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February 25, 2017
On-air retirement announcement of Steve Beverly as TV voice of the Union University Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs after 25 years at the mike:
Years ago….a broadcaster whom I greatly respected…..Gordon Solie…..began his commentaries with the phrase, "And now….a personal word….if you will."
So to you…..my friends at home…..this is a personal word to close out this telecast.
Ending a season is never easy because seniors graduate and we won't see them again on this floor. Seniors also graduate from our broadcast team that brings you these games.
We're losing our senior producer and director Thomas Gray to graduation at the end of this semester. We will indeed miss Thomas and his leadership. I'm also grateful to our entire crew whose names you see at the end of each Bulldog telecast because they are the ones who make the engine run for Union basketball on TV.
No matter how difficult it is to say goodbye to a season…..it's far more difficult to say goodbye to a career.
Today brings down the curtain on 25 years of these regular visits with you as I've attempted to tell the stories of the Union Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs and their many adventures on this basketball court that now bears the name of The Legend himself David Blackstock.
When I started, I still had a fairly thick…if declining head of hair…..and I was a young fellow of 38. I've somehow endured through five American presidents and three Union presidents.
I remember the morning Coach Blackstock called me at my home and asked in that distinctive accent of his, "Can you call our basketball game tonight on TV?"
I told him: "David, I suppose I could….but I haven't called a game in 17 years."
He said without a beat: "Then you're well qualified."
Occasionally…..I'll go back and watch the VHS tape of that game I did with former coach Brice Bishop. It was Union vs. Lambuth. I have no earthly idea why they had me back to do a second game.
Somehow….they were patient and for some reason known perhaps only to our Lord, I'm still here.
In these 25 years, I have had the great joy to work with some wonderful people…..outstanding coaches in Mark Campbell….Dave Niven….the unpredictable Ralph Turner…..our beloved Lisa Hutchens—who left us much too early—and The Legend himself. I'm especially pleased that despite his recent health issues….
Coach Blackstock has been less than 10 feet away from me at a number of games this season.
His successor as athletic director Tommy Sadler has been enormously supportive of all of our efforts to bring television coverage to you at home…..and you who watch online.
Doing Union Basketball on TV would not be the same without the familiar faces of my good friends Don Richard….Carlo Spencer…..and Josh Simmons at the other end of this same table.
You can go across America and not find a finer sports information director than Steven Aldridge….who could be an S-I-D at any Division 1 program in America but Steven has chosen to make his home here and I'm glad he has.
I've also had the rare privilege of having a colleague who has become a great friend in the Hall of Fame radio voice of the Bulldogs Gerry Neese….one of the finest men I know anywhere.
In these 25 years….I've had the joy of mentoring more than 120 different student commentators who have joined me at the mike. Some of them….including Jonathan Huskey, Philip Tang, Steven Williams and Adam Wells have gone on to excellent sports broadcasting careers of their own. My first woman analyst….former Union All-American Lee Nunamaker Pipkin….is a talented coach in her own right and has a state championship trophy at Chester County.
I've had so many personal thrills and memories that I can't begin to list them all. However….the 1997 TranSouth conference championship game on this floor when Michelle Street scored a Union record 45 points in a double overtime win over Freed Hardeman is still my favorite thriller.
Right up there were the nights when David Blackstock in 1998 and Mark Campbell in 2005 won their first N-A-I-A national championships at Oman Arena. I had 13 wonderful years as the TV voice of that great women's tournament. Five of those years….I called Union taking home the banner as national champion. Many broadcasters go through an entire lifetime without a chance to call a title game of any kind. For that, I have been especially proud and humbled.
One of America's finest broadcasters is Tim Brando. I'm proud that he has become a friend and mentor to me in recent years. Tim has reminded me several times never to minimize the importance of the role of a broadcaster at the N-A-I-A or N-C-Double-A Division 2 level. "Somebody has to do those games," he told me. He also said, "Always remember that when you call a game, it means as much to those kids as it does to any kid at the Division 1 level." That's why I've always tried to give my best at this microphone. It's these young people who matter most.
A difficult challenge for any sports broadcaster is to know when it's time. In recent months….we've seen the legendary Verne Lundquist and Brent Musberger put a final bow on their storied careers.
The tough part is how to avoid hanging on too long. No broadcaster should hold onto a seat just for the sake of longevity…..but it's a struggle to know when to say when.
A few weeks ago after our TV doubleheader on January 12th, for a variety of reasons, I knew it was time.
Ultimately, after a lot of discussion and prayer…..I made the decision to retire as the television voice of the Union Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs effective with the end of this broadcast.
It's not necessarily the time I want to hang it up. I feel healthy enough and I could probably go on another couple of years.
But several circumstances have led me to the conclusion that I can no longer deliver in this role at a standard that I feel is my professional best. A number of reasons have led me to that evaluation…..some of which will remain personal.
To continue in a fashion where I cannot do my best would be unfair to the athletes whose exploits I have described for a quarter of a century……to Union University……or to you, the viewers.
I will miss the visits that we have had together these 25 years…..but the increasing pressures and responsibilities required to prepare these broadcasts and some related circumstances have compromised my ability to perform at a level that I feel is acceptable.
I will continue to see you as a commentator on Jackson 24-7……and on our weekly Saturday and Sunday night excursions into the world of TV Classics on TV6.
But this evening….I reflect the words of a man I esteem as one who should be on the Mount Rushmore of basketball broadcasters. The great Dick Enberg said on his final night on CBS: "As a sports commentator, it's time for me to go away." Likewise, it is time for me to go away.
I'm extraordinarily grateful that you at home who have watched us regularly over these years have accepted me for as long as you have…..and been kind enough to forgive my many mistakes and my rather unorthodox humor.
It's a relationship I value and will always treasure as a golden memory.
I've truly enjoyed our visits in your home and I sincerely hope all of you will continue your support of the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs—-on television and in person.
I hate long goodbyes—-so I will close this one out by simply saying…..for the 610th and last time at this microphone—–this is Steve Beverly saying, "God bless you….and so long…..from the great Hub City of West Tennessee!"


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To encounter other peoples across the four corners of the globe, and bring back fascinating stories of their lives recounted via sublime photography: this is the all-encompassing aim of the Explora Portfolio.
For this discovery to become authentic, we must have a genuine desire to understand what is important for another person, for another people: from whence does he build his dreams; his anxieties; his routines; his whole life. Then the Encounter itself becomes an open gateway to embellish the diverse and multi-polar world that we live in.

subset: commoncrawl


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Cocoa Dos and Don'ts
When writing code using Cocoa, there are rules to follow. Anything that uses Objective-C++ must of course follow the C++ guidelines. However, there are things in Cocoa that are more subtle than they look. Here are a few things to keep in mind.
Banned Practices
Const NSObjects
The use of const NSObjects is prohibited as it makes Clang unhappy. (This is enforced in the presubmit hooks.) See the Mac Clang page for more details.
Atomic properties
The use of atomic properties is prohibited. There are differences between how our compilers handle them, and since we don't need them anyway we don't use them. See the Mac Clang page for more details.
Tracking rects and raw NSTrackingAreas
Tracking rects are tricky to get right. Apple realized that, and in Mac OS X 10.5 introduced the NSTrackingArea object. Unfortunately, that is also difficult to get right, and has historically led to nasty crashes.
The use of
-[NSView addTrackingRect:owner:userData:assumeInside:] is
The use of raw
NSTrackingAreas is prohibited.
You are required to use
CrTrackingArea. Find it at
ui/base/cocoa/tracking_area.h. There are currently (and unfortunately) lots of
current usage of tracking rects and
NSTrackingAreas. Please convert them as
you encounter them.
There are spots of Cocoa that are tricky. Watch out.
Coordinate conversion
All code that manages views is required to be correct, and that correctness is more heavily tested when running under "resolution independence" or "HiDPI", where window coordinates are not the same as view coordinates. (Turn on resolution independence in Quartz Debug.app.)
Any time you need to compute window coordinates based on view coordinates, or
vice versa, make sure you use the appropriate conversion calls (i.e.
-convertRect:toView: and friends). There is a call for each data type and each
conversion direction. Also, remember that views have both a
-bounds and
-frame. They are in different coordinate systems.
See http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CocoaDrawingGuide/Transforms/Transforms.html for details.
The "base" coordinate system
In doing coordinate conversion, you may run into methods on views that convert to and from the "base" coordinate system. Those are almost certainly not what you are looking for. When talking about views, the "base" coordinate system is referring to the raw backing pixels. If you need to precisely align to pixels, they are correct, but most of the time they do not do what you think they are doing.
(This problem is compounded by the references in methods on windows to the "base" coordinate system, which is indeed the window coordinate system.)
See http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-dev/browse_thread/thread/6b989dcbb79e9ba/029eeb633c5287cc for details.
Zero-sized windows
The Mac's windowserver has issues with zero-sized windows, spewing tons of junk to the console, yet it's not immediately obvious when you resize them that it's a problem.
Ensure that you do not resize windows to be empty, either implicitly or explicitly.


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[This article was originally published on GeekWire, June 22, 2011. ]
I'm struck by the question of whether, and how, an entrepreneur might act differently if they were mindful that their current startup probably won't be their last. In other words, chances are you're likely to continue to be a "serial entrepreneur" whether you like it or not. This actually might be a good thing to dwell on once in a while. Even if you're only on your first startup. And even if you're only just thinking about starting your first one.
So, why not take a moment to consider that you'll have another startup someday… maybe someday soon?
Whoa, wait a minute, did I just suggest that you may not be working on the next Facebook or Zynga? Is it pessimistic or defeatist to dwell on the thought that your current startup may not be your last? We're supposed to be eternally optimistic and always be reaching for the brass ring, regardless of what the naysayers tell us, right? I say no.
I've long had a penchant for reality-based thinking, influenced by my days as a philosophy grad student where the official department T-shirt slogan was:
"Everything is what it is and not another thing." — Bishop Joseph Butler, 1692 – 1752
How's that for a hip T-shirt? In any case, you very well may be blessed with the good fortune of Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Michael Dell or Mark Zuckerberg. One and done. You might also win the lottery. I sincerely wish you the best of luck with both.
But if you're like the rest of us poor slobs who didn't start NextBigThing.com right out of the gate, then you might consider what it means to be signed up as an entrepreneur, i.e., you may be at this for a while and it may take you a few before you land on your crowning achievement.
So what if, upon reflection, it dawns on you that the startup you're working on right now won't be your last? Would that recognition cause you to do anything differently? Mind you, I'm not saying that your startup will be a success or a failure (however YOU measure that for yourself).
After all, lots of folks keep going after their next startup even if they do achieve some success. I'm just saying that lots of entrepreneurs end up doing more than one startup and I'm guessing that most (maybe all) of them didn't really think much about that when they were starting their first one.
It's a little like asking a 14-year-old holding their first cigarette whether they realize that they are going to be addicted to nicotine for the rest of their lives, that their clothes are going to constantly reek of smoke and that they are likely to eventually develop very serious health problems as a result. It's just not part of the thought process when you start smoking. And thinking that you're gonna have another startup after this one is just not part of the thought process for an entrepreneur.
But having a clear understanding that your current startup probably isn't your last is actually a really positive thing.
For example, I recently met a really smart, aspiring first-time entrepreneur who (in my opinion) was stuck pursuing a problem and a market that would be very hard to create a sustainable business around.
We talked about it at length several times and I really tried to imagine a possible path that would lead to him ending up with what he wanted: Namely a business that could (eventually) make money for him, his team, his family and possibly for investors.
I'm pretty flexible and creative in how I think about problems and markets. But I just couldn't get this one to fly — even in imaginary flight.
The idea he had was interesting. It was fun. It was even useful. And building the product was well within his team's reach. But what then?
No matter how we ran the scenarios and crunched the numbers, it was going to require a lot of really hard things to go really, really well and then even if they did (which they just never do) the result at the end of all that just wasn't likely to get him what he wanted.
As it turns out, I wasn't the only one who was telling him that. I was, however, the only one suggesting that he consider himself a serial entrepreneur, even though this was his first one. What this did was create the possibility of a conversation about opportunity costs for an entrepreneur who doggedly sticks to an idea that no one is telling him has a decent chance to succeed.
Once he grasped that this was only his first startup and that there would almost certainly be the next one and the next one, then he could begin to take a more objective and critical view of his project.
The realization that his current startup didn't have to be his last (and probably wouldn't be anyhow) allowed him to take a more-objective perspective on what he was doing. It also opened him up to considering what might be next. Like lots of entrepreneurs, he had a handful of other ideas that he had been wanting to explore but couldn't act on them because he was bound up in the current idea.
When we started the conversation, he was struggling figure out how to make his startup work and wasn't sure himself whether there would ever be a sustainable business even if he did figure it out. But he just wasn't ready to let it go.
By the end of the conversation, there was a shift of tone to genuine hope and possibility, even excitement.
Am I really saying you should sometimes give up? Admit defeat? Be a quitter? Yeah, I guess I am.
But it's not a negative thing. Your startup "is what it is and not another thing."
If you've looked out into your future and you cannot see a path that ends up somewhere you think you'd want to be, and if none of the other smart, qualified people you trust can see a path either, then it may just be the case that your working on one of those startups that teaches you some really valuable lessons and adds to your credibility as a "seasoned serial entrepreneur."
As someone who's stared that beast in the face a few times, I know it's not easy. But the alternatives can be worse.
So what do you think?


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Thursday's child has far to go. – "Monday's Child"
Today, I turn twenty-OLD. Today is also a Thursday, the actual day of the week on which I was born. That should count for something. Another fun fact about today, my mom graduated from high school on this day in history. Somewhere in the '60s, to be exact. I once came across her high school diploma while digging for my old '80s toys in the attic (I am so nostalgic) and confirmed this fact. I thought it was a weird coincidence that she happened to graduate from high school on a day that would become very significant later in her life. She did not share my sentiments. No problem, I've always been the more nostalgic one.
In the spirit of being nostalgic and in honor of June 2nd, high school graduations, and the fact that it's my birthday so I can write about whatever I want, I would like to take you on a quick trip down memory lane. Below is a birthday reflection I wrote in 2001, straight from the pages of my high school diary (which means it was written in pink ink.) I wrote this entry the night before my 18th birthday and a week before I graduated from high school:
June 1st, 2001
Dear Journal,
Wow, it's all finally over. I can't believe it. I'm sad because this is a happy and sad time. I've finally made it, yet I can't imagine my life any different than it is right now. I love this life. I love my friends, I love the routine of going to school and seeing people. I love going out on weekends with friends. I'm going to miss everyone so much.
Tomorrow I turn 18! I can't believe it! Time really flies.
I cried in class today thinking about how it is over. I'm so excited, but sad at the same time. All of these great memories are truly in the past. I am going to miss all of the people.
Well, that is all.
All that yearning for days gone by and I hadn't even officially turned 18 yet! In my defense, I don't think I actually cried in class. It was probably just forced silent tears for dramatic effect.
It's always fun to see what you were thinking at a given moment in time. On my birthday, I like to reflect on what I've accomplished thus far and what I would like to accomplish in the coming year. I also like to take the day off. Today being my day off and the day I turn twenty-old, I raise my glass of whiskey to all of you and hope that you have a wonderful day. I know I will.
Disclaimer: In spite of the fact that I'm turning 28 (there I said, it) today, many days I still feel like I'm this age:


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w -- display who is logged in and what they are doing
w [-dhin] [-M core] [-N system] [user ...]
The w utility prints a summary of the current activity on the system,
including what each user is doing. The first line displays the current
time of day, how long the system has been running, the number of users
logged into the system, and the load averages. The load average numbers
give the number of jobs in the run queue averaged over 1, 5 and 15 minutes.
The fields output are the user's login name, the name of the terminal the
user is on, the host from which the user is logged in, the time the user
logged on, the time since the user last typed anything, and the name and
arguments of the current process.
The options are as follows:
-d dumps out the entire process list on a per controlling tty basis,
instead of just the top level process.
-h Suppress the heading.
-i Output is sorted by idle time.
-M Extract values associated with the name list from the specified
core instead of the default ``/dev/kmem''.
-N Extract the name list from the specified system instead of the
default ``/boot/kernel/kernel''.
-n Don't attempt to resolve network addresses (normally w interprets
addresses and attempts to display them as names).
If one or more user names are specified, the output is restricted to
those users.
/var/run/utmp list of users on the system
finger(1), ps(1), uptime(1), who(1)
The notion of the ``current process'' is muddy. The current algorithm is
``the highest numbered process on the terminal that is not ignoring
interrupts, or, if there is none, the highest numbered process on the
terminal''. This fails, for example, in critical sections of programs
like the shell and editor, or when faulty programs running in the background
fork and fail to ignore interrupts. (In cases where no process
can be found, w prints ``-''.)
The CPU time is only an estimate, in particular, if someone leaves a
background process running after logging out, the person currently on
that terminal is ``charged'' with the time.
Background processes are not shown, even though they account for much of
the load on the system.
Sometimes processes, typically those in the background, are printed with
null or garbaged arguments. In these cases, the name of the command is
printed in parentheses.
The w utility does not know about the new conventions for detection of
background jobs. It will sometimes find a background job instead of the
right one.
The -f, -l, -s, and -w flags are no longer supported.
The w command appeared in 3.0BSD.
FreeBSD 5.2.1 June 6, 1993 FreeBSD 5.2.1


