The Info Backstage

CCNP exam success, particularly on the BSCI exam, demands you understand the details of route summarization. This skill not only requires that you have a comfort level with binary conversions, but you have to know how and where to apply route summarization with each individual protocol.

You also have to know the “side effects” of route summarization. With OSPF, there will actually be an extra interface created at the point of summarization, and this catches a lot of CCNP candidates by surprise. Let’s take a look at the null0 interface and how it relates to OSPF summarization.

On R1, the following networks are redistributed into OSPF, and then summarized.

interface Loopback16

ip address 16.16.16.16 255.0.0.0

interface Loopback17

ip address 17.17.17.17 255.0.0.0

interface Loopback18

ip address 18.18.18.18 255.0.0.0

interface Loopback19

ip address 19.19.19.19 255.0.0.0

R1(config)#router ospf 1

R1(config-router)#redistribute connected subnets

R1(config-router)#summary-address 16.0.0.0 252.0.0.0

The summary address appears on R2, a downstream router.

R2#show ip route ospf

O E2 16.0.0.0/6 [110/20] via 172.12.123.1, 00:00:05, Serial0

Let’s go back to R1 and look at its OSPF table.

R1#show ip route ospf

O 16.0.0.0/6 is a summary, 00:01:51, Null0

Where did the null0 interface come from, and why is it there? Packets sent to the null interface are dropped, and in this case, that’s a good thing.

When you configure summary routes in OSPF, a route to null0 will be installed into the OSPF routing table. This helps to prevent routing loops. Any packets destined for the routes that have been summarized will have a longer match in the routing table, as shown below…

C 17.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, Loopback17

C 16.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, Loopback16

C 19.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, Loopback19

C 18.0.0.0/8 is directly connected, Loopback18

O 16.0.0.0/6 is a summary, 00:01:51, Null0

.. and packets that do not match one of the summarized routes but do match the summary route will be dropped.

Preventing routing loops when performing route redistribution and summarization is vital. OSPF gives us a little help in that regard in this situation, and as you study more complex redistribution scenarios on your way to the CCNP and CCIE, you’ll realize that we’ll take all the help we can get!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage, home of free CCNP and CCNA tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages.

For a FREE copy of his latest e-books, “How To Pass The CCNA” and “How To Pass The CCNP”, just visit the website! You can also get FREE CCNA and CCNP exam questions every day! Pass the CCNP exam with The Bryant Advantage!

In spirituality, there are number of exercises available that help enhance the mental concentration. These exercises help reduce the flow of negative thoughts, which in turn lessens the mental confusion. When these extra exercises are done along with the Muraqaba (Sufi meditation) the mind gains the needed mental focus ahead of time and the positive effects of Muraqaba emerge earlier as well.

Although there are plenty of these exercises available, here we are going to discuss breathing, as its success rate is also great.

Breathing

In the emotional ups and downs and in the overall nervous system, breathing has a very essential role. During different emotional states, the rate of respiration fluctuates. In tragic circumstances breathing could become a challenge as people often feel difficulty in breathing after hearing tragic news. On the other hand, during anger the rate goes up. During peaceful moments the style of breathing becomes totally different. During this state, breathing becomes balanced and its rate goes down. However when something suddenly comes as a shock then we all simply gasp for air.

Spiritual abilities and breathing are closely inter related. According to spiritual science, breathing has two sides, ascending and descending. Inhaling is ascending movement while exhaling is descending. During the ascending mode, the person is closer to his or her spiritual state and in the descending mode moves towards the gravity. We are more close to our spiritual state when the inhaling is prolonged and the breath is retained longer then usual.

When respiration stops then our link to the body is disconnected. That is why in order to enter the sub-conscious senses, breathing does not have to be stopped, but it must be slowed down. A living example is dreaming or a state of deep trance. In these conditions, a person does respire however; the style of breathing is noticeably different from that of a normal breathing pattern. The rate of breathing is slower and the inhaling takes longer as well. Exhaling on the other hand is shortened. In other words, when we are under the influence of inner senses not only our breathing slow down but the duration of inhaling increases as well.

When this style of breathing is intentionally practiced then the subconscious state affects consciousness during the awakened state and its effects usually last longer.

PRACTICE-1:

• Sit in a squat position.

• Keep your back straight, however avoid having any part of the body tense.

• Exhale from both nostrils so that the lungs are free from air.

• Slowly inhale through nostrils.

