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In 2005, a Scottish golf-course consultant named Gordon Irvine took a fishing trip to South Uist, a sparsely populated island in the Outer Hebrides, fifty miles off Scotland's west coast. South Uist (pronounced YEW-ist) is about the size of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket combined. It is virtually treeless, and much of its eastern third is mountainous and uninhabited. Gales from the Atlantic strike it with such force that schoolchildren hope for "wind days." Irvine had approached the island's golf club, called Askernish, and offered to barter greenkeeping advice for the right to fish for trout and salmon in the lochs nearby, and the club had welcomed the free consultation. It had just nine holes and a few dozen members, and the golfers themselves mowed the greens, with a rusting gang mower pulled by a tractor. Irvine walked the course, in driving rain, with the club's chairman, Ralph Thompson, and several regulars, and then the group went to lunch at the Borrodale Hotel, a mile and a half down the road.
At lunch, one of the members surprised Irvine by saying that Askernish was more than a century old and had been designed by Old Tom Morris, a towering figure in the history and folklore of the game. Morris, who was born in 1821 and looked a little like Charles Darwin in an ivy cap, was the founding father of modern golf. In the eighteen-sixties, he won four of the first eight British Opens and became the head professional of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, serving there for four decades as the chief greenkeeper of the Old Course, golf's holiest ground. He also designed or redesigned several of the world's greatest courses, among them Muirfield, Prestwick, and Carnoustie, in Scotland, and Royal County Down, in Northern Ireland.
Irvine was polite but dismissive: the course he'd walked that morning was a cow pasture with flagsticks stuck in the ground, and he doubted that Morris, whose courses he knew well, had ever come near it. But another club member said that this was not the original Askernish, and that Old Tom's layout had had eighteen holes and was situated closer to the sea. Most of the original holes, apparently, had been abandoned, probably beginning around the time of the Second World War. Ralph Thompson said that the club possessed a news clipping from 1891 which described Morris's creation of the course that year, and which quoted Morris calling the layout "second to none." Irvine was curious enough to take another look, and after lunch Thompson drove him back.
This time, Thompson led him to a grassy dune at the western end of the seventh hole, and when Irvine climbed to the top and looked toward the Atlantic he saw a stretch of undulating linksland running along the ocean, between the beach and the existing holes. For Irvine, the experience was like lifting the corner of a yard-sale velvet painting and discovering a Rembrandt. There were no surviving signs of golf holes in the waving marram grass, but the terrain, which had been shaped by the wind into valleys, hollows, and meandering ridges, looked so spectacularly suited to the game that he no longer doubted the Morris connection. Despite the rain, Irvine could easily imagine greens and fairways among the dunes, and he told Thompson that, if the club's members would agree to work with him, he would donate his time and expertise, and help them restore their lost masterpiece. A resurrected Askernish, he said, would provide a unique window on the birth of the modern game.
Not everyone on South Uist was pleased with this idea. The land in question had long been used as a common grazing area by local tenant farmers, called crofters, and a group of them protested that the construction of golf holes would violate their legal rights. One of the crofters described the golf project as a "land grab," and said that old property documents relating to the area made no mention of Old Tom Morris. For the aggrieved crofters, the plans brought to mind one of the most notorious periods of Scottish history, the Highland Clearances. Beginning in the eighteenth century, wealthy landlords gained possession of large sections of northern Scotland, which until then had been controlled by Gaelic-speaking clans. The new landlords attempted to impose what they viewed as economic rationality on their holdings, most of which were still farmed and grazed as they had been during the Dark Ages, by subsistence farmers working tiny plots. This transformation, which has been described as the wholesale substitution of sheep for people, involved waves of eviction, consolidation, and forced expatriation. By the late nineteenth century, the chieftains of the northern clans had either sold out to others or become landlords themselves, and the old Gaelic culture had been weakened or obliterated in many places, and sentimentalized elsewhere. A fad for kilts, tartans, and bagpipes took hold in the rest of the country, even as genuine Highlanders were being shipped off to Canada or put to work in the factories of Birmingham.
The Askernish project seemed, to the protesting crofters, like the clearances all over again. Ralph Thompson soon began to speak of making the restored Askernish—which the sportswriter John Garrity has described as a "ghost course"—the anchor of a much larger development, including additional golf courses and a hotel. He created a Web site and solicited nonresident life memberships, at twenty-five hundred pounds apiece, in the hope that fees from abroad would help to finance the construction. The crofters complained that the club's members were courting golf-playing "dandies" from the mainland and the United States, and were doing so at their expense. "What a cheek," one crofter said this past December. "They have gone on top of our grazing land and done with it what they want." The crofters began legal action to stop them.
Getting to South Uist today isn't as hard as it was in 1891, when the sole option was a slow, unreliable steamer, but it still requires determination. When I visited the first time, in 2007, I flew from Inverness to Benbecula, one island to the north; South Uist doesn't have its own airport but is connected to Benbecula by a half-mile-long causeway. In the air, I looked down, through breaks in the clouds, on the fjord-like creases that rumple Scotland's west coast and on the waters of the Minch, the stormy channel that separates the Outer Hebrides from mainland Scotland. This past December, I visited again, taking a ferry from Oban, which is a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Glasgow, by way of Loch Lomond. The ferry sails three or four times a week and sometimes makes a brief stop at Barra, which has a tiny airport whose schedule depends on the tides, since the runway is a beach. The South Uist ferry passes Mull, Coll, Muck, Eigg, Rum, Sanday, Sandray, Vatersay, Hellisay, Gighay, and other small islands, and in good weather the trip takes about six and a half hours. Until 1974, cars had to be loaded and unloaded with a crane, like freight; nowadays, you drive on and drive off.
The first time I visited South Uist, Ralph Thompson, the Askernish chairman, came to meet me. He manages the island's main agricultural-supply store, which stocks sheep feed, onion sets, shotguns, and other local necessities. He was born on the mainland in 1955, but, as a child, he spent summers on South Uist, where his grandparents lived. One reason he liked those visits, he told me, was that he was allowed to go for weeks without bathing, because his grandparents' house, like almost all houses on the island at that time, had no running water.
Even today, South Uist is short on modern conveniences. The lights went out one afternoon as Thompson and I were having a beer in the bar at the Borrodale, and he began counting. When he got to "five," the lights came back on, and he said, "If you count to five and the power comes back, it means a swan hit the line." Later, we drove south on the island's main road—a single lane for most of its length, with frequent bump-outs for yielding to oncoming traffic and for overtaking sheep—and crossed a causeway to Eriskay, a smaller island. Thompson spotted, in the distance, a ferryboat approaching from Barra, and he pulled over to watch it. He wasn't expecting anyone, but there are so few activities on South Uist that residents have evolved an unusually low threshold of amusement. We watched the ferry for fifteen or twenty minutes, and didn't pull away until the last of a handful of departing passengers had boarded.
Sometimes, entertainment arrives on the island unexpectedly. Early in 1941, a freighter, the S.S. Politician, ran aground in the sandy shallows between South Uist and Eriskay. Its cargo included more than twenty thousand cases of whiskey, and, over several weeks, groups of islanders rowed to the wreck and made off with thousands of bottles. They hid the whiskey in cowsheds, rabbit holes, and lobster traps—and significant portions of the adult population of several Hebridean islands stayed drunk for weeks. In 1947, the Scottish novelist Compton Mackenzie wrote a fictionalized account of the wreck and its aftermath, called "Whisky Galore." Two years later, the book was made into a movie, filmed mostly on Barra. For its release in the United States, it was retitled "Tight Little Island"; too late, James Thurber suggested "Scotch on the Rocks."
Most people think of the word "links" as a synonym for golf course, but it's actually a geological term. Linksland is a specific type of sandy, wind-sculpted coastal terrain—the word comes from the Old English hlinc, "rising ground"—and in its authentic form it exists in only a few places on earth, the most famous of which are in Great Britain and Ireland. Linksland arose at the end of the most recent ice age, when the retreat of the northern glacial sheet, accompanied by changes in sea level, exposed sandy deposits and what had once been coastal shelves. Wind pushed the sand into dunes and rippling plains; ocean storms added more sand; and coarse grasses covered everything. Early Britons used linksland mainly for livestock grazing, since the ground closest to the sea was usually too starved and too exposed for growing crops. When significant numbers of Scotsmen became interested in smacking small balls with curved wooden sticks, as they first did in 1400 or so, the links was where they went (or were sent), perhaps because there they were in no one's way. On South Uist, linksland is called machair, a Gaelic word. It's pronounced "mocker," more or less, but with the two central consonants represented by what sounds like a clearing of the throat.
The major design elements of a modern golf course are the synthetic analogues of various existing features of those early Scottish playing fields, and the fact that golf arose so directly from a particular landscape helps explain why, more than any other mainstream sport, it remains a game with a Jerusalem: it was permanently shaped by the ground on which it was invented. Groomed fairways are the descendants of the well-grazed valleys between the old linksland dunes; bunkers began as sandy depressions worn through thin turf by livestock huddling against coastal gales; the first greens and teeing grounds were flattish, elevated areas whose relatively short grass—closely grazed by rabbits and other animals and stunted by the brutal weather—made them the logical places to begin and end holes. ("A rabbit's jawbone allows it to graze grass lower than a sheep," Gordon Irvine told me recently, "and both those animals can graze grass lower than a cow.")
On the great old courses in the British Isles, the most celebrated holes often owe more to serendipity and to the vicissitudes of animal husbandry than they do to picks and shovels, since in the early years course design was more nearly an act of imagination and discovery than of physical construction. One of Old Tom Morris's best-known holes, the fifth at Lahinch, in southwestern Ireland, is a short par 3 whose green is concealed behind a tall dune, so that the golfer's target is invisible from the tee—a feature that almost any contemporary architect would have eliminated with a bulldozer. The greatest hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews is often said to be the seventeenth, a long par 4 called the Road Hole, which violates a list of modern design rules: the tee shot not only is blind but must be hit over the top of a tall wooden structure that reproduces the silhouette of a cluster of old railway sheds; the green repels approach shots from every direction and is fronted by a vortex-like circular bunker, from which the most prudent escape is often backward, away from the green; a paved public road runs directly alongside the green and is treated as a part of the course, meaning that golfers who play their way onto it must also play their way off. Over the centuries, every idiosyncratic inch of the Old Course has acquired, for the faithful, an almost numinous aura.
For Gordon Irvine, Askernish was in some ways an even more compelling historical artifact than the Old Course—so much so that shortly after his first visit to the course he called it "the holy grail." Unlike most other early links courses, Askernish had never been stretched to accommodate high-tech clubs and balls, and its original quirks had not been worn smooth, over the years, by motorized maintenance equipment. "Askernish was as Old Tom left it," Irvine told me. "Because the old holes were abandoned so early, there had been no real proactive maintenance done with machinery or chemicals, and it had never been revisited by other architects. The last time the old holes were played, the greens were probably cut with scythes."
In 2006, he enlisted the help of Martin Ebert, a golf architect whose specialty is links courses. No plan of Morris's Askernish layout was known to exist, so the men's first task was to identify eighteen likely green locations among the dunes. A round of golf consists of eighteen holes primarily because the Old Course ended up with that many in 1764, when four very short holes were combined to make two longer ones—although the number took a while to catch on. Prestwick, where the first dozen Opens were played, had twelve holes until 1883. Leith, where golf's first rule book was written, in 1744, had five. Montrose had twenty-five.
Finding a lost golf course isn't as simple as you might think: the creators of early layouts did so little in the way of earthmoving that unambiguous evidence of their work can be difficult to detect, even for someone who knows where to look. My home town, in northwestern Connecticut, had a small golf course in the eighteen-nineties, contemporary with Askernish. I know exactly where it was and have seen old photographs of it, but during a long afternoon spent tramping over the area I was unable to find a single undeniable surviving feature. In the earliest days of the game, golfers created courses the way children do when they knock balls around a vacant lot, by devising interesting ways to go from Point A to Point B.
Ebert developed his restoration design by hiking over the machair and visualizing golf shots (Old Tom's method) and by studying satellite photographs, which helped him weigh various schemes for connecting the greens in a logical sequence. He also extrapolated from his knowledge of Morris's designs elsewhere, and from his own work in restoring old links courses. When I visited Askernish in 2007, he and Irvine had placed eighteen flags in the ground, denoting provisional green locations, and were taking readings with a laser range finder and a handheld G.P.S. device, so that Ebert could enter accurate coördinates into his laptop—enabling him, among other things, to leave a clearer record of his thinking than Old Tom Morris did. Ebert told me that he and Irvine were fairly certain they had identified a number of the original greens, in some cases because the ground appeared to have been slightly flattened, most likely by hand, at some point in the past, and in other cases because particular formations simply looked like golf greens to them and so presumably would have looked like golf greens to Old Tom Morris, too. One such site—the fourteenth green in Ebert's layout—occupied a plateau surrounded by dunes, which resembled ocean billows. "That green plays well from many different directions, but I think it plays best the way we've laid it out, as a par 3," Ebert told me. "It just seems like a par-3 green, set high on the dune with everything dropping away."
While Ebert and Irvine worked, Ralph Thompson, a couple of his friends, and I followed along, hitting golf balls into the marram grass, and losing many. At one point, we all hit shots toward the top of a distant dune directly above the beach, so that Ebert could get a sense of whether it was reasonable to expect golfers to hit such a long shot to such a small target and into the prevailing wind. Putting wasn't really possible yet, although a few of the proposed greens had been encircled by single strands of barbed wire, to keep sheep and cattle from wandering onto them.
The most vocal opponents of the Askernish project have been Gilbert Walker and William Macdonald, both crofters. I went to see them this past December at Walker's house, down the street from the Borrodale Hotel. Walker, who is seventy, went upstairs to find his hearing aid, and Macdonald rolled a cigarette and took a seat near the hearth, so that he could blow his smoke toward the flue. Macdonald is fifty-four but looks and sounds at least ten years older. He apologized for his hair, which was pointing in several directions, and explained that he'd fallen asleep in his chair, at home, while waiting for Walker to pick him up. When Walker returned, I asked the men if they could explain crofting to me, and Macdonald smiled and said, "It is complicated."
Most of northern Scotland used to be occupied by clans, whose leaders had a conception of real estate which Macdonald likened to that of American Indians before the arrival of Europeans. "The clan chieftain did not regard himself as the owner," he said, relighting his cigarette, which had gone out. "He regarded himself as the chief of his people, and he considered his wealth in terms not of the number of acres he occupied but of the number of fighting men he had, or the number of cattle, or these things combined." Beginning around the time of Macbeth, the Scottish government (and, later, the British) increasingly viewed the northern clans as military, political, cultural, and religious threats, and took various steps against them. In the mid-eighteenth century, the rule of the clans began to be replaced by a modern system of land tenancy—the beginning of the clearances.
South Uist was bought in 1838 by Colonel John Gordon of Cluny, who lived in a castle on the other side of Scotland. Most of the island's residents spoke only Gaelic and subsisted by growing potatoes, raising cattle and sheep, fishing, and collecting seaweed for fertilizer. Their cottages, which they often shared with their animals, usually lacked chimneys; smoke from smoldering peat fires inside seeped out through thatched roofs. Colonel Gordon—whose name in historical accounts is often preceded by "heartless," "brutal," or some similarly grim epithet—eventually transported more than two thousand of these people, perhaps half of South Uist's population at the time, to Quebec, and consolidated their plots into large livestock farms, which were more profitable. His treatment of his tenants was among the reasons that the government acted, in the late nineteenth century, to bring the clearances to an end, by giving small tenant farmers protection from arbitrary removal. Crofters continued to pay rent to their landlords, but eventually gained many of the powers of ownership, including the ability to bequeath their crofting rights. The system, with various modifications, remains in place today.
After Colonel Gordon died, South Uist passed to his son and then to the son's widow, Lady Emily Gordon Cathcart. It was she who commissioned the first Askernish golf course, in 1891. A major golf boom was under way, and her decision to hire the most famous golfer of the day probably reflected a hope of attracting sportsmen from the mainland. When Old Tom Morris travelled to South Uist at her behest, he was accompanied by Horace Hutchinson, who was both a champion golfer and one of the first golf correspondents. An account of their trip, probably written by Hutchinson, appeared in The Scotsman and reported, "On a stretch of beautiful links ten miles in length it was difficult to select the best site for a course, as half-a-dozen courses, each having special points of interest, could have been marked off on the available ground. After a survey, a part of the farm of Askernish was selected, principally on account of its proximity to the excellent hotel at Lochboisdale, which at this season is usually crowded with anglers."
In 1922, most of Askernish Farm was divided among eleven tenants, one of whom was William Macdonald's grandfather. Each of the Askernish crofters received the permanent right to occupy a portion of the old farm and to graze animals on common land near the sea, while Lady Gordon Cathcart, who still owned the farm and the rest of the island, retained the manor house, a portion of the arable land, and the right to play golf on the machair.
The meaning of that last stipulation was central to the golf-course dispute. Macdonald told me that the golf provision, in his opinion, expired with Lady Gordon Cathcart's death, and that the crofters on her former property tolerated continued golf-playing only as a favor. He and Walker said that they had no issue with the old nine-hole course, which didn't extend into the dunes, but that the new course was an outrage. Walker, rising from his seat, said, "What they have now is four times the size of what was there. The whole machair is four hundred and thirty-seven acres. What they've taken over is three hundred and forty!"
In 2003, new legislation enabled communities in Scotland's crofting regions to collectively purchase the land they occupied. Three years later, the people of South Uist, Eriskay, and Benbecula paid £4.5 million for their islands, which are now owned and managed by a community-run nonprofit company called Stòras Uibhist—Gaelic for "the treasure of Uist." In 2006, Stòras Uibhist confirmed the decision of the previous owner to allow the golf club to restore the course—a decision that the Askernish crofters contested. The vice-chairman of Stòras Uibhist is Father Michael MacDonald, who is the priest of the Catholic parish at South Uist's northern end. When I asked him about the complaints, he shook his head. "I can't figure out what's behind it all," he said. "It's hugely expensive to go down this road. And for what benefit?"
Walker's and Macdonald's objections to the golf course are less straightforward than they may seem: although each man has a croft at Askernish, Macdonald doesn't graze animals there, and Walker owns only a few. In addition, the people who run the golf club, far from asking anyone to remove livestock_,_ have said repeatedly that they wish the crofters would graze more animals on the course. Hungry sheep and cattle are good for a links course, Irvine and Ebert told me, because they fertilize the soil and help keep the rough under control.
Part of the difficulty may lie with crofting itself. Father MacDonald, when I asked, defined a croft as "a small piece of land surrounded by legislation." This is an old joke in Scotland, but it's apt. Crofting was devised to protect small tenant farmers from abusive landlords, but the system was already becoming an anachronism by the time it was put in place. The land on South Uist is so marginal and the plots are so small—an average of forty or fifty acres—that no one on the island today makes a living from crofting alone, despite substantial government grants and subsidies, and legally protected rents of less than a pound an acre. The system successfully preserves a sanitized form of medieval land tenancy, but it makes cost-effective agriculture impossible, since it divides the land among far too many tenants.
Perhaps for that reason, modern debates about crofting tend to focus more on symbols than on practicalities. The Askernish controversy has been portrayed as a class conflict, between struggling crofters and wealthy golfers, but the distinction makes no sense on South Uist, since virtually everyone on the island has at least one croft, including Ralph Thompson, the other local members of the golf club, and Father MacDonald. South Uist's economy—and therefore crofting itself—depends heavily on visitors from elsewhere, and has since at least the era of Lady Gordon Cathcart. Ralph Thompson has said that Askernish could eventually contribute as much as a million pounds a year to the local economy, a big deal on an island with a population of eighteen hundred and falling.
In early 2008, the protesting Askernish crofters asked the Lochmaddy Sheriff Court to halt the golf project. The court declined to intervene, and the crofters took their case to the Scottish Land Court, in Edinburgh. Meanwhile, construction of the golf course began. Actually, "construction" is the wrong word. At Askernish, Ebert and Irvine were determined to create golf holes the way Old Tom Morris and his contemporaries did, by doing virtually nothing beyond cutting the grass and filling in old rabbit burrows. (The 1891 article in The Scotsman about Askernish suggests that the first round of golf there was played within a few days of Morris's visit.) Modern golf-course designers usually work closely with contractors called shapers, who use heavy earthmoving equipment (and, often, explosives) to transform existing terrain to suit a designer's vision of what golf holes ought to be. For Askernish, Ebert didn't need a shaper, because he and Irvine intended to be no more aggressive than a nineteenth-century course builder would have been. Only a few small areas were subjected to more than trivial amounts of soil disturbance. One of those was the seventh green. Irvine and Ebert were both fairly certain that the seventh had been one of the original holes, because the valley in which it was situated looked so much like a fairway. But in what seemed to be the logical location for the green Irvine found virtually no organic matter beneath the grass. This led him to deduce that the old putting surface, if there was one, must be buried beneath six or seven decades' worth of windblown sand. He and a crew of local volunteers removed the beach grass from that spot and then raked away sand, looking for the original contours. A few feet down, they reached topsoil (or what passes for it on South Uist), confirming his hunch. Another green that required significant work was the eleventh—the target overlooking the sea which Ebert, in 2007, had asked several of us to hit shots to. Irvine and Ebert suspected that the original green (and most of the fairway leading up to it) had been lost to erosion, but they still wanted to use what remained of the dune, both because it formed an invitingly level plateau, and because the required shot, though challenging, had been so deeply appealing to all of us who had tried it. (Part of golf's addictiveness, for those who are hooked, arises from the thrill of effecting action at a distance—a form of satisfaction also known to anti-aircraft gunners.)
Ebert and Irvine used no pesticides or artificial fertilizers, and they didn't install an irrigation system. The entire cost of the golf-course construction was less than a hundred thousand pounds, a fraction of the usual bill for even a modest golf course nowadays. (Ebert helped to keep the price low by agreeing to work for Old Tom's fee, which was nine pounds.) Ebert told me, "Askernish goes back to the roots of the game, where you're just sort of playing across the landscape." Modern golf-course architects have individually recognizable styles, but most of them adhere to certain hole-design conventions: that golfers should be able to see their targets, that hazards and other obstacles should not be arbitrarily punitive, that fairways and greens should be shaped to reward good shots. In Old Tom Morris's era, a designer's main function was not to re-contour the ground in order to conform to golfers' expectations but to direct play over existing terrain in thought-provoking ways, and to capitalize on lucky topographical accidents. Because Ebert and Irvine did their work at Askernish in that spirit, some of the holes pose challenges of a type that most modern players are unaccustomed to meeting. "Golfers who have only experienced modern courses will find some of the Askernish greens very, very difficult to understand," Irvine told me. "Some of them look as if they were sloping the wrong way, but that's only because we've got so used to pandering to the golfer." The sixteenth hole, called Old Tom's Pulpit, has an elevated green whose rear half falls off severely, into a sort of bowl, where many players' approach shots are likely to come to rest. The green breaks any number of design rules, but the hole is both memorable and fun to play, as well as challenging—just like Old Tom's blind par 3 at Lahinch.
The restored Askernish course opened officially on August 22, 2008. The retired Scottish soccer legend Kenny Dalglish played in the first group and was named the club's honorary president. Five months later, the Land Court heard two days' worth of testimony from the attorneys representing the protesting crofters and Stòras Uibhist, and in late February it issued a ruling. It affirmed Stòras Uibhist's right to create golf holes anywhere on the machair, as well as to build a clubhouse and make other improvements, while stipulating that the golf club must not deprive the crofters of the right to graze their animals adequately. (If the crofters and Stòras Uibhist can't settle the grazing details on their own, the Land Court will hold a hearing in May.) Ralph Thompson had told me beforehand that Stòras Uibhist's attorneys were confident they would prevail, but, even so, the scope of the ruling surprised him. "It's miles above what we expected," he said.
Crofting remains an important part of life on South Uist, and many residents, Father MacDonald among them, believe that it serves a critical social function, by enabling the island to sustain a larger full-time population than would otherwise be possible. But crofting, because it spreads residents so thinly across the settled parts of the island, also undermines any deep sense of community: most of the houses on South Uist are widely scattered rather than clustered in true villages. The golf club, which is open to all and costs very little to join, has the potential to become a community anchor, and its junior golf program, which the club and Stòras Uibhist have both treated as a priority, may keep at least a few of the island's young people interested in hanging around instead of pursuing careers on the mainland. At any rate, it will give them something interesting to do on weekends while they wait for their chance to escape.
I got to play a couple of rounds at Askernish in December. Even though the course is farther north than Sitka, Alaska, the Gulf Stream keeps temperatures on South Uist mild through most of the winter and creates the possibility of a twelve-month golf season, at least for diehards. I played one day with Ralph Thompson and Donald MacInnes, who is the club's captain, as well as a builder and a crofter. There was a film of frost on some of the beach grass when we began, but the sky was virtually cloudless, and I never needed the stocking cap that I had tucked in my golf bag. On the fifth hole, we passed a spot where an Askernish crofter had plowed a small potato plot up to the very edge of the fairway, most likely as a provocation. I expected Thompson to be angry, but he laughed. "We never would have got the course finished so fast if it hadn't been for the crofters," he said. "They turned Askernish into international news."
MacInnes had brought along his dog, which ran ahead of us over the dunes, pausing occasionally to enlarge a rabbit hole. The fairways and the greens were ungroomed, in comparison with a typical course at home, and we sometimes had to play around a rut or a bare spot or a half-buried skeleton of a sheep. But roughness is part of the course's charm. The bunkers looked like real hazards, rather than like oversized hotel ashtrays, and the slanting winter light made the beach grass glow. We were a little worried, when we began, that we wouldn't have time for eighteen holes, because the winter solstice was approaching and the sun had seemed to begin setting almost as soon it came up. But we finished with visibility to spare, and had time for a beer in the tiny clubhouse, which MacInnes had built. We were able to play quickly because we had the golf course to ourselves, except for a few cows. ♦


