One Piece - Japanese Anime

I had the luxury of watching several Japanese anime series. My indulgence was great with Naruto a series about ninja's in feudal times of Japan.

But, only about "One Piece" my lazy hands wanted to type few words about on my blog (doesn't matter anyone cares to read of course).

There are monstrous amount of manga/comics and anime series pouring out on Japanese media everyday. I think they are very imaginative people for all those varieties of animes and manga to be published and celebrated worldwide.

All stories, have a hero who is like Rajinikanth in some way. Bad but with good heart. Almost all the animes I watched portrayed the hero as a hardworking numnut who is as stubborn as a rock(in this case Rajinikanth differs, he is always intelligent). The way they work towards their goal harder and harder, it would feel like they will turn into dust soon.

Those people out there who are never satisfied with the amount of fictional books they've read (after the silence of Harry Potter), those who keep their comic books from childhood days like a treasure still, and those (very important) who have time, can explore this vast ocean of quality stories coming from Japanese mangas.

I get a kick from reading stories that are setup in ancient times or medieval times, or times when science hadn't matured. Well, if you are like that you can explore these animes.

One other special thing about Japanese animes are, that they mix contemporary science into the story happening in medieval times of Japan as it would fit in those centuries. Their analogies are quite interesting and a  great treat for any fictional mind ;-)

Well, coming back to One Piece, it is setup in medieval times, when sea piracy is the way of life. Japan being an island country, I think this story is a good fit for their fictional minds and the guy who authored this has used every details he can conjure up to make it awesome.

As you go through the anime(I'm not much comfortable with manga form) well, it is a heart touching story for one thing, but totally fun and adventurous in its true nature. Suddenly you might fall in love with potato skins and their qualities; you may not be a fan of fish, but you might as well fall in love with fish cuisine; you might experience the hurdles of a swordsman, voila suddenly you might be inspired by him when he cuts 'nothing'(vacuum or Ether if you are too technical); you might even go through the process of drawing maps of lands on earth once our scientists had gone through, through an adventurous girl navigating our hero's ship.

And as with all children fictional work, hero's are young people only; and they act as mature human beings sometimes during the story, it's so cute :)

Well, if you let me I will sit and tell you the whole story. But, if you can test only one series, then go for One Piece. One warning though, these animes are not like Matrix Movie where every loose end is correctly tied up. But, there will be plenty of fun in the way story is set up that you can never get to see anywhere else.

One last thing; we all have heard mysterious, adventurous story bits; they are just bits and pieces only, mentioned briefly in several places like books and movies. But Japanese animes are a full blown version of those small bits you always desired to learn more about.

And one thing I couldn't get my head around is, several characters in multiple animes are children who live alone, tending themselves but working hard to keep up; often without parents; and then some adults living alone unmarried in a remote place in a lone house; it repeated so many times, that I started wondering whether Japan is a such country or what. Or what's with the obsession of making strong willed characters' background as so lonely?!

Arigato Osaimasu...! Orevaa mothu mothu kavaaiyi! ;) not really.

Thai Thindra Manne - English Transcript

continuation of post - Thai Thindra Manne

Thai Thindra Manne - English Transcript


தாய் தின்ற மண்ணே.... பிள்ளையின் கதறல்....
ஒரு பேரரசன் புலம்பல் ...THAI THINDRA MANNE.... PILLAIYIN KADHARAL.. ORU PERARASAN PULAMBAL...
[Oh Earth that consumed the mother.... it's a cry of her child...
 it's a wail of an emperor...]

நெல்லாடிய நிலம் எங்கே.... சொல்லாடிய அவை எங்கே.....
NELLAADIYA NILAM ENGE? SOLLAADIYA AVAI ENGE?
[Gone are the lands that spewed paddy rice... Gone are the councils of literary debate]

வில்லாடிய களம் எங்கே.... கல்லாடிய சிலை எங்கே.....
VILLAADIYA KALAM ENGE? KALLAADIYA SILAI ENGE?[Gone are the arrow-showering martial grounds... gone are the statues that leapt out of stones]

கயல் விளையாடும் வயல்வெளி தேடி காய்ந்து கழிந்தன கண்கள்....
KAYAL VILAIYAADUM VAYALVELI THEDI KAAINDHU KAZHINDHANA KANNGAL...
[In the search of farmlands where birds chirped and played, my eyes lost their moist]

காவிரி மலரின் கடிமணம் தேடி, கருகி முடிந்தது நாசி....
KAAVIRI MALARIN KADIMANAM THEDI, KARUGI MUDINDHADHU NAASI...
[searching the scent of flowers on the banks of river Kaveri, my nostrils crumbled like a dry flower]

