Moloco is a machine learning company that enables businesses to unleash the power of their own data for fast, sustainable growth and performance through the advertising ecosystem

MOLOCO

As the dust of the cloud hype wave settles, more tech teams discover the side effects of cloud infrastructures, typically kept under the radar. As promising as on-demand scalability, less time managing on-premise services, and other benefits sound, they are often balanced by a significant drawback–spikes in infrastructure costs in high-load systems. When discussing infrastructure costs, the focus on high-load systems is substantial: There’s hardly a more flexible and cheaper alternative to the cloud for smaller companies. However, as QPS reaches hundreds of thousands, vendor fees that seem small are no longer sustainable. As a software development company specializing in building and optimizing high-load systems for AdTech, we have explored multiple practices teams use to prevent infrastructure costs from spiking. With over 15 years of experience, Xenoss helped support projects like Activision Blizzard, Verve Group, Smartly, Voodoo, Inmar Intelligence, and others to build robust yet nimble infrastructures. In this post, we’d like to share our experience and know-how on infrastructure challenges relevant to high-load platforms and explore ways to streamline costs. To illustrate the tactics shown in the post, we’ll use an industry where speed and scale are non-negotiable: AdTech. We also have a blog post that , featuring expert tips and comments from our software architects and a case study of a twenty-fold infrastructure cost reduction. covers infrastructure cost optimization in more detail AdTech platforms–a poster case for high-load systems High-load platforms enable multiple sectors like banking, healthcare, and more. Programmatic advertising, though often not seen as a technical feat to develop, can rival other complex systems, as its operational requirements often push the boundaries of infrastructure design. Let’s quickly recap why AdTech platforms (SSP, DSP, and so on) are an excellent lens for exploring . infrastructure cost optimization Pressure for high volume and low latency AdTech platforms are caught in a constant tug-of-war between the need for high traffic volume and low latency. On the one hand, they need to handle the vast amount of traffic generated by online advertising (which, , CEO of TPA Digital, amounts to 950 billion impressions per day). according to Wayne Bloodwell Besides the load, the real-time nature of the ecosystem adds a new layer of complexity. High latency in AdTech platforms, i.e., a delay between a bid request and a response, leads advertisers to miss out on high-quality inventory, as their bids aren’t processed in time. High latency creates a struggle to fill ad slots for publishers, leading to lower revenues in the long run. A standard time frame for bid processing hovers around 80-120 ms is the average time frame within which the industry operates. Real-time decision-making Real-time data processing is another recurring challenge for AdTech projects due to the following challenges: Need to retrieve data rapidly (under 100 ms) to make real-time decisions, such as bid price modeling. Collecting audience data from multiple sources increases the complexity of the pipelines and expands the toolset needed to process various data types. Data quality concerns: Wrong data can result in advertisers making poor bidding decisions. Data quality checks for every pipeline stage (ingestion, processing, consumption) are essential. The clip below illustrates the complexity and critical operations of real-time data analytics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRzovqK3t0&embedable=true Scalability demands The AdTech industry is cyclical, with periods of economic ups and downs leading to fluctuations in demand for advertising services. Market hikes pressure AdTech platforms into implementing dynamic scalability capabilities. Coupled with SPO on the rise, AdTech vendors feel the pressure to reliably adjust their capacity up or down in response to changes in demand. Thus, they need the ability and resources to handle peak traffic without sacrificing performance or reliability (and to scale it down to adjust for market fluctuations). Collecting raw and aggregated data Using raw data is pivotal to the success of AdTech platforms. These systems collect a lot of aggregated data–demographic information, browsing history, user behavior, etc. These insights are integrated from various sources and help fuel targeting and personalization. Before raw data is ready for use, it needs to undergo the steps of ETL: Extraction, transformation, and loading. However, maintaining multiple pipelines becomes an engineering challenge as systems scale and data volumes increase exponentially. Best practices Xenoss uses to optimize infrastructure costs in high-load systems Unless tech teams pay close attention to infrastructure costs, they quickly get out of control. Inefficient data modeling and storage, lack of selectivity in relying on services, and failure to plan and counter threats ahead make infrastructures unpredictable, slow, expensive, and hard to maintain. Cutting infrastructure costs is not a day’s work, but armed with the knowledge of the ecosystem and your platform, you can achieve significant reductions with a few tweaks. Here’s a list of several infrastructure reduction practices Xenoss tech teams use to help our clients achieve leaner infrastructures. Exploring the benefits of hybrid cloud infrastructure In early-stage projects, not much thought is given to designing an optimal cloud infrastructure. Tech teams typically choose one of two ways; , like AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure. While relying on a cloud vendor early in the development process is understandable, we’d like to caution tech leaders against using managed services if not strictly needed. Over time, these tools can significantly increase the project’s infrastructure bills - one of our clients reached out when infrastructure bills were at $2.5 million. Public cloud service providers . These days, maintaining on-premises data centers is not as common for early-stage projects due to the upfront investment and manpower it requires. It’s worth noting that on-prem infrastructures have their benefits, such as more control and tighter security. On-premises infrastructure maintained by the in-house team In AdTech, flexibility and the ability to scale dynamically are vital. Full control over infrastructure costs and the ability to tighten security are equally important. The former is typically associated with the cloud, while the latter is commonly cited as a benefit for on-prem. At Xenoss, we recognize the benefits of both infrastructures, which is why we use both in client projects. The combination of cloud and on-prem is often referred to as “hybrid cloud”, though more combinations fit the term. Combining a public and private cloud or two public clouds (aka multi-cloud) also fits the concept. , 33% of surveyed organizations use a combination of cloud and on-premises infrastructure. The figure goes up to 42% if we take only enterprise organizations (over 1000 employees) into account. According to the Data Pipelines report published by DZone The hybrid model offers AdTech teams higher financial flexibility, allowing AdTech platforms to merge the control of on-premises setups with the dynamic scalability of cloud platforms. Security is another significant advantage; projects can maintain stringent data protection standards by keeping sensitive data on-premise and using the cloud for less critical tasks. Another reason we prefer and advocate for a hybrid approach is its ability to prevent vendor lock-in. Keeping critical infrastructures on-premises gives businesses the leeway to diversify their tech stack without dependence on one cloud provider. Besides, a hybrid approach allows product teams to be more intentional about building workload-specific infrastructures. Some tasks in AdTech, like real-time ad bidding or data operations bound by strict regional compliance, are better suited for on-premise execution. At the same time, other workflows (campaign analytics, distributed ad content hosting, or collaborative ad design) can seamlessly migrate to the cloud. Optimizing data storage In our experience, optimizing storage alone can significantly trim infrastructure costs. In AdTech, both SQL and NoSQL databases are used to manage structured and non-structured data. Let’s recap the key differences between the two types of databases, as well as their use cases in AdTech. To add more context to the discussion, let’s recap the differences between the two. Relational database benefits NoSQL database benefits High reliability High performance High data consistency High scalability Standardized schema Storage optimized for high data volumes ACID compliance High agility and customization Now, let’s look at the database of choice for top AdTech platforms and their approaches to data storage. How AdTech vendors use SQL databases to operate high data volumes Pubmatic Pubmatic SSP helps publishers capture wide audiences and maximize advertising revenue with unique demand partnerships, advanced analytics, and creative optimization tools. the company needed a robust database to handle large datasets and solve complex problems. The company wanted a battle-tested tool that would, above all, be reliable and effective. Challenge: MySQL Solution: PubMatic’s Ad Quality team uses MySQL as its primary data source. The platform’s database stores up to a hundred million records. Known for reliability and robustness, MySQL allows PubMatic to process millions of creatives a day and maintain 2x-10x data loads. Impact: AdGreetz AdGreetz is a personalization platform that distributes tailored advertising creatives across multiple channels: social media, CTV/OTT, in-app, and more. the organization’s workflows are data-intensive, requiring database management solutions that would support millions of user records. Challenge: ClickHouse Chosen database: For the engineering team at AdGreetz, Clickhouse turned out to be a cost-efficient and high-performance solution. The company was able to cut query time from seconds to sub-seconds at small compute. Impact: How AdTech projects use NoSQL databases Beeswax Beeswax is a managed RTB platform that allows advertisers to streamline programmatic operations. The company offers a Bidder-as-a-Service solution that processes millions of queries per second and consumes 125 GB of data each minute. Rapid scaling that would ensure efficient ad delivery, need for equal load distribution across the organization’s machine. Challenge: . Chosen NoSQL database: Aerospike running on Amazon EC2 Beeswax can process millions of queries per second with a 2-milliseconds tail-read latency. Impact: GumGum GumGum offers a platform for contextual targeting enabled by a proprietary machine-learning platform, Verity. The company wanted to process high volumes of advertising-related data (impressions, views, clicks, conversion) with minimal latency - although data was not processed in real-time, the goal was to keep the gap to the minimum. Challenge: Chosen NoSQL database: ScyllaDB Impact: Reduced strain on engineering resources 75% volume increase Facilitating scalability thanks to on-demand resource provisioning. Moloco Moloco is a mobile audience platform that helps advertisers acquire, engage, and retail mobile audiences. The platform heavily relies on machine learning models for campaign optimization and predictive analytics. The pressure to process millions of bid quests per second with a strict latency limit (under 100 ms). Challenge: Chosen NoSQL database: Google Cloud BigTable Impact: Scaled the number of processed requests from 500k to 5 million per second Low latency Managed infrastructure enabled the company to reallocate its software engineering resources to focus on other tasks. Our years of experience in AdTech platform development have shown us that there’s no cookie-cutter approach to choosing the suitable database for AdTech data storage infrastructure. There’s a lot of variety under the database umbrella - it takes experience, product knowledge, and thorough research to find the right fit. Sometimes, switching between two NoSQL databases can make a lot of difference. GumGum, featured above, relied on Cassandra before switching to ScyllaDB. We’ve seen significant operation cost reductions in a client’s (mobile DSP) case after migrating from MongoDB to Aerospike. Other ways to optimize data storage Implementing data compression and deduplication techniques is another way to reduce the required storage space, leading to cost savings. implies a reduction in data size, which leads to faster transmission and reduced storage costs. Data teams can employ techniques like GZIP. Compression , as the name suggests, eliminates redundant copies of data. It is instrumental in AdTech, where repeated user profiles or similar datasets are commonplace. Deduplication is a cost-effective way to store rarely accessed data (old campaign metrics) with no performance repercussions. Cold storage Selecting premium services offered by an infrastructure vendor Navigating cloud services requires intelligent choices. If you don’t pay attention, it’s easy to use service bundles that add infrastructure costs but no value to the platform. In a clip below, Xenoss CTO Vova Kyrychenko explains how the “free money trap” can result in high infrastructure costs as AdTech platforms scale. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_57WdKDJI0&embedable=true Our crucial recommendation to AdTech vendors is to dissect the pricing of premium services to spot hidden costs or savings.” Also, since new tools can slow the platform down, testing them on a small scale before you take a new service to production is reasonable. Keeping an eye on third-party or open-source projects is another alternative to expensive managed offerings. Free or low-cost platforms can offer better performance than mainstream cloud vendors. By adopting this approach on a client project, Xenoss’ engineers helped drive infrastructure costs down by 20 times. In the infographic below, we illustrate the client’s old infrastructure and the modernized version designed by our architects. Balancing traffic and load As we mentioned a while back, AdTech platforms don’t operate under stable loads - one moment, a platform might hit a sudden spike, and the next, it has more computing resources than it knows what to do with. Since Xenoss’ engineers believe efficient traffic and load balancing is a must-have for AdTech systems, let’s dive deeper into these concepts. Load balancing means evenly distributing incoming requests across multiple servers, ensuring no single server is overwhelmed. Within this framework, Xenoss architects prioritize mission-critical processes—essential tasks that, if interrupted, will disrupt the system's core functionality (real-time ad bidding or user data processing). By giving these processes precedence, we safeguard the vital operations from potential slowdowns or failures. Designing a mechanism for early threat detection A famous adage goes: “Failure is a part of every plan,” concisely warning AdTech product teams to guard for threats and downtimes. To that end, we urge vendors and in-house tech teams to leverage monitoring tools that keep an eye on system health, ensuring uninterrupted operations. If you set up alerts for any anomalies, teams can be alerted promptly, act swiftly, and ensure minor setbacks don’t turn into major meltdowns. Enhancing this approach with AI-powered insights offers even more granularity. Anomaly Detection algorithms, such as the Isolation Forest or One-Class SVM, are a good fit for identifying unusual data patterns, which can indicate threats or system vulnerabilities. We again suggest deploying Long Short-Term Memory recurrent neural networks to analyze time-series data. Large Language Models can also contribute to threat detection by analyzing logs and system messages to detect anomalies, thus making sense of textual data that might otherwise be overlooked. The bottom line Infrastructure cost optimization is a linchpin for companies in every sector aiming for efficiency and profitability. AdTech is an excellent playground for exploring the challenges and workarounds of working with high data volumes and traffic loads, as the need to tackle thousands of queries in a millisecond time frame pushes the limits of infrastructure development to the edge. The good news is that experienced tech teams have, often through trial and error, developed a handbook for keeping infrastructure costs low, even for high-load systems. Balancing between cloud and on-premises solutions, leveraging AI for threat detection, and continuously refining data storage strategies help product teams ensure robust operations without compromising on budget. Staying agile and informed in this domain is a cost-saving measure and a competitive advantage in the dynamic AdTech landscape.

Five Ways to Cut Infrastructure costs in High-load Systems: AdTech Case Study

হাই-লোড সিস্টেমে অবকাঠামো খরচ কমানোর পাঁচটি উপায়: অ্যাডটেক কেস স্টাডি

Fünf Möglichkeiten zur Senkung der Infrastrukturkosten in Hochlastsystemen: AdTech-Fallstudie

Cinco formas de reducir los costos de infraestructura en sistemas de alta carga: estudio de caso de AdTech

Cinq façons de réduire les coûts d'infrastructure dans les systèmes à forte charge : étude de cas AdTech

हाई-लोड सिस्टम में बुनियादी ढांचे की लागत में कटौती के पांच तरीके: एडटेक केस स्टडी

高負荷システムのインフラストラクチャ コストを削減する 5 つの方法: AdTech ケーススタディ

고부하 시스템에서 인프라 비용을 절감하는 5가지 방법: AdTech 사례 연구

Cinco maneiras de reduzir custos de infraestrutura em sistemas de alta carga: estudo de caso da AdTech

Пять способов сократить расходы на инфраструктуру в высоконагруженных системах: пример AdTech

Yüksek yüklü sistemlerde altyapı maliyetlerini azaltmanın beş yolu: AdTech örnek olay incelemesi

Năm cách để cắt giảm chi phí cơ sở hạ tầng trong các hệ thống có tải trọng cao: Nghiên cứu điển hình về AdTech