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Using C# to Manage IIS – Microsoft.Web.Administration Namespace
If you have ever attempted to programmatically manipulate IIS in version 6 or earlier, you discovered that it is not a trivial endeavor! You could use Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), ADSI, or write code to manually manipulate XML. It just wasn't a task for the faint of heart! I have done it several times and remember it to be quite a headache.
Beginning with IIS 7, programmatic management of IIS has become much simpler with the Microsoft.Web.Administration objects. Using this API model, you can create websites, application pools, applications, virtual directories, etc. with just a few lines of code! Seriously!
The top-level objects of the API are illustrated below.
This post will walk you through some of the features of the Microsoft.Web.Administration namespace objects and provide some real-world examples of how to implement this really cool API.
Getting Started
If you have IIS installed on your development machine, you will be able to find the .dll in Windows\system32\inetsrv folder or you can use the Nuget package. Either way, you will need the Microsoft.Web.Administration.dll file as a reference in your project.
Once you add the necessary reference to your project, you are ready to go!
Working with the ServerManager
To get started, we must first create an instance of the ServerManager class. We do this exactly as you might think:
ServerManager server = new ServerManager();
NOTE: It is important to note that an instance of the ServerManager assumes that the machine on which the application is running is the web server. It is possible to connect to a remote server using the ServerManager, and we will look at that later in this post.
Getting Sites Associated with the Server
Let's get a list of all of the websites within our ServerManager. To do this, we access the Sites property of the ServerManager instance. The code block iterates each Site object.
ServerManager server = new ServerManager(); SiteCollection sites = server.Sites; foreach (Site site in sites) { ApplicationDefaults defaults = site.ApplicationDefaults; //get the name of the ApplicationPool under which the Site runs string appPoolName = defaults.ApplicationPoolName; ConfigurationAttributeCollection attributes = defaults.Attributes; foreach (ConfigurationAttribute configAttribute in attributes) { //put code here to work with each ConfigurationAttribute } ConfigurationAttributeCollection attributesCollection = site.Attributes; foreach (ConfigurationAttribute attribute in attributesCollection) { //put code here to work with each ConfigurationAttribute } //Get the Binding objects for this Site BindingCollection bindings = site.Bindings; foreach (Microsoft.Web.Administration.Binding binding in bindings) { //put code here to work with each Binding } //retrieve the State of the Site ObjectState siteState = site.State; //Get the list of all Applications for this Site ApplicationCollection applications = site.Applications; foreach (Microsoft.Web.Administration.Application application in applications) { //put code here to work with each Application } }
For more information regarding all of the properties and methods of the Site class, click here.
Getting Applications Associated with each Site
The applications that run under a Site are represented through the Applications property of the Site class. The Applications property is an ApplicationCollection object. We can iterate each Application object with the following code:
ApplicationCollection applications = site.Applications; foreach (Microsoft.Web.Administration.Application application in applications) { //get the name of the ApplicationPool string applicationPoolName = application.ApplicationPoolName; VirtualDirectoryCollection directories = application.VirtualDirectories; foreach (VirtualDirectory directory in directories) { //put code here to work with each VirtualDirectory } }
Getting Virtual Directories Associated with each Application
The virtual directories associated with each Application are accessible via the VirtualDirectories property of the Application class. We can iterate each VirtualDirectory with the following code:
VirtualDirectoryCollection directories = application.VirtualDirectories; foreach (VirtualDirectory directory in directories) { ConfigurationAttributeCollection attribues = directory.Attributes; foreach (ConfigurationAttribute attribute in attributes) { //put code here to work with each attribute } ConfigurationChildElementCollection childElements = directory.ChildElements; foreach (ConfigurationElement element in childElements) { //put code here to work with each ConfigurationElement } //get the directory.Path string path = directory.Path; //get the physical path string physicalPath = directory.PhysicalPath; }
Getting Application Pools Associated with a Server
The ServerManager.ApplicationPools property is an ApplicationPoolCollection object that contains all ApplicationPool objects associated with the server. Remember that this is a server-level property and that an ApplicationPool can be shared by multiple Sites and Applications.
ServerManager server = new ServerManager(); ApplicationPoolCollection applicationPools = server.ApplicationPools; foreach (ApplicationPool pool in applicationPools) { //get the AutoStart boolean value bool autoStart = pool.AutoStart; //get the name of the ManagedRuntimeVersion string runtime = pool.ManagedRuntimeVersion; //get the name of the ApplicationPool string appPoolName = pool.Name; //get the identity type ProcessModelIdentityType identityType = pool.ProcessModel.IdentityType; //get the username for the identity under which the pool runs string userName = pool.ProcessModel.UserName; //get the password for the identity under which the pool runs string password = pool.ProcessModel.Password; }
Now that we have taken a quick look at the object hierarchy and iterated through some of the child collections, let's switch our view to how to create and manipulate objects.
Creating a New Application Pool
To create a new ApplicationPool, we create a ServerManager instance, then check the ApplicationPools collection to see if our ApplicationPool already exists. If it does, we update a few of its properties, if not we create the new ApplicationPool. Regardless of the whether we are creating or updating, we use the ServerManager.CommitChanges() method.
ServerManager server = new ServerManager(); ApplicationPool myApplicationPool = null; //we will create a new ApplicationPool named 'MyApplicationPool' //we will first check to make sure that this pool does not already exist //since the ApplicationPools property is a collection, we can use the Linq FirstOrDefault method //to check for its existence by name if (server.ApplicationPools != null && server.ApplicationPools.Count > 0) { if (server.ApplicationPools.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == "MyApplicationPool") == null) { //if we find the pool already there, we will get a referecne to it for update myApplicationPool = server.ApplicationPools.FirstOrDefault(p => p.Name == "MyApplicationPool"); } else { //if the pool is not already there we will create it myApplicationPool = server.ApplicationPools.Add("MyApplicationPool"); } } else { //if the pool is not already there we will create it myApplicationPool = server.ApplicationPools.Add("MyApplicationPool"); } if (myApplicationPool != null) { //for this sample, we will set the pool to run under the NetworkService identity myApplicationPool.ProcessModel.IdentityType = ProcessModelIdentityType.NetworkService; //we set the runtime version myApplicationPool.ManagedRuntimeVersion = "v4.0"; //we save our new ApplicationPool! server.CommitChanges(); }
In the previous example, we set the ProcessModel.IdentityType to NetworkService. It's a more common scenario to have a pre-defined service account that is most likely a domain account reserved specifically for this purpose. In this case, we can make a small modification to our code to implement this change. See below.
if (myApplicationPool != null) { //for this sample, we will set the pool to run under the identity of a specific user myApplicationPool.ProcessModel.IdentityType = ProcessModelIdentityType.SpecificUser; myApplicationPool.ProcessModel.UserName = UserName; myApplicationPool.ProcessModel.Password = Password; //we set the runtime version myApplicationPool.ManagedRuntimeVersion = "v4.0"; //we save our new ApplicationPool! server.CommitChanges(); }
The UserName and Password values are strings that we would provide to our code when creating the ApplicationPool.
Creating a New Site
Creating a new Site is just as easy as creating a new ApplicationPool!
ServerManager server = new ServerManager(); if (server.Sites != null && server.Sites.Count > 0) { //we will first check to make sure that the site isn't already there if (server.Sites.FirstOrDefault(s => s.Name == "MySite") == null) { //we will just pick an arbitrary location for the site string path = @"c:\MySiteFolder\"; //we must specify the Binding information string ip = "*"; string port = "80"; string hostName = "*"; string bindingInfo = string.Format(@"{0}:{1}:{2}", ip, port, hostName); //add the new Site to the Sites collection Site site = server.Sites.Add("MySite", "http", bindingInfo, path); //set the ApplicationPool for the new Site site.ApplicationDefaults.ApplicationPoolName = myApplicationPool.Name; //save the new Site! server.CommitChanges(); } }
We have only touched on some of the functionality provided to us by the Microsoft.Web.Administration namespace objects. For more information, this MSDN resource is a great place to start. Remember that this API is only valid for IIS version 7.0 and higher and that if you seek to automate a prior version your plan of attack will be quite different.


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In an earlier post I had shown how I got the Xplat agent running on Ubuntu. I perfected the technique over time, and what follows is a step-by-step process on how to convert and change the RedHat package to run on Debian/Ubuntu. Of course this is still a hack… but some people asked me to detail it a bit more. At the same time, the cross platform team is working to update the the source code on codeplex with extra bits that will make more straightforward to grab it, modify it and re-compile it than it is today. Until then, here is how I got it to work.
I assume you have already copied the right .RPM package off the OpsMgr server's /AgentManagement directory to the Linux box here. The examples below refer to the 32bit package, but of course the same identical technique would work for the 64bit version.
We start by converting the RPM package to DEB format:
root# alien -k scx-1.0.4-258.rhel.5.x86.rpm –scripts
scx_1.0.4-258_i386.deb generated
Then we need to create a folder where we will extract the content of the package, modify stuff, and repackage it:
root# mkdir scx_1.0.4-258_i386
root# cd scx_1.0.4-258_i386
root# ar -x ../scx_1.0.4-258_i386.deb
root# mkdir debian
root# cd debian
root# mkdir DEBIAN
root# cd DEBIAN
root# cd ../..
root# rm debian-binary
root# mv control.tar.gz debian/DEBIAN/
root# mv data.tar.gz debian/
root# cd debian
root# tar -xvzf data.tar.gz
root# rm data.tar.gz
root# cd DEBIAN/
root# tar -xvzf control.tar.gz
root# rm control.tar.gz
Now we have the "skeleton" of the package easily laid out on the filesystem and we are ready to modify the package and add/change stuff to and in it.
First, we need to add some stuff to it, which is expected to be found on a redhat distro, but is not present in debian. In particular:
1. You should copy the file "functions" (that you can get from a redhat/centos box under /etc/init.d) under the debian/etc/init.d folder in our package folder. This file is required/included by our startup scripts, so it needs to be deployed too.
Then we need to chang some of the packacge behavior by editing files under debian/DEBIAN:
2. edit the "control" file (a file describing what the package is, and does):
3. edit the "preinst" file (pre-installation instructions): we need to add instructions to copy the "issue" file onto "redhat-release" (as the SCX_OperatingSystem class will look into that file, and this is hard-coded in the binary, we need to let it find it):
these are the actual command lines to add for both packages (DEBIAN or UBUNTU):
# symbolic links for libaries called differently on Ubuntu and Debian vs. RedHat
ln -s /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.0.9.8 /usr/lib/libcrypto.so.6
ln -s /usr/lib/libssl.so.0.9.8 /usr/lib/libssl.so.6
the following bit would be Ubuntu-specific:
#we need this file for the OS provider relies on it, so we convert what we have in /etc/issue
#this is ok for Ubuntu ("Ubuntu 9.0.4 \n \l" becomes "Ubuntu 9.0.4")
cat /etc/issue | awk '/\\n/ {print $1, $2}' > /etc/redhat-release
while the following bit is Debian-specific:
#this is ok for Debian ("Debian GNU/Linux 5.0 \n \l" becomes "Debian GNU/Linux 5.0")
cat /etc/issue | awk '/\\n/ {print $1, $2, $3}' > /etc/redhat-release
4. Then we edit/modify the "postinst" file (post-installation instructions) as follows:
a. remove the 2nd and 3rd lines which look like the following
export RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX
as they are only useful for the RPM system, not DEB/APT, so we don't need them.
b. change the following 2 functions which contain RedHat-specific commands:
configure_pegasus_service() {
/usr/lib/lsb/install_initd /etc/init.d/scx-cimd
start_pegasus_service() {
service scx-cimd start
c. We need to change in the Debian equivalents for registering a service in INIT and starting it:
configure_pegasus_service() {
update-rc.d scx-cimd defaults
start_pegasus_service() {
/etc/init.d/scx-cimd start
5. Modify the "prerm" file (pre-removal instructions):
a. Just like "postinst", remove the lines
export RPM_INSTALL_PREFIX
b. Locate the two functions stopping and un-installing the service
stop_pegasus_service() {
service scx-cimd stop
unregister_pegasus_service() {
/usr/lib/lsb/remove_initd /etc/init.d/scx-cimd
c. Change those two functions with the Debian-equivalent command lines
stop_pegasus_service() {
/etc/init.d/scx-cimd stop
unregister_pegasus_service() {
update-rc.d -f scx-cimd remove
At this point the change we needed have been put in place, and we can re-build the DEB package.
Move yourself in the main folder of the application (the scx_1.0.4-258_i386 folder):
root# cd ../..
Create the package starting from the folders
root# dpkg-deb –build debian
dpkg-deb: building package `scx' in `debian.deb'.
Rename the package (for Ubuntu)
root# mv debian.deb scx_1.0.4-258_Ubuntu_9_i386.deb
Rename the package (for Debian)
root# mv debian.deb scx_1.0.4-258_Debian_5_i386.deb
Install it
root# dpkg -i scx_1.0.4-258_Platform_Version_i386.deb
All done! It should install and work!
Next step would be creating a Management Pack to monitor Debian and Ubuntu. It is pretty similar to what Robert Hearn has described step by step for CentOS, but with some different replacements of strings, as you can imagine. I have done this but have not written down the procedure yet, so I will post another article on how to do this as soon as I manage to get it standardized and reliable. There is a bit more work involved for Ubuntu/Debian… as some of the daemons/services have different names, and certain files too… but nothing terribly difficult to change so you might want to try it already and have a go at it!
In the meantime, as a teaser, here's my server's (http://www.muscetta.com) performance, being monitored with this "hack":
The information in this weblog is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights. This weblog does not represent the thoughts, intentions, plans or strategies of my employer. It is solely my own personal opinion. All code samples are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose.
THIS WORK IS NOT ENDORSED AND NOT EVEN CHECKED, AUTHORIZED, SCRUTINIZED NOR APPROVED BY MY EMPLOYER, AND IT ONLY REPRESENT SOMETHING WHICH I'VE DONE IN MY FREE TIME. NO GUARANTEE WHATSOEVER IS GIVEN ON THIS. THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE MADE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE YOU MIGHT INCUR WHEN USING THIS INFORMATION. The solution presented here IS NOT SUPPORTED by Microsoft.


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Papua New Guinea Trip - Aug. 2012
I spent 2 weeks covering the river (Sepik) and mountains of Papua New Guinea concentrating mostly on the festivals that occur yearly in August. These festivals, the Sing Sing's, bring many of the local tribes together to display their traditional costumes and dances in a highly effective way. PNG is changing rapidly and seeing these wonderful people in this way was a photographer's dream. Hopefully you will enjoy these images and get to PNG soon. Well worth the effort.Read More


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Providing a Catholic education to deserving students is one of our primary goals. Our students can benefit each year from your donations to the St. Martha Agency Fund, which can provide dependable funds, year after year. The parish, its students and faculty can count on this support, no matter what the condition of revenues is from collections and other sources. The students of today are the leaders of tomorrow and your investment in them will pay the highest of dividends. Contact the rectory if you would like to give a gift to this fund!
A Special Thank You!
Over the last year, the parish has received two different types of gifts from Verizon. A few of their employees have submitted requests for their contributions to St. Martha Parish to be matched. A few school parents have asked that Verizon give a gift in honor of volunteer hours they gave given to our school. St. Gobain has also donated to St. Martha through its matching gifts program. We have also have received gifts for our parish pantry program in this same way. Thank you! Does your employer have a program like this?


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"Do you not know that there comes a midnight hour when everyone has to throw off his mask? Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked?" ~Soren Kierkegaard
We are the author of our own personal truth. We make daily decisions, as the creator, designing and constructing the platform-frame as a foundation to which we attach our personality, build a narrative history, and create a legacy that becomes the unique remembrance of us in the world. We do this as individuals and as the United States of America.
Nationally, as Americans, we love to believe in theAmerican Dream – that anyone can become anything, rising above circumstances and limitations, to become an American success story. Our history is one of dreamers and dreams being born and flourishing. Our soil grows an independent fighting Spirit that makes us seek more and better; each new generation shoving past its predecessor to become smarter, brighter, stronger, richer, and happier.This is the promise we have cherished since becoming a nation; a promise believed to be our great Destiny. We are a nation built on hope, individuality, and dreams.
But, times are changing, and as New Americans we live in a time of masks. Our politicians are primarily a collective of hidden faces behind picturesque disguises, the national economy still tragically caught within a depression that is masked by the title recession, and numerous negative sociological and cultural changes ignored and denied as non-existent boogey-monsters imagined by an uneducated and panicky lower-class public. The American Dream still applies to 1% of the population, but what about the 99% who have trouble sleeping and haven't dreamed in years?
Class Levels and the Battle for Education
America has always been a land of class division as much as she would deny it. However, not since the years of open slavery has the schism between the rich and poor been so great. The classes continue to grow in distance from one another, with the realities of one class being almost incomprehensible to the other class. At the heart of these different realities lies education.
The poorer classes traditionally are less educated and less literate than the more prosperous classes. The recent cuts in public school budgets for arts and sciences, the teacher downsizing and layoffs in the public schools, and the current trend toward staff reductions and closing of public libraries is obviously more detrimental to the poor. Likewise, when the fear of government shut-downs were discussed, it was the military and public parks that faced pay cuts and closures – both of which are utilized by and filled with people of poor to modest incomes. The rich seldom need to use these services or join our military forces.
The money and privilege of the higher classes provides advantages beyond what the "average" American can afford. High crime rates, violent acts during a crime, and major drug use are often directly traceable to lack of education and trauma in the home. Deprivation of basic resources and a sense of stability and security, along with unhealthy self-esteem, creates an unbalanced psyche that leans toward mental illness, drug use, and violent crime. While the answer may not be to throw money at the problems once they've reached that stage; certainly, no one would deny that our society benefits from educating our children, teaching them to be productive, ensuring that all children have their basic needs met, and are provided a good, basic education.
Education is like medical care: those with higher incomes and more disposable money will always be able to purchase both commodities. Those without the funds to do so lose the foundation of opportunity. We create a society in which violence thrives because higher education, critical thinking, logic and problem solving have not been taught. Instead, people take what they want by forces believing that to be the only way they'll ever have it. Lack of opportunity, inequality, and jealousy creates violent men and women.
In recent years, our public education system has fallen terribly short of its objectives – we do need review and changes. However, cutting teacher pay, laying-off teachers, and increasing class size are not forward-moving steps. Rather, these are antiquated methods that lock doors to keep certain people (classes) "in their place." An uninformed and uneducated public is also a less powerful public. But, we must beware, because history shows that mob rule becomes the norm when people cannot find voice or power any other way.
Who is the 99% ?
There's a wonderful article by Joseph E. Stiglitz, in this month's Vanity Fair, titled, "Of The 1%, By The 1%, For The 1%," that explores the inequality in wealth and class in America. According to Stiglitz:
The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation's income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent….While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall.
This is a staggering truth – the numbers don't lie. The rich run the country through wealth and power, and the middle class IS shrinking. Stiglitz goes on to examine this situation in depth, looking at the ruling class and politicians, at current reinforcing rules, and at what this means for America as time passes. In closing he explains a basic truth often forgotten by those in power: As a nation, the fate of the 1 percent and the fate of the 99 percent is intricately knotted together.
The 99 percent could be called the "average Americans." The men and women who work a job in construction, food service, plants or warehouses, service industries, and myriad other "blue and white collar" jobs. The 1 percent are the politicians, the IT millionaires, the privileged dynasty families, and the other top power brokers in our nation. The 1 percent, like the mythical comments of the French queen, may very well say "let them eat cake," as the lower classes starve. Again, history teaches us valuable lessons about the abject distance between the two classes and the violence that is possible when the rich and powerful men forget that the poor man has a destiny entwined with his own.
- Stiglitz: wealth concentration will be America's downfall(boingboing.net)
- America's Class Problem (beavercountyblue.org)
- Stiglitz: We have a government 'Of the 1%, by the 1%, and for the 1%' (americablog.com)
- Joseph Stiglitz: The Fate of The Top 1% Is Bound Up With How The Other 99% Live (crooksandliars.com)
- Working your Way into the Poor House (skydancingblog.com)
- Japan's Nuclear Meltdown, the Economic Crisis, and Gulf Oil Spill All Happened for the SAME REASON (ritholtz.com)
- Vanity Fair: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% by Joseph E. Stiglitz (jaldenh.wordpress.com)