சிலை வழி மேவும் உளி ஒலி தேடி, திருகி விழுந்தன செவிகள்.....
SILAI VAZHI MEVUM ULI OLI THEDI, THIRUGI VIZHUNDHANA SEVIGALL....
[my longing to hear the chisels chinking on the stone statues ended as my ears twisted and shed from my sides]

ஊண் பொதி சோற்றின் தேன் சுவை கருதி ஒட்டி உலர்ந்தது நாவும்....
OONN PODHI SOATRIN THENN SUVAI KARUDHI OTTI ULARNDHADHU NAAVUMM....
[when contemplating the honey soaked nourishing meals of the lost days, my tongues dried up]

புலிக்கொடி பொறித்த சோழ மாந்தர்கள் எலிக்கறி பொரிப்பதுவோ...
PULIKKODI PORITHTHA SOZHA MAANDHARGAL ELIKKARI PORIPPADHUVO...
 [The Chola high citizens who carved symbol of tiger on their flags, should they now cook rats for food?]

காற்றை குடிக்கும் தாவரமாகி காலம் கழிப்பதுவோ....
KAATRAI KUDIKKUM THAAVARAMAAGI, KAALAM KAZHIPPADHUVO....
[should we spend our years idle, like the plants living by drinking the air]

மண்டை ஓடுகள் மண்டிய நாட்டை மன்னன் ஆளுவதோ....
MANDAI OADUGAL MANDIYA NAATTAI, MANNAN AAALUVADHO....
[should the emperor rule the land that reeks and filled with skulls]



நொறுங்கும் உடல்கள்.... பிதுங்கும் உயிர்கள்....
NORUNGUM UDALGAL.... PIDHUNGUM UYIRGAL.....
[crumbling bodies.... squished lives...]

அழுகும் நாடு....
AZHUGUM NAADU...
[rotting kingdom],
 
அழுகின்ற அரசன்...
AZHUGINDRA ARASAN...
[crying king]

 

பழம் தின்னும் கிளியோ, பிணம் தின்னும் கழுகோ.....!
PAZHAM THINNUM KILIYO, PINAM THINNUM KAZHUGO...!
 [is it a fruit pecking parrot or (dead-body)flesh eating vulture...]

தூதோ..... முன்வினை தீ.....தோ.....
THOODHO... MUNVINAI THEEDHO....
[is it a message, or a sin of previous birth]

கலங்களும் அதிர.... களிறுகள் பிளிற...
KALANGALUM ADHIRA... KALIRUGAL PILIRA....
[let the earths tremble and elephants trumpet]

சோழம் அழைத்து போவாயோ.....
SOZHAM AZHAITHTHU POVAAYO...
[take me to my Chola lands...]
 

தங்கமே என்னை தாய் மண்ணில் சேர்த்தால்...
THANGAME ENNAI THAAI MANNIL SERTHTHAAL....
 [oh my dear, if you bring me to the land of my forefathers]


புரவிகள் போலே புரண்டிருப்போம்....
PURAVIGAL POLE PURANDIRUPPOAM....(குதிரைகள் மண்ணில் புரண்டு படுத்து கிடப்பது போல தன் சொந்த
நாட்டு நிலத்தில் விழுந்து கிடக்க வேண்டும்)
[we will roll in the grounds of my kingdom like horses till we feel it is real]
 

ஆயிரம் ஆண்டுகள் சேர்த்த கண்ணீரை, அருவிகள் போலே அழுதிருப்போம்....
AAYIRAM AANDUGAL SERTHTHA KANNEERAI, ARUVIGAL POLE AZHUDHIRUPPOAM....
 [the tears saved for thousand years, will stream like waterfalls on hills]

அது வரை அது வரை......ஓஓஓஓஓஓ... ஓஓஓஓஓஓஓஓஓஓஓஓ!
ADHU VARAI ADHU VARAI.... OOOOOOOO...OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
[till then, till then]

தமிழர் காணும் துயரம் கண்டு, தலையை சுற்றும் கோலே(crown), அழாதே...
THAMIZHAR KAANUM THUYARAM KANDU, THALAIYAI SUTRUM KOLEY, AZHAADHEY...
[don't cry the crown in my head, as you see sadness of Tamil people]

என்றோ ஒரு நாள், விடியும் என்றே, இரவை சுமக்கும் நாளே, அழாதே...
ENDRO ORU NAAL, VIDIYUM ENDRE, IRAVAI SUMMAKKUM NAALEY, AZHAADHEY...
[oh the day that bears the night, that dreams of a day of dawn, don't cry]

நூற்றாண்டுகளின் துருவை தாங்கி, உறையில் தூங்கும் வாளே, அழாதே.... 
NOOTRAANDUGALIN THURUVAI THAANGI, URAIYIL THOONGUM VAALEY, AZHAADHEY...
[oh, thy sword sleeping in it's sheath bearing the rust of hundreds of years, don't cry]

எந்தன் கண்ணின் கண்ணீர் கழுவ, என்னோடழும் யாழே, அழாதே........................!
ENDHAN KANNIN KANNEER KAZHUVA, ENNODAZHUM YAAZHEY, AZHAADHEY....!
[oh the yaash(musical instrument) that cries to wipe my tears of my eyes, don't cry]

THAAI THINDRA MANNE....

"Be Assertive India" says America

India should wield its "diplomatic, economic and military" clout.

Be assertive, voice forcefully, lead headway in regional neighborhood and strategic ambitions.

But India is holding onto age old diplomatic caution, being non-intrusive, passive, maintaining risk-averse diplomacy. Coalition governments and age-old civil servants are not helping anyway. Bla bla bla... it goes on...

---

One thing is right. India should be more assertive and should not bend to other powers.

But in what way? It is completely in different sense. I don't know whether Indians that is the real people in the foreign service, government, the corrupted politicians, and the alternating self serving political parties coming to power are up to the job. [I don't know how a consistent character can be maintained by different political parties coming to power]

Now what is the job?

India for the most part is compromising on values and justice in international arena for its own economical growth, and acts like a coward due to insecurity many times.

For example, relationship with U.S, Russia and World Bank/IMF is marked by weaker reactions to the dominant forces. World Bank forced India to open its market in return for the loan to bail out Indian monetary crisis in 1990's.

Developing relationship between Russia and U.S, India is torn between two powers not having the power of her own.

Even after passing nuclear liability bill in India, U.S is orchestrating a drama through NSG and trying to coerce India to undo her nuclear laws.

Though, being a servant to such high powers helped India to grow economically, India doesn't have any strong character or will of its own in international arena.

The irritating neighbors like Pakistan, reactionary and arrogant China, deceiving Sri Lanka behind the back are all reasons for India's absence of assertion and will power not to bend to higher powers thus compromising its own values and morals.

Can India openly make statement saying, it will not befriend any country just for its own benefit, but it will be only guided by international justice and moral of its own? We all talk about ancient India, its tradition, character, justice, and compassion to all human beings. But, the contemporary India, hardly shows any such character to the world.

Can India take risk to strike down offending countries with iron hand for justice? It need not be a military offensive. It can be withdrawal(100%) of economic relationship to protest the offending country that acts inhumanly and with injustice.

Can India cross the line of insecurity, try to be strong, use iron will while accommodating Pakistan's fear and try to take bold steps to resolve the issues between two countries? Is it even possible to think, India and Pakistan both sharing Jammu Kashmir as two friendly nations whose interest is to secure the strategic geo-location of J&K? Can India stop whining and move forward? Can India hold Pakistan responsible on its promises?

Pakistan is extremely reactionary. India creates nuclear weapon. Pakistan creates one immediately. India launches missiles. Pakistan launches missiles too. If India farts, Pakistan also will fart immediately I guess. Both U.S and China are taking advantage of this childlike character of Pakistan to befriend it. It is all India's fault. India lost a brother who now joined with adversary forces to strike down India in anyway possible.

All due to cowardly character of India.

When we say "Hi Friend" to Russia, we should let Russia know that this friendship is not because we agree to be unfriendly to Russia's enemies. It is only because we want Russia to be our friend. The friendship with other countries cannot be dictated by Russia. India cannot be offensive to any country just to win a friendship of others. It is India's own right to decide who can be her friend. It is the most unholy indication that India is weak and has no value of her own.

Can India be such an assertive country radiating her ancient character of compassion and justice to all human beings and  living things, in international stage? Not just look for economic growth?

Talking Tom 2: Someone's kicking your balls

                             Someone's kicking your balls

Tom with a dashing shining grey fur, pawed along with stylish tail with a white end.

Jerry glided along with a hat. Jerry was pulling his face, apparently lost in thoughts.

It's amazing to think about how on the first day of meeting they ended up going to a bar together.

As they approached the bar, they faced a short pig like figure overflowing from a chair beside the bar door. Ooh, it's no pig. It is a whiskered catty for a bouncer.

The fatty welcomed Tom. "Good to see you Mr.Tom. In right away" he opened the door for Tom.

