[TAG] Design of a Protocol Monkey

[Ben Okopnik]

On Tue, Mar 06, 2007 at 10:01:17PM -0800, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
> On Tue, 06 Mar 2007, Ben Okopnik wrote:
> > On Mon, Mar 05, 2007 at 10:09:57AM -0800, Kapil Hari Paranjape wrote:
> > > Perhaps what is meant by a protocol monkey is an algorithm that has a
> > > way of intervening in a network protocol without the two endpoints
> > > noticing. The reference is to the Panchatantra story about the monkey
> > > and the two cats.
> > > 
> > > That's enough animal references for now.
> > 
> > Oh, *what* a tease! :)
> 
> Sorry, it wasn't meant to be be! I am also not sure that this is
> actually the monkey whose tail (oops) tale inspired the phrase
> "monkey-in-the-middle". I amy also be wrong about this being
> Panchatantra---that is the generic title I give to stories I was
> told when I was a kid.
> 
> > Kapil, I've looked around on the Web, and the best I could find was
> > 'http://www.panchatantra.chourishi.in/' - and even there, no mention of
> > a monkey and two cats. Would you happen to have a better pointer?
> 
> In brief. Two cats get a piece of cake and want to share it. The
> monkey says it will help as it has a scale/balance. The monkey
> divides the cake in two and puts a piece on each side of the balance.
> Each time it bites of the heavier piece "just a bit" to make it
> smaller. At the end of the tale we have a contented monkey and two
> hungry cats.

Ah, Krylov's fox and two crows - although the fox does a visual
comparison rather than using scales. Wonderful!
 
> > Incidentally, the Panchatantra stories reminded me very strongly of the
> > tales of Krylov (who had clearly cribbed his plots from Aesop, but
> > wrapped them in beautiful, poetic Russian.)
> 
> Yes the plots are quite similar to tales elsewhere. The great art is
> in the story-telling---a *performing* art that died somewhat after the
> printing press.

McLuhan's "Understanding Media" mentions exactly that as an example of
the things that we lose as we gain new technology. That's one that I
definitely miss. On the other hand, there are now people who make a
living at story-telling; I was lucky enough to hear one of them, Mark
Lewis, after hours at Renaissance Fair (I was working the Fair myself);
an amazing experience. He's not the only one, either. As long as
appreciation for these arts exists, there will be people who are drawn
to it as performers.

http://www.laughingmooninc.com/bio.htm


-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *