Traces of the Internet Age

Lin Yuan tried to view the commenter’s profile, but the owner of the comment hadn’t left much information on Facebook; even their birthday was listed as January 1, 2020, which was clearly a random entry.

The gender field was filled with “Walmart plastic bag,” which could be considered going with the flow.

However, considering the context of that post, it was a group of people complaining about the high cost of computing resources, and this commenter was clearly showing off.

Lin Yuan understood this to mean that, for example, when someone was crying poverty and couldn't afford food, this commenter was boasting that he could not only eat and drink for free but also take things for free afterward.

So, the question arose: why would anyone let him take things for free?

Therefore, Lin Yuan was almost certain that OCR was a clandestine NGO.

As for NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), they have long been notorious.

Ostensibly non-profit government organizations, they are actually just front organizations.

Wherever there is turmoil in the world, their presence is sure to be found.

Although Lin Yuan currently didn't know the true identity of the nickname “Bloody $ong1024,” with the information he had, he could definitely find this guy if he had sufficient public authority cooperation.

Because since OCR registered a branch office in HK and the domain name of that personal blog was also registered in HK, it would be filed with the local information authorities.

This would then allow them to find out who the domain name was provided to, then find the owner of that blog, and “Bloody $ong1024” was a friend of that blog owner.

Following the clues, he couldn't escape.

Even if that guy hadn't taken some scientific internet access measures, he could be found just by network investigation.

For example, if he didn't even hide the MAC address of his device, he could be tracked based on the MAC, which is the unique identity ID of an internet-connected device.

In short, don't show off aimlessly on the internet.

If someone wants to find you, they can usually find you.

Especially this Bloody $ong1024, Lin Yuan guessed that he was probably also a bit carried away by Halloween; how could he use his external social platform nickname in a public setting?

He might have enjoyed the thrill of hiding behind a mask on Halloween, but in the age of the internet, many things leave traces.

But compared to knowing who this guy was, Lin Yuan was clearly more concerned with how to “milk” computing resources from OCR.

So, Lin Yuan naturally turned his attention to OCR's Chinese official website deployed in HK, and he successfully found the entrance to apply for free computing resources.

He immediately clicked in to view the details.

As expected, things were not that simple.

Because the free computing resources available for application on OCR's official website were extremely limited.

OCR didn't even provide remote login virtual machines or anything; instead, it only offered a web-based online Python editor.

This meant that users wouldn't perceive the existence of a machine but could only run their code on the web-based code editor provided by the other party.

This was essentially like moving the original local computer's IDE to the cloud.

(IDE, Integrated Development Environment, is used for writing and running code.)

Lin Yuan registered an OCR account, and the registration process was quite convenient.

It only required completing a simple questionnaire with questions that were at the “hello world” level.

For example: implement the exchange of values of two variables using pseudocode.

This kind of question is entry-level for programmers, but for outsiders, for muggles: “Nani, what is pseudocode?”

Lin Yuan understood that the other party's action was merely to filter out some malicious resource applicants.

After completing the account application, he successfully obtained the resource quota.

But after Lin Yuan saw it, “shit!” He didn't even have the desire to try it.

Because the other party clearly stated in the announcement: the allocated computing resources are shared, and they cannot provide accurate computing power indicators.

“Shared” means that a group of people share fixed computing resources together.

Regardless of how many monks there are, there's only so much porridge.

Lin Yuan stroked his chin and pondered for a while.

OCR, at first glance, felt similar to domestic cloud computing service providers.

Domestic cloud computing service providers also offer some public cloud hosts and computing resources.

These public welfare resources generally have small quotas and are also shared.

Besides the cloud computing companies promoting themselves, they indeed bring a lot of convenience.

Because this type of cloud-based IDE does not require setting up any pre-development environment; you can start working directly after opening the webpage and logging in.

You don't need a high-spec computer; as long as you can open a browser and access the internet, it's fine.

The main selling point is “out-of-the-box.”

Of course, “out-of-the-box” is an IT term, which literally means: open the box, take out the contents, and it can be used.

But actually, “no foreplay, just get to it” is more colloquial.

However, due to resource limitations, these cloud-based IDEs are only for practice; for running training?

Save it.

Capitalists don't like to do charity.

Therefore, at first glance, OCR really didn't show anything unusual.

If it weren't for the key information retrieved by the system—Bloody $ong1024's strange comment—Lin Yuan would have just considered OCR an ordinary multinational organization.

As for whether this guy's comment might have been a casual fabrication, Lin Yuan thought it was almost impossible.

Because casual bragging isn't like this; it wouldn't mention an organization so precisely, and it wouldn't mention details like this organization giving away a certain quota of computing resources.

This is like when you describe the details of a certain foot massage parlor so eloquently, you've probably been there.

Now the problem became how Lin Yuan should delve deeper into OCR.

Unknowingly, the four steamed buns Lin Yuan bought in the morning had long been reduced to an empty plastic bag, and the two bottles of happy water were already empty.

His stomach grumbled uncontrollably.

Lin Yuan closed his notebook and walked out of the dormitory, preparing to get some fresh air to relax his mind and grab something to eat along the way.

To complement his eventful day of work, Lin Yuan ordered a bowl of Lanzhou ramen with extra meat.

He couldn't let his full enthusiasm be chilled by those two thin slices of meat.

Xia Ye came back earlier than usual from her tutoring agency today, and Song Xiaoxiao, who was going to help her expose Lin Yuan's disguise, also returned to their rented apartment unusually early.

“Xia Ye, I’m the one who’s going to test him, why are you putting on makeup?” Song Xiaoxiao snatched the foundation from Xia Ye’s hand.

“I sweat a lot teaching dance during the day, and I just washed my face with facial cleanser, so I’m reapplying some powder.”

“Then do you want to put on a face mask first?”

“Oh, right, how could I forget that?” Xia Ye actually went to look for a face mask.

“Come back, can’t you tell I’m being sarcastic?”

“Huh? What is it?” Xia Ye apparently really didn't get it.

“To expose Lin Yuan’s disguise, all I need to do is dress up glamorously; why are you getting so worked up? You should complement me, understand?”

“But… I don’t want to look too sloppy.”

Song Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes at her, “Then I’m not going, you go throw yourself at him.”

“How could I? I’m just inviting him to dinner to thank him for his kindness before.”

“Heh, a thousand yuan moves you this much.

If he had transferred a hundred thousand yuan to you back then, you’d probably be calling him Daddy.”

“That’s different,” Xia Ye argued, “Although it’s only a thousand yuan, he earns money by delivering food, which is so difficult.

A thousand yuan might be his entire savings, but a hundred thousand yuan is just a drop in the bucket for a rich person.”

“Tsk, the most ridiculous thing in the world is ‘it’s the thought that counts.’

Warm greetings are not as good as a huge sum of money.”

Xia Ye didn't intend to argue with Song Xiaoxiao on this topic.

“Xiao Xiao, if you really don’t want to go, then I’ll go by myself.”

Song Xiaoxiao smiled wickedly, “Do you really not want me to go?”

“I… I… it’s up to you.”

“Really?”

Xia Ye felt a bit guilty, “Although I think Lin Yuan shouldn’t be that kind of person, but if you insist…”

“Don’t worry, sis understands you,” Song Xiaoxiao interrupted Xia Ye, “You be your little white lotus, and I’ll do the dirty work.”

“How could I…”