• When the lungs the lungs become full, exhale through the mouth without holding it.

• During exhaling keep your lips round as if whistling, without holding it.

• This exhaling and inhaling constitute one cycle. At the beginning start with eleven cycles and gradually go up to twenty-one.

This exercise helps in controlling the movements of lung muscles and it increases the duration of inhaling. The rate of respiration during Muraqaba should be as low as possible. However, it is imperative that the rate of breathing should not be slowed intentionally. Otherwise, the focus would shift to the respiration instead of the Muraqaba. The best way to avoid that is to inhale and exhale slowly for a while before starting Muraqaba. That way the respiratory rate will drop automatically.

PRACTICE-2:

Sit in a squat position just like the practice-1 and put your forearms in the knees. Inhale slowly from both nostrils. When the chest is full of air then hold the breath for five seconds. Then exhale through the mouth similar to whistling style. After a few moments rest repeat the process for five times. Next day increase the total to seven until the total number of cycles reach eleven. At this point, increase the hold period from five to six seconds however the total number of cycles will remain eleven. When holding the breath for six seconds is not causing any mental or physical strain then increase it to seven seconds. Unless and until one reaches full command of the practice, keep the hold period to seven seconds. Gradually it should be increased to fifteen seconds, which the maximum allowed time for hold.

PRACTICE-3:

After sitting in the squat position as explained in the practice-1, closed the right nostrils using the right hand thumb and inhale through the left nostril for four seconds. Hold it for four seconds. Now using the last two fingers of your hand closed the left nostril while the right nostril is still closed with the thumb. In this way, the remaining two middle fingers will be resting between the eyebrows. At this point release only the thumb from the right nostril and exhale from that nostril for four seconds and without stopping inhale from it for four seconds. Again, hold it for four seconds and close the right nostril with the thumb. Then from the left nostril release those fingers and exhale for four seconds. This constitutes one cycle. After a few moments rest repeat it three times. Increase one cycle every day until you reach seven cycles.

When doing seven cycles and four-second routine becomes comfortable, increase only the hold time to six seconds while the number of cycles will remain at seven. When holding the breath for six seconds and total numbers of cycles is done with ease then increase only the hold time for two more seconds and keep it increasing until the hold time reaches sixteen seconds.

When the seven cycles and holding time of sixteen seconds get easy then increase the exhale time to eight seconds. Final figures should be four seconds inhaling, sixteen seconds holding and then eight seconds exhaling.
Continue practicing with these figures.

All respiratory exercises should be performed at least two and half-hours after a moderate meal. The best time for doing breathing exercises is pre-dawn. At that time not only we are mentally and physically alert but the ratio of oxygen in the air is also the highest. The electro-magnetic activity in the atmosphere is also at its zenith during that time.

The second best time for breathing exercises is before going to bed at night.

Sufi-Master Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi is the patriarch of the Sufi Order of Azeemia and the author of Muraqaba: The Art and Science of Sufi Meditation.

http://www.sufiblog.com

The problem of high levels of CO2 in ambient air appears to be a modern one. Yet, this is not one of the new fads that crop up from time to time and then disappear again, never to be mentioned again. It is, indeed, a modern problem, caused by the improvements in building standards and especially window manufacture. These improvements, hailed as a triumph over the age-old problem of draughty buildings, have nevertheless created a new negative effect. Ventilation was never a matter for discussion in most cases, it happened naturally as the wind blew and the air in rooms was replaced on a regular basis. With the new, draught-proof buildings this no longer happened, particularly since central heating made it unnecessary to have an air flow for any reason. This has given birth to the concept of indoor climate control.

The result was stale air. Air that has been used and breathed and not replaced, seen as a rising concentration of carbon dioxide, not to mention humidity. These effects had a detrimental influence on the buildings, promoting the growth of mould and other unwanted plant life. This was not the only effect. Slowly, the level of days off for sickness rose and the quality of work sank in these newer or refurbished buildings, leading to something referred to as Sick Building Syndrome, since it appeared to affect everybody in one building. The causes were not known for a long time, but now it is recognised that this is a result of breathing stale air with a high concentration of carbon dioxide over an extended period. Studies have shown that a level of 1000 ppm carbon dioxide will reduce the ability to concentrate by about 30 %, a significant drop by any means.

The obvious solution to this problem of indoor climate control was ventilation, and ventilation or air-conditioning systems were installed in all of these buildings leading only to the next problem: the heating bills in winter rocketed and staff complained of stiff necks and other maladies. Sick Building Syndrome was still here, but in a different form. How to provide adequate ventilation without simply heating the environment in winter? The only viable solution is control of the ventilation to reduce the exchange of air to the minimum required to keep a healthy atmosphere in the rooms, which is where indoor climate control becomes an active instead of just a passive discipline.

The real problem is the carbon dioxide, which is best measured with a NDIR infrared sensor. These are available in one or two channel technology for CO2, but the single channel version is quite accurate and stable enough for this purpose today.

Older types of sensor used to drift, as do cheaply manufactured ones, but a good-quality single channel sensor today will remain stable over years, only requiring a reference point occasionally to set a relative zero point. Such infrared sensors for CO2 are now available from a number of manufacturers such as Madur Electronics in Austria. These come complete with an appropriate analogue output to allow the CO2 level to control the function of the ventilation system.

Industry standard for these control functions is the 0…10 V output, but there are other varieties in use. These can be readily accommodated in the construction or calibration of the system to ensure a high quality of indoor climate control. Perhaps we have finally seen the end to Sick Building Syndrome and can now enjoy the benefits of a controlled climate indoors, if not outdoors.

About The Author

Simon Fowler studied mechanical Engineering in London and now work for an electronic company in Vienna, Austria manufacturing flue gas analysers and infrared sensors.

http://www.madur.at/index_gb.html

sales@madur.at

For Immediate Release
November 30th, 2004

InvestorIdeas.com Launches Newest Portal, InvestingInWireless.com with Exclusive Article: “The Battle for Market Dominance in the Wireless Sector”

POINT ROBERTS, Wash., November 30th, 2004 – www.InvestingInWireless.com, a global news investor portal that provides cutting edge information and research about the Wireless Stock and Investing sector, is pleased to provide investors with an exclusive report about the quickly changing and evolving wireless sector, and the opportunities that exist for companies in this sector, and consequently, for stock market investors. The article discusses the battle for market dominance that is currently being fought by wireless phone/messaging industry players. Carriers such as Verizon Wireless and Sprint are going head to head with data hardware vendors like Dell and HP, as well as cellular mobile hardware providers like Motorola and Nokia, in a battle for the lucrative business/professional market share. As more data intensive applications become the norm (and that sector is really heating up – witness the popularity of Research in Motion’s Blackberry device), which company, and indeed, which type of company, will become a market leader still remains to be seen. The consensus is, however, that small local wired phone carriers are going to have a hard time. The report was prepared by Brian Noer, Writer, Editor, and Market Researcher with InvestorIdeas.com.

InvestingInWireless.com’s current list of public companies in the sector includes: 3Com Corp., Aegis Assessments, Inc. (OTCBB: AGSI), Ditech Communications Corp., Leap Wireless Int’l Inc., Lightbridge Inc., Lumera Corporation, Motorola, Inc., Nextel Communications Inc., Nokia Corp., Novatel Wireless Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Research In Motion Ltd., Roaming Messenger, Inc. (OTCBB: RMSG), Rogers Wireless Communications Inc., Snocone Systems Inc (OTCBB: SCOS), Verizon Communications, Vodafone Group Plc, and numerous others. For the complete list, click here: http://www.InvestingInWireless.com/IIW/Stock_List.asp

InvestingInWireless.com does not make stock recommendations, but offers a unique free information portal for investors to obtain news, articles, and recent research.

Report Excerpt:

Wireless Data – The New Killer App?

The telecommunications sector is experiencing a substantial shift in the leading companies, and in the types of companies, that are going head to head to reap the benefits of market share. Wireless technology is evolving at light speed, and industry players are finding that wireless data applications are becoming deal makers or breakers in many business’ communications strategies.

At the moment great opportunities exist for many different types of industry participants to stake their market share claims. Wireless carriers, cell phone hardware, and PC hardware manufacturers all have the possibility of dominating the industry. The outcome depends on what type of company will evolve to capitalize on and provide the types of services, service packages, and products, that an increasingly data dependent marketplace requires. In addition, these players will have to take into consideration that the way in which wireless products and services are sold differs greatly from region to region, on a global basis.

Michael Weaver, Managing Director with the Fitch Ratings Telecommunications and Cable Group, predicts a head to head battle between carriers who offer a full portfolio of services packaged in different ways. “Obviously the cable operators have a window of opportunity with their VoIP (Voice over Internet) offering being more widely marketed in the next year in very interesting bundles, featuring both voice and video. The smaller telephone service providers however, will not realistically be in a position to push this type of package until 2006.”

