Ignorance is Bliss

Athiru kakum malayonnu tuduthe

2010-04-05T23:22:00.001+05:30

athirukakum malayonnu tuduthu
tudu tuduthe taka taka ta

angu kizhakathe chenthamara kulirinte
etilla tharayil petunovin peraturave uriki oliche taka taka ta

chatichile ne chathi chathile chatiche taka taka ta

manatuyarna manakotayale takarne taka taka ta
takarnetathu oru tari tariyila podiyila pukayumile taka taka ta

katine ulachilil oru vali kurukil kuralonu muruki tadiyonu nerinju
jeevaan njarangee taka taka ta

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IClxN1r_ys

Its should be either left, right or Center

2009-10-16T15:38:00.001+05:30

Election 2009 has been a major learning experience for all, the election commission, the candidates, the supporters and the lay man of India. Every body learned a lot about the practical story of democracy.

The final result looks like this

UPA 262(+82) NDA 160(-17) 3rd 79(-29) 4th 28(-36) Others 14(0)

So its time for congress party and they seem to really enjoy the verdict to power. It was a clear mandate towards UPA no doubts even if it’s not a sweep. But putting reasons behind this is no child’s play. There is no single good or bad reason to explain this. There is no single deed of a party lead to success or failure, it’s a real democratic outcome. I enjoyed the process and outcome despite the fact that I never wanted come back of UPA, no I am not a BJP or 3rd or 4th sympathizer.

My view

I hate congress for may be odd reasons, I love BJP and left (a strange combination) for again odd reasons. But don’t think my like and dislike for parties has anything to do with the way I vote.

There is no place for any other party in my thinking spectrum as I solidly feel a party is nothing but its ideology. I cannot see any ideology in any other political party other than Congress, BJP and the Left.

It quite tough to define where does these 3 parties political view lie in respect to our political matrix. The fact is that none of the Indian parties even Left have a solid ideology, they are flexible. They have a varying philosophy or ideology in various parts of India (typically based on local compulsions) and minds of leaders. But the good thing is that they have broad and wider accepted ideology at national level even if it is not well accepted or understood by the grass root.

So I feel the choice of people should be always either left (communist), right (congress) or center (BJP).

Many of you who end up reading this post might not like me putting BJP in center. It’s because as far as I understand left is purely socialist where as congress and BJP are trying to do a balancing acts to earn the maximum result (in terms of vote). But if you see closely congress tries to showcase itself as savior of aam admi (the mango man) so it looks to me like an Indian /Nehruian version of essentially communism. It tends me to push them to a side but as we cannot have two lion in a same den I have put them into the right rather than the left. Truly speaking BJP is in center because there ideaology is not based on money its more to do with culture and son of soil philosophy which tends to bring all classes and creeds of people on same bench.

To be continued …………………

Bhaja Govindam - Stanza 2

2009-09-25T10:45:00.001+05:30

मूढ जहीहि धनागमतृष्णां
कुरु सद्बुद्धिं मनसि वितृष्णाम् .
यल्लभसे निजकर्मोपात्तं
वित्तं तेन विनोदय चित्तम् .. २..

Oh fool ! Give up your thrist to amass wealth, devote your mind to thoughts to the Real . Be content with what comes
through actions already performed in the past.

I understand........

Acharya says don't strive for things you don't need and deserve. He also points that what you strive for is not real. So I feel he is not trying to say don't have thirst but he wants us to have thirst for truth and not worldly perishable things.

Acharya is talking about karma siddantha, One will get what he should get based on your current and past actions.

Fruits of action has been the most important aspect of advaita that jagadhguru has bought to picture in this small verse.

Bhaja Govindam - Stanza 1

2009-09-24T00:35:00.001+05:30

भज गोविन्दं

भजगोविन्दं भजगोविन्दं
गोविन्दं भजमूढमते .
संप्राप्ते सन्निहिते काले
नहि नहि रक्षति डुकृञ्करणे .. १..

Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, Oh fool !
Rules of grammar will not save you at the time of your death.

bhaja govindam, workship govinda

Shankara getting tired of seeing people who fell pray of maya turns angry and as a last resort tell the old man oh fool, rules of grammar will not save you at the time of your death. Death is the most proximate truth for any old man and using this word shankara is trying to awake the man from maya.

Bhaja Govindam - Introduction

2009-09-24T00:06:00.004+05:30

भज गोविन्दं
Introduction

Bhaja govindaM is one of the minor (in size) compositions of the spiritual giant, Adi Shankaracharya .

It is classified as a prakaraNa grantha, a primer to the major works .

It is usually sung as a bhajan, but it contains the essence of vedanta. I feel its one of the simplest composition of adi shankara which was targeted at common man.

During his stay in Kashi one day adi shakara noticed a very old man
studying the rules of sanskrit by Panini . Shankara was touched with pity
at seeing the plight of the old man spending his years at a mere intellectual accomplishment while he would be better off praying and
spending time to control his mind . Shankara understood that the majority
of the world was also engaged in mere intellectual, sense pleasures and
not in the divine contemplation . Seeing this, he burst forth with the
verses of Bhaja govindaM.

In 31 verses, he, like no other, explains our fallacies, our
wrong outlook for life, and dispells our ignorance and delusions.
Thus bhaja govindaM was originally known as moha mudgaara, the remover of delusions.

Essence

All knowledge other than the Self-Knowledge is useless.

Structure

Bhaja govindaM is divided into dvaadasha manjarikaa stotram
and chaturdasha manjarika stotram . At the end of composing the
first stanza, it is said that Shankara burst forth with the next 11 stanzas of bhaja govindam.
Thus stanzas 1-12 are called dvaadash manjarika stotram . Inspired by the extempore recital by Shankara, each of his 14 disciples composed a verse and the 14 verse compendium is called chaturdasha manjarika
stotram . Shankara added the finishing touches by adding five of his own stanzas at the last bringing the total to 31. The last two verses in this version is not found in all editions.

Bhaja govindaM has been set to musical tones and sung as prayer songs by children . It is divided into dvaadashapaJNjarikaa and charpaTapaJNjarikaa for this purpose. The former is a set of verses (verses 1-12a) while the rest of the verses form charpaTapaJNjarikaa.

Conclusion

Anyone who listens to the music of Bhaja govindaM is attracted to
it . However, the significance of the text goes much deeper and
contains a well defined philosophy of attaining salvation . So please dont get lost in the music please dwell deep if you want to get what shankara intended for you.

Shankara's words seem to be quite piercing and seem to lack the softness and tenderness often found in his other texts, thus addressing directly. The reason is that this was an extempore recital to an old man . His words can be compared to a knife of a doctor . The doctor's knife cruely removes the tumor with much pain, but removing the tumor ultimately restores good health in the patient. So is Shankara's words, which pierce and point out our ignorance. It is a knife into the heart of worldiness, and by removing this tumor of ignorance, we can attain everlasting bliss with the grace of Govinda.

May the achaarayaa guide us away from ignorance to truth .

OM tat sat.

Note - I have copied the sanskrit text and have information provided in introduction part of the article by giridhar on Bhaja govindam found @ http://sanskritdocuments.org/all_sa/bhajagovindam_sa.html

Use these Products (Let our money reach us)

2009-09-18T14:11:00.002+05:30

Try to use one of these product in you day to day life. This is how we can help our self and let some Indians survive the recession.

Let our money reach our people and be used for good things.

Bathing soaps – Santoor, Wipro Shikakai, Wipro Herbal,Mysore Sandal, Jasmine, Mysore Roja, Nirma Beauty, Nirma Premier, Nirma Shikakai, Godrej Shikakai, Cinthol Fresh, Cinthol Emani, Tulasi, Swastik Shikakai, Margo, Neem, Evita, Marvel, Nirma Bath, Chandrika, Medimix,Ganga, Power, Sanjeevanam, Vicco turmeric, Jeeva, Chandana, Sansaar, Soaps manufactured in small scale industries and houses. Other Regional products.

Washing soaps – Swastik, Det, Nirma, Vimal, JVJ, Mysore Bar, Kasturi, 555, Nandi Bar soap, Super 777, Power, Nirma, Ujaala, Super check, Avataar, Aadhunik, Hipolin, 501, Ruby. Soaps manufactured in small scale industries and houses. Other Regional products.

Tooth Paste – Neem, Babool, Promise, Vicco, Pro Dent, Calcium, True gel, Dabur, Meswak,

Tooth Brush – Pro Dent, Ajay, Ajantha, Choice, Promise

Shaving Cream – Godrej, Emani, Metro, Deluxe

Talcum and Baby Powder – Santoor, Gokul Sandal, Zed Powder, Cinthol, Cinthol Satin, Wipro Baby Powder

Blade – Super Max, Super Max Platinum, Super Master, Ashoka, Laser, Laser Platinum, Topaz, Guiland, Bharat, Silver Prince

Cream - Vicco turmeric, Boroplus, Boroline, Naturally Fair, Himani Gold, Fairever, Borosil

Tooth Powder – Dabur, Monkey Brand, Bajaj Tooth Powder, Nanjangud Tooth Powder, Dabur Tooth Manjan, Promise, Vicco Vajradanti

Hair Dye – Super Vasmol 33, Godrej, Kaali Mehandi Dye Powder

Biscuit – True, Bakeman, Bake sun, Quality, Parle, Priya Gold, Milk treat, Glucose,
Milk Marie

Milk Products – Amool, Amoolya, Indana, Nandini

Chocolate – Nutrin, Campco, Parle, Amool, Ravalgun, Quality, Lactoking, Mangomood, Coffee Bite, Mango Bite.