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From This Moment On: An Autobiography by Shania Twain (Atria Books, $27.99, 448 pages; Audioworks/Simon & Schuster Audio, $29.99, 7 CDs)
An autobiography from a 45-year-old? Oh my, yes! Shania Twain has done enough living in her 45 years to put most everyone else in her age group into the category of slacker. Shania's deep love of music and the comfort it has provided through a really hard life gives her the right to tell her story. Although she has received the accolades only dreamed about by singer/songwriters the world over, it is doubtful many of them have experienced the level of childhood deprivation and anxiety that motivates her career.
The version reviewed here is an audio book that is unique because the introduction and epilogue are recorded in Shania's own voice. The text of the autobiography is read by Broadway actress and writer, Sherie Rene Scott. Scott's voice resonates with the simple, straightforward attitude conveyed by Shania's words. Most autobiographies are intended to provide the writer's side of a story or an event of particular note. In this case, the narrative serves to inform the public that becoming a world-wide success in the music industry is a daunting task with serious downsides.
Ms. Twain, who began her singing career very early in life as Eilleen Twain, did so at the prompting of her mother. The family often did not have enough to eat or a secure roof over their heads. The tale is straight out of a mournful country song. Daddy and mommy are trapped in a cycle of poverty and spousal abuse, the children are forced to become self-indulgent at a very young age, and tragedy strikes just when Eileen thinks she has escaped the grip of her childhood.
There's no need to dwell on the timeline or life events that serve as milestones. The internet has taken care of the particulars for anyone who can use Google. Rather, it is the one-on-one experience of hearing about Shania's feelings of yearning and betrayal that are the payoff for a reader/listener. In some way, the audio book seems the best way to experience her life. True, there's no checking back a few pages when a particular passage is noteworthy; however, enough of her wisdom comes across in the telling that the essence is clear and well experienced.
One curiosity of note is that the vocabulary and grammar in the book are well beyond the level of formal education that Shania received in her childhood. She states that when she was out on her own, she spent time writing songs and playing music while her roommates attended college. Perhaps Shania absorbed the tone of the more educated people around her. There's no doubt that she has a great capacity to learn and benefit from her diligent efforts. That said, a thoughtful and sensitive editor no doubt assisted in making this a compelling read (or listen).
Well recommended.
Ruta Arellano
A copy of the audiobook was purchased by the reviewer's husband. From This Moment On is also available as an Audible Audio, Kindle Edition, and Nook Book download.


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I am lucky enough to write book reviews for 2 local magazines, for which I receive no monetary compensation. Approximately 7000 paper editions go out locally and both magazine have on-line versions too.
The August Edition of Fleet Life can be found at http://www.fleetlife.org.uk. Click on the on-line directory, then find my reviews on page 6.
This month the following books have been reviewed;
A Woman's Choice by Annie Thomas
Fallen For Rock, by Nicky Wells,
The Rubicon Effect by Roy Dimond,
Some People Prefer Hotels, Motorhome Novices Tour Cornwall by Nigel R Hicks
and Irish Inheritance by Paula Martin.
The Elvetham Heath Directory has the following books. Go to http://www.ehd.org.uk, click on the on-line directory and turn to page 6 as well.
A Gunman's Destiny by Randy Mixter
and A Change of Heart by Adrienne Vaughan.
Really fab to hear back from authors when my reviews get them sales, thanks Cherie.


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Read next
You probably can't describe the difference between Coke and Pepsi. Perhaps one cola seems sweeter, but you couldn't certainly distinguish them in a taste test. Yet you know without a doubt which one you like more.
The fierce brand loyalties of Coke vs. Pepsi are a marvel of American marketing.
Slightly older, Coca-Cola was always the dominant brand.
Pepsi gained market share in the middle of the century with a series of ad campaigns. In 1975 the first Pepsi Challenge claimed that people preferred Pepsi in a blind taste test. The brand was also marketed as the soda of the new generation, with celebrity spokespeople like Michael Jackson.
Today America's preference is firmly divided by demographics, according to research by Hunch.com. Surprisingly there's a big divide based on wealth and education.


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Welcome to America's Summer Place.
There's no place quite like it, and the experience cannot be duplicated. Grand Hotel. Opened in 1887. On an island without cars, where horses and bicycles are still the favored modes of transportation. It's the slower, more leisurely pace of the past, but with all the amenities of the present. Where guests enjoy exceptional service and accommodations, and a full breakfast and generous dinner are included daily.


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Grand Prairie Real Estate
Grand Prairie is home to the Lone Star Park Class 1 Horse Racetrack, the Verizon Theater, Uptown Theater, Alliance Skate Park and Ripley's Believe It Or Not! & Palace of Wax. Traders Village in Grand Prairie is "The Famous Texas Flea Market" featuring more than 3,500 vendors selling their wares every Saturday and Sunday, year round. Asia Time Square and Hong Kong Market is a hub for eastern goods, services, flavors and festivals. There's also golf and lakeside parks. Grand Prairie is also famous for its annual Prairie Lights holiday display.
Residents can also enjoy the diversity of shopping and restaurant venues enticed to the area because of all of its entertainment attractions. Construction is also underway to expand and renovate the Dalworth Recreation Center, tripling the size of the current building and featuring open and modern space with an expanded gym, separate activity room, study room, meeting rooms, catering kitchen and more. There are 50 K-12 schools in Grand Prairie, TX, including 47 public schools and 3 private schools. Grand Prairie public schools belong to four districts, Arlington ISD District, Grand Prairie ISD District, Harmony Science Academy (Fort Worth) School District and Mansfield ISD District.
Grand Prairie Listings Summary
Grand Prairie - Town vs. County Stats
Avg Price in Grand Prairie: $452,300 / County Avg $842,300
Avg Taxes in Grand Prairie: $6,600 / County Avg $10,500
Avg Sq. Ft. in Grand Prairie: 2,498 / County Avg 2,452
Avg Price per/sqft in Grand Prairie:$181 / County Avg $344
Avg Walkscore in Grand Prairie: 24 / County Avg 42
Avg Year Built in Grand Prairie: 1996 / County Avg 1985
Avg Days on Website in Grand Prairie: 44 / County Avg 55


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WWI Document Archive > Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences > A German Deserter's War Experience > XI MARCHING TO THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE---INTO THE TRAP
A LARGE proportion of the "gentlemen," our officers, regarded war as a pleasant change to their enchanting social life in the garrison towns, and knew exactly (at least as far as the officers of my company were concerned) how to preserve their lives as long as possible "in the interest of the Fatherland." When I buried the hatchet, fourteen months after, our company had lost three times its original strength, but no fresh supply of officers had as yet become necessary; we had not lost a single officer. In Holland I got to know, some months later, that after having taken my "leave" they were still very well preserved. One day at Rotterdam, I saw a photo in the magazine, Die Woche, showing "Six members of the 1st. Company of the Sapper Regiment No. 30 with the Iron Cross of the 1st. Class." The picture had been taken at the front, and showed the five officers and Corporal Bock with the Iron Cross of the 1st. Class. Unfortunately Scherl [Note: A proprietor of many German sensational newspapers.] did not betray whether those gentlemen had got the distinction for having preserved their lives for further service.
We spent the following night at the place, and then had to camp again in the open, "because the place swarmed with franctireurs." In reality no franctireurs could be observed, so that it was quite clear to us that it was merely an attempt to arouse again our resentment against the enemy which was dying down. They knew very well that a soldier is far more tractable and pliant when animated by hatred against the "enemy."
The next day Châlons-sur-Marne was indicated as the next goal of our march. That day was one of the most fatiguing we experienced. Early in the morning already, when we started, the sun was sending down its fiery shafts. Suippes is about 21 miles distant. from Châlons-sur-Marne. The distance would not have been the worst thing, in spite of the heat. We had marched longer distances before. But that splendid road from Suippes to Châlons does not deviate an inch to the right or left, so that the straight, almost endless seeming road lies before one like an immense white snake. However far we marched that white ribbon showed no ending, and when one looked round, the view was exactly the same. During the whole march we only passed one little village; otherwise all was bare and uncultivated.
Many of us fainted or got a heat-stroke and had to be taken along by the following transport column. We could see by the many dead soldiers, French and German, whose corpses were lying about all along the road, that the troops who had passed here before us had met with a still worse fate.
We had finished half of our march without being allowed to take a rest. I suppose the "old man" was afraid the machine could not be set going again if once our section had got a chance to rest their tired limbs on the ground, and thus we crawled along dispirited like a lot of snails, carrying the leaden weight of the "monkey" in the place of a house. The monotony of the march was only somewhat relieved when we reached the immense camp of Châlons. It is one of the greatest military camps in France. Towards three o'clock in the afternoon we beheld Châlons in the distance, and when we halted towards four o'clock in an orchard outside the town, all of us, without an exception, fell down exhausted.
The field kitchen, too, arrived, but nobody stirred for a time to fetch food. We ate later on, and then desired to go to the town to buy several things, chiefly, I daresay, tobacco which we missed terribly. Nobody was allowed however, to leave camp. We were told that it was strictly forbidden to enter the town. Châlons, so the tale went, had paid a war contribution, and nobody could enter the town. With money you can do everything, even in war. Mammon had saved Châlons from pillage.
Far away could be heard the muffled roar of the guns. We had the presentiment that our rest would not he of long duration. The rolling of the gun firing became louder and louder, but we did not know yet that a battle had started here that should turn out a very unfortunate one for the Germans---the five days' battle of the Marne.
At midnight we were aroused by an alarm, and half an hour later we were on the move already. The cool air of the night refreshed us, and we got along fairly rapidly in spite of our exhaustion. At about four o'clock in the morning we reached the village of Chepy. ,At that place friend Mammon had evidently not been so merciful as at Châlons, for Chepy had been thoroughly sacked. We rested for a short time, and noticed with a rapid glance that preparations were just being made to shoot two franctireurs. They were little peasants who were alleged to have hidden from the Germans a French machine-gun and its crew. The sentence was carried out. One was never at a loss in finding reasons for a verdict. And the population had been shown who their "master" was.
The little village of Pogny half-way between Châlons-sur-Marne and Vitry-le-François, had fared no better than Chepy, as we observed when we entered it at nine o'clock in the morning. We had now got considerably nearer to the roaring guns. The slightly wounded who were coming back and the men of the ammunition columns told us that a terrible battle was raging to the west of Vitry-le-François. At four o'clock in the afternoon we reached Vitry-le-François, after a veritable forced march. The whole town was crowded with wounded; every building, church, and school was full of wounded soldiers. The town itself was not damaged.
Here things must have looked very bad for the Germans for, without allowing us a respite, we were ordered to enter the battle to the west of Vitry-le-François. We had approached the firing line a little more than two miles when we got within reach of the enemy's curtain of fire. A terrific hail of shells was ploughing up every foot of ground. Thousands of corpses of German soldiers were witnesses of the immense losses the Germans had suffered in bringing up all available reserves. The French tried their utmost to prevent the Germans from bringing in their reserves, and increased their artillery fire to an unheard-of violence.
It seemed impossible for us to break through that barricade of fire. Hundreds of shells were bursting very minute. We were ordered to pass that hell singly and at a running pace. We were lying on the ground and observed how the first of our men tried to get through. Some ran forward like mad, not heeding the shells that were bursting around them, and got through. Others were entirely buried by the dirt dug up by the shells or were torn to pieces by shell splinters. Two men had scarcely reached the line when they were struck by a bull's-eye, i. e., the heavy shell exploded at their feet leaving nothing of them.
Who can imagine what we were feeling during those harrowing minutes as we lay crouching on the ground not quite a hundred feet away, seeing everything, and only waiting for our turn to come? One had entangled oneself in a maze of thoughts. Suddenly one of the officers would cry, "The next one!" That was I! Just as if roused out of a bad dream, I jump up and race away like mad, holding the rifle in my right hand and the bayonet in my left. I jumped aside a few steps in front of two bursting shells and run into two others which are bursting at the same time. I leap back several times, run forward again, race about wildly to find a gap through which to escape. But---fire and iron everywhere. Like a hunted beast one seeks some opening to save oneself. Hell is in front of me and behind me the officer's revolver, kept ready to shoot. The lumps of steel fall down like a heavy shower from high above. Hell and damnation! I blindly run and run and run, until somebody gets me by my coat. "We're there!" somebody roars into my ear. "Stop! Are you wounded? Have a look; perhaps you are and don't know it?" Here I am trembling all over. "Sit down; you will feel better; we trembled too." Slowly I became more quiet. One after the other arrived; many were wounded. We were about forty when the sergeants took over the command. Nothing was again to be seen of the officers.
We proceeded and passed several German batteries. Many had suffered great losses. The crews were lying dead or wounded around their demolished guns. Others again could not fire as they had no more ammunition. We rested. Some men of the artillery who had " nothing to do" for lack of ammunition came up to us. A sergeant asked why they did not fire. "Because we have used up all our ammunition," a gunner replied. "0 yes, it would be quite impossible to bring up ammunition through that curtain of fire." "It's not that," announced the gunner; "it's because there isn't any more that they can't bring it up! " And then he went on: "We started at Neufchâteau to drive the French before us like hunted beasts; we rushed headlong after them like savages. Men and beasts were used up in the heat; all the destroyed railroads and means of transportation could not be repaired in those few days; everything was left in the condition we found it; and in a wild intoxication of victory we ventured to penetrate into the heart of France. We rushed on without thinking or caring, all the lines of communication in our rear were interrupted---we confidently marched into the traps the French set for us. Before the first ammunition and the other accessories, which had all to be transported by wagon, have reached us we shall be all done for."
Up to that time we had had blind confidence in the invincible strategy of our "Great General Staff," and now they told us this. We simply did not believe it. And yet it struck us that the French (as was made clear by everything around us) were in their own country, in the closest proximity of their largest depot, Paris, and were in possession of excellent railroad communications. The French were, besides, maintaining a terrible artillery fire with guns of such a large size as had never yet been used by them. All that led to the conclusion that they had taken up positions prepared long before, and that the French guns had been placed in such a manner that we could not reach them.
In spite of all we continued to believe that the gunner had seen things in too dark a light. We were soon to be taught better.
WWI Document Archive > Diaries, Memorials, Personal Reminiscences > A German Deserter's War Experience > XI MARCHING TO THE BATTLE OF THE MARNE---INTO THE TRAP


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Watch the July 2016 Winning Best Scene Screenplay Reading.
DUE SOUTH by Evan R Schullery
Genre: Animation, Family, Comedy
A plump baby goose who can't fly is left behind in Canada while his family migrates south.
NARRATOR – Val Cole
AL – Dan Cristofori
GUS – Mark Boutros
CARL – David Occhipinti
ALFRED – Michael Gaty
FRAN – Viktoria Napolenova
Get to know the winning writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
A plump Canadian gosling who can't fly is abandoned by his family when they migrate south, so he decides to undertake the journey on webbed foot with two furry companions.
2. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
This story explores the theme of what makes a family a family. I think many people can relate to the idea that blood does not always make someone family and that things like loyalty, friendship…
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I would like to offer you my dear Brother or Sister in The Lord… The King of Kings Friendship Blessing Award, which is recognizing who you are in Christ Jesus, you can accept it as you feel in your heart to. This Blessing never ends, it continues year after year until Jesus returns.
Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who Loved me, and gave Himself for me.(KJV)
And if you feel you would like to pass this Blessing Award on to encourage others in the Body of Christ and in the Family of God then feel free to do so, there are no rules or set requirements, you are under no obligation in any way, it's just my way of offering thankfulness for the blessing you are by willingly choosing from the heart to walk fully in the beauty of the person God is conforming you to be by the empowering of The Holy Spirit, which is into the image of His Awesome Son…
Jesus Christ whose Name is above all Names.
Romans 8:29 For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Titus 2:13-15 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
If you would like a welcome as Part of God's Family with all of us, feel free to add a short response but only if wanted, God knows our hearts, He knows those who are His.


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I'm so happy to say to all my patient fans that Infinite Faith (Infinite Series Book 4) will be released May 1st!
It has taken longer than I predicted due to the ENORMOUS restoration project that I've taken on which I'm still slaving away at on weekends, but that is another story and another book!
Infinite Faith was originally going to include three past lives, but after much thought and feedback, the story can't end here and a fifth book is needed to complete the story. I know that is welcome news for many of you that have begged for the Infinite Series to go on and, after writing much of the third life of Infinite Faith, I realized that as much as you might plan a book, its characters develop a life of their own and take the story in their own direction. I was going to deviate from the original story format since I thought it would be exciting, but it just didn't feel right. Therefore, Infinite Faith will include two fantastic lives, it's on its way to being published and I've got some of Book 5 (Infinite Salvation) finished already!
Enough about that, I'm sure what you really want to see is the gorgeous cover S. Frost Designs created for me. This might be my favorite cover yet!
I also want everyone on my website to have a heads up that the eBook will be $4.99 instead of $5.99 for the first day only, so mark that date on your calendar (but I will still send out a reminder mass email that morning). I want you all the get that deal since it's the only time I discount the later books. In return for the discount, I would be so appreciative for honest reviews since they are so important for new releases. Thanks so much for waiting for this fourth book and for your awesome support!


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Our first experience with teething was when our oldest child was 10 1/2 months old. There was some slight fussiness for a couple of days. The night before the auspicious occassion he awoke his normal amount of times during the night, and got up in the morning with a brand new tooth poking through. A couple of days later, the process was repeated. With the exception of his incisors, teething was a fairly mild experience for him. a few teething tablets and life was good.
Our second child was a different story. Her teeth seemed intent on making up for the easy time we had with her brother. There was screaming. There was crying – on both her part and ours, I'm sure. We pulled out teething tablets and Motrin and nursed as much as she possibly would, as that seemed to consul her just a bit. Honestly, at the time, I didn't think teething could be any worse.
Enter child number three. I can now say, teething can be worse. The pain meant he didn't want anything to touch his mouth at all, including my breast to nurse. He went on a nursing strike, only really nursing if he was asleep. Finally we worked out a system. I would put Hyland's teething gel on his gums a couple of minutes before we nursed. We used teething tablets. We broke out the rarely used Motrin. We cried together. We sat in the bathtub, and we hoped for fast teething.
Last Fall, facing a toothless eight month old, I turned to my husband and said, "I think we should order a teething necklace." He raised an eyebrow. We both tend to be research fanatics and I haven't ever seen any articles showing any research concerning the use of teething necklaces. Frankly, that is what kept us from ordering one before. Then I reminded him of the experience we had with our last child and pointed out the trend of increasing teething pain with each child. There was no guarantee that such a trend would continue, but I really didn't wan to take that chance. If the necklace didn't work, our daughter would have a pretty necklace to wear. If it did, it would be worth its weight in gold.
So, I ordered a teething necklace from Inspired by Finn. I had heard good things about the company, and I appreciate that they have information posted about the purported benefits of baltic amber. I would have appreciated cited infomation, but as research in this area seems to be lacking, I could't very well expect that.
Ordering was easy and the necklace was shipped out right away. I will say that I was a bit disappointed with our necklace. On the second day that my daughter wore it, I noticed that a couple of the beads had extra holes drilled in them, as though failed attempts at drilling holes were made and then the drill was moved. I doubt other people notice it, but I notice these holes every single time I look at it, now. Her necklace also has a large variation in the color of the beads. While I would expect some variation in natural beads, that marked contrast of the coloration for what I ordered, coupled with the extra drilled holes would mark this necklace as a second were I to sell it. For the price I paid, I expected something a bit nicer.
I can't say for certain how well the necklace works. Our youngest daughter now has her two front bottom teeth. While her teething hasn't been as extreme as our third child, neither has it been as mild as our first. The teeth have also come in extremely slowly; they still aren't all the way in. The necklace may or may not help, but I'm not willing to take it off and test that at this time.
Even with my disappoint with the necklace, I would still order from Inspired by Finn again. The only difference is that my expectations would be a bit lower.


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US Fed unveils new $800bn rescue
The Fed's aim is to prevent a deep economic slump
The Federal Reserve is to pump $800bn (£526.8bn) into the markets in another bid to deal with the financial crisis.
The US central bank said it would use $600bn to buy-up mortgage-backed securities to help encourage lending.
Separately the Fed also unveiled a $200bn plan to help unfreeze the consumer credit market.
As the credit crisis has deepened, banks and other financial institutions have been reluctant to lend, deepening the economic slowdown.
Under this new rescue plan – which is in addition to the already-announced $700bn bank bail-out – the Fed is to buy up to $100bn in debt from the troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The central bank said it would also buy another $500bn in mortgage-backed securities – pools of mortgages that are bundled together and sold to investors.
New bail-out
The $600bn effort on mortgages came as the Fed also unveiled a separate program to help unfreeze the consumer debt market.
The central bank said it would lend up to $200bn to the holders of securities backed by various types of consumer loans, such as credit cards and student loans.
The Fed said that the $600 billion effort to support the mortgage market was being taken to reduce the cost of home mortgages and increase their availability.
It said the purchases of the mortgages and mortgage-backed securities would take place over a number of months.
The severe financial crisis that is rocking global markets at the moment began more than a year ago with rising defaults on subprime mortgages, loans provided to borrowers with weak credit histories.
'Unblocking credit'
Recently, Treasury secretary Henry Paulson had indicated that the government was working on this new program, which will be supported by $20bn of credit protection provided by the existing $700bn bank bail-out fund.
The news of this latest massive financial rescue plan was generally welcomed.
"They are getting to the heart of the problem, it's clean, it's quick, it's direct. It's a good way to bring down mortgage rates, because at the end of the day they have to stabilise the housing market," said Todd Abraham of Federated Investors, Pittsburgh.
Robert Macintosh, chief economist with Eaton Vance, Boston, said: "If they can pull it off it'll make some people happy, but I don't know how effective it'll actually be."
Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James Associates, Florida, said: "Here is the Fed taking a bunch of debt out of the market, which doesn't hurt. I think it should it should help unblock the credit markets."


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BITS and SCRAPS gathered over time – reprint by request:
Madison 5-1190: Perry Mason's phone number.
"Warsaw can no more be Tartar than Venice can be Teutonic. The kings lose their labor at this, and their honour. Sooner or later, the submerged country floats to the surface and reappears. Greece again becomes Greece, Italy again becomes Italy. The protest of the right against the fact, persists forever. The robbery of a people never becomes prescriptive. These lofty swindles have no future. You cannot pick the mark out of a nation as you can out of a handkerchief." – Victor Hugo, Les Miserables.
Q: Reporter: Is Bin Laden alive or dead? A: Donald Rumsfeld: The answer to that is yes. – NPR, 1-03.
"It was a time like ours of large impersonal states and individuals who felt lost in them. A time of consumption, brutality, sophistication and trying to find justification and consolation in religious cults." – Eugen Weber, "The Hellenistic Age," The Western Tradition.
"Given a choice between gods or magic, I will take magic and be grateful." –Doogana the medicine man, Moses, Howard Fast.
"Every tribal god proclaims at every opportunity the glorious future in store for his worshippers." – G. Bibby, Four thousand Years Ago.
When asked by the reporter what it was like to live in the disputed west bank, a resident replied, "You can feel it and see it in the eyes of the people, in the eyes of the children. Oh, do you really want to know how it is to live in? It's shit." PBS, 1-03.
"The appearance of the law must be upheld at all times, especially when it's being broken." — Boss Tweed.
"I hate it when a promising rookie turns out to be a terrorist." — Buzz Lightyear.
"Do you think getting married will make you decent? Until I got married I was decent." – one prostitute to another, Docks of New York.
Edward Gibbon relates that the ancient philosophers thought that Christians seeking martyrdom did so because they were obstinately despairing, of stupid sensibility, or victims of superstitious frenzy. Dismayed that they tried to coerce the state into creating their martyrship, the proconsul Antoninus Pius (later emperor) said to the Christians of Asia: "Unhappy men! Unhappy men! If you are thus weary of your lives, is it so difficult for you to find ropes and precipices?" 8/03.
Reverend: "You would replace god with man." Anthropologist: "And you would replace man with twaddle." – Peter Falk to Edward Fox, Lost World.
"You're getting into the heart of another person's innermost being, which is something most other websites don't offer." – Customer, Loveline.Com, 4/04 – Must be the Ted Bundy special.
"What good fortune for governments that the people do not think." – Adolph Hitler.
Hands are the most sensitive sensors of the brain; they transmit more information than any other organ. Maybe that's why we have to hold something when we say we want to "look" at it?
"When Quanah Parker passed, it was said that his passing was not just his passing, but the passing of the past – as well." – historian, Real West, History Channel. – Pass the chips?
New evidence has revealed that there might be an element of truth in what I have to say.
Let's hear it for self-righteous superstitious indignation!
"If you are dizzy and sick, reach out. I am your railing by the torrent. Your crutch, I am not." – Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, book one.
"That which is now called natural philosophy, embracing the whole circle of science, of which astronomy occupies the chief place, is the study of the works of God, and of the power and wisdom of God in his works, and is the true theology. As to the theology that is now studied in its place, it is the study of human opinions and of human fancies concerning God. It is not the study of God himself in the works that he has made, but in the writings that man has made; and it is not among the least of the mischiefs that man has made; and it is not among the least of mischiefs that the Christian system has done to the world, that it has abandoned the original and beautiful system of theology, like a beautiful innocent, to distress and reproach, to make room for the hag of superstition." Thomas Paine, Age of Reason, p. 37
"According to Livy, the Romans conquered the world in their own defense." – Edward Gibbon, Decline and Fall, Book 1, p. 839, n77.
"Then as now the most effective labor-saving device was stealing." – Eugen Weber, Western Tradition.
Young Martin Chuzzlewitt: "I'm going to America." Mr. Pinch: "Not America! Your situation isn't that desperate!" – Chas. Dickens.
"The contemporary world of learning is made up almost altogether of mean, starved, envious, strident, stingless fools and fops, ignorant and arrogant, who swarm about their betters with a fly's equal inclination to dung or honey." – Carl Van Doren on Swift, 1948.
"Glen Manning is not a well man, mentally or physically." – movie scientist's assessment of the mutated, insane, irradiated The Amazing Colossal Man.
"Oh, problems in moral philosophy always provide a few chuckles!" – little green robot, Sonic the Hedgehog.
"Oh, the places we will go!" – Doctor Seuss.
548 Primrose Lane – Robocop's home address before all the bad stuff went down.
More HUMOR at: www.zazzle.com/FatLemon


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The Powerline PFID130X is designed to allow proper form and positioning with its adjustable back pad, seat pad, and leg hold down. The back pad has 4 quick and secure ladder style positions: -30 Decline, Flat, 45, 90 degree incline. The seat pad offers 3 positions: Flat, 15, and 30 degree inclines. The Leg Holder with foam rollers keeps you in place for sit ups or heavy workouts.
Add versatility to your bench with the optional Leg Developer Attachment GLDA1 and Preacher Curl Attachment GPCA1. Some pictures may show these optional attachments
This Warranty applies only in the United States to products manufactured or distributed by PowerLine under the PowerLine brand name. The warranty period to the original purchaser is:
PowerLine warrants that the Product you have purchased for non-commercial, personal, family, or household use from PowerLine or from an authorized Power-Line reseller is free from defects in materials or workmanship under normal use during the warranty period. Your sales receipt, showing the date of purchase of the Product, is your proof of the date of purchase. This warranty extends only to you, the original purchaser. It is not transferable to anyone who subsequently purchases the Product from you. It excludes paint and finish. This Warranty becomes VALID ONLY if the Product is assembled / installed according to the instructions / directions included with the Product.
During the warranty period Power-Line will at no additional charge, repair or replace (at PowerLine's option) the Product if it becomes defective, malfunctions, or otherwise fails to conform with this Warranty under normal non-commercial, personal, family, or household use. In repairing the product Power-Line may replace defective parts or, at the option of Power-Line, serviceable used parts that are equivalent to new parts in performance. All exchanged parts and Products replaced under this warranty will become the property of Power-Linc.Power-Line reserves the right to change manufacturers of any part to cover any existing warranty.
To obtain warranty service, you must return the Product to Power-Line in its original container (or equivalent). You must pre-pay any shipping charges, export taxes, customs duties and taxes, or any other charges associated with transportation of the Product. In addition, you are responsible for insuring any Product shipped or returned. You assume the risk of loss during shipment. You must present Power-Line with proof-of- purchase documents (including the date of purchase).
|Good Piece of Equipment - D.Judy
|Rate: 5 out of 5
|Works great with the GFID31 Bench. Exercises are leg curls and extensions. I use them for complimentary exercises with squats and dead lifts. Easy to assemble.
|nice piece of equiptment - Michael
|Rate: 5 out of 5
|tandard delivery was faster than I expected. Easy to assemble and soundly made. Works great and is comfortable to use. Price was good. Definitely pleased with the purchase.
|Well satisfied! - Rock Lady
|Rate: 5 out of 5
|I bought this for my son for Christmas, recommended by my other son. He was very happy with it.
|improved - J. Orr "Naturalbodybuilder.com"
|Rate: 4 out of 5
|Nice quality bench for the price and a definite improvement fro the older models.
Orders under 150 pounds usually ship by FedEx Home Delivery from the Chicagoland area. Small parcel shipments usually require up to 3-4 days handling time.
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Latest Soapbox Racing News
Hanley Park Soapbox Derby, Stoke on Trent
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- Calendar
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- 11257 reads
VW Camper&Bus Show Gravity Race, Herefordshire
After the success of the second soap box derby last year, the third VW Camper&Bus Show Gravity Race takes place on Soap Box Hill at Eastnor Castle, Ledbury, Herefordshire over the weekend of the 30-31 July 2016.
Entry is free to all those taking part. The derby is part of the camper and bus show a celebration of the classic VW Camper Van. £150.00 first prize. Enter by emailing firstname.lastname@example.com
8 Characteristics of the Best Soapbox Racers
There are no big secrets in soapbox racing. The very fastest racers all pay attention to the same basic principles; make it safe, make it sleek, make it steer and make it stop.
Although at first glance there are a bewildering array of different designs at any race, when you look more closely at the ones taking home the silverware you will spot several common features...
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Help Adam with his GCSE Project
Adam is a Product Design student and is currently preparing for the GCSE next year by designing a product. Although most of the class are basing their designs on simpler things, he has decided to go for something a bit more interesting.
Having always been fascinated with soapboxes (gravity racers) he has decided to build a soapbox, and needs to get some background information.
He is currently researching the main demographics of people of build and race gravity racers (age, gender etc) and needs to gather some data, so he has created a short survey. It only takes a few seconds to complete, so please take a moment to help Adam with his project.
Soapbox Brake Force and Gradients
The vast majority of soapbox rules contain a requirement that all carties have effective brakes, and many specify a minimum force that they must be able to hold. This is commonly 50 KgF. The wording is typically "The brakes must be capable of holding the vehicle on a dry horizontal road surface, when laden with driver and any ballast, against a horizontal load of 50KgF exerted on the front towing eye.".
This has been adequate for most of the races up until now, but with racers and race organisers now increasingly looking for steeper, twistier and more challenging courses, the "50Kg static brake test" needs to be reviewed.
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Dear Mama,
Grandma says I must write you a letter but I've been so busy I can hardly catch my breath. She said if maybe I stopped barking for a minute I would have time! I don't know what it is about being on the Cape, but for some reason, I love to bark and bark and bark…usually for no reason except that it feels so good! Sometimes I like to lie all alone in the back yard and just bark…not a loud bark…just a steady low bark. Phillip thinks I am crazy because he only barks when there is an intruder or another dog barking.
The big thing I have to tell you is that we've had these really huge dogs visiting the past two weekends…I mean REALLY BIG! Two are called Bernese Mountain Dogs (and believe me, Mama, they are as big as mountains!) and the other one was a giant chocolate Lab called Bucky. Bucky was too crazy even for me! This weekend the two Bernese (Canon and Caius) came back with a HUGE Greyhound named Whoopee. She was so beautiful and graceful…Grandma said she had "runway legs," whatever that means. I have never seen anything in my life run so fast. Daphne, Phillip, and I tried to keep up with her when we chased the ball but she was a blur. So, here is my question for you…when will I get that big? I never minded being the smallest dog, but now I want those long, skinny legs and that long pointed nose just like Whoopee. She raced on a track and was abused…at least that is what Grandma and her other daughter talked about…until she was rescued by her present owners. They love her so much that they cook her special meals every day, buy her clothes for every season, and do everything for her. I was kind of jealous but she is so nice and sweet I couldn't be. I tried really hard to keep up with her but I wasn't even close. Even Daphne couldn't and she is the fastest dog I know!
At any rate, we are pretty tired most of the days from barking, playing, chasing Daphne, going for walks, going up and down the stairs, so that by bedtime we are done (as Grandma says). Camp is great and now that the weather is cooler, we are really happy. Leaves are already falling here because of the drought this summer so that every time we go out, the ground makes a crunchy sound. Miss you so much and can hardly wait to see you, but I am having a great time.
I attached a portrait of us on National Dog Day.


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A beautiful signed limited edition print titled Mr Majestic depicting a male lion in a horizontal format by South African wildlife artist Sue Dickinson.
The original artwork was a watercolour painting and shows the clear depth of Sue Dickinson's artistic talent. Presented on a crisp white background, this fine art print is available on canvas or paper and is printed using the highest quality giclee print method. Each fine art print is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Safe and easy worldwide shipping.
Following the ever-growing popularity and collectability of Sue's original watercolours, twenty-six of her best artworks have been hand-selected for an exclusive Limited Edition Series. Signed and individually numbered, available in various sizes on canvas and acid-free paper. Honouring the delicate quality and refinement of each original painting and using only the very best modern technology and materials available, this image has been reproduced using the giclée (zhee-clay) method – the highest quality reproduction of an original available and archival for at least 150 years.
Recognised as one of South Africa's foremost Wildlife Animal Watercolour Artist, Sue Dickinson's work is highly regarded and collected the world over. Sue has also been awarded membership of the Society of Animal Artists, based in New York, USA, internationally recognised as being the benchmark of wildlife art and artists.
"There is no room for error with watercolour – once it is on the paper, it is almost impossible to remove. I work carefully and accurately, but I'm not attempting to reproduce reality so I want to work fairly loosely too. It is important for the viewer to be able to see the mark of the artist, the journey I have taken on the page."
The composition of each artwork is critical, based upon the law of proportion known as the "Golden Mean" - an aesthetic principle used by the ancient Greeks. Focusing on the animal itself, Sue's experience has taught her that "what you leave out is just as important as what you put in". To this end, you will notice the purposeful and very impactful negative space surrounding each of her artworks. Her stark, clean images concentrate exclusively on the animal and convey the wide-open spaces of Africa.
We will gladly assist you with the packaging and delivery of artworks purchased from any of our galleries or online.
There are various packaging options. In all instances, we will recommend the most suitable option for packing your specific artwork(s) - Read more...
In the very unlikely event that you are not entirely satisfied with your art purchase, we offer you additional peace of mind with our 100% Customer Satisfaction Guarantee.
Our full money back 10 day Return Policy applies for online purchases only. If you feel you need to return your artwork, for whatever reason, you can notify us within 10 (ten) days of your purchase, return the item to us and receive a full refund - Read more...


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And by "introduction"... we mean INTRODUCE YOURSELF. We want to know a little about you and what you're up to. Any bogus info / BS posted in there "just to post something" will just get your account deleted. If it's that hard to get you to introduce yourself... then we probably don't want ya here anyways. Dig?
If it's been a while since you registered, and you've forgotten the guidelines for using this forum... you can read them again by clicking on the "NEWBIE REMINDERS" button in the navigation bar up above.