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New $100 Bills Worth up to $15,000
When the Federal Reserve Board releases its new, redesigned $100 bills on October 8, how much do you suppose they'll each be worth? For some of them, much more than $100.
Depending on their serial numbers, their value to currency-collectors could go as high as $15,000 each, according to the Boston Globe.
The Globe explains that collectors view certain 8-digit serial numbers as "fancier" (meaning more rare, and thus more collectible) than others. The fanciest numbers, according to collectors, include ones exceptionally low: A new $100 bill with the serial number 00000001, for example, might fetch up to $15,000.
There will be more than one such bill, because each issuing Federal Reserve Bank prefaces the serial number with a letter code designating which bank produced the bill.
Other types of "fancy" numbers are highly sought after. These include "ladders," which have their numbers in sequence (e.g., 87654321), "repeaters," which have two sets of the same four digits (e.g., 41124112), and "solids," which have eight of the same digit (e.g., 44444444).
Dustin Johnston, director of currency for Heritage Auctions in Dallas, tells the Globe that other kinds of bills, regardless of their denomination or age, may also be collectible, depending on the fanciness of their serial numbers.
Got a fancy-numbered bill? To find out what it's worth, you can contact Heritage Auctions or another auction house specializing in currency; or you can consult CoolSerialNumbers.com, which maintains a regularly-updated want list of numbers being sought by collectors.

subset: commoncrawl


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action wrote:baywatch
X files
the simpsons
beavis and butthead
the thundercats
prison break
Simon wrote:"House of Cards" is my current series. Four more episodes to go in the first season. Doesn't grab you as fast as "Breaking Bad" does, and it takes you a little bit longer (and probably some research online, I am not too familiar with details of American policies of the White House and the Senate) to understand all the connections, but it slowly creeps into your system. Obviously very well-made series. Would still rank "Boardwalk Empire" higher in the genre of "men with power trying to achieve their goals by intrigues".
Growing old disgracefully
Tarkus wrote:I've now discovered, and am enjoying season 1 of Elementary, CBS' version of a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. I will go so far as to say that it is actually superior to Sherlock, so my original lists will now substitute Elementary for Sherlock.
All things must pass
Kes wrote:Just caught up on the latest season of "Game of Thrones".
It's all going on in the seven kingdoms, innit?
All things must pass
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AL Farmall Boy wrote:And yours looks to have an original white grille.
I'll have to dig up some info on my (2) 1975 models and my (3) Longstripes, and see what I've got. I think the 1975 models are well before longstripe, but will analyize them too.
So far, what I am going to look for is....Hood Ornament, Oiling Holes, Black/White Grille. Is that right?? Anything else?
1975 248125 312390 First "New" International Cub
1975 248125 Radiator overflow hose replaced overflow pipe
1975 248125 Manifold and carb changed (Zenith model)
1975 248125 Generator changed to alternator
I can't prove it, but I think these cubs and the cubs made in the first 2 to 3 months of 76 had
hood ornaments, oiling holes, white grilles,solenoid under floorboard. choke cable.And longstripe cub decal.


text:
Texas on the Potomac is pleased to share guest commentary from across the political spectrum. Today, we offer a final guest column from Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is retiring from the Senate on Jan. 3.
This holiday season, in the wake of the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, I think every American is pausing to reflect on the things that are truly important. Each of us will hug our families just a little tighter this year, we will cherish our time together just that much more, and we will, I hope, give just a little more to others as we consider how precious life is.
There are some wonderful organizations that help people both during the season and year-round.
For those who want to help the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, the United Way of Western Connecticut has set up a dedicated fund. The Sandy Hook School Support Fund can be found online and checks can be sent to Sandy Hook School Support Fund, c/o Newtown Savings Bank, 39 Main Street, Newtown CT 06470.
As the nation learned the names and the faces of the tiniest victims of Sandy Hook, a world away 10 more young girls were murdered, whose names we will never know. They were killed by a car bomb as they collected firewood in rural Afghanistan.
Though we have made tremendous progress in Afghanistan, it remains the worst place in the world to be female. Deeply entrenched cultural norms have kept women and girls under constant attack, particularly those who bravely participate in public life, get an education or teach others. Roughly 87 percent are illiterate, the same amount of the female population estimated to suffer at least one form of physical, sexual or psychological violence or forced marriage in their lifetimes. I see a poignant line between the educators in Newtown who sacrificed their lives to protect their students and the brave women and girls in Afghanistan who risk their lives to give and get an education.
Women for Women International (womenforwomen.org) operates in eight countries, including Afghanistan, teaching the world's most excluded women practical skills and business principles, so they can get jobs, start their own businesses and find their way to economic and social self-sufficiency. You can make a one-time donation, purchase holiday gifts – everything from okra seeds to education packages – or sponsor a woman for her one-year job-training program. You can even get updates to follow her progress and write letters back and forth.
This past week has reminded us all how vulnerable and precious children are. Human trafficking is a horrifying crime that too often claims children as its victim. The Polaris Project (polaris.org) fights human trafficking in the United States – which exploits an estimated 100,000 children each year.
And finally, though it seems so small compared to the scope of the tragedy, making a child's Christmas wish come true by donating to your local Toys for Tots drive is a simple way to bring a little joy to someone's life – as well as your own. Taking the time to do something for someone else is its own reward.
We can't begin to comprehend the depths of the grief of the Newtown families, nor can we imagine what measure of strength it takes to get through each next breath. All we can do is take the reminder of just how precious life is and try to make the lives of others a little better this holiday season. It is the best way for any of us, and the nation, to begin to heal.
Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season to all of our readers from Texas on the Potomac! May you get — and give — precious gifts.


text:
See Beethoven, Ludwig van
21-40 of 57,345 results
Joseph Kerman, Alan Tyson and Scott G. Burnham
Malcolm Gillies
See Bartók, Béla
Mark Gardner
Record company and label. The company was established in 1957 by Doug Dobell (b London, 1918; d Nice, France, 10 July 1987), the owner of a record store in London. The first discs to be released were 10-inch EPs, which were put out in limited quantities. Later the catalogue was expanded to include 12-inch LPs; by the mid-1970s the company had issued more than 50 albums, mostly of traditional and mainstream jazz. The catalogue included recordings made by such English musicians as Tubby Hayes, Bruce Turner, Dick Morrissey, Keith Smith, Kenny Baker, and Tony Coe and items by visiting Americans, among them Bud Freeman, Eddie Miller, Buck Clayton, Albert Nicholas, and George Lewis (i). In ...
Generally a shellac disc of 10- or 12-inch diameter, recorded and played back at 78 r.p.m., and having a playing time of three to four minutes per side; see Recording, §I, 1, (i). The last commercially issued 78 r.p.m. discs from the mid-1950s onwards were often pressed on vinyl rather than shellac....
Joseph Kerman, Alan Tyson and Scott G. Burnham
See Beethoven, Ludwig van
Joseph Kerman, Alan Tyson and Scott G. Burnham
See Beethoven, Ludwig van
Jeffrey Melnick
Almost immediately after four hijacked planes crashed on 11 September 2011 conversations started about how the tragedy should be understood in the context of popular culture. Discussions about violence and popular culture also arose, seemingly fed not only by the basic truth that 11 September was a day of terrible carnage but also by the notion that the mode of attack was inextricablae from visual codes developed by Hollywood. During the first weeks after 9/11, numerous commentators insisted that Americans would be shaken out of their consumer habits and refuse to pay to see violent movies: it quickly became clear that music would play a special role as a cultural first responder on this new landscape....
Robert C. Provine
Obsolete Korean barrel drum considered to be of Chinese origin. As described in the treatise Akhak kwebŏm (1493), the a was a brightly decorated bulging barrel drum with small heads. It was 146.8 cm long with a circumference in the middle of 64.4 cm and a head diameter of 18.1 cm. The player lifted the instrument with both hands by means of two cloth loops tied to metal rings in the middle of the body and then pounded it against the ground....
Gary W. Kennedy
Record company and label. It was established in 1975 by Trevor Watts and John Stevens and released only three recordings, two by the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and one by the group Amalgam.R. D. Laing and C. Sheridan: Jazz Records: the Specialist Labels (Copenhagen, 1981)...
Subsidiary record label established by Challenge in 1994 for the release of recordings by newly emerging jazz artists; it also issued some pop music.
David Fallows
A preposition found particularly in 16th- and 17th-century editions of polyphonic music where works are described as being a due (a 2), a tre (a 3), a dieci (a 10), etc., meaning in two, three or ten voices respectively. Many prints had it with an accent (...
Abbreviation for accelerando, used particularly by Elgar. See Largamente.
Martha Furman Schleifer
(b Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 1843; d Philadelphia, PA, 1918). American pianist, singer, educator, and composer. He studied music with his father Thomas à Becket Sr. (b 17 March 1808; d 6 Jan 1890) and in Philadelphia public schools. The father, a music teacher, actor and composer, wrote ...
Philip Gossett
See Rossini, Gioachino
John Daverio and Eric Sams
See Schumann, Robert
David Buckley
American record company. It was founded in Los Angeles in 1962 by the former US army trumpeter Herb Alpert and the promoter-producer Jerry Moss. For first few years, A&M depended largely on revenues from Alpert's own recordings. His easy-listening instrumental music recorded with the Tijuana brass had sold over 20 million copies by ...
Name by which the record label Horizon is sometimes known.
John R. Gardner
( b London, 1817; d London, Dec 11, 1863). English composer . She was the eldest daughter of Joseph Glossop, a friend of George IV; she married Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett, a magistrate and humorous writer. Apart from a dozen songs and two waltzes for piano, A'Beckett composed three operas: ...
J. Richard Haefer
Suspension rattle of Iñupiat peoples of Alaska and Canada. Several dozen fin-shaped, 2-cm pieces of walrus tusk are sewn on a dancer's arm wrapping made from a strip of sealskin about 25 to 30 cm long. Around the top of the wrapping is stitched a circle of polar bear fur. Some believe that the sound of the rattle represents the north wind....


text:
STIHL fans! Take a look at our extensive range of STIHL merchandise, children's toys and the new STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® collection. There's something here for every fan!
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The Internal Revenue Service has experienced a terrible run in recent weeks.
The Internal Revenue Service has experienced a terrible run in recent weeks.
For taxpayers who�ve been at the wrong end of IRS scrutiny, it looks as if karma is making an overdue visit to the tax-collection service. But the disclosure that the IRS may be paying out $70 million in bonuses at a time when the federal budget is being cut revealed more than just an embarrassing political mistake.
The possible disbursement of bonuses indicates that the IRS may feel it is above even presidential and congressional directives on pay and budget cuts. The public and Congress do not see it that way, especially given recent events.
In the last few months, the federal agency has also been exposed as applying political pressure against conservative-leaning and tea party organizations seeking tax-exempt status from 2010 through 2012. And the IRS was recently forced to apologize for wasting taxpayer money on expensive employee conferences and cheesy training videos, including a �Star Trek� spoof that cost at least $50,000.
Something certainly seems amiss at the IRS. Congressional and federal investigators need to keep digging to expose any other mismanagement within the IRS. The agency is too large and too important to be so mismanaged.
The latest woe of the IRS began when U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, disclosed the agency had intentions to pay out $70 million in bonuses to unionized employees. The IRS had initially said it would cancel about $75 million in such upcoming bonuses because of a presidential directive on federal pay, according to Fox News.
The White House is trying to comply with sequestration, the automatic budget cuts that took place on March 1. The cuts will exceed $1 trillion to many defense and non-defense programs over a decade.
But Grassley said the IRS eventually negotiated a $70 million bonus package for members of the National Treasury Employees Union. Grassley believes the bonuses can be legally cancelled.
The news of the bonuses comes at a time when budget cuts are forcing the IRS to furlough, or temporarily lay off, its 90,000 employees for five days. Employees would not be paid for these five days. Yet how much will this save the federal government if many of the employees are getting bonuses?
Also irritating congressional watchdogs is the recent disclosure that the IRS spent about $49 million on lavish training conferences for employees.
The bonus news, the conference controversy and, of course, the disclosure that the IRS was dragging its feet on tea party applications for tax exempt status paint a picture of an agency that is out of control.
For years, the federal government and its salaries grew at a rate disproportionate to the economy. Now the sequester has slowed down that growth.
The IRS and its unions need to be put on notice that they must share in the sacrifice along with other agencies, which include the Pentagon. And given the $70 million in possible bonuses, the IRS has plenty of areas ripe for some cuts.