Chocolate Drinks & Soft Drinks – Nutramul, Viva, Cocoa, Rasna, Nandini milk, Frooti, Nimbu paani,Sugarcane juice, Coconut water,Lassi, Badam Milk,Jumpin

Matchboxes – Cheeta, Chaavi and other Regional and small scale products

Insecticides – Gujarat Agrocave, Pesticide India,Mills Industrial, Mysore Insecticides, Bharath Flowerjang

Tractors – Mahendra, HMT

Pumping set – Texamo, Kirloskar, Jyothi, Kailash, Master, N.G.F and many more

Coffee & Tea – Tata, Assam, Herisan, Deccan, Kannadevan,AVT,Girinar,Hasmukh, Coorg Coffee, Lakshmi, Durga and other regional products.

Hair oil – Bajaj Amla, Dabur Amla, Ramateertha, Cococare,Parachute,Bringal, Dabur Special.

Shampoo – Nirma,Siddha,Chik Shampoo, Welvet Shampoo, Ayur, Karthika

Cooking oils & Vanaspati – Sunflower, Dhara,Gokul,Maruti,Postman

Salt – Captain cook,Kasturi,Siddhi Vinayaka,Tata

Readymade Dresses – Mysore Silks, Raymond,Vimal,Bombay Dyeing, OCM,JCT,Handloom,Khadi dresses.

Chappals & Polish – Liberty, Lakhani, Winter, Tata Atlas, Skywing Shoes, Bharat leather Corporation, Paragon

Tyres – Vikrant, JK,Premier,Modi Stone

Lamps,Bulbs,Fan – Mysore Lamps, Bajaj, Hindustan, Surya, Seema, Orient, Kethan, Polar, Lisha, Prakash, HMT, Adi

Tailoring Machine – Usha, Sahara, Ritha, Apoli

Mixi – Summit, Bajaj,Triveni,Jyothi,Videocon,Gopi

Radio – Optron, Nelco

Television – Videocon, Keltran, Konark,T-Series,Nelco,Meltran

Cheers

Ananda

Hama tumse pyar kitna

2009-08-24T17:43:00.007+05:30

The song lyrics
http://www.geetmanjusha.com/hindi/lyrics/28.html

The actual song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NClR64qT6Bk

How much I love you I dont know
but I cant live without you

I have heard suffering of seperation, from many people
But i dont know how they spend their lives
Even a day looks like a year here
How much eagerly I am waiting I dont konw
But I cant live without you

When somebody sees you My hearts gets burnt
With lot of trouble my heart gets cool
what all we do do barely know
how despearte is this hear I dont know
But I cant live without you

Chithariyavar - CJ Kuttpan

2009-05-11T15:52:00.003+05:30

Kutti karichu kilachu marichathum

Vithu vithachathum vela parichathum

Nyanee keezhalan, Kanni manithe ചെലലന്‍

Thevi nanachathum koithu methichathum

Mothira katta muka puram vachitu

kadi kudichitu varampai kidanathum

nyanee keezhalan puthu nelinte kootalan

cheru chakuti kuzhachu chathurathil

suriyana kanichunaki aduki theekuti chutatum

ishtika koombaram tholileduthu nadanu talarnathum

chanthum karandiyum thookum muzhakolum

chandavum chalichu veedu paninjhintu

akasha koorayil anthi erichathum

nyanee keezhalan nedum thoonithe kalalan

kattamarathil kadalum kazhutheri

kashtakalathinte koli valaveeshi

poovalam cheminum mathiyum makkalum

theerathu nedichu neramirundapol

poolakizhangu vizhingi thulakuvan

chala kariku kothichu kayarthathum

nyan nee keezhalan kodum katinte theralan

kanthadam kuthi kuruparuthi nattu

panjhika potichu thakli korithitu

adithya rashmipol ambara noolitu

rapakal illathe omal thariyodu

malitu thulitu udayada neythathum

nenchu maraykathe seethathee thinathum

nyan nee keezhalan udu mundinte neythalan

chandanam kandathum kothi manathathum

veti marichu purantho chethitu

anayum yaliyum sarpavum simhavum

pathavatharavum kothi polipichu

katilu kadanzhathum thongalu vechathum

kalyana thambranu thambrati kunjinum

kaniravathu chirichu kalikuvan kanika vechitu

madathin mutathu poozhi kidakayil ……………………..

nyan nee keezhalan ----------

A verse from shivananda lahari

2006-10-06T16:33:00.001+05:30

Ghato vaa mrithir pando apyaraunubhi cha dhoomogni
rachalaPato vaa thanthurva pariharathi kim ghorasamanam
Vridha kantakshebham vahasi tharasa tharka vachasa
Padhambhojam shmbhor bhaja parama soukhyam vrijasudhi.

This is the pot, no, this is only mud,
This is the earth, no , it is only atom,
This is the smoke, no, it is only fire,
This is the cloth, no , it is only the thread,
Can all this debate ever cure the cruel God of death?
Vainly you give pain to your throat,By these torrent of words,
Instead worship the lotus like feet of Shambu,
Oh , intelligent one, and attain supreme happiness.

By His Highness Adi Shankaracharya

Reservation Drama

2006-05-22T20:27:00.001+05:30

Whole India is debating about reservation?

Some say no increase in the number of reserved seats.
Some say no reservation at all.
Some say reservation based on economic status.
Some say increase in reservation.
Some say increase in total seat and increase reservation, so upper caste (I am forced to use this word even if I don’t like this, because I am not left with a better word) continue to get the same number of seats that they used to get previously.

Why this mayhem in this hot may?

But none of these people tried to find the core issue.

Why reservation? Why are some for and some against reservation?

Reservation is not mandatory but is one viable solution for bringing in equality between different section of a society, for a country like India (which cannot other wise provide equal opportunity i.e. we cannot provide food and basic amenities to all, of course because of its vastness and huge population. I agree it’s not possible not any body’s fault its not feasible)

I read an article on Indian express some days back which tells story of a young OBC student from some remote part of India. He is an intelligent child of a extremely poor parents. He burned his nights in the candle lights and street lights to gain a good percentage in his first public exam. Traveled 30 km a day to attend his 12th class, works with his parents on spare time and was still able to make a impressive 85% marks in his CET. But as you know 85% is no a big deals in CET only those who have 90 + can make it to medical colleges. Even for OBC it’s tough since the rich OBC with tuition and huge support from parents give a tough competition.

But this 85% is hard earned and is of course something to be honored. If we fail to honor him with a medical seat there is no meaning in saying “Gandhiji is father of our nation”, no meaning in having a Constitution like the one we have.

Every body who denounces the Reservation say that even the original profounder of reservation and the man behind our constitution Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has pronounced that the reservation should be scaraped in 50 years. But they never think why it have not been scrapped, nor do they think why he has said some thing like that.

Ambedkar would have thought that with such a motivated group of politicians and such a great piece of constitution India would have grown into a Developed Country and that there would be no body who actually carves for reservation and that it can be easily scrapped in 50 years. But if we see today there are more to take reservation than those who where there in pre independence society.

Why things have gone this way, why people still fight over reservation?

According to Abraham Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory a man’s needs follow’s like this

Physiological needs – Need of food, cloth and shelter. Day to day needs.
Safety and Security Needs – Need for security of food, cloth and shelter. I.e. a assurance of availability of these things for a long term.
Love and Belongings need – Once you have safety needs and security needs you feel the need of love, friends, children and other relationships.
Esteem Needs – Need of status in society, name, position etc.
Self actualization – Once you have everything you feel a need of knowing something more you start thinking of self actualization.

This theory still holds well in our life.

A person who have achieved safety and security needs looks for love and relationship. A person who have achieved this do not go down the road and start fighting for reservation. A person with esteem will never even accept reservation even if he is eligible. No body in this world wants himself to be called Lower Caste even if you are ready to pay him a crore. So what makes him fight for that. Think its time to think.

So it shows that most of us have not even achieved the safety and security needs. Whom is to blamed for this? This is the way we need to think.

Politicians will use this time to divide the society on the basis of caste. Already the reservation and anti reservation group have started fighting each other. If we let it go out of hand the Indian youth will die in roads. The future doctors of India (may it be upper caste or lower caste) will shed their blood for the blood sucking politicians of India.

If you have noticed the narmada bajao andolan of Medha Patkar was better received by Manmohan singh government that the strike of the Indian youth.

I feel there is a conspiracy behind this. Its almost 10 days and nothing have moved the hearts of our politicians no body have come up to rescue us. These are the people we have voted for. Nobody is here to hear us.

They support reservation not because they love them because they have out numbered their opponents. They are trying to divide the student community the future brains of India. Its not the time to fight between us, it’s the time to think. They hide their faults with your bloods, it’s a dangerous game.

If there is enough school in all villages of India, if there is enough money in the hands of all Indian parents to teach their children feed them well and sent them to school, I swear no parent would like to get a seat for his child in the name of caste and creed.

Its there inefficiency in making our national leaders vision possible that have led to this whole problem. Atleast understand this now. Fight them not within your self.

Its time for renunciation, its time to wake up, its time for a political revolution.

Arise! Awake!

I have seen mails and sms quoting upper caste students to group them self to agitate against the reservation.

Don’t get blowed up by these provocations think before you do anything. Its time to unite and not to fight.

Jai Hind.

Who won and who lost, who knows?

2006-05-22T19:25:00.001+05:30

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, the new Jansi Rani of India, the new icon of clean and high morale politics won back her Rae Bareli seat by doubling her margin of win and by making sure that none of her opponents even got their security deposit back.

It’s of course not a success of Congress as if you read the election results of all the 4 states which went into election along with Rae Bareli. Lost pathetically in kerala and assam. Happy with the vote in tamil nadu for which congress should be thankful to Karunanidhi. In Bengal its long since they have kept themselves apart from the race of power. They just helped CPI(M) strengthen in the state with a record seventh contiguous win.

So who have won, Mrs.Gandhi have won, her son Mr.Rahul have won.

She is back as what she was 1 month back. For this India spent lakhs of rupees. These are the money we pay as tax. For uplifting her status and to built her reputation she has spent our money.

So who have lost we Indians, I you and the whole lot of Indians who have voted her to power.

If she just want not to be part of the Office Of Profit (OOP) controversy she could have simplified resigned her post from National Security Advisor Post. But it was not her intention, she want to built her reputation at the cause of the money of poor Indians. But we voted her to power with a overwhelming majority 4 lakh votes. Not only she, all political parties in India never think of the poor Indians. The BJP and other parties who where opposing her could have kept themselves away from the election so that without any opposition she would have been selected and the money will not have been wasted. It was evident that there was no competition.

But we still don’t know what we have done to our self we still consider her the bahu rani of India. Salute to great Indians.

Come back of achu

2006-05-11T17:38:00.001+05:30

The great come back of Achu Maman

Malampuzha - V.S. ACHUTHANANDAN (CPM) Wins by 20017 Votes.

Known as achu maman Mr. VS.Achutanandan, mostly to be the next chief minister of Kerala and the present leader of opposition, has made a real come back. He proved that Failure is just another step towards the final success. A passionate and hard working red comrade from kerala has atlast made it to the place he really deserved.

The Opposition Leader of Kerala Assembly, Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan is no intellectual giant like EMS Namboodiripad, nor does he have the charisma of EK Nayanar. And unlike these former CPI (M) chief ministers from upper caste and feudal families, he is from a lower caste and class.

Born at Punnapra near Alappuzha in 1925, he was attracted to politics even while being a school student. He entered into active politics through labour movement and trade union work. He was arrested in 1946 for his participation in the Punnapra Vayalar revolt. He was imprisoned in 1962, 1963 and 1965. In 1965 and 1967 he became a member of the Kerala Assembly from Ambalapuzha. He was a prominent leader of the Indian Communist Party during the fifties and former part of sixties. In the split of the party in 1964 he stood with CPI (M) and became one of the stalwarts of the party. In 1980 he became the State Secretary of CPI (M) and in 1982 he was chosen as the opposition leader in the Kerala Assembly. From 1985 onwards he is Politburo Member of CPI (M). In 1996 he was defeated in Mararikulam Assembly Constituency. In 1998 he took charge as the convener of the co-ordination committee of Left Democratic Front in Kerala. He was elected from Malampuzha constituency in the assembly elections of 2001.

It once looked like if he wins the party fails and if party wins he will loss (something like sachins century) but he proved everything is wrong and came back strongly with a great win a margin of 20K which is not a easy win atleast in kerala where UDF and LDF are both equally strong and a fraction within his party wanted him to fail this time too.

This time too it looked as if the party will not give a ticket for him but after a very strong appeal from the public and within the party he was brought in by the politburo and he proved that it was not a bad decision. He brought back the party to power with a overwhelming majority.

Hope things will go smooth for him from now and will be the next CM. Nothing is sure in politics until it happens. If you remember LDF has a history of making non contesting candidates (E.K,Nayanar was made CM twice / once I don’t remember exactly) CM.

All the Best and a Red Salute.

The Communist Manife

2006-03-21T16:26:00.001+05:30

The Communist Manifesto
As one would expect, the Communist Manifesto is a declaration of the intentions of a communist organization. Yet it has proved to be much more than this. It has also served as a brief and concise explanation of the ideas that form the foundation of communist and socialist ideology.
It begins with the Marxian view of history as a class struggle. Marx thought that every age pitted two classes of society against each other beginning with masters and slaves, down to the bourgeoisie (or entrepreneurs) and the working class of his own day. One class always exploited the other because their interests were always diametrically opposed. As the lower class gained power a new class would arise that would eventually subsume the old upper class. Thus a kind of dialectical (two opposites producing a unified whole) process would create a merchant class and a working class from the struggle between the peasant and the nobility.
But Marx felt that there was an end to this process. At some point the working class would eliminate all the remaining classes. If there was only one class, there would no longer be a class struggle. There would no longer be a need for all the trappings of class warfare such as money, nation-states and governments.
This quasi-Hegelian view of history would color all of Marx's philosophy and would influence the entire Communist Manifesto (which would in turn influence generations of radicals). It was an idea that gave history the air of inevitability. Marx and Engels actually believed that they had discovered a scientific truth that could be applied in a scientific manner to the affairs of humanity.
It has been over 150 years since the publication of the Communist Manifesto and the declaration has proved to be hollow in that many of its predictions have not been born out by actual history. There are many arguments as to why this is the case. It may be that some of the assumptions girding communist thought, including the labor theory of value were mistaken.
Yet the real problem with the Marxian ideas imbued in the manifesto might be that Marx misunderstood which class would ultimately subsume all the others. He was under the impression that laborers must ultimately take over the means of production and so destroy the capitalist system. What he could not understand was that the means of production would become less and less expensive all the time due to efficiencies in production. Workers would themselves become entrepreneurs in free and republican societies. The advent of computers, and inexpensive access to the tools of a service industry would make small business a dominant and driving force.
The brewing industry is a perfect example of this. Where there used to be only one or two large brewers, now micro-breweries have become the rage. Where only a few networks dominated the airwaves now hundred of channels proliferate. The internet has opened publishing up to any person who has a few dollars to rent a server. The cost for entry into many, though not all, markets has become comparatively cheap. In essence Marx was wrong not because there was no class struggle. There was indeed class struggle throughout most of history. He was wrong because he could not see that the dialectic process would work to elevate the working class to the entrepreneur class and not pull all of society down to the lowest common denominator.
We are still in the throes of this process. Eventually the efficiencies brought about by the capitalist system, if allowed to operate in a free environment, will provide a high standard of living for most of the world.
The Communist Manifesto still finds favor among many political groups and its tenets and ideas are worthy of study because there are economic and historical truths embedded within it. It has also proved to be the foundation of one of the most prominent economic and political movements of the 20th Century.
Reference: http://www.indepthinfo.com/communist-manifesto/analysis.shtml

With White and Blue color joining hands the class wars have ended. They join hands for mutual benefits, thanks to management institutes which mould the white colors

They taught them that without the blue color one is left with nothing but blue sky.

An article on India (Courtesy - Indian Express)

2005-12-19T14:25:00.001+05:30

INDIA EMPOWERED TO ME IS
The will, freedom to make unbiased choices, be it for change, leadership
GANESH PYNE, PAINTER

Posted on Indian Express Online: Monday, December 19, 2005 at 0147 hours IST

Born in the pre-Independence period, I lived through the glorious days of the freedom struggle. Young and impressionable then, the unfolding of events, the tumultuous years of struggle followed by the jubilation of being ‘‘free’ at last, all this had a tremendous impact on me.
But gradually I grew up to learn that we are a Third World nation, cast away as the ‘‘darker’’ side of the world. Today we have come a long way with the world acknowledging us as an emerging economic super power. But more than half a century later, the questions that crop up in my mind is that are we actually free? Are we empowered? Is empowerment all about money power? I confess that the current scenario leaves me disillusioned.