"Good to see you too Mr.Wiggly" greeted Tom.

The fatty, eyed the accompanying Jerry.

"Huhoom... Good evening Mr.Piggly" said Jerry quickly sliding through the door crack.

As they entered the dimly lit moderately crowded inside of the bar, Tom turned to Jerry and said,

"What's with you? I heard what you said to Mr.Wiggly. Be careful around here. Speciesm is not welcome in this bar."

"Well SPECIESM, eh? Another surprise I think. I don't know why you take so much effort to act un-humanish even in language. Anyways, how do you know this place. I thought you were a new comer to our area."

"Nah, I was living in the pet store in the nearby street. I'm a regular to this bar."

It was a colorful sight inside, mostly orange shades and black shades. Couple of dogs sitting on the counter drinking their frothing beer. One female cat was pawing her Bloody Mary side by side on the counter.

A monkey for a barman was busy mixing the cocktails.

"Not the counter today I guess. Come on lets go to that table by the counter" pointed Tom.

Jerry followed him.

Many faces were smiling at Tom on the way as he moved.

One long cranky, great dane dog actually came along to say Hi to Tom.

"Hey fella. I thought you were let go today only. Can't miss the bar even on the first day of your buy out, eh?"

"Hey Mr.Man Dog. Yeah, story of my life. Here, meet my new household friend Mr.Jerry, I call him J."

"Hey nice to meet you J"

"Nice to meet you too."

"Catch you later" Mr.Man Dog cranked away.

"One of your another brotherhood truce I suppose" asked Jerry eyeing the parting dog.

"Yes, story of my life" said Tom

Tom and Jerry settled down on their target table.

Jerry made himself comfortable on the table, and sat facing Tom. Tom settled on a high chair by the table.

"Hi Fellas. I'm Ms. Hen. What can I get ya?" crowed a hen for a barmaid who just pulled out menus from her feathers.

"No mistaking, er, Ms.Hen, and I'm Mr.Scurry Away and I will have a pint, and you Mr.Tom?" squeaked Jerry, a slight thread of laughter ready to snap in Jerry's voice.

"The usual, Henny dear" said Tom to her.

She gave a look at Jerry and hopped away.

"Well, so much for checking out chicks in drunken frenzy" said Jerry

"Not so fast buddy. Look at the door."

There she was. Pearly white hat, bathed in orange light, with her black heels having pointy edges with a transparent tops carelessly buttoned.

"Oh the cat" said Jerry blandly.

"What do you mean 'Oh the cat'? Are you blind? She is hot, holy smoking hot." said Tom in outrage.

"It's not like I'm a cat or something to fancy such thing" dismissed Jerry.

"Oh come on, I thought the beauty transcended the boundaries of species. Look at her. See how delicately her tails are swaying slowly, just like her eyelashes batting at the moment. I can see her entire underbelly lining through her shirts."

"You mean the cat belly white stripe? Well, exposure is sexiness in all species then" said J thoughtfully. "And you are dirty which didn't surprise me I wonder why."

"Well, how your race measures sexiness?" asked Tom silkily.

"I would rather show it. Well, I don't see any hot chicks in my dictionary" confirmed Jerry after a quick scan through the entire bar.

"I hope the girls are all scurrying under the boards and reeking corners of the houses I suppose." said Tom with a crack in his face. "Well, think about it. We, the cats are very well socially presentable and soft. We are ideal creatures to decorate the sociable occasions like parties and bars, unlike you stinkies." went on Tom harshly.

"Well well, who talked about the SPECIESM again?" cracked Jerry.

Ms.Hen placed the drinks on the table. A pint of beer for J and a black glass mug for Tom.

They both said cheers and drank a full.

"You are such a lazy bum. You can't even sit on your own hind legs. Look around you. You are the only tailed beast using a chair in this bar." Jerry

Interestingly all people in the bar were either on the table or on the bar counter leaving all chairs empty, so is with Jerry.

"Well you noticed it then. Hey, I always try to be mysterious. If anybody has got the lazy bums, its humans, mind it." said Tom. "The whole table, chair, sofa, stool and bench were the inventions by them".

"Okie dokie. Well, what about your skills with girls. Any piece of advise for a young lad like me?" asked Jerry

"You've got to stay mysterious. Just like me. Aloof and unpredictable. The suckers will fall for it."

"I see"

"Well, its always the case with humans. We the cats have been pets for them for thousand years. We always make sure that we look mysterious. It is very easy. Just stare at them. Look at them as though you are examining a worm in the mud. Stalk them for good in the night. When they are not looking, change places. It always blew their lid off. If you take further little step, you can even kill them with a heart attack. Poor things. I think our 'mew' is a cry of an evil for humans especially in the night."