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The Raiders have employed many interesting characters over the years. But they have never employed an offensive tackle who talks like a Beatle.
Until now.
In the second round of Friday's NFL draft, Raider general manager Reggie McKenzie used the extra pick he acquired in a Thursday trade to select offensive tackle Menelik Watson, who is from England and had never played American-style serious football until . . . wait for it . . . two years ago.
This means that right now in America, there is some junior high school lineman who has played more downs of tackle football than the guy selected by the Raiders with 42nd pick of the draft.
Is Watson raw? What do you think? Is Ringo Starr a drummer? Does the Queen ride in a cutesy carriage pulled by lots of nice horsies?
Yet if you are wondering why the Raiders selected Watson, the answer is right there at the top of his biography. Watson is 6-foot-5 and 310 pounds. You can't coach mammoth-ness.
Frankly, this looks like one of those wild-and-crazy roll-the-dice-on-potential high draft picks that the late Al Davis used to make for the Raiders. So perhaps McKenzie, who wore an Oakland uniform as a NFL player, has a bit more of that old eyepatch spirit in him than we originally thought.
It's quite a story. Watson came to America because he was recruited to play college basketball but was moderately unimpressive in his time at Marist College in New York — so he decided to attempt football in California at Saddleback Community College in Mission Viejo. He picked it up so fast, major colleges came calling. A year later, he was at Florida State.
And after just one season in Tallahassee, Watson decided to declare for the draft. And has become a Raider. McKenzie clearly sees potential in the kid — who is not really a kid because with all the bouncing around he's done, Watson is 24 years old. This could turn out terrific or could go the other way. Patience will be paramount.
In that sense, McKenzie must have major confidence in Tony Sparano, the Raiders' offensive line coach, who will be charged with Watson's tutelage.
First lesson: Make friends with those jolly painted-face chaps in the Black Hole, mate.
For more Mark Purdy, go to mercurynews.com/purdy


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Discalmer: Dependent on conditions and usage, features specific to the materials used can lead to operational noises particularly in wet conditions just before the vehicle comes to a halt. The impact of moisture and road salt can cause the braking action to be equivalent to a conventional brake system. This can for a short time be experienced as a reduction in braking action and can be balanced out by greater pressure on the pedal where necessary.
Launch Control
Electronic Damper Control
Dynamic Stability Control
M Servotronic
Auto Start-Stop
Brake Energy Regeneration


text:
Finally Over: After seven seasons at the helm of the UVA men's basketball program, coach Pete Gillen is finally put out of his misery, Monday, March 14. UVA Athletics Director Craig Littlepage's announcement brings an end to years of speculation: "There's not a classier person than Pete Gillen. It's time for us to focus on the future."
As Cavalier basketball concluded its season at the ACC tournament in DC over the weekend, everyone was prepared to face the fact that Gillen was doomed. Gillen still left every last ounce of sweat on the floor of the MCI Center, though, and his Wahoos put forth a valiant effort despite being lowest seed in the tournament.
UVA pulled out their second ACC tournament victory in Gillen's tenure as they came from behind to upset the sixth-seeded Miami Hurricanes Thursday, March 10. The Cavs then hung tough with the eventual tourney champion Duke Blue Devils (25-5, 11-5), only to fade in the game's closing minutes 76-64.
Gillen, 57, who refused to talk about his future at the post-game press conference, arrived in Charlottesville in 1998 and put UVA hoops back on the map. By 2001, the Cavs enjoyed a 20-win season and advanced to the NCAA tournament. From there, Gillen became a victim of his own success, and consistent mediocrity and inability to win in conference play (especially on the road, 11-45) likely caused his downfall.
Best model of determination: Coach Dom Starsia has the UVA men's lacrosse team playing some of the best lacrosse in America. The Cavs improved to 4-0 on the season by defeating the Princeton Tigers 11-7 in front of an excited home crowd at Klockner Stadium, Saturday, March 12. "We had a chip on our shoulder after hearing some of the things Princeton had said about us during the week," UVA senior attackman John Christmas told The Daily Progress.
Learning the hard way: The Charlottesville High School girls' basketball team's run toward a state championship falls short as the Black Knights are eliminated by Lord Botetourt in the state semifinal round. CHS could never get their potent offense in sync thanks to Lord Botetourt's defensive adjustments that held the Knights to just 38 points in their 10 point loss. "That's one thing with having such a young team. We have to learn how to play against people taller than us," Charlottesville coach Harry Terrell told the Progress.
The Week Ahead:
vs. OLD DOMINION
Saturday, March 19 @ 7pm
NCAA West Regional First Round
Williams Arena, Minneapolis
UVA women's basketball returns to the Big Dance as a sixth seed in the West Region. Expect an exciting match-up as they face off with 11th-seeded Old Dominion. Tickets: First & Second Round Package available at the UVA Ticket Office. $45 chair-back seating, $35 bench seating, and $25 UVA students. Game is also televised on ESPN 2.
vs. MARYLAND
Friday, March 18 @ 5pm
Saturday, March 19 @ 4pm
Sunday March 20 @ 1pm.
vs. RICHMOND
Wednesday, March 23
Huge Cavalier home-stand continues at Davenport Field. $6 Adult, $4 Youth/Senior.
vs. TOWSON
Saturday, March 19 @ 1pm
vs. WILLIAM & MARY
Tuesday, March 22 @ 7pm
Plenty of exciting action at Klockner. $6 Adult, $4 Youth/Senior.


text:
This Holy Bible
Presented to
Roy Vernon Albea Sr
Lloyd Milton Albea Sr
Larry Dean Albea
21st Day of November
This Certifies That
Roy Vernon Albea Sr
Betty Dolores Huyler
were wedded in
Holy Matrimony
on the First day of February
in the year of our Lord 1947
at Greenville, SC
by Rev Sparks
Witness Ruby Lee Waters "Mother"
Witness Lola Mae Buckner "Friend"
Name Dates
All my children
Roy Vernon Albea Jr 8-28-49
June Elizabeth Albea 6-26-51
Charles Lee Albea 7-3-52
Ruby Louise Albea 8-26-54
Lloyd Milton albea 8-5-55
Larry Dean Albea 9-9-56
Family Tree
Wife Betty Dolores Huyler
Brothers and Sisters [Blank]
|Mother Ruby Lee Waters
|Father Vary Americus Huyler
|Brothers and Sisters Mrs Ethel W Bouchillon
|Brothers and Sisters [Blank]
|Mrs. Alma W. Underwood
|Mr. L. C. Waters
|Mr. Milton Waters
|Mr. Jack Waters
Family Tree
Husband Roy Vernon Albea Sear
Brothers and Sisters
Charles Ray Albea Twin Brother Deceased at 9 mos
Mrs. Frances Ninola A. Clary
Mrs. June Marie A. Wingard
Mrs. Pansy Cammellia A. Chandler
Charles Ray Albea Twin Brother Deceased at 9 mos
Mrs. Frances Ninola A. Clary
Mrs. June Marie A. Wingard
Mrs. Pansy Cammellia A. Chandler
|Mother Mamie Auline Witt Albea (Wilson)
|Father Charles Vernon Albea
|Brothers and Sisters Mr Wilburn Witt
|Brothers and Sisters Paul, Melvin & Coleman
|Patricia W. Stroud
|Evalina & Mattie
|Mr Truman L. Witt
|Mrs. Velma W. Cromer
|Mrs. Alyce W. Page
|Mrs. Gladys W. Fellows
|Grandfather William David Witt
|Grandfather William A. Albea
|Brothers & Sisters [Blank]
|Brothers & Sisters [marked out]
|Grandmother Mrs Ola Quatterbawm Witt
|Grandmother Nina Sprouse Albea
|Brothers & Sisters Mae & Ruby sisters
|Brothers & Sisters [Blank]


text:
Check out our Nike ONE photo gallery
with HQ pics.
Last update in ONE gallery: 2005-12-19
Hennessey Performance presented a project called Goliath 6x6.
The first Kamiq product lines successfully acquired at a Czech company in Mlada Boleslav.
Lotus decided to declassify the super-powerful hypercar. A novelty named Evija will appear in production next year.
The company decided to stop production of the Mercedes-Benz X-Class pickup. The reason is terrible demand.
Ford has planned to release a new model, which will replace the Mondeo, S-Max, and Galaxy.
The official Chevrolet website distributed information regarding the eighth generation of the Corvette sports car
We select only big size nike one photos
for our photogallery.


