My federation architecture is flawless, even if I say so myself. I have tamed the identities and the groups and the custom attributes in the account side to line up neatly as claims that flow as token to my side of the fence. The Federation Server on my side loving collects these thingies, transforms them to ids, groups and attributes that aligns to my business processes and sends them with a kiss to my MOSS. My MOSS neatly handles these claims through the WebSSO provider and Voila! I have squeaky clean SPUsers and SPGroups. My access control works as do my custom web-parts. So why am I still up moaning?

One reason: Change Management.

A change this big in the architecture means changes to application logic, easily done and change in operational processes, Groan! That's when the questions start staring at me like the Corsicans do in Asterix in Corsica. Are you sure your Partner uses UPN? What makes you think that their roles can map to ours? How did you think my app will handle this change in time to allow the roll-out to happen? Why do think up all this? Why? How? Now what?

Why do I suddenly get the feeling that I am Asok in a Dilbert cartoon strip?

So here I am again instead of identifying the action items between now and then, poring my heart out to my blog and my fellow iLanders, while wondering what their real Islands are like? Are they as chaotic as mine or serene, are they predictable or unpredictable like mine.

Anyways, work is worship, so said Swamiji, so back to work it is for me.

(Repost: Couldn't think of anything new and was getting tired of the hammer and scikle thingy :)

Introduction

Of the many sub-human species that inhabit God's Earth, one of the more curious group is a bunch that calls themselves Communists. This group lives in a state of contradictions and continuous confusion characterized by turns, about-turns, somersaults and somnambulism. Observations have thrown up the probability that they may have developed some primitive form of communication which is called sloganeering that complements their rather destructive and disruptive social tendencies that social scientists call strikes and bandhs.

Their existence on God's Earth has been termed a paradox, because their primitive philosophy has not yet evolved enough to understand the concept of God. So why they should exist on God's earth has long been a mystery. Experts however contend that this paradox is a key part of their desire of providing hilarity by being absurd. A vocal minority among experts think that only reason Communists exists is to be a Joke and provide mirth to the rest of mankind.

They have shown a remarkable affinity to the Red colour coupled with an aversion for the Saffron colour. It has been posited that the Red colour represents their moral bankruptcy, which is perpetually in Red. Saffron is the universal representation of The Divine, which as indicated earlier is a concept they haven't understood yet and hence fear.

Some people have also classified Communism as a genetic disorder as well as a potentially communicable disease which primarily affects people who haven't had a good education.

Types and Classifications

Communists have shown a decided tendency to mutate with or without pretext. Some of the commonly occurring garden variety of mutant communists:

Marxists: These mutants are much influenced by the philosophy that is depicted in the films of Grouch Marx. Their main ambition is to be more absurd than all other versions of Communists put together. They are the biggest mutant group and their guiding principle is the following Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others. Since no one knows what principles are being referred to on the first place, no one has bothered to ask for the others. Their destructive approach to life maybe understood better in light of this unanswered question that they ask of themselves every morning in absence of a God to pray to - Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done for me?

Maoists: These mutants are worshipers of cats and take their name from the call of the cats, Meow or Miao. Since they are usually not very educated they spelt the Miao as Mao and the name stuck. Worship of cats has a long history starting with the Ancient Egyptians. However, the difference in the two form of worship is that while the Egyptians built temples for their feline gods, Maoists consider Cats to be poultry and were last heard of waiting for their graceful gods to lay eggs.

Naxals: This is a particularly ill mannered mutant variety that lives in the wild. No one knows for sure where their name came from. Some theorists have put forth the theory that it stems from the fact that all of them are pains in neck, so they call themselves Naxals. This theory has however not been conclusively proven yet, as this bunch have been know to cause pain in other parts as well. They are perhaps the most primitive strain of Communists known to exists and are perhaps a result of a reverse mutation that has taken them further back.

Where to Find 'em?

It is easy to locate communists, particularly in Indian subcontinent. In any politically charged discussion if you hear incoherence being spoken in a pseudo-intellectual fashion that is against development, efficiency and fish export, quietly stalk in the direction of the sound and presently you shall encounter one specimen of this rather unfortunate species. Of course, if you value your sanity you shall tip-toe away in the opposite direction.

Lately it has been noticed that communists share a queer relation with an unrelated branch of sub-humans called the Kingress or Congless. (who draw their inspiration from the legends of the Borg, and hope that one day they will all be mindless drones under the command of a Borg-Queen). Though both these two species hate each other and shall never miss an opportunity to snipe and snip at each other, their common fear of the Saffron sometimes makes them graze together. A similar behavior is also seen in Wildebeests and Zebras in Serengeti in African plains, particularly when Lions are around. However the wildlife in Africa such as Zebra, Giraffe and Wildebeests are at a much different stage of evolution, so the comparison may be termed unjust.

What to do if you contract Communism or are born with this Malady

First the good news: Communism is fully curable. Second, the even better news: The side of the cure is that an ex-communist, with practice and patience may even evolve to become a Human.

The only path of redemption is for a repentant Communist to take refuge in Lord Hanuman and adopt the ways of the Saffron. Reciting Hanuman Chalisa everyday, dedicating oneself to the cause of serving Lord Rama as a Kar Sevak, and spreading the message of Ramayana to other unfortunate Communists has been proven as the most effective means to gain respite from effects of Communism.

So, if you are a communist who seeks freedom, all you have to do is go to the nearest Hanuman Temple and seek his blessings and grace. Rest shall follow automatically.

Jai Bajrang Bali.

The war the I am watching with interest right now is the AJAX versus Flex. Let's face it the days of plain ol' JSP/ASP/ASPX are gone. Intelligence in the client is the need of the hour. Flex and AJAX have very different ways of filling this need. While Flex is a true blue RIA which appears in your browser as an dainty .swf file that packs quite a punch, Ajax is based on plain Java Script, XML and asynchornicity. Which would I choose? Well like they teach us so well in school the answer is: it depends! :) But depends on what? Well on a bunch of things: audience and client capabilities, bandwidth availability, server technology and most importantly on timelines and how fast can you get your team to ramp up.

Right now I am in middle of a decision making process on which these to use. Wonder of wonders, my MOSSy delivery platform is Sharepoint 2007. Hold your breath while I take out a coin and toss ;)

The next few days shall show how the omnipresent army deals with this development. Perhaps this shall be a pretext to postpone elections and for Mush to hang on to power. What effect it would have for India only time will tell, but the sub-continent is certainly poorer today at the silencing of a voice of democracy. Of all the leaders of Pakistan, I would believe it is Benazir's memory that is going to stay on the minds of her people the longest. One hopes that this memory inspires them to strive to get their country back into the international mainstream instead of spiraling into mindless violence. That would be playing right into the hands of the fundamentalists, a mistake that Pakistan can ill-afford.

Rest in Peace Ms Bhutto and Godspeed.

The results of the Gujarat elections have been nothing short of a similar message of new hope for people of India. In the face of the pseudo intellectuals and pseudo secularists, in face of trampled emotions and forced reservations, the decisive win of Modi comes as a sign of rebirth of hope. A hope that springs from the fact that however much is an able man vilified, as long as he forges ahead in the path of development, is progressive and delivers upon the aspirations; the people of the country shall reward him with their confidence.

As the results started pouring in yesterday, many from the loosing side were at pains to propound that this was but an isolated happening in a polarized state. Perhaps this is a planned strategy of trying to downplay a truth which they know is unfolding. Across the length and breath of India people are awaking up again. Lack of any agenda in part of the crowd that rules the nation, besides hanging on to power at cost of the nations security, prosperity and pride, has indeed come back to bite them and how. No amount of fawning sycophancy or dividing the nation through selective appeasement is going to turn this tide back. India's time has returned again after a brief eclipse.

India lost a historic opportunity in not being able to return Vajapee to power four years back. A loss that future generations shall rue and hold us responsible for. But perhaps in Modi the nation has found again a real mass leader who is able to shake off past stigma and take his state and people on the road towards progress with decisiveness and vision.

Perhaps that is the best Christmas Gift the nation could have hoped for today.

Here's to wishing everyone a happy new year.