"More surprises, hey, I thought I told you that you exceeded your quota for today" went J as a matter of fact.

Jerry continued, "Anyways, one correction in your theory. Cats have been friends with man even before thousand years. You know the Egyptians have statues of cats and they lived several thousand years before Christ."

"Hey come to think of it. None of us alive today have lived in those times. So, we don't know what happened even 100 yrs back. All we know is people's story and books and statues. One can't be sure 100 percent right. Moreover, who could say that Egyptians only had statues of their friends. We could've been their enemies as well."

"Or slaves, oh, bite me!" Jerry.

"Oh I wish I could. Well, that goes against our pact." Tom

"Now I have serious doubt that this pact has anything to do with peace or brotherhood. I think it is a result of Mr.Lazy Tail's dragging feet. Not that I'm complaining, but you are a disgrace to Cats, you know that?"

"Hey, I'm like Yin for Yang, Day for Night, Good for Evil, well yes, Disgrace for Grace. I'm still the 'mysterious cat'."

--

They came out of the bar.

"Good night Mr.Wiggly" said Tom.

"Good night Mr.Tom"

"Good night Mr.Piggly" said Jerry

Mr.Wiggly was apparently trying to assess the situation, his face contorting.

"Oh, Mr.Wiggly, J here has selective speech impediment. He can't pronounce 'V'. Instead he picks up interesting choice of letters to replace"

"Holy pop. There you go, you surprise me again" Said J.

"I know you are fooling around. So, I thought I would give you a hand and play along." whispered Tom

"But my name's got W not V" whined Mr.Wiggly

"Yes that too Mr.Wiggly, you know it's the sound he has got problems with." assured Tom

"Yes, double-yew-ee have to hurry. By the way, someone's kicking your balls." pointed out Jerry

"Yeehaaw" a donkey was swearing near the wall.

"Oh walls you mean. Let me get that damned donkey; Mr.Tom I think I'm getting the hang of your friend's speech" grinned widely Mr.Wiggly

Talking Tom 1: Meaningless Hurry, Rush, Panting and Sweating

                       Meaningless Hurry, Rush, Panting and Sweating

Well, this is a story of "Tom" the cat and "Jerry" the mouse.

One day, Jerry was sneaking around the house as usual eating all the food he can get in the pet-less house.

He heard the front door open. His mistress came in.

She was out for shopping and now that she returned home, Jerry's hopes were rising high about the new food items she might've brought in.

She called out 'Jerry! Jerry! Come and look what I've got for you?'

Jerry went out front and took a good look at what his mistress was holding in her hand.

"Yes Mom, what is it?" a voice startled Jerry from behind. Oh, it's that kid of hers called "Henry".

"Here Jerry, meet Mr.Tom. Tom, this is Jerry." she said.

The purring streaky sneaky woolen thing stared with its bulbous eyes.

This is the day of my life. The day I first met Mr.Tom or just Tom the cat.

"Hello my lovely friends. How'you been?" said the cat.



Two hours later....



Jerry was looping through all the holes, nooks, corners of the house only to be chased by Tom.

Jerry just skidded to a halt in front of his mistress. "Well what is the meaning of this?" he asked her, clearly offended by his mistress' tactlessness in buying such a pet.

"Jerry! show Tom around our house" she said.

"Well I'm not the only one who knows the circuits around here!" exasperated Jerry, wishing that the cat would leave him alone.

"Mom, do you know why they call this a mouse?" asked Henry from his computer table holding the mouse by the wire.

"Why dear?"

"Because it knows the circuits well" said Henry patting his computer and grinning.

"Oh brother" sighed Jerry.

"I'm sorry about that mate. Don't take it personally." said Tom and waited to let the meaning sink in and leered and said "I'm a cat and you are a mouse. That's that. Well, I don't enjoy this chase much neither. It is a cat thing you know. Nothing's personal...!" and swoosh he sprang up on Jerry.

"You insolent cat!" ran Jerry shouting.

"A cat may as well be insolent than not chasing a mouse when he sees one" recited Tom.

"Hey J, stop there!" shouted Tom behind Jerry.

Jerry froze in the middle of his sprint, "Did you call me J?", "What on earth does that suppose to mean?" quizzed J.

"Dude, why don't we talk this through?" said Tom. "Lets stop this bickering. I'm getting bored of this meaningless hurry, rush, panting and sweating for a few minutes pleasure" said Tom innocently batting his eyelashes.

"Ha! Mr.Creepy. You sound like as though this is something mutually pleasurable."