降低高负载系统基础设施成本的五种方法：AdTech 案例研究

is a with one rotor but it can take off and land vertically. Monocopter flying machine This article is about scratch building a that looks like an airplane but with a missing wing. A picture of it is shown below. design This flies by spinning around. Its wing acts like a blade of a helicopter. A video and an image of its flight is shown below. monocopter An airborne monocopter Flight test of the monocopter Wing: I cut a rectangle out from a Dollar Tree foam board. The dimension of the rectangle is 8 inches by 30 inches. To form the wing, I cut and fold the rectangle 2 inches away from the leading edge. The wing Support structure: The motor is attached to a motor mount cut from plywood. I insert two carbon fibre rods through the motor mount. I further attach more plywood on the carbon fibre rods so that I can glue the wing on them and prevent the other end of the rods from getting loose. The motor mount and support structure Aluminum rods(7mm diameter) are used to form the legs of the monocopter. This can prevent the blades from touching the ground. Foam is used to wrap around the electronics and batteries to prevent damages. Protective gears : aluminum leg and foam container for the electroncis Load and propulsion: The whole monocopter including batteries is 8.5 oz. Weight of everything including the batteries I get the motor and propellers from Amazon. Motor used is E-flite Park 370 Brushless Outrunner Motor 1360Kv. Propeller is RAYCorp® 1045 10x4.5 Propeller. Propeller and motor Electronics: Electronics includes a RC receiver, 2S LiPo battery and an ESC speed controller. Since my ESC does not provide power, I add an additional small battery to power the RC receiver. Electronics Piloting tips: I start with half throttle to spin the monocopter on the ground. Then, I slowly increase the throttle until the monocopter is almost airborne. At that point, I quickly increase to full throttle to keep it in the air.

How to scratch build a monocopter: an airplane that can fly with a missing wing

If I would have to point out one of the most confusing Dispatchers in the world of Kotlin coroutines, that would be the Unconfined dispatchers. Called with Dispatchers.Unconfined when creating a coroutine scope, this a kind of dispatcher that doesn’t really care. The whole idea of the Unconfined dispatcher is simply to pick up a Thread for no other goal than to simply use it. There is no other criteria involved when using a Thread.Coroutines use a system called green threading or also known as user space threading. We can refer to routines as contructs that are designed to gain control of a Thread, but specifically they are managed by the schedulers to run in platform or system threads. By platform threads, we are talking about the threads accessible by the programming language or higher abstraction that we use in our development environment.When we talk about the unconfined dispatchers, it is important to understand what these terms are. And so let’s get clear to what is green threading and user space threading. These terms are used interchangeably. However, there is a very subtle difference: User space threading is used to emphasize that it is the user that schedules the threads. In other words, this is what we refer to when we start threads via our code. Green threading emphasizes on what goes on behind the curtain. Green threads are also called fibers and these are virtual threads that are multiplexed to be used on top of system threads. This is all something very difficult to visualize. But for the case of the Unconfined Dispatchers this is all we need to know about this part. Being aware of the existence of platform threads, virtual threads and system threads and how they work is important because the platform threads will then perform this multiplexing mechanism onto specific system threads and this is why in Kotlin, specifically, we can find dispatchers specifically to be used with the CPU, the Dispatchers.Default, dispatchers specific for IO operations called Dispatchers.IO and dispatchers specific for single threaded UI , such as Dispatchers.Main for other operations as alternatives to the Dispatchers.Unconfined context. Making tests using the Spring Framework we will very easily come across the fact that the Spring Framework uses Dispatchers.Unconfined. When I made it was generally said that Dispatchers.Unconfined were to be used in tests only due to their unpredictability. this video do not rely on a particular platform scheduling system oriented to a specific kind of Thread, it becomes very unpredictable how coroutines launched like this would perform. There were also mentions of the possibility that Dispatchers.Unconfined could eventually block the execution of the application in production code, but to be honest I have never ever seen that, even working so much with the Spring Framework for server-side programming as I currently do with Kotlin. And to top that up they mention precisely that, because of that risk, all nested coroutines form an event-loop. They explain that in their documentation here: Dispatchers.Unconfined https://kotlinlang.org/api/kotlinx.coroutines/kotlinx-coroutines-core/kotlinx.coroutines/-dispatchers/-unconfined.html?embedable=true But hold on. Why is the Spring Framework using Dispatchers.Unconfined in their implementation instead of other Dispatchers like for example the Dispatchers.IO? And why not test this before anything? Well, first let’s have a look at an issue that was opened on GitHub about this: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-framework/issues/32032?embedable=true I came across this subject when I was casually looking for something else and I bumped into another issue on StackOverflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/77810077/controller-code-using-unconfined-dispatcher-by-default?embedable=true Someone had found out that, for whatever reason, the Dispatchers.Unconfined was being used and so I created a service on my GitHub Repo here to prove that: https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-spring-master-test-drives?embedable=true And this service is called car-parts-reactive and that is located in the root directory of the project: git clone https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-spring-master-test-drives.git
cd car-parts-reactive
make b
make run The method we want to have a look at is this one in the controller CarController: @GetMapping("/break")
suspend fun getBreak(): String {
    println("Current Coroutine Context -> $coroutineContext")
    println("Current Coroutine Job -> ${coroutineContext.job}")
    println("Main Coroutine Context -> ${currentCoroutineContext()}")
    println("Main Coroutine Job -> ${currentCoroutineContext().job}")
    println("Current Thread -> ${Thread.currentThread()}")
    return "break"
} This method will print out a series of useful information to the console about the corroutine that has been called. The suspend function marked with the suspend modifier isn’t itself a coroutine, but it can only be called by coroutines in Kotlin. And that’s what happens when we call the method. This way we get access to the coroutine context and checkout what dispatcher is being used. Important to note is that using the currentCoroutineContext() function, we are accessing the coroutine context via a top level function in the kotlinx coroutines library. Using coroutineContext, we are accessing the getter of a value located in the kotlin standard library itself. They don’t share exactly the same implementation.In the root of the car-parts-reactive module we’ll find file generated-requests.http and if you are using IntellJ, you can easily make requests to the application with the code contents: ###
GET http://localhost:8080/break

###
GET http://localhost:8080/keys

###
GET http://localhost:8080/parts

###
GET http://localhost:8080/parts/list

###
GET http://localhost:8080/parts/suspend

###
GET http://localhost:8080/parts/correct When you have the application running, try to run a simple REST request against endpoint : http://localhost:8080/break There should be a result in the console similar to this: Current Coroutine Context -> [Context2{micrometer.observation=io.micrometer.observation.NoopObservation@52c86bb3, reactor.onDiscard.local=reactor.core.publisher.Operators$$Lambda$1234/0x000000080165d210@7166cb50}, MonoCoroutine{Active}@5474a700, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Current Coroutine Job -> MonoCoroutine{Active}@5474a700
Main Coroutine Context -> [Context2{micrometer.observation=io.micrometer.observation.NoopObservation@52c86bb3, reactor.onDiscard.local=reactor.core.publisher.Operators$$Lambda$1234/0x000000080165d210@7166cb50}, MonoCoroutine{Active}@5474a700, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Main Coroutine Job -> MonoCoroutine{Active}@5474a700
Current Thread -> Thread[#50,reactor-http-epoll-2,5,main] We can see in all counts that the dispatcher being used is the Dispatchers.Unconfined. If we go back to the issue that was created on GitHub, we’ll see that the answer to why the spring framework uses Dispatchers.Unconfined turns out to be the best solution for their cases, according to them. So what they mean, is that in spite of these dispatchers appear to be limited and restrictive, they apparently, and after testing are actually a very good fit for a reactive framework.Of course this is great to read because it makes it clear why actually, unconfined dispatchers are used in Spring.But let’s go back to the basics. I made a few quizzes about unconfined dispatchers and what I like about it is that they are still quite mysterious to me. And let’s get one thing clear before we move on. There can be some confusion regarding context and scope. Scope refers to where the coroutine is available and context to how it gets dispatched. There can be confusion about this because both terms are quite intimately connected to each other. For example, we cannot create a scope without a dispatcher and they go hand in hand. A scope allows me to launch coroutines with keywords like async and/or launch, but a context is related to how that coroutine gets assigned a Thread.Let’s make two quizzes. We start with this one in this video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7Rv_zcT_yPE?embedable=true In this video I show a simple implementation of some code that makes some calls and these different calls will print the words “master”, “mouse” and “cat” in different orders. The code is available here: https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-kotlin-test-drives?embedable=true For this quiz, the code is available here: git clone https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-kotlin-test-drives.git
cd jeorg-kotlin-coroutines/coroutines-crums-group-1
make b And the code is this one: private suspend fun runUnconfinedCoroutinesTest() {
    logger.infoTextSeparator("Unconfined means that all coroutines will execute concurrently on the starting thread in the scope of the parent thread")
    val job = CoroutineScope(Dispatchers.Unconfined).launch {
        launch {
            logger.infoThread("Cat Before thread ==> ${Thread.currentThread()}")
            delay(100)
            logger.info("This is cat @ ${LocalDateTime.now()}")
            logger.info("Cat context $coroutineContext")
            logger.infoThread("Cat After Resume thread ==> ${Thread.currentThread()}")
        }
        launch {
            logger.info("This is mouse @ ${LocalDateTime.now()}")
            logger.info("Mouse context $coroutineContext")
        }
        logger.info("This is master @ ${LocalDateTime.now()}")
        logger.info("Master context $coroutineContext")
        logger.infoThread(Thread.currentThread())

    }
    job.join()
} When we run this code, many things can happen, but one thing we can predict is how the logs are going to work out in the console. One thing about unconfined dispatchers is that they use the same context, same dispatchers, on the first sub coroutines. If these coroutines need to suspend, they may or may not return to the original Thread they were sharing. In the code above they will most likely not return to the original thread. Nesting in coroutines follows some very important rules as mentioned in their documentation: kotlinlang.org So this is the same as saying that the initial call executes in the same continuation in the same call-frame. This also means that the first 3 launches will run concurrently. The launch that logs a cat does this too, but beacause it has a delay, it will resume either in the same Thread or another thread. So this means that Mouse and Master will be the first things to see in the log and Cat will be the last log in the console. We can see all of this in this log sample: This is master @ 2024-03-21T18:49:00.661284475
Master context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@6ce139a4, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Thread[#1,main,5,main]
Master After Resume thread ==> Thread[#1,main,5,main]
Cat Before thread ==> Thread[#1,main,5,main]
This is mouse @ 2024-03-21T18:49:00.703936722
Mouse context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@433d61fb, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Mouse After Resume thread ==> Thread[#1,main,5,main]
This is cat @ 2024-03-21T18:49:00.801217959
Cat context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@52c68062, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Cat After Resume thread ==> Thread[#28,kotlinx.coroutines.DefaultExecutor,5,main] And this explains the answer I give to this quiz on this video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MGxvkW0t8QM?embedable=true But moving on. I have another quiz for you and it is this one on this video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/LEyEJkJA3xE?feature=share&embedable=true The code for this quiz is available here: git clone https://github.com/jesperancinha/jeorg-kotlin-test-drives.git
cd jeorg-kotlin-coroutines/jeorg-kotlin-coroutines-unconfined
make b And this is the class we are discussing: object UnconfinedCoroutineLauncher {
    private val logger = object {
        fun info(logText: Any?) = ConsolerizerComposer.out().yellow(logText)
        fun infoBefore(logText: Any?) = ConsolerizerComposer.out().green(logText)
        fun infoAfter(logText: Any?) = ConsolerizerComposer.out().red(logText)
        fun infoTitle(logText: String) = ConsolerizerComposer.outSpace()
            .cyan(ConsolerizerComposer.title(logText))
    }

    @JvmStatic
    fun main(args: Array<String> = emptyArray()) = runBlocking {
        logger.infoTitle(
            "Unconfined Coroutines scope tests / There are currently ${
                Runtime.getRuntime().availableProcessors()
            } CPU's available"
        )
        CoroutineScope(Dispatchers.Unconfined).launch {
            launch {
                logger.info("Running on context $coroutineContext")
                logger.infoBefore("Siamese Cat is launching on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
                delay(1)
                logger.infoAfter("Siamese Cat just ran on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
            }
            launch {
                logger.info("Running on context $coroutineContext")
                logger.infoBefore("Mouse is launching on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
                delay(20)
                logger.infoAfter("Mouse just ran on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
            }
            launch {
                logger.info("Running on context $coroutineContext")
                logger.infoBefore("Maine Coon is launching on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
                delay(30)
                logger.infoAfter("Maine Coon is just ran on Thread-${Thread.currentThread().name} with id ${Thread.currentThread().threadId()}")
            }
        }.join()
    }
} The best way to pick one or more options form the one I give in the quiz, is to look at the order the animals start. In this case the can all start in random orders. However they will all share the same thread because they are just being launched from that call stack. This way, the Siamese Cat, the Mouse and the Main Coon need to share he same Thread number on those calls and so that eliminates already options B and D. The Siamese cat only has a delay of 1 ms and that means that, although seemingly unlikely, option A is still very possible. It is actually very likely that this coroutine starts and ends before any of the other two start. 1 ms is just too much of a short time. We have to consider that possibility as well. And this is why the right answers to this questions are A and C, and this is only one example of that result: Running on context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@4de5031f, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Siamese Cat is launching on Thread-main with id 1
Siamese Cat just ran on Thread-main with id 1
Running on context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@691a7f8f, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Mouse is launching on Thread-main with id 1
Running on context [StandaloneCoroutine{Active}@50a7bc6e, Dispatchers.Unconfined]
Maine Coon is launching on Thread-main with id 1
Mouse just ran on Thread-kotlinx.coroutines.DefaultExecutor with id 21
Maine Coon is just ran on Thread-kotlinx.coroutines.DefaultExecutor with id 21 Find the video answer to this . quiz here My idea with this article is to show some interesting cases I found with . You may find these issues while working with Kotlin coroutines and very likely a lot of people will tell you just to use the Default dispatcher. That can lead to a miscommunication problem. There is such a thing called , which is specific for CPU operations. When people say that when in doubt, use the default dispatcher, they probably do not mean the context. Make sure to double check, because, especially if you are working in server-side programming with certain frameworks, what they probably mean is that you shouldn’t use any specific dispatchers. Most of frameworks like the Spring Framework already offer support to use suspend functions and so your concern as a developer is for the most cases only to implement the suspend functions and not use any specific context. Use the default of course and that is, in Spring, the . Have a good one everyone! Dispatchers.Unconfined Dispatchers.Default Dispatchers.Default Dispatchers.Unconfined Also published . here

They Said to Use the Default Dispatchers but I Found it Was Unconfined

Heyo, Hacker! This writing prompt is designed by the HackerNoon editorial team and our friends at Āut Labs, with themes and ideas for you to enter the Opt Out Writing contest. See the contest announcement . Learn how to enter the contest . here here How do you define autonomy? How much do you care for it? Why is it important, or why should we give it importance? How can we achieve it on the web? Does true decentralization really exist? Is there a way to eliminate central control without hurting trust and accountability? If these questions matter to you, your contribution matters to us. Prizes from $9,000 (in USDT)  will be given to the top autonomy stories on HackerNoon! Here are a few suggestions by the team of Aut Labs for you to follow: : Autonomy in Decentralized Systems, Collectives and DAOs Explore the critical role of autonomy in decentralized systems like DAOs. Consider focusing on how Āut’s mission and products (i.e.: , …) enhance this. You can tell us about Roman’s , Greek’s , French or some role-based, [dys/u]topian society that is yet to come. Nova, ĀutID, ĀutOS triumvirates poleis communes - : Autonomy in Art, Technology, and Activism Remember the “ ” in the Berlin of the 90ies? We love that vibe. Consider the intersection of autonomy in art, technology, and activist reforms - highlighting innovative approaches based on autonomy of one or multiple parties. As well as how these parties can play together to take down a censoring, centralized, self-absorbed Moloch. hacker labs : Autonomy in the Workplace ell us a story on how a “ ” may look like. Are we aiming towards a dystopian, whole-state surveillance, or towards the highest level of individual autonomy and collective productivity that humankind has ever seen? Anything worse? Anything in between? Reshape the future workplace and work culture, especially imagining a world where decentralized organizations actually made it. workplace of the future : Role-specific Autonomy . Is different for DeFi degens vs. artists & writers vs. political scientists & philosophers vs. governance vs. devs & mathematicians? Feel free to tackle them all at once, tell us a story about one of them - or create a role-based governance model that is going to take the future generations by storm. 50 shades of Autonomy autonomy : Collective Autonomy Square and simple. What is , isn't it a paradox in terms, and what does that even mean? Yeah, all that jazz. You can take a mathematical angle, invent new game-theorical rules of the game, or just make up a story that even for a second lets us suspend our disbelief. Collective Autonomy Use this template to start writing your story! All the best, hacktivist!

Write on Autonomy; Win from $9,000!

Heyo, Hacker! is designed by our friends at Āut Labs with themes and ideas for you to enter the Opt Out Writing contest. This writing prompt Click here to write with this template. See the contest announcement . Learn how to enter the contest . here here Theme 1: . Opt out of a System that doesn’t represent you #autonomy: : Explore the critical role of autonomy in decentralized systems like DAOs. Consider focusing on how Āut’s mission and products (i.e.: Nova, ĀutID, ĀutOS, …) enhance this. You can tell us about Roman’s , Greek’s , French or some role-based, [dys/u]topian society that is yet to come. Autonomy in Decentralized Systems, Collectives and DAOs triumvirates poleis communes - : Remember the “ ” in the Berlin of the 90ies? We love that vibe. Consider the intersection of autonomy in art, technology, and activist reforms - highlighting innovative approaches based on autonomy of one or multiple parties. As well as how these parties can play together to take down a censoring, centralized, self-absorbed Moloch. Autonomy in Art, Technology, and Activism hacker labs : Tell us a story on how a “ ” may look like. Are we aiming towards a dystopian, whole-state surveillance, or towards the highest level of individual autonomy and collective productivity that humankind has ever seen? Anything worse? Anything in between? Reshape the future workplace and work culture, especially imagining a world where decentralized organizations actually made it. Autonomy in the Workplace workplace of the future : . Is different for DeFi degens vs. artists & writers vs. political scientists & philosophers vs. governance vs. devs & mathematicians? Feel free to tackle them all at once, tell us a story about one of them - or create a role-based governance model that is going to take the future generations by storm. Role-specific Autonomy 50 shades of Autonomy autonomy : Square and simple. What is , isn't it a paradox in terms, and what does that even mean? Yeah, all that jazz. You can take a mathematical angle, invent new game-theorical rules of the game, or just make up a story that even for a second lets us suspend our disbeliefs. Collective Autonomy Collective Autonomy #identity: : What is identity in the digital space? Is it a mere reflection of what we are offline, or is it an augmented version of ourselves? Is there a “minimum viable tech stack” that can be combined to create verifiable individuals? This is an open prompt - feel free to take it from a technical or philosophical standpoint. And be provocative - we aim for non-trivial answers only on how digital technologies enable new forms of identity, personal expression and verification. Identity in the Digital Space : That’s an obvious one. How identity evolved over the centuries. Did we “mature” as a society? Did technology change what we are as individuals? Are humans different in their [self-awareness; proprioception; way to perceive others] or we did nothing but taking a long stroll from Stone Age to Technocracy? The History of Identity : we talk DAOs, distributed nations, on-chain agencies. But what are individuals within groups? Is collective intelligence a “flattening model” that blurs individuality within collectives, or it turns each individual actor into a needed, recognizable tile of the puzzle? And what is the threshold between individual and collective identity? This is a difficult one - new models, visual graphs, and brand-new, DAO-shaking processes are encouraged. Collective Identity : from Metaverses and NFTs, to basic PGP and SSIDs. How can an ID be as unstoppable, and uncensorable on one side, as it is credible, and reliable on the other? Please, be as geeky as needs be - use your tech-knowledge and understanding as an act of civil disobedience. On-chain Identities : This is our Sci-fi prompt. Tell us stories. Speculate on how identity will evolve in decentralized societies. On how they will impact individuality. For this prompt you can share your tech journal, tell us personal identity narratives, or even invent on-chain personas and breed them to NFT perpetual life. Whatever works. The Evolution of Identity in Decentralized Societies #selfsovereignty: : What is -sovereignty? Why it matters? “ ” is already a long, difficult word per se - so why did we even feel the need to add the prefix “ ” there? This is all about the inalienable individuals’ right to privacy and selective disclosure. Give us self-sovereignty straight, or explore it in a specific context. The Essence of Self-Sovereignty self Sovereignty self- : Provide real-world examples or case studies where self-sovereignty is effectively implemented. Can’t find any? Even better. Make one up, and let’s make it happen together. Self-Sovereignty in Action : This is a big one. As the Anarchist proverb goes, . But what are the borders of this personal freedom? Should self-sovereignty self-enforce in decentralized social/community contracts? Or we should somehow “hardwire” a sort of collective ethos beforehand, into the decentralized smart contracts that will govern us all? Balancing Self-Sovereignty and Collective Responsibility one can only be free if everyone else is free : Think of DeFi credit score, think of UBI. Is a self-sovereign, verifiable ID enough to automate the individual and collective distribution of wealth? Or we still need/want/expect “watchmen” to supervise that all goes smooth - and to potentially deem liable if something goes wrong? Self-Sovereignty in Financial Systems : Should we really be limited by old-world concepts such as “1 person : 1 Identity/vote/seat”? Or meritocracy means that we should be able to enforce a self-sovereign right to multiplicity in the digital space, as long as we can handle our multifaceted selves? To Sybil or not to Sybil Open Prompts: : The old, best writing advise: write about what you know. From literature, to robotics, to the legal system - write about one of the contest topics in relation to a specific field you are deeply knowledgeable or passionate about. [#autonomy; #identity; #selfsovereignty] in [insert field] This is a quote that we like, from J.P. Proudhon. To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality. , - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon The General Idea of the Revolution Explore it in the key that you like, adherent to one of the three main themes. Or just use it as an inspiration, and write about whatever you want :) Click here to write with this template.

Aut Labs Story Template: Opt Out of a System that Doesn’t Represent You

অট ল্যাবস স্টোরি টেমপ্লেট: এমন একটি সিস্টেম থেকে অপ্ট আউট করুন যা আপনাকে প্রতিনিধিত্ব করে না

Aut Labs-Story-Vorlage: Melden Sie sich von einem System ab, das Sie nicht repräsentiert

Plantilla de historia de Aut Labs: optar por no participar en un sistema que no lo representa

Modèle d'histoire Aut Labs : désinscription d'un système qui ne vous représente pas

ऑट लैब्स स्टोरी टेम्प्लेट: उस सिस्टम से ऑप्ट आउट करें जो आपका प्रतिनिधित्व नहीं करता है

Aut Labs ストーリー テンプレート: あなたを代表しないシステムからオプトアウトする

Aut Labs 스토리 템플릿: 귀하를 대표하지 않는 시스템에서 탈퇴

Modelo de história do Aut Labs: desative um sistema que não representa você

Шаблон истории Aut Labs: Откажитесь от системы, которая не представляет вас

Aut Labs Hikaye Şablonu: Sizi Temsil Etmeyen Bir Sistemden Vazgeçin

Mẫu câu chuyện của Aut Labs: Chọn không tham gia hệ thống không đại diện cho bạn

自动实验室故事模板：选择退出不代表您的系统

Heyo, Hacker! This writing prompt is designed by our friends at Āut Labs with themes and ideas for you to enter the . This is your chance to win from $9,000! See the contest announcement . Learn how to enter the contest . Opt Out Writing contest here here Autonomy :
Explore the critical role of autonomy in decentralized systems like DAOs. Consider focusing on how Āut’s mission and products (i.e.: Nova, ĀutID, ĀutOS, …) enhance this. You can tell us about Roman’s , Greek’s , French or some role-based, [dys/u]topian society that is yet to come. Autonomy in Decentralized Systems, Collectives and DAOs triumvirates poleis communes - :
Remember the “ ” in the Berlin of the 90ies? We love that vibe. Consider the intersection of autonomy in art, technology, and activist reforms - highlighting innovative approaches based on autonomy of one or multiple parties. As well as how these parties can play together to take down a censoring, centralized, self-absorbed Moloch. Autonomy in Art, Technology, and Activism hacker labs :
Tell us a story on how a “ ” may look like. Are we aiming towards a dystopian, whole-state surveillance, or towards the highest level of individual autonomy and collective productivity that humankind has ever seen? Anything worse? Anything in between? Reshape the future workplace and work culture, especially imagining a world where decentralized organizations actually made it. Autonomy in the Workplace workplace of the future : . Is different for DeFi degens vs. artists & writers vs. political scientists & philosophers vs. governance vs. devs & mathematicians? Feel free to tackle them all at once, tell us a story about one of them - or create a role-based governance model that is going to take the future generations by storm. Role-specific Autonomy 50 shades of Autonomy autonomy :
Square and simple. What is , isn't it a paradox in terms, and what does that even mean? Yeah, all that jazz. You can take a mathematical angle, invent new game-theorical rules of the game, or just make up a story that even for a second lets us suspend our disbeliefs. Collective Autonomy Collective Autonomy Identity: :
What is identity in the digital space? Is it a mere reflection of what we are offline, or is it an augmented version of ourselves? Is there a “minimum viable tech stack” that can be combined to create verifiable individuals? This is an open prompt - feel free to take it from a technical or philosophical standpoint. And be provocative - we aim for non-trivial answers only on how digital technologies enable new forms of identity, personal expression and verification. Identity in the Digital Space : That’s an obvious one. How identity evolved over the centuries. Did we “mature” as a society? Did technology change what we are as individuals? Are humans different in their [self-awareness; proprioception; way to perceive others] or we did nothing but taking a long stroll from Stone Age to Technocracy? The History of Identity : we talk DAOs, distributed nations, on-chain agencies. But what are individuals within groups? Is collective intelligence a “flattening model” that blurs individuality within collectives, or it turns each individual actor into a needed, recognizable tile of the puzzle? And what is the threshold between individual and collective identity? This is a difficult one - new models, visual graphs, and brand-new, DAO-shaking processes are encouraged. Collective Identity : from Metaverses and NFTs, to basic PGP and SSIDs. How can an ID be as unstoppable, and uncensorable on one side, as it is credible, and reliable on the other? Please, be as geeky as needs be - use your tech-knowledge and understanding as an act of civil disobedience. On-chain Identities : This is our Sci-fi prompt. Tell us stories. Speculate on how identity will evolve in decentralized societies. On how they will impact individuality. For this prompt you can share your tech journal, tell us personal identity narratives, or even invent on-chain personas and breed them to NFT perpetual life. Whatever works. The Evolution of Identity in Decentralized Societies Selfsovereignty: :
What is -sovereignty? Why it matters? “ ” is already a long, difficult word per se - so why did we even feel the need to add the prefix “ ” there? This is all about the inalienable individuals’ right to privacy and selective disclosure. Give us self-sovereignty straight, or explore it in a specific context. The Essence of Self-Sovereignty self Sovereignty self- :
Provide real-world examples or case studies where self-sovereignty is effectively implemented. Can’t find any? Even better. Make one up, and let’s make it happen together. Self-Sovereignty in Action :
This is a big one. As the Anarchist proverb goes, . But what are the borders of this personal freedom? Should self-sovereignty self-enforce in decentralized social/community contracts? Or we should somehow “hardwire” a sort of collective ethos beforehand, into the decentralized smart contracts that will govern us all? Balancing Self-Sovereignty and Collective Responsibility one can only be free if everyone else is free :
Think of DeFi credit score, think of UBI. Is a self-sovereign, verifiable ID enough to automate the individual and collective distribution of wealth? Or we still need/want/expect “watchmen” to supervise that all goes smooth - and to potentially deem liable if something goes wrong? Self-Sovereignty in Financial Systems :
Should we really be limited by old-world concepts such as “1 person : 1 Identity/vote/seat”? Or meritocracy means that we should be able to enforce a self-sovereign right to multiplicity in the digital space, as long as we can handle our multifaceted selves? To Sybil or not to Sybil Open Prompts: : The old, best writing advise: write about what you know. From literature, to robotics, to the legal system - write about one of the contest topics in relation to a specific field you are deeply knowledgeable or passionate about. [#autonomy; #identity; #selfsovereignty] in [insert field] This is a quote that we like, from J.P. Proudhon. To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be governed is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government; that is its justice; that is its morality. , - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon The General Idea of the Revolution Explore it in the key that you like, adherent to one of the three main themes. Or just use it as an inspiration and write about whatever you want :)