“Companies that we favor in the sector,” said Fitch’s Weaver “would include Verizon Wireless, a blue chip performer that promises strong growth and does offset some of the wire/line pressures that are currently being experienced. We think that Comcast, on the cable side, is a very strong operator that will be a long term competitor and obviously has very good growth prospects, particularly with the introduction of HDTV, digital video recorder functionality, and voice over IP, this year.”

Rory Buchalter, analyst with Dominion Bond Rating Services sees tremendous potential for further growth through the increasing introduction of data applications for business users. “We see users, who in the past would not consider wireless for their total communication needs, giving this option a closer look as speeds, services, and features evolve. Companies can now rethink the way they do business because wireless gives them more flexibility.”

Going forward, the growth of data applications is essential. Right now in the North American market, as a percentage of revenue, data accounts for about 10% of revenues, but looking ahead perhaps ten years, Buchalter projects that data could work its way up to 50%.

For the full article, including news on recent market movers and IPOs, click here: http://www.InvestingInWireless.com/IIW/News/Wireless_Data.asp

SOURCE: InvestorIdeas.com

ECON Investor Relations Inc., (ECON Corporate Services), owns the domain www.InvestingInWireless.com.
Disclaimer: ECON Corporate Services Inc (ECON) is the owner of this domain. ECON is a privately owned corporate communications company specializing in: media relations, investor relations, and research on public companies and industry sectors, for the investment community. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any specific products or securities. All investments involve risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results, therefore investigate before you invest! Although we attempt to research thoroughly, we offer no guarantees as to the accuracy of any information presented. We encourage all investors to use our sites only as a resource to further their own research.

The site is compensated by its “Featured Companies,” as outlined in our on-line disclaimer at www.InvestorIdeas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp. InvestingInWireless.com/ECON is not presently being compensated by any Featured Companies in the wireless sector. InvestorIdeas and its HomelandDefenseStocks.com portal is compensated by three companies mentioned in this article stock list: Aegis Assessments, Inc.: Four thousand dollars per month, Snocone Systems, Inc.: Four thousand dollars per month and Roaming Messenger, Inc.: Two Thousand Dollars per month and One Thousand Dollars per month equivalent in shares.

For more information contact:
Dawn Van Zant 800-665-0411 Brian Noer 866-730-1152
Email: dvanzant@investorideas.com or bnoer@investorideas.com
Web Site: http://www.InvestorIdeas.com

About the author:

InvestingInWireless.com does not make stock recommendations, but offers a unique free information portal for investors to obtain news, articles, and recent research.

Playing golf is all about the swing. If you have the right swing you will develop an excellent golf game. If your swing lacks strength and purpose your golf game will to suffer. Unfortunately, this is an inescapable fact of playing golf. Learning how to swing your golf club is not just an extremely important factor in improving your golf game, it is also the hardest factor.

The great majority of new golfers out there find they can not just pick up a golf club and start swinging like a pro. For most new golfers the golf club is going to feel a bit awkward at first and developing the proper swing is going to take some time. Your hands need to work as one when you are gripping your golf club. You will be playing at your best when your hands are working together to bring about an accurate and smooth swing. There are a number of ways to grip a golf club but you should always remember to keep your hands working together as one and you will find yourself developing a much-improved golf game.

Have you considered the type of grip you are working with and how much grip you are applying in your golf game? It’s a common mistake to hold your golf club too tight as this diminishes the power that you should be developing in your golf game. A lighter grip will give you much more flexibility and accuracy without sacrificing power. That’s not to say that your grip should be so loose that you will let the club fly out of your hands following a determined drive but you need to have some flexibility in your wrists during the swing. Your wrists are a fantastic source of power in your swing and this can be put to good use by any golfer.

Having a lighter grip will improve your golf game in other ways as well. For example you will have more club face rotation, which gives you a much better chance of squaring the club. This is an essential aspect of a good golf game so bear this in mind the next time you are taking a shot.

I recommend a mid-range grip as this will give you the best immediate results if you are searching for a way to quickly improve your golf game. This strategy also gives you the most versatility and a high degree of flexibility. Learning to change your grip is a simple and easy technique which will allow you to play a better golf game without having to spend more money trying to find a quick fix in new clubs or other golf accessories.