text:
BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama defended U.S. anti-terrorism tactics on a visit to Berlin on Wednesday, telling wary Germans Washington was not spying on the emails of ordinary citizens and promising to step up efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.
On the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, Obama made his first presidential visit to the German capital, a favored destination of U.S. leaders during the Cold War.
He held talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and gave a speech at the Brandenburg Gate in which he unveiled a proposal for new talks with Russia on slashing nuclear arms arsenals.
Obama, who attracted a crowd of 200,000 adoring fans when he last passed through in 2008 during his first campaign for the presidency, remains popular in Germany.
But revelations before the trip of a covert U.S. Internet surveillance program, code-named Prism, caused outrage in a country where memories of the eavesdropping East German Stasi secret police are still fresh.
Merkel said at a joint news conference that also touched on Afghanistan, Syria and the global economy, that the two leaders had held "long and intensive" talks on the spying issue, noting that some questions still needed to be cleared up.
Obama tried to reassure his host, who as a pastor's daughter growing up in the communist East experienced the Stasi first-hand.
"This is not a situation in which we are rifling through the ordinary emails of German citizens or American citizens or French citizens or anybody else," Obama said.
"This is not a situation where we simply go into the Internet and start searching any way we want. This is a circumscribed system directed at us being able to protect our people and all of it is done under the oversight of the courts."
In a message which seemed designed for her domestic audience, Merkel told Obama that balance was essential in government monitoring of Internet communications.
"I made clear that although we do see the need for gathering information, the topic of proportionality is always an important one and the free democratic order is based on people feeling safe," said the 58-year-old chancellor.
Obama countered that the U.S. had thwarted at least 50 threats because of its monitoring program, including planned attacks in Germany.
"So lives have been saved and the encroachment on privacy has been strictly limited," he said.
A poll last week showed 82 percent of Germans approve of Obama, but the magic of 2008, when he was feted like a rock star, has faded amid concerns about his anti-terrorist tactics.
In his speech to 4,000 invited guests at the Brandenburg Gate, Obama harked back to Kennedy by stressing what he called common values of openness and tolerance.
"We can be a little more informal among friends," he joked as he took off his jacket in the sweltering sun on the Pariser Platz square, just east of the Gate that once stood alongside the Berlin Wall dividing the communist East from the capitalist West of the city.
Earlier, at the news conference, he touched on tensions with Afghan President Hamid Karzai over U.S. plans to begin talks with the Taliban to try to seek a negotiated peace after 12 years of war, acknowledging "huge mistrust" between the Western-backed government in Kabul and its arch-foes.
"We do think that ultimately we're going to need to see Afghans talking to Afghans about how they can move forward and end the cycle of violence there so they can start actually building their country," Obama said.
On Syria, Obama said reports that the United States was ready to "go all in" to war in the country were exaggerated. He reiterated his view that President Bashar al-Assad's government had used chemical weapons, while acknowledging that Russia was skeptical on this point.
Obama declined to give specifics on new military aid Washington plans to provide to Syrian rebels.
Obama arrived in Germany after a two-day summit with Group of Eight leaders in Northern Ireland where he and other leaders clashed with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Syria.
Despite these divisions, he said he would engage with Moscow on reducing deployed nuclear weapons by up to a third from previously agreed levels.
"I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," Obama said.
In 2008, Merkel refused to allow Obama, then a senator from Illinois, to speak at the Brandenburg Gate because he was not yet president.
Despite this awkward start, the Democrat has forged a pragmatic relationship with the conservative Merkel, who may be hoping for a political boost out of the visit months before a German election.
In a nod to criticism, Obama defended his failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison on Cuba that his predecessor George W. Bush opened after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
He also reassured Germans that the U.S. military was not using German bases to launch unmanned drone attacks.
For Obama, who grew up in Hawaii and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, Europe has sometimes seemed an after-thought. The signature foreign policy initiative of his first term was his "pivot" to Asia.
But analysts say plans to create a free-trade zone between the United States and European Union are a sign that he is focusing more on Europe.
"The Obama administration has found it harder than expected to work with emerging powers and has fallen back to a more traditional reliance on European allies," said Charles Kupchan, professor of international affairs at Georgetown University.
"Washington doesn't have better options. And when it comes to who to engage in Europe, Germany grows stronger and stronger."
Additional reporting by Stephen Brown, Roberta Rampton, Annika Breidthardt, Alexandra Hudson, Michelle Martin; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Ralph Boulton


text:
The vitamins you need for healthy, glowing skin
See Gallery
I get asked a lot about my skin, and how I maintain it on a daily basis. I have done a ton of posts on beauty products and how they have helped my skin stay soft and clear. While external beauty products are a definite must to keep a youthful glow. What you put in your body can often times be more important than what you put on your body.
Our hair, skin and nails are a huge part of our every day routines. Both men and women spent hours and hours a week maintaining, fixing, primping and just plain obsessing over all three. Lets face it -- when walking through this journey we call life first impressions are essential, and what we often notice first is on the exterior.
Okay this is getting a bit long winded, but I swear there is a point. What I am trying to say is that not only are creams, cleansers and serums essential, but vitamins are crucial.
So I thought I would share with you the Vitamins that I have been taking for years. Now here is the thing -- not all supplements are created equally. There are so many different varieties on the market that it can be quite overwhelming. I tend to buy my supplements using one rule -- vitamins that come from whole foods, not the grocery store.. but actual food) are always best. You want vitamins that are slow absorbing and not made from synthetics. If you are unsure the best thing to do is ask. Ask the specialist working in the vitamin aisle of your local health food market. Otherwise you run the risk of wasting your time and hard earned cash (supplements are not cheap). Here are some daily supplements that will help maintain your skin, hair, nails and life in general.
See more from Stuff She Likes.


text:
This is your last chance to talk about video games in Kotaku's official forum this month. Will there be a next month? Tune in tomorrow to find out!
TAYpic craftsman Shadoroch sends May to its Doom with this hellish creation. Goodbye, May TAYpic. We loved you so much.
And with a new month dawning (possibly), it's time for a new base TAYpic to keep our Photoshopping friends happy. Submit your favorite piece of classical art to our #TAYpics thread and who knows? Maybe your selection will provide inspiration for the artists of tomorrow or something!


text:
Vans Era Logo Tangerine & Black Skates Shoes
Vans Era Blazing Yellow and Checker Block Skate Shoes
Vans Era Pro Rococo Red & Off-White Checkered Skate Shoes
Vans Era 59 C&L Cornstalk & Acid Denim Skate Shoes
Vans Era 59 C&L Black & Acid Denim Skate Shoes
Vans Era 59 C&L Frost Grey & Acid Denim Skate Shoes
Vans Era
Originally designed by skateboarding legends and Z-Boys Tony Alva and Stacey Peralta in 1976 and formally known as #95, the Vans Era skate shoe was was made famous by Southern California's infamous misfits and backyard pool riders, the Dogtown Skate Crew. Today this classic shoe is still one of the most popular skateboarding shoes, favored by skaters, surfers, and action sports fans the world over.
Boasting a low profile silhouette that comes in a wide range of materials and unique color combinations, the Vans Era features the classic extra-grippy vulcanized "waffle sole" that provides the perfect amount of control and board feel, no matter what type of terrain you're riding. Endorsed by many professionals and team riders as their favorite skate shoe, the Vans Era was recently featured in a Spitfire collaboration series, as well as a custom Max Schaaf pro rider colorway.


text:
This page documents how to go about getting a KDE module ready for the Great Git Migration of 2010.
The necessary tools are hosted at http://www.gitorious.org/svn2git. To get started do:
git clone git://gitorious.org/svn2git/svn2git.git
git clone git://gitorious.org/svn2git/kde-ruleset.git
This will get you the source code to build svn2git and the KDE ruleset files as they currently exist. Build the svn2git tool before moving on to the next step.
Make sure you have Qt4 installed, then simply issue qmake && make to build the executable called "svn-all-fast-export"
The format for the svn2git rules is pretty simple. First and foremost you have to declare some repositories:
create repository kdelibs end repository
This tells svn2git that it should create a git repository called "kdelibs" that we can later on use to put commits into it.
The rest of the file are rules matching specific paths in Subversion, each rule specifies what to do with the commits that appeared at the given path. The possible actions are ignoring them or adding them to a particular branch in a particular repository. Note: Ignoring is done by simply leaving out the information about the repository and the branch.
As examples are more explanatory, the following rule would put all commits from 123453 to 456789 from the path /trunk/KDE/kdelibs into the master branch of the kdelibs repository:
match /trunk/KDE/kdelibs/ min revision 123453 max revision 456789 repository kdelibs branch master end match
The min and max revision are useful in cases where the same path in SVN contains code for different branches. An example would be KDevelop3, where KDevelop 3.3 was shipped with KDE 3.5 until 3.5.7, 3.5.8 contained KDevelop 3.4 and 3.5.9 contained KDevelop 3.5 and all of those kdevelop versions are now under /branches/KDE/3.5/kdevelop.
The two revision parameters are however not mandatory, if they're left out, then all commits that went to the given matching path in SVN are taken over into the specified branch.
To generate tags with git you use a special format for the branch parameter: refs/tag/<tagname>. So to put all commits from /tags/KDE/4.4.0/kdelibs into the v4.4.0 tag in the kdelibs git repository the rule would be like this:
match /tags/KDE/4.4.0/kdelibs/ repository kdelibs branch refs/tags/v4.4.0 end match
For more examples see the svn2git/samples/ directory and the rules in the kde-ruleset repository.
TODO: Add some information how the recurse-stuff works.
You will need ~60GB (is that correct?) of disk space to get started, as the process requires a copy of the KDE svn database. There is a script that will download this for you (and which can be used to update it periodically using rsync) in kde-ruleset/bin/startSync. By default the startSync script runs rsync in "dry run" mode, so before using it to actually get the svn database edit the startSync script and remove the -n from both rsync lines.
more stuff goes here ...
match /trunk/KDE/module/ repository module branch master end match
match /branches/KDE/4.4/module repository module branch 4.4 end match
This time you only need to follow the branch to the point where it was copied from trunk/. There might be additional work-branches scattered over the /branches/ subversion directory.
svn-all-fast-export --identity-map kde-ruleset/account-map --rules yourrulesfile kde_svn
Where kde_svn is the svn database on your disk. This will take a while.
gitk --all
This gives you a nice graphical view on the history of the module that you just imported.
You can now scroll through the history to check wether things have been imported correctly. Things to look out for are:


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Understanding Debt Alternatives in Today's Economy
This webinar covers small business financing options - including bank loans, SBA loans, factoring, asset based lending, equipment finance and cash advance lending. Read more
Top 10 HR Issues: How to Avoid Common Pitfalls
This workshop helps you to assess your company's HR compliance and act proactively with labor laws. Read more
Get Your Website Online in 5 Easy Steps
This workshop walks you through the steps to building and publishing your own website. Read more
Year-End Preparations for Small Businesses
This webinar looks at strategies for small businesses when closing their books at the end of the year. Read more
The Secret to Getting Better Customers
This workshop offers tips and tricks to help you focus on the customers who will fuel your small business growth. Read more
Small Business Funding Options for Today's Credit Environment
This workshop presents various funding possibilities for starting and growing your small business. Read more
From Honor to Owner: Opportunities for Veterans in Franchising
This workshop realizes the traits and skills that veterans bring to small business ownership, including leadership experience, dedication, attention to detail and implementing syst Read more
Tips That Will Transform Your Small Business
This workshop teaches best practices to tackle everyday business challenges such as finding funding, creating and managing a team, building strong customer relationships, and more. Read more
Email Marketing Essentials: How to Get Your Email Opened and Extend its Reach
This free online business workshop hosted by Constant Contact teaches you to create an attractive email campaign with actionable results. Read more
Leveraging Pinterest for Business: Insights from American Airlines
Watch this webinar to learn how to leverage Pinterest for your business, including how to establish your presence, what types of content to share, how to conduct a promotion and ho Read more
Customer Loyalty 3.0: How to Avoid Getting Customer Loyalty and Social Media Backwards
This workshop will help you to think strategically about social media and tackle communication in the digital age. Read more


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WELCOME to the PRACTICE OF DR. BRIAN SCAFF!
Your favorite dentist in the Austin, Cedar Park, and Round Rock area.
We are pleased to offer a variety of services and treatments. But first, let us tell you why our patients love us.
- Our patients say we are fun. They don't dread coming to see the dentist. Imagine that!
- Every time you come to see us, you will notice we have the same friendly team ready to take care of you. We retain the same friendly group who care about our patients and maintain a positive attitude about being able to serve you.
- One of the things our patients appreciate is we keep to the schedule and we are on time.
- We maintain a high quality, with thoroughness and experience, with every procedure and treatment we do.
- We encourage our patients in the Cedar Park and Austin area to decide on their own treatment by educating them on their procedure options and empowering them to partner with us to make the best decision for them.
- We welcome patients of all ages at our cosmetic dentistry office near Cedar Park.
- We offer truly comprehensive care, including cosmetic dentistry, sedation dentistry, general dentistry and dental implants using up-to-date technology.
- Dental emergencies are seen promptly.
- Dr. Scaff has received continuing sedation dentistry training and has safely performed sedation dentistry for over 20 years.
- Dr. Scaff participates in continuing dental implants education.
Restorative and Cosmetic Dentistry
We offer a variety of restorative and cosmetic dentistry procedures that can give you the smile of your dreams, including: tooth-colored dental fillings, dental crowns and fixed bridges, porcelain veneers, professional teeth whitening options, Six Month Smiles, dental implants, and dentures.
Dental Implants
Dental implants are a remarkable process that can give you a sturdy, long-lasting treatment that is like getting a brand new tooth! Dental implants can be used to replace one missing tooth or to secure implant supported dentures.
General Dentistry
Our general dentistry is top notch. We offer: individual consultations and dental exams, dental cleanings and deep cleanings, digital x-rays and panoramic x-rays, laser-assisted decay detection, dental sealants, fluoride treatments, custom athletic mouthguards, dental night guards and oral cancer screening.
No insurance? No problem!
Our office offers an In-Office Dental Savings Plan which is perfect for anyone who does not have dental insurance. There are many benefits to the plan and it has helped many patients to afford their needed dental treatment. Click on the link below for more information about Dr. Scaff's In-Office Dental Savings Plan.
For any procedure whether its a cosmetic dentistry or a restorative dentistry procedure, we are happy to offer two methods of sedation dentistry to keep you calm and relaxed during your visits with us.
Call us today! We look forward to being your dentist in the Austin, Cedar Park, and Round Rock area!


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Some comments on the heated debate on SFC / Busybox / Linux GPL enforcement
During the past week[s], there has been a heated debate on the alleged methods of GPL enforcement as it is performed by the Software Freedom Conservancy on behalf of the Busybox copyright holders.
The extent of license enforcement on Busybox has apparently triggered the proposal to create a non-GPL replacement for it, which in turn has received quite harsh responses e.g. from Matthew Garrett.
It's been relatively difficult for me to figure out what is really going on here. It is well-known that the Free Software Conservancy has been actively enforcing the GPL on Busybox. But then, at the same time gpl-violations.org has been (and still is!) similarly active in enforcing the GPL on the Linux kernel. Still, I haven't yet seen calls to write a non-GPL Linux kernel replacement. Of course, the complexity is on an entirely different scale, so this point is moot.
However, for quite some time there have been rumors about the intensity (some would say aggressiveness) of the enforcement. I don't want to accuse anybody of anything, so I'm going to write speculatively about it.
This post is to summarize my thoughts on all of this:
It is well within the right of each author / copyright holder to decide on the enforcement strategy and license interpretation. As such, I respect the decision of the authors. It is their work, they should decide what to do.
In any kind of GPL enforcement, you of course not only want the complete corresponding source code to one program, but to all of the GPL/LGPL/AGPL or otherwise copyleft licensed programs contained in the product. We at gpl-violations.org have always been requesting the complete corresponding source code to all GPL licensed software during our communication with the infringing companies. This request was typically honored by everyone, without the need to apply any pressure onto it. After all, releasing only one bit of code causes the risk to get sued by somebody else who owns the other not-yet-compliant part of the code.
Now there have been rumors that SFC was not only requesting non-Busybox source code, but also making it a condition for the explicit re-instatement of the license on Busybox. Whether or not there was such a hard condition is subject to debate and there are different opinions on it. For those in the field of FOSS licensing, it has always known that there are different lines of thought with regard to the requirement to explicit reinstatement. We in Germany generally think that it is not required at all, and the existing preliminary injunctions at least implicitly acknowledge that as they enjoin companies from distributing a product as long as it is not in compliance with the license. In other (particularly the U.S.), it is generally assumed that explicit reinstatement is required. In such a case, it may very well be legally possible to use it as a lever to obtain source code for other programs like the Linux kernel. However, I am personally not sure if that really is the right strategy. Not everything that is possible legally is ethically the right thing to do. But then, ethics and legal customs differ widely in the FOSS communities, as they do in society in general. Some countries and communities believe in the death penalty, others don't. Some countries allow abortion, others don't. Some allow prostitution, others don't. So when judging about whether that "reinstatement lever" is acceptable or not, we have to accept that there may be different lines of thought. I for my part definitely think that the far superior method is, beyond doubt, to have a rights holder on those other program in order to make any demand for source code (as opposed to a mere request without implicit or explicit legal threat).
There also have been rumors about a requirement on submitting future source code releases to a compliance audit by the Conservancy. According to SFC sources, there never was any such demand, and the rumors are likely spawned by some incorrect claims of a defendant in a court case, which ended up in the public record. If there was such a requirement, I wouldn't think it is just - at least not for a first-time non-intentional infringement case. If there was repeated infringement and a clear sign that it would happen again and again, such a requirement for future audits may be justified, depending on the case.
People who claim that GPL enforcement is scaring away companies from using Linux and/or other Free Software also have to be careful in what they say. If a commercial entity enters a new market (let's say Android Tablets), then there is a certain due diligence required before entering that market. So if you don't understand Free Software and particularly GPL licensing, then you shouldn't place a Linux-based device on the market. Just think about an analogy: If you have a recycling company and enter a new market (disposal of hazardous chemicals), then you cannot simply treat those chemicals as regular waste, wait until you run into legal trouble and expect to get away with it.
I think there are still far too many GPL violations out there, and we need to see more enforcement in order to get all the major players in their respective lines of business into compliance. But come on, dealing with embedded devices in 2012 and still getting compliance outright wrong really means that there has not been the least bit of attention on this subject. And without enforcement, it is never going to change. People who want no enforcement should simply use MIT-style licenses.
Last, but not least, I also think GPL compliance is a matter of fair competition. There are some companies who really do a good job in ensuring compliance with the various Free Software licenses. If their competition doesn't invest the funds into the respective skills, procedures and business processes, they are getting an unfair competitive advantage against those who are doing it right. If there was no enforcement, the motivation would be to reduce efforts in compliance, not increase it.
Let me conclude with a clear statement to anyone who thinks that by replacing Busybox with a non-GPL licensed project they can evade GPL enforcement: It will not work. There are others out there enforcing the GPL. Last but not least gpl-violations.org. Despite the notoriously outdated webpage, we are still alive and kicking, churning down on the violation reports that we receive. Armijn Hemel, Joachim Steiger, Tim Engelhardt, Julia Gebert and Till Jaeger deserve much of the credit for all that work, while I'm mostly spending each awake minute hacking Free Software for mobile communications. Yes, we should publish more about our activities, and I hope to find the time to do so. There should at least be an annual report with the number of cases...