Write on Identity, Autonomy, or Self Sovereignty, Win From $9,000 

Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . ST. BLAISE, THE WINNER OF THE DERBY. here ST. BLAISE, THE WINNER OF THE DERBY. St. Blaise, the property of Sir Frederick Johnstone, was bred by Lord Alington, and is by Hermit from Fusee. This is an unexceptionable pedigree, for Hermit is now as successful and fashionable a sire as was even Stockwell in his palmiest days, while Fusee was far more than an average performer on the turf, and won several Queen's Plates and other races over a distance of ground. St. Blaise is by no means a big colt, standing considerably under sixteen hands. His color is about his worst point, as he is a light, washy chestnut, with a bald face and three white heels. He has a good head and neck, and very powerful back and muscular quarters, added to which his legs and feet are well shaped and thoroughly sound. His first appearance was made in the Twenty-fourth Stockbridge Biennial at the Bibury Club Meeting, when he won easily enough; but there were only four moderate animals behind him. A walk-over for the Troy Stakes followed, and then Macheath beat him easily enough for the Hurstbourne Stakes, though he finished in front of Adriana and Tyndrum. For the Molecomb Stakes at Goodwood, he ran a dead-heat with Elzevir, to whom he was giving 7 lb.; and Bonny Jean, in receipt of 10 lb., was unplaced. A 7 lb. penalty seemed to put him completely out of the Dewhurst Plate; but he must then have been out of form, as, on the following day, it took him all his time to defeat Pebble by a neck in the Troy Stakes. This season he has only run twice. His fourth in the Two Thousand was by no means a bad performance, considering that he was palpably backward; and his victory of last week is too recent to need further allusion. Porter, his trainer, can boast of several other successes in the great race at Epsom; but Charles Wood had never previously ridden a Derby winner. St. Blaise was unfortunately omitted from the entries for the St. Leger, but has several valuable engagements at Ascot next week, and appears to have the Grand Prize of Paris, on Sunday, at his mercy.-- . Illustrated London News [NATURE.] SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS IN CHINA AND JAPAN. Various steps in the progress of China, and Japan in the adoption of Western science and educational methods have from time to time been noticed in these columns. To the popular mind the names of the two countries are synonymous with rigid, unreasoning conservatism and with rapid change, respectively. The grave, dignified Chinese, who maintains his own dress and habits even when isolated among strangers, and whose motto appears to be, , is popularly believed to be animated by a sullen, obstinate hostility toward any introduction from the West, however plain its value may be; while his gayer and more mercurial neighbor, the Japanese, is regarded as the true child of the old age of the West, following assiduously in its parent's footsteps, and pursuing obediently the path marked out by European experience. There is considerable misconception in this, as indeed there is at all times in the English popular mind with regard to strange peoples. Broadly speaking, it is no doubt correct to say that, Japan has adopted Western inventions and scientific appliances with avidity; that she has shown a desire for change which is abnormal, and a disposition to destroy her charts and sail away into unsurveyed seas, while China remains pretty much where she always was. She is now, with some exceptions, what she was twenty, two hundred, perhaps two thousand years ago, while a new Japan has been created in fifteen years. All this, we say, is true, but it is not the whole truth. China also has had her changes; not indeed so marked or rapid, not so much in the nature of a on all her past as those of her neighbor. Stare super mas antiquas volte-face The radical difference between the two countries in this respect we take to be this: that while Japan loves change for the sake of change, China dislikes it, and will only adopt it when it is clearly demonstrated to her that change is absolutely necessary. To the Japanese change appears to be a delightful excitement, to the Chinese a distasteful necessity; to the former whatever is must be wrong, to the latter whatever is is right. As a consequence of this difference between the two peoples, when China once makes a step forward it is generally after much deliberation, and is never retraced. Japan is constantly undertaking new schemes with little care or thought for the morrow, but with the applause of injudicious foreign friends. In a short time she discovers that she has underrated the expense or exaggerated the results, and her projects are straightway abandoned as rapidly and thoughtlessly as they were commenced. Swift suggested as a suitable subject for a philosophical writer a history of human projects which were never carried out; the historian of modern Japan finds these at every turn. Where, for example, are the results of the great surveys, trigonometrical and others, which were commenced in Yezo and the main island about ten years ago? A large, expensive, but highly competent foreign staff was engaged, and worked for a few years; but suddenly the whole survey department was swept away, and the valuable instruments are, or were recently, lying rusting in a warehouse in Tokio. The same story may be told of scores of other scientific or educational undertakings in Japan. An able and careful writer, Col. H.S. Palmer, R.E., who has recently, with a friendly and sympathetic eye, examined the whole field of recent Japanese progress, in the is forced to acknowledge this. "Once having recognized," says this officer, "that progress is essential to welfare, and having resolved, first among the nations of the East, to throw off past traditions and mould their civilization after that of Western countries, it was not in the nature of the lively and impulsive Japanese to advance along the path of reform with the calmness and circumspection that might have been possible to a people of less active temperament. Without doubt many foreign institutions were at first adopted rather too hastily, and the passing difficulties which now beset Japan are to some extent the inevitable result." It would be blindness to deny that the net result of the Japanese efforts is progress of a very remarkable kind, but it is a progress which in many respects lacks the firm and abiding characteristics of Chinese movements. British Quarterly Review The proverb, , which was recommended ten years ago to Japanese attention by an eminent English official, and apparently disregarded by them, has been adopted by their continental neighbors. To the blandishments of pushing diplomatists or acute promoters, the Chinese are deaf. However we may felicitate ourselves on our inventions, scientific appliances, "the railway and the steamship and the thoughts that shake mankind," our progress, the newspapers, the penny post, and what not, China will not adopt them simply because have found their value and are proud of them. But if, within the range of her own experience, she finds the advantage of these things, she will employ them with a rapidity and decision surpassing those of the Japanese. A conspicuous instance of this will be found in her recent action with respect to telegraphs. For years the Chinese steadily refused to have anything to do with them; the small land line which connected the foreign community of Shanghai with the outer world, was maintained against the violent protests of the local authorities, and the cable companies experienced some difficulty in getting permission to land their cables. But during the winter of 1870-80, when war with Russia was threatened, the value of telegraphs was demonstrated to the Peking government. The Peiho at Tientsin was closed by ice against steamers, and news could only be carried to the capital by overland couriers from Shanghai. Before a year elapsed a land line of telegraph was being constructed between this port and Tientsin; in a few months the line was in working order, and the Chinese metropolis is now in telegraphic communication with every capital in Europe. Chi va piano va sano we This conservatism, respect for antiquity, conceit, prejudice, call it what we will, has something in it that extorts our respect. Let us imagine a dignified and cultivated Chinese official conversing with a pushing Manchester or Birmingham manufacturer, who descants on the benefits of our modern inventions. He would probably commune with himself in this wise, whatever reply Oriental politeness would dictate to his interviewer: "China has got on very well for some tens of centuries without the curious things of which this foreigner speaks; she has produced in this time statesmen, poets, philosophers, soldiers; her people appear to have had their share of affliction, but not more than those of Europe; why should we now turn round at the bidding of a handful of strangers who know little of us or our country, and make violent changes in our life and habits? A railway in a province will throw thousands of coolies and boatmen out of employment and bring on them misery and starvation. This foreigner says that railways and telegraphs have been found beneficial in his country; good, let his countrymen have them if they please, but let us rest as we are for the present. Moreover, past events have not given us such faith in Europeans that we should take all they say for wisdom and justice." A day will undoubtedly come when China also will have her great mechanical and scientific enterprises; but what we contend for here is that nothing we can say or do will bring that time an hour nearer. European public opinion is to China a dead letter; she refuses to plead before that tribunal. Each step of her advance along our path must be the result of her own reflection and experience; and our wisest policy would be to leave her to herself to advance on it as she deems best. SINENSIS. 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. Various (2005). Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8742/pg8742-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 , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

ST. BLAISE, THE WINNER OF THE DERBY

As warfare evolves from sticks and stones to nuclear armaments and beyond, digital tools like scamming and social media offer novel and significant impacts on the battlefield. New digital tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) developed by Ukraine in response to Russia’s February 2022 incursion mark the beginning of social media warfare, characterized not just by cyber confrontations but how the digital translates into action on the battlefield. The use of digital platforms will only grow and further expose how these technologies can both aid and compromise military efforts in modern warfare. Russia’s experience with Ukrainian-leveraged digital assets serves as a cautionary tale for both individuals and militaries about the perils and possibilities inherent in our connected world. As (IW) gains prominence in modern military strategy, the role of digital tools like social media and cyber-enabled scamming cannot be overstated. Social media platforms serve as an ideal ecosystem for executing a wide range of IW activities, from disinformation campaigns aimed at sowing division among enemy lines to civil-military operations that gauge public sentiment and build community relations. In the digital world, the battlefront’s traditional geographic confinement disappears, and the environment is persistently dynamic. irregular warfare Digital tools are particularly potent for small-scale, non-state actors who might not have the resources for traditional warfare but can nevertheless exert a significant impact through well-coordinated online campaigns, such as Ukrainian activists who use scamming techniques to convince to firebomb their own military offices. In the age of IW, the power dynamics on the battlefield are no longer solely determined by physical might; the impact of influence and information will continue to grow and allow for certain aspects of warfare to be crowdsourced, with ordinary civilians taking on a more prominent role in the era of irregular warfare. Russians The challenges faced by Ukraine on the battlefield have provided invaluable lessons for military strategists regarding and the . “Once the war is over, we will definitely write a textbook,” Vice-Admiral Oleksiy Neizhpapa, the head of Ukraine’s navy, “And we’ll send it to all the NATO military academies.” Ukraine is already applying many recently learned lessons with new digitally-enabled TTPs. The West, including and beyond NATO, can learn much from Ukraine’s social media application of irregular warfare in their ongoing war with Russia. conventional warfare future of war proclaimed Romance and espionage: how online dating apps betrayed Russian soldiers Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian soldiers have revealed information from their to AI-generated of Ukrainian women. Some soldiers inadvertently disclosed their tactical locations through images while seeking companionship. One woman ingeniously two Tinder accounts, setting a different location near the border for each account and, referencing the difference between locations of shared matches, “triangulate(d) the exact locations of her matches.” As a result, she reported over seventy such profiles and their locations to Ukrainian authorities. Tinder dating app profiles fake profiles employed devised a ruse using fake profiles of appealing women across multiple social media platforms, such as Telegram, to ensnare Russian soldiers stationed near Melitopol. According to the , the Russian soldiers were persuaded to share photos of themselves on duty. Upon receiving these images, the hackers pinpointed their origin to a secluded Russian military base near Melitopol in southern Ukraine. This intelligence was subsequently relayed to the Ukrainian military, leading to an assault on the base days later. Ukrainian hackers Financial Times On Russian Navy Day in July 2023, Ukrainian hackers targeted Russian sailors by sending them a video with good “wishes” via apps. According to the Ukrainian military’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), these videos depicted Ukrainian drones and missiles attacking Russian warships, including the . In addition to any potential psychological impact of the footage, the message contained malware that provided the hackers with access to the sailors’ phone data, subsequently transferring confidential information to Ukrainian servers. Most sailors unwittingly expressed gratitude before opening the deceptive video. messaging Moskva cruiser Activists use scamming techniques to target Russia's military infrastructure and offices. Russian officials attribute a series of at their recruitment centers to “phone scammers” who specifically target the elderly to attack Russian army recruitment offices. According to Russian intelligence services, scammers target vulnerable citizens “who found themselves in difficult circumstances and are easy to influence.” By convincing them to take out a loan or share their bank details, they are subsequently convinced to attack a recruitment office in an attempt to recover their losses. For example, in Russian-occupied Crimea, scammers duped a schoolteacher into throwing a flammable object at a recruitment office. Similarly, in St. Petersburg, a 66-year-old woman was lured into taking out a loan with the false promise that her debt would be cleared if she attacked a with a Molotov cocktail. Digital scammers do not only target the elderly. Teenagers in Russia, who claim they are not aware of who their financier may be, were recruited via to ignite railway junction boxes in exchange for money. fire-bombings recruitment office social media The rising significance of open-source intelligence (OSINT) In August 2022, the Wagner group faced an attack in Popasna, Ukraine. A local pro-Russian journalist inadvertently the Wagner base’s location through images shared on Telegram. One such image, now removed, disclosed the base’s exact address. Armed with this information, Ukrainian forces demolished the site. A Ukrainian official hinted that the strike’s precision was possibly aided by the shared Telegram images. This incident epitomizes how social media-derived open-source intelligence (OSINT, information procured from public sources) is strategically leveraged in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. revealed When location-based apps lead to physical attacks In March 2017, a Royal Navy member’s run inside His Majesty’s Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde), a high-security base housing the UK’s nuclear deterrent, was tracked via the , leading to concerns about revealing sensitive military locations. has shown that data from fitness apps might inadvertently reveal the locations of hidden military bases by mapping consistent exercise patterns and patrol paths within or around such bases. These apps, which often connect to devices such as Fitbits and Garmin watches, allow users to log their exercise routes. A feature designed for friendly competition might unintentionally expose the precise activities and identities of staff within high-security military zones. Strava app Research In July 2023, data from the app turned deadly. A Le Monde from July 11, 2023, suggests that Strava may have inadvertently played a role in the assassination of Captain Stanislav Rzhitsky. The Russian officer was ambushed and on July 10, 2023, in a park in Krasnodar, Russia. Rzhitsky formerly led a submarine that was implicated in a 2022 strike on the Ukrainian city of that resulted in 27 civilian deaths. report killed Vinnytsia Rzhitsky’s leadership role in this act made him a target for Ukrainian intelligence. disclosed that Rzhitsky was a regular Strava user, often sharing his routes. The consistency in his routes led to speculation that his killers might have used the app to predict his movements on the day of his assassination. Strava’s user agreement highlights that unless data-sharing settings are restricted, user activity can be accessed by anyone online, including details like distance, runtime, and maps of routes. Le Monde , a Ukrainian government app originally designed to facilitate access to public services, was repurposed for wartime efforts. It enables Ukrainians to both report the presence of Russian soldiers in their vicinity and manage tasks like uploading tax returns, renewing passports or providing students with bus fare discounts. Among its features is the “e-Enemy” function, which lets Ukrainian citizens about Russian troop movements, providing invaluable data to the Ukrainian military for strategizing their defense and countermeasures. Diia relay information The evolving face of modern warfare Carl von Clausewitz’s posits that, while the fundamental nature of war remains constant in the human experience, its execution or character is . He viewed war as a complex social activity, and in the 21st century, our interconnectedness expands our connectivity to war as individuals through the digital realm. The increasing democratization of warfare, facilitated by technology, is shifting the focus towards the role of ordinary civilians, like the women who set up virtual “ ” using dating apps to get Russian soldiers to reveal their location. As digital tools continue to enter the fray, regular citizens will assume an even more important role in today’s warfare. On War ever-changing honey traps This metamorphosis of warfare, propelled by the digital age, underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive reevaluation of how we in the West approach conflict in the 21st century and ensure we apply lessons from the Russo-Ukrainian war. The battlefield is no longer confined to physical terrain; it now includes the vast, interconnected realm of the internet, where each click or post could be as consequential as any traditional military maneuver. Therefore, it is vital for the Western alliances and NATO to adapt and develop new strategies that respond to this evolving threat landscape – the next compromised service member could be a NATO soldier who accidentally leaks vital information on social media to our adversaries. In an all-out war, it could be our own populations that are targeted by scammers to attack military offices. We must learn lessons early on from the digital irregular warfare we are seeing in the Russo-Ukrainian war and begin strategizing new approaches to protect ourselves. We must develop an understanding of how to leverage these tools more effectively in the future. Also published . here

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