We talk of economic boom and simultaneously read disturbing reports about starvation deaths in the remote villages. We talk of big investments and big money which does not trickle down to the lower rungs of society. The rich are getting richer by the day, while the poorest of the poor are sucked into the vortex of poverty. Is that the empowerment we proudly boast of?
Empowerment to me is not the glaring disparity in lifestyles we see today. Rather, it is a nation where citizens enjoy equal privileges, where the common folk are educated and aware enough to make unbiased choices on their own, where the people are true representatives of the Gandhian way of thought.
Isn’t it a shame that numerous cases of tax evasions go unchecked while bankrupt state treasuries are unable to spend on development? And somehow we commoners have lost the will to protest and speak out. Isn’t it tragic that a nation as rich in resources as India is still stagnating at the bottom and all we do is lament about what could have been done. I feel helpless when the administration throws up its hands and candidly declares ‘‘we are sorry for the time lost, we should have done this but have failed.’’ Can we commoners be hopeful, if the bureaucracy with all its machinery, is basking in complacency?
Empowerment is also about the strong political motivation to make a positive change, to steer the citizens to the goal of common welfare. At times, the cynic in me can’t help but doubt the ulterior motive of the men at the helm. Perhaps the poverty-stricken, uneducated masses serve their selfish needs better.
When will political parties forget mutual rivalries and unite to work for the betterment of India, a nation which does not deserve to languish in absolute abjection. I, as a citizen of the largest democracy in the world, do not have much faith in this democracy. The entire process of election, however exaggerated it may sound, is a farce. Do we really have a choice? A choice where we can actually ‘‘choose’’ between ideologies and are not forced to opt for a corrupt or fascist regime.
Empowerment is only possible when today’s bright and erudite young men and women do not make a conscious decision to stay away from active politics and make way for musclemen and goons to call the shots in legislative assemblies and Parliament.
Today, quite disappointingly, the executive has been rendered ineffective and paralysed and the judiciary has to take up the cudgels on its behalf, with its timely intervention when situations go out of hand. It is an unfortunate trend and only reconfirms one’s forebodings about the prevalent administrative system.
But autocracy can never be the alternative. What we need to do is to mobilise the masses at the grassroots and make them aware about their potential, their power to change things for a better life. Only then can we be truly empowered. I am still hopeful.

C R T VS L C D

2005-10-27T12:53:00.001+05:30

C R T VS L C D

LCD (liquid crystal display) monitors are new and certainly the most fashionable monitors to have, but they may not be the best solution for everyone. CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors still have a lot to offer in today's market. There is no doubt that LCD technology has come along way and will one day surpass the CRT as the number one monitor of choice.
For the time being we will be looking at 12 categories that monitors can be judged by and helping you along by telling you the advantages and disadvantages of each type of monitor in these categories.
Brightness
The brightness of the screen is a big factor when viewing in high lit area's such as a room with lots of windows or places where the sun catches the screen. LCD monitors can offer around twice the brightness that the CRT monitor can give you. LCD screens will appear better in high lit area's by still shining the colours through giving you a much more defined picture.
Contrast
The opposite to brightness, the contrast controls the image viewed in low light area's. A good contrast will keep black tones a dark black and not a grey colour. Good contrast is needed when watching films and playing games. In this category the CRT monitors generally perform the best although its one of the categories that the LCD monitors have made tremendous strides forward in recent times.
Colour
This again has to go to the CRT monitors when we are talking about colour purity and quality. Some of the very best LCD monitors display very vibrant colours and it could be hard to tell the difference. However when watching films and playing games the difference can be noticeable especially when you put the two monitors side by side. Again this will depend on how much you spend on your LCD monitor the more you pay the better its likely to be. The CRT monitor on the other hand offer great colour in all of the price ranges.
Weight and Size
This is an obvious winner for the LCD screens. It has to be said that this is the LCD's main selling point. They are so much smaller and lighter than CRT screens that they are proving very popular in offices or anywhere where space is at a premium. Take a look inside your local travel agent for example and you will probably find that all of the screens in there are LCD based. Because of the technology used by CRT screens they cannot get any smaller. The larger the screen goes the deeper the back has to be in order for the CRT to work properly.
Viewing Angle
The viewing angle of a monitor is the angle you can sit at and still see what is on the screen. With a CRT monitor you can sit anywhere you can see the screen and the image will not distort, LCD monitors have a distortion when you go past the viewing angle. The colours will go funny and you will no longer be able to see what is on the screen. Viewing angle limits on LCD models do alter from model to model but again more cost tends to get you a wider viewing angle.
This is not an issue for workstations as you will be sitting directly in front of your monitor in any case. However it comes down to watching films or TV again when the viewing angle becomes a limitation on where you can position yourselves in regard to the monitor.
Screen Burn
This one is simple its the phosphor that causes the screen burn in conventional CRT monitors. Because of the way LCD monitors work there is no chance of screen burn so you can leave the same image on your screen without the worry of a permanent imprint of an image of your screen.
If your a little unsure of what screen burn is or your not sure how badly it can effect your monitor then a good example is old cash machines that you know don't get used that much. If they have been there for a long time displaying the the same "please insert your card" screen, you will notice that even after you go past this screen you will still be able to see the message in the background like a ghosting effect. Once this happens its irreversible.
Screen Flicker
Screen flicker is caused when your eyes can notice the refreshing of the monitor screen. CRT monitors at the high end of the scale combat this problem by offering high refresh rates that the eye can't detect and so you see no flicker. LCD displays combat this issue by not needing a refresh rate because of the technology involved. LCD never get screen flicker.
Screen flicker is more than just an annoyance, if you spend any length of time a computer then screen flicker can cause you rather painful headaches and eye strains. Once again this brings the LCD screen as the perfect choice for a workstation or office.
Interference
With interference here I am talking about magnetic interference like you get from unshielded speakers and the like. CRTs use magnets to control the electron flow inside the tube. Because LCD's do not use this technology they are not affected by magnetic interference. An extra advantage to this is that LCD screens can be fitted with speakers that have no extra shielding bring down the cost of integrated speakers.
Power Consumption
This category is an easy winner for the LCD screen. LCD screens were originally put in notebook computers and laptops because they were very could at preserving battery life. LCD monitors consume around 20-50W of power while your typical CRT monitor will have anything up to 150W or even beyond depending on its size.
Dead Pixels
CRT have the problem of Screen burn in because of the technology it uses. The LCD screen has a problem with dead pixels. The Liquid Crystal display is made up of thousands upon thousands of tiny transistors. If one of these transistors gets stuck then you are left with a dead or stuck pixel.
A dead pixel gets stuck in one particular form. It could be a light dot, a dark dot or a coloured dot. This unfortunately is not repairable. Big steps have been taken to lower the amount of dead pixels that occur in LCD monitors. Despite this there is still what's known as a tolerance level of dead pixels before a manufacturer will take an LCD monitor back as a faulty item.
Response Time
The response time of a monitor is the time it takes for the pixel to update the colours you see on screen. This is important when objects on the screen are moving with any speed such as in games or watching movies, especially action movies. Her the best LCD screens are acceptable with a response time of less than 20 milliseconds. However the CRT monitor's response time is negligible and so the winner in this category.
Price
A very important factor when making a purchase for the majority of us. LCD screens have come down in price by a lot in recent times due to there increasing popularity, however CRT screens have also been on the way down to keep them at a cheaper level. roughly speaking you can still get a 19" CRT for the price of a 15" LCD/TFT monitor. If price is a big issue for you then the CRT is still the way to go for the time being.
Conclusion
Out of the 12 categories we have given each of the monitor types 6 each. A draw perhaps, but on a closer look its very clear that each are winning in certain categories. What we are saying here is that things that revolve around office work, brightness, no flicker, size etc then the LCD screen comes out on top. For watching movies and playing game the CRT monitor is best i.e. response time, colour and contrast. And possibly the most important factor is price and the the CRT still has that vital edge for the time being.

A developing country

2005-09-20T16:43:00.001+05:30

“A developing country is a country with a low income average, a relatively backwards infrastructure and a poor human development index when compared to the global norm

Development entails developing a modern infrastructure (both physical and institutional), and a move away from low value added sectors such as agriculture and natural resource extraction. Developed countries usually have economic systems based on continuous, self-sustaining economic growth.”

Wikipedia On Developing Countries.......

What is this global norm? Who defines all these? Who has given authority to Western countries to decide who is developed, developing or under developed?

Once I heard somebody say that a village without electricity is under developed. I was astonished by this. How can electricity define development? I feel the comfort does not come with modern technologies. It’s the level of satisfaction that brings in development and not the modern technology.

“The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab incursions starting in the 8th century and Turkish in the 12th were followed by those of European traders, beginning in the late 15th century. By the 19th century, Britain had assumed political control of virtually all Indian lands. Indian armed forces in the British army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British colonialism led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU brought independence in 1947. The subcontinent was divided into the secular state of India and the smaller Muslim state of Pakistan. A third war between the two countries in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife”

CIA On India.................

See how CIA portrays India to the world. We need to correct our mistakes and go ahead its not technological development we need. No technology is going to wash away poverty or dispute with Pakistan, overpopulation, environmental degradation or religious strife. Its all together a new approach we need. Its not economic independence we need, it’s the independence from the ego of being third world. It’s the acceptance of cultural values we need not acceptance of UN strategies or World Bank funds, its acceptance of religious co existence we need and not war against terrorism, it’s the re foresting we need and not multi storeyed buildings.

Think we are third world because we think some body else is first world and not because we stand down the line.