"Okay okay. Let me stop fooling around. Come on, listen to me. Do you know that the furious of all fights is fought among brothers?" waited Tom.

"Your transformation is worth an amusement. Foolish chaser to Mr.Creepy and then to Mr.Creepy Wise Concile Cat" mocked Jerry. "Nevertheless, please explain the furious fight thing".

"There are many incidents in history that suggest that furious of all fights happened between brothers or siblings. You know, the American civil war between North and South, colonial clash among Europeans who descended from a single race, war between Karna and Arjun in Indian mythology, numerous fights over the throne in kingly times, the contemporary India-Pakistan fight, etc, etc..."

He continued, "I believe that our races should've descended from a single ancestor and we should have been brothers many a births ago".

"Seriously, I doubt Darwin would agree to that in his evolution theory" noted J

"Come on. Look at us. We both have bulbous eyes."

"Not me"

"Whiskers, long curvy tail, cautious deceitful movement to catch our food, except for the soft, silky, dandy, beautiful fur that we have, I think you guys lost it to the tail and became full body baldies... pity..."

"Oh, why not. Couple of others. We are vegetarians, and you fools are blood suckers. Then, we don't eat your race, but you eat our race. How about that?"

"Oh come on, lets get past this present and overlook our differences to rediscover our eternal bond." said Tom nicely.

"You know what, so far it was good. Now you started to put me off"

"All what I'm saying is, lets call it a truce and try to be friends, you know, like true friends, like dudes and brothers?"

"Okay. Lets see. Now what shall we do as friends for starters?"

"Got an idea! Lets hit the bar and checkout the cool chicks in drunken frenzy out there."

"Oh boy, cats and mice and, now the chicks to the list. But, you still surprise me. Too many surprises for a single day. Lets finish it with the bar for today" said J.

Tommy returned to his mistress to purr.

Jerry returned to his hole, sat thinking and started munching the cheese he brought in.

SNMP - Simple Network Management Protocol

Another basic concept:

When I looked at Wiki, it looked little constipated. So, I will not try to give too many complicated details about SNMP.

Lets look at it in layman's perspective.

Say there is a network device such as switch, router, computer, ATM machine, etc.

When we look at the device directly, we can see it's color, chassis(outer casing), number of ports it has, it's physically visible components like fans, heat sync, etc.

Imagine, how a computer (or a software that is NMS or EMS) can look at a device in a network just like we humans examine a device.

Now what people did is, they put in some information inside the device, so that anyone can ask the device about it's details like, what kind of device is that, who made it, how many ports it has, what are all the hardware components it has, how much data is currently flowing through the device, who is using the device currently, etc.

So, through a command, you can ask a specific detail about the device. It will respond with the information. This interaction is called querying a device.

The set of rules of this querying is termed as protocol. One such protocol that became very famous for its simplicity is SNMP protocol.

So, any vendor who manufactured the device would choose to put an SNMP agent (a software that is running inside the device) inside his device and he can claim that his device is an SNMP device, or it supports SNMP. [Remember that both SNMP agent and EMS can be running inside a device, but they are not the same]

That means, the device can be freely queried about various details of the device by anyone inside the network. There is no secrecy (like Apple IPhone interiors) when it comes to SNMP devices. They freely give out all information about themselves [if the person has the right password ;-)].

So, any manufacturer who supports SNMP, is broadly welcomed in the market because, their devices are open and easy to manage.

How does SNMP function?

The SNMP agent running inside the device, that is the software component, maintains a ready database (pool of information about the device). This database is called MIB (namely Management Information Base). It is basically a tree organization.

The organization of this database (that is what information should be put in which position of the tree) is defined as an international standard, and every manufacturer should follow this if they want to claim that their device is SNMP device. This standard definition is called MIB standard or standard MIB. Some part of the MIB or tree is left free for the vendors to fill in about the peculiarity of the device which may not be common to all devices.

Every vendor creates a new MIB for their every new device following the guidelines of the standard MIB.

So, the SNMP agent’s job is to create a live database based on the MIB definition attached to the device. For example, the number of octets passed through a port(indicates amount of data transferred through a port of a device) is detected by the agent, and the agent updates it’s database, so that if someone does an SNMP query asking the octet count for a port, it will give the latest info on that. So, SNMP agent is alive, lively, keeping the database up to date all the time. [Sometimes, the agent may not update it's database, but when queried, it knows where to pickup the latest info inside the device memory :-)]

Sometimes, it can voluntarily send some info (such as SNMP Traps) to a pre-designated party (usually an NMS).

What common information does the MIB have?

