certainly it was not food which had attracted these eaters of Aphidæ to the top of Mont Ventoux, some 6000 feet high. Vegetation is too scanty—never Aphis ventured up there. 203 Another time, in June, on the tableland of St. Amand, at a height of 734 mètres, I saw a similar gathering, only less numerous. At the most projecting part of the tableland, on the edge of an escarpment of perpendicular rocks, rises a cross with a pedestal of hewn stone. On every side of this pedestal, and on the rocks serving as its base, the very same beetle, the seven-spotted ladybird of Mont Ventoux, was gathered in legions. They were mostly quite still, but wherever the sunbeams struck there was a continuous exchange of place between the newcomers, who wanted to find room, and those resting, who took wing only to return after a short flight. Neither here any more than on the top of Mont Ventoux was there anything to explain the cause of these strange assemblages on arid spots without Aphidæ and noways attractive to Coccinellidæ,—nothing which could suggest the secret of these populous gatherings upon masonry standing at so great an elevation. Have we here two examples of insect migration? Can there be a general meeting such as swallows hold before the day of their common departure? Were these rendezvous whence the cloud of ladybirds were to seek some district richer in food? It may be so, but it is very extraordinary. The ladybird has never been talked of for her love of travel. She seems a home-loving creature enough when we see her slaying the green-fly on rose trees, [ ]and black-fly on beans, and yet with her short wings she mounts to the top of Ventoux and holds a general assembly where the swallow herself only ascends in her wildest flights. Why these gatherings at such heights? Why this liking for blocks of masonry? 204 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). Insect life: Souvenirs of a naturalist. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/66762/pg66762-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 EMIGRANTS