“It’s the attitude that matters and not altitude.”

I am the truth(Aham Brahmasmi)

2005-09-09T11:36:00.001+05:30

One can see the world and its worldly being as mere formation of virtual shapes and forms which are all one and the one is Me/you/anybody. But I am not the only truth. Every body is a truth and these truth's are all one. Only thing is that I feel oneness only within me or within my scope. I feel my oneness in another being but even the feeling is only within that being that I dont feel that in myself. But when you feel that you have achieved the truth and so that's the truth.

Nobody is superior or inferior not even the one who feel or who doesn't as there is no two to be superior or inferior, its all the one and that one is in me and so I am the truth.

Please not " I am the truth " applies to all. so you are your truth. You are one or all or the whole.

Caching Manager in ASP.Net

2005-09-08T14:56:00.001+05:30

Caching SQL Server 2000 Data using ASP.Net

Caching in ASP.Net

In classic ASP, one of the techniques developers commonly relied on to speed up processing was the use of caching.

The main benefits of caching are performance-related: operations like accessing database information can be one of the most expensive operations of an ASP page's life cycle. If the database information is fairly static, this database-information can be cached. When information is cached, it stays cached either indefinitely, until some relative time, or until some absolute time. Most commonly, information is cached for a relative time frame. That is, our database information may be fairly static, updated just a few times a week. Therefore, we might want to invalidate the cache every other day, meaning every other day the cached content is rebuilt from the database.

While caching in classic ASP was a bit of a chore, it is quite easy in ASP.NET. There are a number of classes in the .NET Framework designed to aid with caching information.

Caching options in ASP.Net
· Page Level/Output Caching
· Page Fragment/Partial Page Output Caching
· Programmatic/Data Caching

We discuss how Data Caching can be used to cache SQL Server 2000 Data using ASP.Net in following section.

Data Caching

This is in-memory cache. ASP.NET provides this power and flexibility by providing a cache engine. Programmatic or data caching takes advantage of the .NET Runtime cache engine to store any data or object between responses. That is, you can store objects into a cache, similar to the storing of objects in Application scope in classic ASP. (As with classic ASP, do not store open database connections in the cache!)

Realize that this data cache is kept in memory and "lives" as long as the host application does. In other words, when the ASP.NET application using data caching is restarted, the cache is destroyed and recreated. Data Caching is almost as easy to use as Output Caching or Fragment caching: you simply interact with it as you would any simple dictionary object. To store a value in the cache, use syntax like this:

Cache["foo"] = bar;

To retrieve a value, simply reverse the syntax like this:

bar = Cache["foo"];

Note that after you retrieve a cache value in the above manner you should first verify that the cache value is not null prior to doing something with the data. Since Data Caching uses an in-memory cache, there are times when cache elements may need to be evicted. That is, if there is not enough memory and you attempt to insert something new into the cache, something else has gotta go! The Data Cache engine does all of this scavenging for your behind the scenes, of course. However, don't forget that you should always check to ensure that the cache value is there before using it. This is fairly simply to do - just check to ensure that the value isn't null/Nothing. If it is, then you need to dynamically retrieve the object and restore it into the cache.

//Try to read the cache entry MyString into str
str = Cache("myString");

//Check if str is Nothing
If str == null
{
//If it is, populate str from SetStringToSomething()
str = GetStringFromDB();

'Now insert str into the cache entry myString
Cache("myString") = str;
}

Additionally, you can have an item evicted from the cache when a file changes. Such an eviction dependency is called a file dependency, and has many real-world applications, especially when working with XML files. For example, if you want to pull data out of an XML file, but you don't want to constantly go to disk to read the data, you can tell the ASP.NET caching engine to expire the cached XML file whenever the XML file on disk is changed. To do this, use the following syntax:

Cache.Insert("foo", bar, new CacheDependancy(Server.MapPath("BarData.xml")))

Taking advantage of this Cache File Dependency Property we can design a caching method which will update the cache only when the data in the database table has really changed, so that we get maximum performance.

Caching Manager

The cache will be dependent on a file in the server. i.e. cache gets expired whenever the file changes. So now the file should change when ever a DML statement is executed on the table. For this we have to write a trigger for each table to be kept in the cache so that whenever a new row is inserted, a row is updated or deleted the file corresponding to that table changes.

The trigger

CREATE TRIGGER
WriteCacheDepFile
ON Contacts
FOR INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE
AS
EXEC sp_makewebtask '\\anandah\C$\Cache\mycache.txt',
'SELECT top 1 FirstName FROM contacts'

We need to actually create the directory, and make it a share. You may also need to update permissions so the file can be written. Note that I've used the Administrative share "C$". You may also need to create an initial blank file, "mycache.txt".
This trigger updates the file mycache.txt whenever the Insert, update or delete gets executed.

The ASP.net application

Now we are all ready to create our app. First, let's put the dependency file into our web.config so it's easy to change without redeployment:

In web.config, near the bottom, add an appSettings section like so:

Now, let's set up our Cache mechanism in our Global class so we won't need any page specific code:

Public Class Global: System.Web.HttpApplication

Public void Application_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
{

RefreshCache();
}

Public RefreshCache()
{
CacheItemRemovedCallback onRemove;
onRemove = new CacheItemRemovedCallback(this.RefreshCache());

System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Cache.Insert(“Table1”, GetTable1FromDB(), New CacheDependency(depFile), Cache.NoAbsoluteExpiration, Cache.NoSlidingExpiration, CacheItemPriority.High, onRemove));
}

Public void Session_Start(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs)
{
If (HttpContext.Current.Cache("Table1") == null )
RefreshCache();
}

Using the OnRemove delegate as shown above we avoid the developer from calling the refreshcache every time it expires. So the Cache management is invisible to developers.

From application we need to just bind the controls to the Cache

Example:

RefreshDataSet()
{
DataGridTable1 = (type conversion accordingly)Cache[“Table1”];
DataGridTable1.DataBinb();
}

Architecture

2005-08-31T11:21:00.001+05:30

ASP.NET Architecture
Asp.net applications built with any other .Net compatible language are hosted by the Internet Information Server (IIS), which accepts client (HTTP) requests (a "call" for an .aspx page from your Web Browser) and passes the requests on to the Web application. The Asp.Net runtime engine delegates those requests to a wide variety of handler classes (in a separate process from IIS). In most cases, read: when an .aspx page is requested from a Web server, IIS "redirects" requests to the aspnet_isapi.dll ISAPI application - which in turn hands the request off to the aspnet_wp.exe worker process. This worker process handles the rest of the request by just-in-time compiling the code in the page (in any code-behind files) if no cached version of the requested resource exists. What happens afterwards is something called "The ASP.NET Page Life Cycle"
When an ASPX file is requested for the very first time, the ASP.NET runtime engine performs a number of different steps behind the scenes before presenting the page to the user. First based on the class name specified in the inherits tag a list of depended files is created and all the information is stored in form of an XML files with same name as that of the ASPX page, this file can be located under
<<>>\Microsoft.NET\Framework\<<.net version number>>\Temporary ASP.NET Files\<>
You might see some random numbers; these are generated as a result of recompilation which happens every time we change the ASPX file.
The ASPX file is dynamically compiled into a DLL having reference to the assembly placed under the bin directory. You could locate the source code generated for the ASPX page under the same directory (look for .cs files) and you could also see how these files are getting compiled by looking at the contents of ".cmdline" files.
So just to summaries this process the ASP.NET engine scans through each of the assemblies under the bin folder to create a list of dependent files for each ASPX, parses each ASPX file into C# code (I am not sure if it would generate some VB code if I change the language for my code behind to VB)
Compiles the code generated and includes all the dependent assemblies as reference to this assembly.
Hence because of the reference the ASPX file is automatically linked to the corresponding assembly in the bin folder.
why we need to place the assembly in the bin folder and not anywhere else?
Every .NET application has a private path where the assemblies are loaded from by default it's GAC and the root directory of the application but this behavior can be changed using what is called as "probing" using the following configuration elements

In ASP.NET by default it is the bin folder.
How ASP.Net Maintains State
When Microsoft developed ASP.Net, they analyzed the various types of common functionality which ASP programmers have had to incorporate into their applications, and developed the ASP.Net object model around this. Because ASP.Net is object-oriented and event-driven, classes were developed which would handle this sort of thing automatically. For this reason, and several others we will explore later, Microsoft developed Web Controls and HTML Controls. We will see that all of the differences in the programming interface add up to the same basic operation as ASP for maintaining state.
ASP.Net adds a hidden form field to a WebForm, called "__VIEWSTATE". This form field corresponds to a server-side object called ViewState. The ViewState object is a Collection of values from the form, which includes the values of all Web Controls and HTML Controls which have been set to maintain their state1 between PostBacks (a "PostBack" is simply the posting of the WebForm back to itself).
How ViewState Works
Here's how it's done. When the WebForm's HTML output is streamed to the browser, the hidden "__VIEWSTATE" field is added to the form. When the form is posted back to the server, the Request.Form Collection (same as ASP) contains the values of the posted form. The Server Control reads the form POST data, extracts the values, and updates (rewrites) the ViewState value to be sent back to the client. At the same time, the Server Control adds the appropriate HTML to the HTML object text to "set" it in it's proper (remembered) state, that is, the state the form field was in when the form was posted. In essence, ASP.Net is doing the same thing that ASP does, although you don't have to write all that code to make it so.
How Events Works
When something happens, whether it is something a User has done through an interface, or something internal to a program's logic, the object which hosted the action sends a message to the Operating System. This message is in the form of an Event object, which contains certain data about the object which spawned the Event. Any object which hosts an Event Handler Method for that object's Event will be notified of the Event by the Operating System, and the Event Handler method is fired when the Event is "raised."
Of course, this brings up the question: How can an event which occurs in a client-side browser, which is disconnected from the server, be recognized by the server, and handled appropriately by both the server and the browser? And of course, the answer is obvious: An event is a message. The browser sends a "message" to the server with each Request. The Event can be communicated to the server in the Request. And the server can then render the appropriate HTML back to the browser according to the Event Handler, thus having the browser "react" to the event as well.

When you add a server-side event to a Server Control or HTML Control, for example, an "onclick" event to a button, ASP.Net automatically adds a client-side "onclick" event handler to the HTML for the object2. The event handler calls the __doPostBack() method, passing the id of the control which fired the event in the "__EVENTTARGET" field, along with any special "__EVENTARGUMENT" data that may be needed on the server side. Note that the __doPostBack() method submits the form back to the server, creating a Request which contains the event data in the hidden form fields.
When the server-side Page class receives the Request, it sees the data in those hidden form fields, and reacts accordingly, raising a real (server-side) Event, which can then be handled by the Event Handler method you have developed (if any).
ASP.Net Controls
We have been using the word "control" fairly frequently here, and now would be a good time to explain the concept of ASP.Net Controls. In the Common Language Runtime (CLR), all classes of objects which are used in ASP.Net interfaces (the HTML document rendered) are derived from System.Web.UI.Control in some form or fashion. The origin of this term can probably be traced back to Windows Forms. All interface elements in a Windows Form are called Controls. The idea of ASP.Net Controls is basically the same: A Control is a class which has back-end processing, and renders a User Interface. In Windows Forms, the interface and back-end are in the same memory space, part of the same Application. In ASP.Net, Controls have back-end processing, and render an HTML interface in the Page. The main difference is that the HTML interface is separated from the back-end processing by the client-server "gulf".
Even the ASP.Net Page class inherits System.Web.UI.Control, just as a Windows Form inherits from Control. A Page has back-end processing and renders an interface in the browser. Like any other Control, it has a Controls Collection. It has the same sequence of Events that any other Control has, plus a few others derived from System.Web.UI.TemplateControl, which is its immediate Base class.
What seems to confuse people who are new to ASP.Net is that while the conceptual model has changed, the platform has not. We're still dealing with HTTP and HTML here, and the control's interface element is just text streamed to the browser. Part of the problem that people have may stem from the way that these controls appear in Visual Studio.NET, and how they appear in the source code for an ASP.Net page. In Visual Studio.NET's IDE, the HTML for Controls is rendered, making it look like there's actually something there. But there's not. If you view the code for the control in the HTML view, you will notice that there is NO HTML for the Control in the page. This is because the Control renders HTML to the page when the page is executed. One of the Event methods that a Control has is the Render() Method. This method literally writes HTML for the control into the HTML output stream of the Page.
Don't let this confuse you, however. Underneath it all, ASP.Net is simply automating much of what you had to hand-code into your ASP applications. It is still writing HTML to the output stream to the browser. Part of the output stream, however, is certain types of HTML elements, such as the client-side event handlers that call the __doPostBack() function, the ViewState hidden form field, and __doPostBack() JavaScript, which are used to emulate the link between the client and server, enabling client-side events to trigger server-side event handlers.
By creating the idea of a WebForm, all of this is brought together into a programming model which acts much like a Windows Form. A Windows Form handles its own events. A WebForm does this too, by sending event messages with a POST to the server, which then streams back the updated state of the WebForm. This is why a WebForm always posts back to itself.

· Server Controls must have their "EnableViewState" property set to True in order to use the ViewState
· This is true only for Controls which have server-side events, and have their "AutoPostBack" property set to True

Sessions

· InProc - session kept as live objects in web server (aspnet_wp.exe). Use "cookieless" configuration in web.config to "munge" the sessionId onto the URL (solves cookie/domain/path RFC problems too!)
· StateServer - session serialized and stored in memory in a separate process (aspnet_state.exe). State Server can run on another machine
· SQLServer - session serialized and stored in SQL server
Performance
· InProc - Fastest, but the more session data, the more memory is consumed on the web server, and that can affect performance.
· StateServer - When storing data of basic types (e.g. string, integer, etc), in one test environment it's 15% slower than InProc. However, the cost of serialization/deserialization can affect performance if you're storing lots of objects. You have to do performance testing for your own scenario.
· SQLServer - When storing data of basic types (e.g. string, integer, etc), in one test environment it's 25% slower than InProc. Same warning about serialization as in StateServer.

How CLR starts and executes

2005-05-02T10:54:00.001+05:30

What is CLR?
The common language runtime (CLR) is the foundation upon which the Microsoft® .NET strategy is built. The CLR provides an execution environment that manages running code and provides services that make software development easier. These services include automatic memory management, cross-language integration, interoperability with existing code and systems, simplified deployment, and a finely grained security system.The CLR is flexible enough to run a variety of different types of applications. For example, the benefits provided by the CLR apply equally well to console applications, Web server scripts, downloaded controls, traditional Win32®-based applications, database queries, macros in business productivity applications, and so on. In fact, the CLR can add value to most scenarios in which code is written and executed.In the future, support for different types of common language runtime applications will be built into operating systems, but today each application type requires a piece of code to get it up and running. This piece of code is referred to as a CLR host.
Examples of hosts that ship with the .NET Framework include:
ASP .NET : An ISAPI filter that ships with ASP .NET is responsible for starting the CLR and initializing the plumbing needed to route Web requests to the ASP .NET processes.
Internet Explorer : The .NET Framework ships with a MIME filter that hooks into Internet Explorer 5.01 or later to execute managed code controls that are referenced from HTML pages.
Shell Executables : Each time an executable is launched from the shell, a small piece of unmanaged code gets invoked that transitions control to the CLR.

Other hosts could include:
Database Engines : A future version of Microsoft SQL Server will allow stored procedures to be written in languages that support the .NET Framework and are executed with the CLR.
Personal Organizers : Several e-mail/calendar/contact programs allow users to write scripts to customize the processing of e-mail messages, appointments, and so on. It's easy to imagine these scripts running on the CLR. The security system provided by the CLR is especially important in this scenario because of the proliferation of viruses spread by e-mail systems.
Lets look at how the CLR is started, configured, and loaded into a process, and how a particular version of the CLR is selected when several are available.

How CLR starts/loads?

In order to start running managed code in a process, the CLR must be loaded and initialized (the host is responsible for loading the CLR). Because all hosts must start with an unmanaged stub, the .NET Framework provides a set of unmanaged APIs the host can use to get the CLR running.Several versions can be installed and run simultaneously (also described as the CLR being fully "side-by-side") primarily to offer administrators greater flexibility in upgrading to new releases. Previous runtimes shipped by Microsoft, including the Visual Basic® runtime, the Java virtual machine, and the COM infrastructure all forced administrators to upgrade to a new version even if only one application required it or if the runtime in question happened to be shipped in a service pack containing fixes to other Windows® components that the administrator wanted to install.While the flexibility of side-by-side is great for an administrator, it makes the job of hosting more difficult because the host must decide how to operate in the presence of multiple versions of the CLR, and it must pick a particular CLR version to load into a given process. Although multiple versions of the CLR may exist on a given machine, only one version may run in a particular process. So once the host chooses which version to load, all managed code that runs in that process will use that version of the CLR.The CLR's implementation of side-by-side requires the use of a startup shim. The shim is a thin piece of code that accepts a version number and other startup parameters from the host and starts the CLR. Only one version of the shim exists on a given machine and that version is installed on the machine's default search path (currently %windir%\system32). The shim is kept as small and straightforward as possible to ensure its compatibility with future versions of the CLR.The startup shim is implemented in mscoree.dll, while the bulk of the CLR's execution engine is implemented in mscorsvr.dll or mscorwks.dll, depending on whether you are running the server or workstation build. Mscorsvr.dll and mscorwks.dll are installed in subdirectories of %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework, which are named by version number. All of the DLLs that implement a given version of the CLR are installed in one directory—they are not scattered in several directories on the machine. Figure 1 shows the relationship between the shim and the core CLR DLLs, and where they are installed.

Figure1 Shim and CLR DLLs
As described, the primary role of the shim is to accept a version number, then branch to the appropriate implementation of the CLR installed on the machine.

How CLR is loaded into a Process?