Who manufactured the device? Yes, there is a code given to each manufacturer in the world, and this code is put in a specific place in the MIB, so that anyone can query the device and get the manufacturer name.

What kind of device it is? Is it a switch, or router, or computer? This information is also available in the MIB is a particular place in the MIB tree (it's called sysOID).

What is the IP address of the device?

Which SNMP version the device supports?

List of ports available?

What is the status of a port?

What is the utilization of a particular port of the device?

These are some common data that can be obtained through SNMP queries.

The art of programming/developing the SNMP agent is called SNMP instrumentation or agent development.

If you want to know what kind of information a particular device (say Cisco Telepresence) gives out through SNMP protocol, you should get the MIB definition of that device and read through it. It is a text document that describes the entire MIB tree and which OID will give what info.

Hang on, did I say OID? Oh, OID is Object ID. 'Object' is nothing but a node or a position in the MIB tree. Every position in the MIB tree has a unique identifier. So, for every OID there is a corresponding info. Or, every info supported in SNMP, has a unique OID.

OID uses a dotted notation. e.g sysUpTime = .1.3.6.1.2.1.1.3.0

If you query the above OID, it will return, how much time the device has been up and running (time from last reboot).

In one line, SNMP MIB is "a blueprint of the device". (just like the blueprint of the whitehouse).

Hope this is not as constipated as the Wiki ;)

Criminal side of the bribery

Commodification of one’s duty and responsibility or misuse of one’s power and authority for the personal gain or favors could generally be termed as bribery. When one turns the pages of medieval history and British rule, both Indians as well as British practiced bribery. It was an influential factor in the political history of our country.

I could only imagine that bribery was there when time immemorial as ancient as cockroaches. As long as power and trust was entrusted to humans, at least on occasions they tend to misuse them. One could find treachery and betrayal even in epics.

When bribery is as ancient, a custom of practice, there was something that differed from time to time. The way it was perceived, encountered and reacted upon differed at different times of human history and at different cultures and countries.

What scares me most is not the bribery itself that prevails in our country today, but the tolerance level the people of India show. Only one way of protecting ourselves from this beast is to curb it continuously with all the might and force we have.

Every one of us knowingly or unknowingly tolerates or practices bribery in our daily lives. I wonder if the imaginative and the intellectual thought about the impact or aftermath of bribery. Did anyone try to trace and assess the damage it leaves upon us? Did anyone try to project the inefficiency that would be incurred in the future by the bribery committed today?

Did anyone try to factor out how many people die or lose their limbs, bear diseases, experience psychological damage, be deprived of their livelihood or even denied the exit out of poverty or barred from educational upliftment?

The people, who accumulate wealth through massive scale of bribery, also join the elite rich families in controlling the most of the wealth of our society. This is evident from larger and larger scandals thrown at our faces regularly nowadays.

The police that protected wealthy and raped the poor during British rule, continues to do the same even today, as I happen to have friends and their family who got arrested and beaten in police station, simply because someone shoved money into the hands of the police.

To get my community certificate, I pay bribe just to avoid harassment and lethal delays.

Even when those few good people left in politics and in bureaucracy work their heart out and rage a war against all other ill-minded forces for bringing out welfare programmes to benefit the weaker section of the society, it doesn’t help. How do we welcome that programme? What happens down there at the lowest level of the programme? Bribery and misappropriation of welfare programme funds, exploitation of PDS food grains, at the very lowest end of government arms, and in small scale.

This small scale bribery by local common men, who belong to exactly the same section which they exploit, weakens the effectiveness of a nationwide programme, leaving a rather larger impact. On the other hand, the large scale bribery and the money involved in it, impacts the economy of the country itself when it is hidden in Swiss banks and comes back as foreign direct investment. This makes the government weaker and weaker economically by increased debt due to the loss of its rightful revenue, thus impacting the quality of life of every citizen.

When the governments are tied together by the thread of bribery, foreigners not only laugh at us, but they also get a chance to coax and exploit the people in power who are ready to sell themselves for money, and influence our governance and foreign relations through disguised agents. Along with dreadful terrorism, this very bribery exposes our country to foreign threats. Bribery and low personal ethics can become a question of national security. Our soldiers are cheated, deprived of their rightful benefits and left with a feeling that our government does not care for them, as it was reported by many military grievances in the news lately. Will they feel proud to give their life for their country when their government can’t even fulfill their basic need and sense of appreciation for their dear service to the nation?

This beast poses threat to the integrity of our nation, weakens economy, increases inequality in the society, and creates dissatisfaction among people of India.