THE GEOTRUPES: THE LARVA

Insect Adventures by Jean-Henri Fabre and Louise Hasbrouck Zimm, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here . THE CRAB-SPIDER CHAPTER XXII. THE CRAB-SPIDER The Banded Spider, who works so hard to give her eggs a wonderfully perfect dwelling-house, becomes, after that, careless of her family. For what reasons? She lacks the time. She has to die when the first cold comes, whereas the eggs are to pass the winter in their cozy home. She cannot help deserting the nest. But, if the hatching were earlier and took place in the Spider’s life, I imagine that she would be as devoted to her family as a Bird is. So I gather from the behavior of a shapely Spider who weaves no webs, lies in wait for her prey, and walks sideways, like a Crab. This Spider with the Crab-like figure does not know how to make nets for catching game. Without springs or snares, she lies hidden among the flowers, and waits for the arrival of the prey, which she kills by a scientific stab in the neck. The particular species I have observed is passionately fond of the pursuit of the Domestic Bee. The Bee appears, seeking no quarrel, intent upon plunder. She tests the flowers with her tongue; she chooses a spot that will yield a good return. Soon she is wrapped up in her harvesting. While she is filling her baskets and distending her crop, the Crab-spider, that bandit lurking under cover of the flowers, comes out of her hiding-place, creeps round behind the bustling insect, steals up close, and, with a sudden rush, nabs her in the nape of the neck. In vain the Bee protests and darts her sting at random; the assailant does not let go. Besides, the bite in the neck is paralyzing, because the nerve-centers are affected. The poor thing’s legs stiffen; and all is over in a second. The murderess Spider now sucks the victim’s blood at her ease and, when she has done, scornfully flings the drained corpse aside. We shall see the cruel vampire become a model of devotion where her family is concerned. The ogre loved his children; he ate the children of others. Under the tyranny of hunger, we are all of us, beasts and men alike, ogres. After all, this cutter of Bees’ throats is a pretty, a very pretty creature, in spite of her unwieldy body fashioned like a squat pyramid and embossed on the base, on either side, with a pimple shaped like a camel’s hump. The skin, more pleasing to the eye than any satin, is milk-white in some, in others lemon-yellow. There are fine ladies among them who adorn their legs with a number of pink bracelets and their backs with crimson patterns. A narrow, pale-green ribbon sometimes edges the right and left of the breast. The costume is not so rich as that of the Banded Spider, but much more elegant because of its soberness, its daintiness, and the artistic blending of its colo THE CRAB-SPIDER’S NEST Skillful in the prompt despatch of her prey, the little Crab-spider is no less clever in the nesting art. I find her settled on a privet in the inclosure. Here, in the heart of a cluster of flowers, the luxurious creature plaits a little pocket of white satin, shaped like a wee thimble. It is the receptacle for the eggs. A round, flat lid, of a felted fabric, closes the mouth. Above this ceiling rises a dome of stretched threads and faded flowerets which have fallen from the cluster. This is the watcher’s conning-tower. An opening, which is always free, gives access to this post. Here the Spider remains on constant duty. She has thinned greatly since she laid her eggs, has almost lost her figure. At the least alarm, she sallies forth, waves a threatening limb at the passing stranger and invites him, with a gesture, to keep his distance. Having put the intruder to flight, she quickly returns indoors. And what does she do in there, under her arch of withered flowers and silk? Night and day, she shields the precious eggs with her poor body spread out flat. Eating is neglected. No more lying in wait, no more Bees drained to the last drop of blood. Motionless, rapt in meditation, the Spider is sitting on her eggs. The brooding Hen does likewise, but she is also a heating-apparatus and, with the gentle warmth of her body, awakens the germs to life. For the Spider, the heat of the sun is enough; and this alone keeps me from saying that she “broods.” For two or three weeks, the little Spider, more and more wrinkled by lack of food, never relaxes her position. What is the withered thing waiting for, before expiring? She is waiting for her children to emerge; the dying creature is still of use to them. When the Banded Spider’s little ones come out from their balloon, they have long been orphans. There is none to come to their assistance; and they have not the strength to free themselves without help. The balloon has to split automatically and to scatter the youngsters and their flossy mattress all mixed up together. The Crab-spider’s wallet, sheathed in leaves over the greater part of its surface, never bursts; nor does the lid rise, so carefully is it sealed down. Nevertheless, after the delivery of the brood, we see, at the edge of the lid, a small, gaping hole, an exit-window. Who contrived this window, which was not there at first? The fabric is too thick and tough to have yielded to the twitches of the feeble little prisoners. It was the mother, therefore, who, feeling her offspring shuffle impatiently under the silken ceiling, herself made a hole in the bag. She persists in living for five or six weeks, despite her shattered health, so as to give a last helping hand and open the door for her family. After performing this duty, she gently lets herself die, hugging her nest and turning into a shriveled relic. The Hen does not reach this height of unselfishness! THE YOUNG CRAB-SPIDERS It is in July that some little Crab-spiders that I have in my laboratory come out of their eggs. Knowing their acrobatic habits, I have placed a bundle of slender twigs at the top of the cage in which they were born. All of them pass through the wire gauze and form a group on the summit of the brushwood, where they swiftly weave a roomy lounge of criss-cross threads. Here they stay, pretty quietly, for a day or two; then foot-bridges begin to be flung from one object to the next. This is the fortunate moment. I put the bunch laden with beasties on a small table, in the shade, before the open window. Soon they begin to spin threads to carry them away, but slowly and unsteadily. They hesitate, go back, fall short at the end of a thread, climb up again. In short, much trouble for a poor result. As matters continue to drag, it occurs to me, at eleven o’clock, to take the bundle of brushwood swarming with the little Spiders, all eager to be off, and place it on the window-sill, in the glare of the sun. After a few minutes of heat and light, things move much faster. The little Spiders run to the top of the twigs, bustle about actively. I cannot see them manufacturing the ropes or sending them floating at the mercy of the air; but I guess their presence. Three or four Spiders start at a time, each going her own way. All are moving upwards, all are climbing some support, as can be told by the nimble motion of their legs. Moreover, you can see the thread behind them, where it is of double thickness. Then, at a certain height, individual movement ceases. The tiny animal soars in space and shines, lit up by the sun. Softly it sways, then suddenly takes flight. What has happened? There is a slight breeze outside. The floating cable has snapped and the creature has gone off, borne on its parachute. I see it drifting away, showing, like a spot of light, against the dark foliage of the near cypresses, some forty feet distant. It rises higher, it crosses over the cypress-screen, it disappears. Others follow, some higher, some lower, hither and thither. “Like the finish of a fireworks display.” But the throng has finished its preparations; the hour has come to disperse in swarms. We now see, from the crest of the brushwood, a continuous spray of starters, who shoot up like tiny rockets and mount in a spreading cluster. In the end, it is like the bouquet at the finish of a fireworks display, the sheaf of rockets fired all at once. The comparison is correct down to the dazzling light itself. Flaming in the sun like so many gleaming points, the little Spiders are the sparks of that living fireworks. What a glorious send-off! What an entrance into the world! Sooner or later, nearer or farther, the fall comes. To live, we have to descend, often very low, alas! The Spiderling, therefore, touches land. The parachute tempers her fall. She is not hurt. The rest of her story escapes me. What infinitely tiny Midges does she capture before possessing the strength to stab her Bee? What are the methods, what the wiles of atom contending with atom? I know not. We shall find her again in spring, grown quite large and crouching among the flowers whence the Bee takes toll. 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 and Louise Hasbrouck Zimm (2014). Insect Adventures. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved October https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45812/pg45812-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 .

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