Hosts call the CorBindToRuntimeEx API to load the CLR into a process. There are four values a host can set when calling CorBindToRuntimeEx. These settings control which CLR gets loaded and how basic functions like garbage collection and class loading will behave in the process. The four settings are: version, server versus workstation, concurrent GC, and loader optimization. The version setting determines which version of the CLR gets loaded. The server versus workstation setting specifies whether the workstation build or the server build is loaded. Concurrent GC specifies whether garbage collection (GC) is done concurrently or not. Finally, loader optimization controls whether assemblies are loaded domain-neutrally.A host has direct control over how the CLR is loaded by specifying values for each of these settings. However, each setting is optional. Default values are used if a particular parameter isn't supplied. The following four sections describe each of these settings in detail.In addition to these four settings, a host can also request an interface pointer to one of the COM interfaces exposed by the CLR. The most common interface for hosts to request is ICorRuntimeHost. In general this interface allows the host to fine-tune these options and to begin creating application domains and running user code in the process.
Version Setting
The version setting specified in the pszVersion parameter dictates which version of the CLR to load. The pszVersion parameter to CorBindToRuntimeEx is a string that identifies the subdirectory under %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework that contains the specific version of the CLR the host wants to load. Note that the letter "v" must precede the actual version number in this string (for example, v1.0.2212).If null is passed for this parameter, the host is delegating the decision about which version to load to the per-machine, per-user, or application-specific settings. Unless otherwise configured, the latest version of the CLR is loaded.

Server versus Workstation Setting

The .NET Framework ships with two builds of the CLR: a workstation build and a server build. This setting specifies whether the workstation build or the server build is loaded. These builds are tuned to provide optimal performance for client applications and multiprocessor server scenarios, respectively. Specifically, the server build takes advantage of multiple processors so garbage collection can be done on each processor in parallel.If null is passed for this parameter, the workstation build is loaded. In addition, when running on a single-processor machine, the workstation build will always be loaded, even if svr is requested by the host. The reason for this restriction is performance—the workstation build always outperforms the server build on single-processor machines.

Concurrent GC Setting

The CLR's garbage collector can be run in one of two modes: concurrent or nonconcurrent. This setting specifies whether or not garbage collection is done concurrently. A host turns on concurrent GC by passing the STARTUP_CONCURRENT_GC flag as the dwflags parameter to CorBindToRuntimeEx. If this flag is not set, nonconcurrent GC is used.When running concurrent GC, collections are done on background threads instead of the threads that run user code. By user code, I mean any managed code that is not specifically part of the host. For example, to the Internet Explorer host, user code is the managed controls and script that make up the HTML pages. To the host that runs executables from the shell, the user code is the code contained in the executable being launched. As a result, applications running with concurrent GC can provide a more responsive user interface. However, although the application is more responsive, the overall performance of the garbage collection is slower. Concurrent GC is used almost exclusively for applications with complex user interfaces.In contrast, nonconcurrent GC performs collections on the same threads that run user code. The application is less interactive, but the overall performance of the GC is better than with concurrent GC. Non-concurrent GC is almost always used for server applications like Web servers or database servers. In fact, if the server build of the CLR is requested on a uniprocessor machine, concurrent GC will never be used.

Loader Optimization Setting

This fourth setting controls whether or not assemblies are loaded domain-neutrally. To understand what this means and which setting to choose, you need to understand the CLR's definition of application domains. Operating systems and runtimes typically provide some form of isolation between applications running on the system. This isolation is necessary to ensure that code running in one application cannot adversely affect other unrelated applications. In Windows, this isolation has historically been achieved using process boundaries. In this model, a process runs in exactly one application, so no other applications are affected if the application crashes.The .NET platform has similar needs for isolation, but there are many scenarios in which the process boundary is too expensive an operation since it involves a thread switch, the resetting of call stacks, and so on.With .NET, user code can be verified to be type-safe, so several applications can run in the same process and guarantee that one application can't bring down the whole process. This helps provide isolation at a lower cost than the process boundary. The CLR allows multiple applications to be run in a single operating system process by using a construct called an application domain to isolate those applications from one another.In many respects, application domains are the CLR's equivalent of an operating system process. As such, user code is isolated to the domain in which it is loaded. That is, the code cannot be directly called from outside the containing application domain, nor can it make direct calls to code loaded in other domains. If a single assembly is used by several applications in the same process, the CLR will load multiple copies of it by default—one for each domain in which the assembly is used.To maintain isolation, each domain will have its own copy of the user's code and the data structures the CLR builds when executing the code. In many cases, this can be optimized so that the read-only CLR data structures are shared among all domains within the process. This optimization can significantly reduce memory usage for scenarios in which the same assembly is commonly used by a number of applications in the process. Assemblies loaded in this fashion are said to be domain-neutral.Although domain-neutral code consumes less memory, it does run a bit more slowly. The slower performance is related to the way in which the assembly's static variables and methods are accessed. A separate copy of the static variables must be maintained for each domain to prevent object references from leaking across domains by passing them as static variables. As a result, the CLR must maintain tables that map a given caller to the appropriate copy of the static variable. The indirection through these lookup tables causes the code to run more slowly. Access to nonstatic data and methods is equivalent regardless of whether the optimization is enabled or not.
The CLR allows the host to control this loader optimization by setting the dwFlags parameter when calling CorBindToRuntimeEx. For example, the ASP .NET host takes advantage of this feature to optimize the use of assemblies like System.WebForms and System.Data. The host can specify one of the three settings

1. No assemblies are loaded domain-neutral (except mscorlib, which is always loaded domain-neutral) : This setting is termed "Single Domain" because it is commonly used when the host is running a single application in the process. Pass STARTUP_LOADER_ OPTIMIZATION_SINGLE_DOMAIN as the dwFlags parameter to CorBindToRuntimeEx.

2. All assemblies are loaded domain-neutral : This setting is typically used when there are multiple domains in the process, all running the same code. For example, a host may choose to run the same application in numerous domains isolated by user. Pass STARTUP_LOADER_ OPTIMIZATION_MULTI_DOMAIN as the dwFlags parameter to CorBindToRuntimeEx.

3. Shared assemblies (those with strong names) are loaded domain-neutral : Use this setting when running multiple different applications in the same process. Pass STARTUP_LOADER_ OPTIMIZATION_MULTI_DOMAIN_HOST as the dwFlags parameter to CorBindToRuntimeEx. Strong names is the naming technique used to ensure that shared assemblies (those that are used by more than one application) have globally unique names and that the assembly hasn't been altered, either accidentally or maliciously, from the time it was built to the time it was deployed.

ICorRuntimeHost
This interface allows the host to set more granular options and to begin creating application domains and running user code in the process. Specifically, ICorRuntimeHost allows a host to access numerous additional configuration parameters, explicitly control when the CLR is started and stopped, and obtain a pointer to an initial application domain (that is, create an application domain) and transition into managed code.The GetConfiguration method on ICorRuntimeHost provides access to an interface called ICorConfiguration that can be used to configure specific aspects of the CLR that will be loaded into the process, or to register for additional events. For example, a host could use GetConfiguration to register a callback function to receive notification that a particular thread is about to be stopped in the debugger, or to specify the size of the GC heap.
ICorRuntimeHost's Start and Stop methods allow a host to explicitly control the lifetime of the CLR within the process. The host isn't required to explicitly call these methods, since Start is implicitly called when the first managed code is run in the process and Stop is implicitly called when the process shuts down. However, there are scenarios in which it is useful to call these methods. For example, a host may know that it is finished running managed code and may want to stop the CLR to cause it to release the memory and resources it is using. Note that once the CLR is unloaded from a process, it cannot be started in that process again.In order to begin running managed code, a host must obtain a pointer to an application domain. In many cases, this is the default domain within the process, but the host can also create additional domains as well.

Host's Architecture

This section describes the architecture of a typical CLR host. Most hosts consist of both unmanaged and managed code. The unmanaged code, of course, is responsible for configuring the CLR, loading it into the process, and transitioning the program into managed code. The managed portion of the host is typically responsible for creating the domains that user code will run in and dispatching user requests to those domains.Hosts typically contain both unmanaged and managed code for two reasons. The first is performance. There is a cost associated with calling across the managed/unmanaged boundary. It is generally a good idea to transition into managed code once and stay there instead of continually transitioning from the unmanaged host code to the managed user code. The second reason is ease of implementation. The overall goal of the CLR is to make code easier to write—so you should use it as much as possible.A portion of the host is likely to be written as a .NET assembly since all managed code must be in a .NET assembly. Therefore, the host must decide the application domain in which to run the managed hosting code. Each process has a default domain that is well-suited for this purpose. The default domain is created automatically by the CLR every time it is initialized into the process. When the process shuts down, the default domain is unloaded. Most hosts don't run user code in the default domain because it can't be shut down independently of the process.An interface pointer to the default domain can be obtained by calling ICorRuntimeHost::GetDefaultDomain. The pointer that is returned points to the instance of System.AppDomain that represents the default domain. This interface pointer is of type _AppDomain and is generated automatically by the COM interop layer of the CLR. In short, the host will be calling methods on an instance of the managed class System.AppDomain through COM interop. As I mentioned previously, it is generally advantageous for performance reasons to keep the number of calls across the unmanaged/managed boundary to a minimum. Figure 2 shows this architecture.

Figure 3 A Typical Host Architecture

Appropriate Domain Boundaries

Application domains are a means for isolating an application within a process. The definition of what an application means to a particular host, and therefore where the application domain boundaries lie, is one of the most critical decisions a host must make. For example, to the ASP .NET host an application corresponds to a vroot as defined in the Web server's admin tool. To a database server such as SQL Server, an application may correspond to a particular database.When determining how an application is defined by your host, you need to consider several conditions:
Code Isolation Direct calls between two types are only allowed if both types are in the same application domain. All calls coming into or going out of the domain are indirected through proxies. In short, if a host wants to ensure that code in two .NET assemblies cannot directly call each other, those assemblies must be loaded in different domains.
Configuration and Application Isolation Isolating both the configuration data and the location from which private components (assemblies) are loaded is critical for the ability of a developer to build an application that cannot be affected by changes made to the system on behalf of other applications. Most commonly, an application is rooted in a particular directory in the file system. Requests to load private assemblies will only be made in that directory and its subdirectories. For example, the Internet Explorer host defines an application per Web site by default. The root directory of the site is considered the root directory for the application.
Security A host has a high degree of control over the permissions that code receives when running in a given application domain, as I'll discuss later. For example, a host may want to require that all code running in a particular domain come from a certain area on disk, or that all code running in a domain is signed by a particular publisher. Hosts can also define this security policy based on custom data (or evidence, which I'll explain later).Consider the scenario in which a host has some notion of user identity outside of that provided by Windows. In this case, the host may want to partition domains based on user account and define custom security policy that enforces that only code running under that person's account is allowed in a particular domain.
Unloading Application domains are the unloading boundary in the CLR. Nothing smaller than a domain, such as an assembly or type, can be unloaded. The ability to unload and reload code often affects how a host determines domain boundaries.
Configuring Application Domains
Once inside managed code, the host will likely want to create application domains in which to run user code based on the aforementioned criteria (security, isolation, unloading, and so on). Most hosts don't run user code in the default domain for a few reasons. First, the default domain cannot be unloaded until the process exists. Also, for security and isolation reasons it doesn't make sense for the hosting code and user code to run in the same domain.There are various properties a host can set on an application domain that control everything from how assemblies are found to whether DLLs are locked (and therefore can't be dynamically replaced) when loaded. These properties are defined by the managed class System.AppDo- mainFlags. This class's two most important properties are ApplicationBase and ConfigurationFile.If the host intends to load assemblies from disk, ApplicationBase will almost always be set. ApplicationBase defines the root directory for the application. The CLR will always start by looking in the ApplicationBase when resolving references to assemblies. By defining an ApplicationBase, the host allows assemblies to be private in relation to a particular application. Application-private assemblies are a key element in the ability to create an isolated application.The ConfigurationFile property specifies an XML file that contains settings used to configure the application running in the domain. Examples of settings in the application configuration file include assembly versioning rules and information about how to locate types that are accessed remotely by the application.
See the documentation for System.AppDomainFlags in the .NET Framework SDK for descriptions of the other properties that can be used to configure an application domain.

Loading and Executing User Code

Now that the host has created and configured one or more application domains, the next step is to execute user code in those domains.All code that is run in the CLR must be part of an assembly. An assembly is the deployment unit for types and resources, and is the primary unit of execution in the CLR. The manner in which assemblies are loaded for execution depends largely on the host's specific scenario. In general, there are two options. The first option is to load precompiled assemblies from disk. The methods Assembly.Load, Assembly.LoadFrom, and AppDomain.CreateInstance are commonly used to load precompiled assemblies.The second option is to create assemblies on the fly using the APIs in the System.Reflection.Emit namespace. ASP .NET uses these APIs to dynamically create assemblies that correspond to .aspx pages in a Web application. These assemblies can then be directly run in a given domain and thrown away. Of course, the Reflection.Emit namespace does offer the capability to persist an assembly to disk as well.

Resolving References to Assemblies

The CLR has a well-defined set of rules for resolving references to assemblies, including probing in the ApplicationBase and looking in the global assembly cache. These default rules may not be sufficient in some hosting scenarios, especially if the host is creating assemblies on the fly using Reflection.Emit. In this case, there may not be a persisted assembly to find.The CLR provides a hook into the class-loading process that allows a host to plug in its own rules for how assembly references are resolved. This hook is the TypeResolveEvent on the System.AppDomain class.
If the CLR does not find an assembly given its default rules, it raises this event by passing the identity of the assembly it is looking for as the EventArgs parameter. Hosts that receive this event are free to resolve the reference to the assembly by any means they see fit. They may construct an assembly on the fly, find it in a custom location on disk, and so on, as long as they construct an instance of System.Reflection.Assembly to return from the delegate.

Setting Security Policy

The code access security system provided by the .NET Framework is designed to allow administrators to make finely grained decisions about whether a given piece of code can access a particular resource. Decisions about what code is allowed to do are based on characteristics of the code itself, rather than on the user that happens to be executing the code. These characteristics are called evidence. Examples of evidence include the Web site or zone the code was downloaded from or the digital signature of the vendor that published the code.The code access security system maps this evidence to a set of permissions when the code is loaded and run. These permissions define the specific actions that the code is allowed to take. For example, code may be given a permission that allows it to read from a particular portion of the file system, or write to a particular network drive. The specific mapping between a particular piece of evidence and the permissions granted to the code is made by the administrator or host and is termed security policy. For example, an administrator may use security policy to grant code that is downloaded from the intranet a higher set of permissions (like the ability to access the file system) than code that is downloaded from the Internet.There are two ways a host can influence the set of permissions granted to code running inside an application domain it created. First, the host can associate evidence with the domain itself. This evidence is added to the evidence about each piece of code that is run in the domain before security policy is evaluated. This additional evidence is particularly useful when the host wants to convey a piece of information to the policy about the environment in which the code is running. For example, if a host starts a domain associated with a particular Web site, that site's URL can be set as domain-level evidence to ensure that no code running inside that domain will ever be granted more permissions than code coming from that site. The ability to set domain-level evidence requires that the host itself be granted the ControlEvidence permission.

The second way a host can influence code access security policy is to set the application domain-level policy. The code access security system includes the concept of policy levels. Simply put, a policy level is just an entity to which policy can be associated.The .NET Framework supports four policy levels: Enterprise-wide policy, Machine-wide policy, Per-user policy, and Application domain-level policy.Each policy level can restrict the set of permissions granted by the level above it. For example, even if the machine-wide policy states that code with a particular strong name can read environment variables, the per-user policy may not grant the code the permission to do so. A given policy level can never grant more permissions than the level above it.
Security policy is evaluated at all four policy levels. The results of evaluating policy at each level intersect to form the final set of permissions granted to the code in question.Enterprise-wide, machine-wide, and per-user policy are set by the administrator using the administration tools provided with the .NET Framework. Application domain-level policy is set by the host by calling AppDomain.SetAppDomainPolicy just after the domain is created.The fact that application domain-level policy can restrict policies specified at the higher levels gives a host a high degree of control over the security permissions granted to code in domains it has created. This high degree of control is critical in numerous situations. For example, Microsoft SQL Server uses domain-level policy to ensure that only assemblies explicitly registered in the SQL catalog are allowed to execute. It is reasonable to imagine a host wanting to ensure that no code executing on its behalf be allowed to access the registry or display a user interface that could block the current thread. Note that the host itself must be granted ControlEvidence permission to set domain-level policy.

Unloading Application Domains

As described earlier, application domains are the unit of code-unloading in the CLR. The AppDomain class in the System namespace includes a static method called Unload that hosts can use to free the resources associated with a particular domain. Calls to the AppDomain.Unload method result in a graceful shutdown. That is, each thread running in the domain is sent a ThreadAbort exception, then unwound to the domain boundary, no new threads are allowed to enter the domain, and all domain-specific data structures are then freed.If the domain has run code from a domain-neutral assembly, the domain's copy of the static variables and related CLR data structures are freed, but the code for the domain-neutral assembly remains until the process is shut down. There is no mechanism to fully unload a domain-neutral assembly other than shutting down the process or completely unloading the CLR itself using the ICorRuntimeHost::Stop method.Calling ICorRuntimeHost::Stop removes the CLR from the process. All domains are forcefully shut down. After the Stop method has been called, the CLR can never be loaded in that process again.

Conclusion

The CLR has been built to support a variety of application types ranging from shell executables and Web applications to stored procedures running in a database. Because each application scenario requires a hosting environment to get it up and running, the .NET Framework SDK includes a set of interfaces that allow third parties to write custom hosts, and this is a key to the overall adoption of the Microsoft .NET strategy. By opening up the interfaces used internally to host applications like ASP .NET, Microsoft enables .NET to have as broad a reach as possible.

Source : Microsoft MSDN