Hence, a sensible way is, to treat bribery with iron hand, to treat it as severe as a rape, as horrible as human trafficking and equal to murdering many lives. We should realize that it is time to curb this with strong legislative changes. The awful impact of bribery should be given due thought and work towards criminalizing all bribery small or big.

It is time for us to shed our tolerance and demand the government to enact laws criminalizing this shameful practice. We are capable of creating a law, as powerful and useful as RTI in this matter as well.

Every act of bribery or misuse of power should be analyzed before the court and the impact it would leave should be projected by experts and punishment should be as severe as the projected impact of the bribery.

The following factors can be considered by experts to decide the punishment for practicing bribery. The financial loss to the concerned parties, psychological impact and abuse, number of persons possibly would be affected, financial implication the loss leaves on our economy, inefficiency incurred by the misuse of authority, percentage loss in future growth of the society, number of socio-economic levels or layers hit by this bribe, etc.

http://www.ipaidabribe.com/sforms/un_convention

Difference Between NMS and EMS

Haah..... When so many people search Google for this, well I thought it wouldn't harm to write a note on this basic concept.

"Not for Pros".

NMS - Network Management System
EMS - Element Management System

Well, lets define what is a network Node. A node is a single device or entity usually a single physical box, such as a computer, server, router, switch, etc. The node, usually is connected to other nodes in the network, interacting and exchanging data in the language the local network devices understand.

Of course a Network, is a bunch of interconnected nodes where communication between them is usually possible at will if any device wants to talk to other devices.

EMS is a system which manages a single Node or group of similar Nodes. The word 'Element' refers to a node in a network.

NMS is a system which manages the entire network or multiple networks.

EMS can sit in one part of the network and manage node/nodes in other part of the same network(or a different network) or it can sit inside the managed device itself and extend management interface to the outside world.

NMS can sit inside the network or outside the network (but can reach the network) monitoring all the nodes in the network or most of the nodes in the network and the connections among them.

So, the main difference between EMS and NMS is the ability of NMS to understand the inter-relation between the devices of the network. An EMS does not understand the communication links or relationships between devices. It only knows the intricacies of a single device, though it can manage multiple devices of similar type, it treats all the nodes in that group as independent devices not recognizing how they interact among themselves or their complementing functionality or what they mean to each other.

Another functionality of NMS which differentiates it from EMS is, its ability to monitor the inter-links among the devices, or the connecting links in the entire network or the ability to report the faults occurring at various nodes in the network and also predict how such faults disrupt the communication links in the network causing the whole network to not function or malfunction.

So, one can roughly say,

NMS = EMS + Link/Connectivity Management + Management of Relationships among devices + Understanding of contributions of each node in the functioning of the network itself

How does NMS or EMS look like?

Well, both of them can be just softwares with/without graphical interface running in a separate server or in a normal desktop computer or in a network node/device (usually EMS, with a web server).

Current trend is, a server with GUI developed in java or with a web server or an enterprise server.

NMS can perform very complex operations with respect to the network as a whole. The functions are termed as FCAPS.

Fault - Report Link Failures and node failures or faults in the part of a device

Configuration - Modify/enable functionality of a device/node

Accounting - Perform billing, accounting related functions for a commercially used business network

Performance - Measure/improve performance or utilization of the network or devices

Security - Protect the devices or network from harmful or illegal access, implement hierarchical access policy within the network, provide user management (human users accounts) in conjunction with device/network/service access

Literally an NMS can do anything with the network if anyone is willing to put such functionality in the NMS. It can create, maintain, provision or destroy a network or a device within the network. From sending an electronic message to operating a robotic arm to mechanically connect or disconnect devices, to showing the mobile users and their movements on a screen to shutting a water pipe or door, or closing a dam, to anything. The possibilities are endless.

But the devices in that network should be designed in such a way that an NMS can manipulate them easily.

The last notable capability of an NMS is to manage dissimilar devices that is differing in functionality, differing by vendor, or differing in its basic nature (the language a device understands, e.g. IP device and Telecom Device).

On behalf of a friend

Well, I happened to write a birthday gift note to help a friend wishing his lover a happy birthday.

But in reality, he didn't want to borrow my writings and I too won't be able to use them anymore.

Here are they,

1. I love you and thank you for being my first, best and the last love. So is this gift, capturing us together in my dreamy land.

2. Potter molds and shapes the clay. Guru molds and shapes young minds. You mold and shape my heart. With lot of love.

3. You crazy girl. I love you for making me crazy as well. Happy birthday :)

4. Rest of your birthdays are with me. Claim them soon. Lets create some new birthdays too. Just kidding darling. Happy birthday!