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The Academy strives in providing quality training and will cause to ensure that high standards of responsible communal life are established and maintained. Therefore the Academy expects high level of personal integrity and sense of responsibility from its students while on the campus, field training and other places where it will have stakes.
Student's rules and regulations outlined in this document are intended to guide students' conducts and behaviors. They are intended to guard against actions and conducts that may be injurious to the learning environment and Academy community. These rules shall be cited as the "Tanzania Regional Immigration Training Academy's Conduct Disciplinary Proceedings and Penalties".
Performance Standards
The Academic Board of the Academy requires every student to achieve a set standard of performance in both academic and fieldwork in order to obtain Academy certificate. Should any student be unable or unwilling to meet these standards, it will be necessary to terminate his/her studies in accordance with the Assessment and Examination Regulations of the Academy.Assessment and Examinations Regulations shall be applied to enforce the set academic performance standards.
The hours of formal classroom work
The Academy maintains the following hours for classroom work:
1. Monday to Friday:
2. 0800 hrs to 1000 hrs
3. 1030 hrs to 1230 hrs
4. 1400 hrs to 1600 hrs
These time frames can change at any moment as shall be determined by the Academy management. Evening tutorial classes may be held where necessary.
For the purpose of this document, offences shall include but not limited to:
-Conduct that does or is likely to cause damage, defacement or violence to property or persons within the Academy;
-Drunkenness, cause of disorder and use of illicit drugs
-Conduct which is likely to obstruct or frustrate the holding of lecture, field practical training or any lawful function authorized to take place within the Academy such as meetings or social functions;
-Interference with any mechanical or electrical or other installations;
-Theft committed within or outside the Academy;
-Being in unauthorized possession of any Academy property;
-Use of abusive language against other students, or any employee or any member of the Academy community;
-Forging a document or offering false documents; and
-Failure to pay outstanding debts of any kind.
Limitation of Academy responsibility
Matters concerning salary, allowances, privileges and entitlement under the terms and conditions of service of any student must be dealt with by that student himself/herself and his/her sponsor.
The Academy takes every precaution to ensure the security of students' property by providing lockable dormitories and general security guards. The Academy cannot accept responsibility for the loss of personal belongings.
Uniforms for field training safaris
The Academy uniform will be worn at all times during field practical training and at times and places that will be determined by the Academy authorities. Students shall not be allowed to participate in the field training without standard uniforms.
Cleanliness and tidiness
All students are expected to support cleanliness and ground maintenance of the Academy in maintaining a high standard of cleanliness and tidiness of the Academy. Rubbish should be deposited in receptacles provided and not left lying about or thrown down the lavatories. Littering is strictly prohibited in the Academy campus.
Dormitories and bathrooms/toilets must be kept clean and tidy. Students must not conduct themselves in the dormitory blocks in a way likely to cause offence or annoyance to other students.
At all the times noise of any kind, including music, shall be kept to acceptable (by the majority of students) levels in the hostels.
The Academy does not provide bed sheets in its dormitories. Students who choose to occupy the College's rooms shall be responsible for bed sheets.
Laundry services
Students are responsible for washing their personal clothing at the places provided in the hostels. Nonetheless, students can utilize the Academy's laundry facilities and services at reasonable price.
Being away from the Academy
Students will be required to apply for permission to be away on normal days through their module lecturers and Dean of Students depending on the nature of the absenteeism. Lecturers shall keep student registry attendance records. Unacceptable absenteeism during lectures shall be treated as per Assessment and Examination Regulations.
Students suspending course programs for any reason must follow normal procedures including completion of clearance forms.
Care of College property
Students must take special care of the Academy furniture, fittings, stores, equipment and other properties kept at their disposals. Any shortages, breakages, damage or loss shall be reported immediately to Academy authorities.
Museum specimens, models and exhibits
The specimens and exhibits are valuable and fragile. Great care is required when handling them. They will not be removed without the permission of a storekeeper or laboratory technician.
The Library will operate in accordance with the current Library Rules and Regulations agreed by the Academy authorities. These rules are issued to students upon arrival at the Academy
Fire precautions
Students must ensure that they are conversant with fire drill procedures as laid down in the Fire Drill Orders. Fire drill will be carried out from time to time in accordance with those orders. Fire fighting skills are imparted to students in order for them to participate in the fire fighting exercises in unexpected and highly unlikely fire events.
Students must also take every precaution against starting fires and must exercise care when dealing using electrical gadgets, using matches and disposing of cigarette ends.
Smoking is not permitted in public places particularly in hostel rooms, the classrooms, dining hall, library, workshop, offices, tents, toilets and other closed or semi closed public places within the campus or on campsites during the field training trips.
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Kettig Medical Equipment and Supplies, located at 206A Taylorsville Road, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday celebrating its accreditation. Owners John Kettig and Toi Grenzhaelser cut the ribbon with partners Jeff and Yvonne Ross. Bob and Diane Willard of Taylorsville, the store's first customers, were also present, along with local government and business leaders. Kettig Medical is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, call 502-354-9400.
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Jeremy Keith
Paul Burgess said "An underlying factor to this whole argument about dropping IE6 support the fact that your average web user, or in fact most people do not know what a browser is, let alone what version of IE they are using. If the site displays incorrectly or looks wrong, they will just think it's broken."
That's equating "dropping IE6 support" with "the site displays incorrectly or looks wrong." Is that necessarily the case?
If we're talking about what Dan Cederholm calls "progressive enrichment" then what the IE6 users will see is a slightly duller version of the site with fewer text effects, fewer rounded corners and fewer gradients. Does that mean that the site is displaying incorrectly?
If, on the other hand, we're talking about layout issues where content overlaps or is clearly out of place then yes, people using IE6 will think the site is broken. But what is the solution in that case? To just fix those glaring problems or to try to make the site look exactly the same in IE6 as in all other browsers?
I'm throwing these questions out there to point out how unproductive it is to talk purely in terms of "supporting" or "dropping support". We need a wider vocabulary of terms than that.
I like Lauren's short and snappy definition that "'support' should mean usable, not pixel perfect."
Antoine asked about the user experience for IE6 users and how that will be affected by using the Dean Edwards script. Well, that's where the equation comes in. The download time for the script is a penalty that IE6 users will pay. To figure out whether or not the penalty is justified, plug your numbers into the equation. If you get a low result, it isn't worth penalising IE6 users with the longer download time; you'd be better off spending some time on IE6-specific development.


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Inside the McAfee Batcave
Okay, I'll admit, they don't actually call it the Batcave, and it isn't deep underground. Its real name is the McAfee Executive Briefing Center, and it's located at McAfee's Santa Clara headquarters. But the gadgets are just as mind-blowing as any invented by the Dark Knight. During McAfee's recent Consumer Jounalist Day, Director of Technical Marketing Bruce Snell showed off the center's many features. Click on the inline images for a larger view, and do keep in mind that I'm a writer and researcher, not a photographer.
Visitors enter the briefing center through a dark hallway whose wall holds a number of crawl-type displays. Snell explained that the virus names displayed in the crawls come from real time reports feeing into McAfee's Global Threat Intelligence system. I noticed several familiar names floating past. Alas, the moving display doesn't make a great subject for photography.
Across from the virus crawl wall is McAfee's Global Threat Center map. At random intervals an expanding red ring would appear here or there on the map. Snell explained that each red pulse represents a thousand malware-detection events in that area of the world. The list at left simply displays the latest threats that have appeared on the map.
Unlike the virus crawl, the map is actually an interactive display. Want to know the significance of a virus pulse on the map? Just tap the list of recent detections, or tap search and enter the name of the threat. In this shot, the detected threat is a generic Javascript exploit, detected based on its behavior.
Stepping around the corner we entered the War Room. Any of the six monitors on this room's curved desk can be displayed at huge scale on the walls. Snell explained that McAfee can use this room to demonstrate techniques for tracking network traffic, particular network attacks. The displays totally represent actual networks, composed mostly of virtual machines. For demonstration purposes, Snell can create attacks from a "bad" network to a "good" network, then dig in to view exactly what that looks like in the logs.
Just where are those test networks located? Going into the War Room we had passed a glass wall with an image pattern projected on it. Snell clicked a remote, the pattern vanished, and there was the network in all its glory. He admitted that this particular network was designed as much to look good as to function well. "You should see my actual, working network," he said. "It's a snarl of wires, just as you'd expect."
Snell related that the visual design team had insisted the network needed one more stack of virtual machine servers "for balance." "I got on the phone with Dell, told them my situation, and they took care of me," he said.
That same glass wall that hides the network can serve as a giant display for video, still images, or slides. You can see three large sections in the photo above; there's actually a fourth off to the left. Snell used the display to present a detailed explanation of McAfee's Global Threat Intelligence, which gathers data from millions of different endpoints and processes the information to identify, among other things, Web addresses that are definitely malicious.
"If we know for sure the IP address is bad," said Snell, "we don't allow any contact at all. We don't just block the download; we block your TCP request from going to the site." At present this reputation-based protection is fully implemented in McAfee's Enterprise products and partially in their consumer products. In the future, the consumer side will get it all.
To wrap up, Snell gave another presentation on the biggest touchscreen table I've ever seen. Swiping with a finger he "threw" pages at us. Each page swirled into place, at which point it became fully interactive. We could follow links, pinch to zoom, flip through earlier pages, and generally handle the data the way Tom Cruise did in "Minority Report." If only McAfee had managed the three dimensional holographic presentation from that movie... perhaps they'll have it next time I visit.
I asked Snell, "Just how much do all of these great toys cost McAfee? What's your budget?" He laughed and replied, "I don't have a budget. I just get in touch with the very top people and get them excited about my ideas." That seems to have worked well; the collection of gadgets in the McAfee Executive Briefing Center is extraordinary.
For more from Neil, follow him on Twitter @neiljrubenking.


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But it would be intriguing; an animation of moving craters
Yes, it does. Crater nodes are like the Simple Shape Shader. See how they both have an explicit Position or Center coordinate set? These are not moved with the planet regardless because they have an explicit position. You need to manually Translate them to get them to move. You can use a Transform Input shader for this. - Oshyan