Alex Nickinson is the owner of Golf World Online, a site for lovers of golf everywhere. For more info see http://www.golf-world-online.com

What does it take to be successful in sports? I have talked a lot about motivation, confidence, and focus and desire. All of these are important, but what about luck? Do you ever wonder why athletes wear the same “lucky shirt” in competition such as Tiger Woods wearing his traditional red shirt on Sunday or athletes who eat the exact same meal for good luck prior to competition? Some teams even go as far as not washing their jerseys until they lose a game.

Superstitions in sports are mainly based on the notion that if you repeat a certain behavior, you will have good luck. As irrational as some superstitions seem, they give athletes a sense of feeling lucky, but is there more to superstitions other than just feeling lucky? For example, some athletes and coaches would say that superstitions give athletes and teams confidence and belief. Yet you could argue that most superstitions are just wacky habits that have no scientific research to back up the claim they actually work.

Let’s first examine the difference between superstitions and a preshot or preperformance routine. Preshot routine are not the same as superstitions. Preshot routines help athletes to prepare, in a meaningful way, for the execution of a motor skill such as a basketball free throw. A preshot routine can be called by many names. Pre-shot, at-bat, pre-serve, and pre-race routines are just a few examples of pre-performance or pre-shot routines. A golf shot, basketball free throw, field goal, pitch, race motto, dive or any other sports task are all examples of sports specific tasks.

The preparatory behaviors in routines are excellent methods to help you focus on one shot; one pitch; or one sports specific act at a time and are extremely useful tools to refocus attention when distracted as I discussed in the January 2005 newsletter. The pre-performance routine is a merging of mental and physical steps that blend into one long behavior. The preshot routine combines physical actions (such as a practice swing) and specific thoughts or images (visualizing the shot, focusing on the target, and mental cues to trigger the start of your performance such as the image of the target in your mind). Most all high-level athletes use preshot routines to help them prepare for various tasks. You can see routines used by athletes at any basketball, baseball, or football game. Football kickers use very systematic routines right before a field-goal attempt.

On the other hand, athletes also employ superstitions. A superstition is a single behavior an athlete adopts that is based more on luck and generalizations than on reason. Even the most successful athletes swear by the use of superstitions. Superstitions, such as when Tiger Woods wears a red shit for Sunday’s round are no doubt tied to “luck” and past success on Sundays when wearing red. Michael Jordan (who graduated from North Carolina) always wore UNC shorts under his Bulls uniform for good luck. A hockey player might always lace up the left skate before the right prior to a game. Athletes use superstitions because they think it gives them confidence. If a lucky shirt works, some athletes will keep it in play until the first loss when it loses its “magic.” It is hard to argue with Tiger Wood’s success on Sundays.

Superstitions, unlike routines, are not based on fact or reason. If an athlete attributes his success to some consistent superstitious ritual, such as wearing a red shit on Sunday or eating a certain food prior to each game, the athlete will think it “works” and keep repeating the behavior, until he thinks otherwise and discards it. The person believes the ritual brings success and that has an effect on his confidence level. Former baseball player Wade Boggs was called the “Chicken Man,” because he had to eat chicken before every game. Ted Williams spent many hours each year picking out the perfect piece of wood that he thought would make the best bat. These are all superstitions and not routines.

Some superstitions are used to avoid bad luck too. Babe Ruth swatted butterflies on the diamond because he thought they were unlucky. In golf, balls with the number 4 or higher are seen as bad luck. Wearing the number 13 can be viewed as bringing bad luck for superstitious athletes. In hockey, it’s is bad luck for hockey sticks to lie crossed. Some tennis players would tell you to never serve holding more than two balls at once.

Superstitions are not necessarily bad. In fact, they can build confidence and help boost morale for some athletes and teams. We have a saying in sports psychology and sports, “if it works, use it.” If you use a superstition before competition, have faith in it, and it works, great – use it. Anything that increases your faith or belief in performance is a bonus. I would give you one caution here: Do not use superstitions as the only reason for your success and think that they will help you be successful no matter how well you prepare before game time.

My recommendation would be to develop sounds mental preparation skills to apply before competition such as a warm up routine, mental imagery, and setting game plans or strategies to perform your best. You should use proven mental preparation strategies to help you perform in combination with wearing that lucky shirt or some other superstition.

About The Author

Dr. Patrick J. Cohn is a master mental game coach who works with athletes of all levels including amateur and professionals. Visit Peaksports.com to gain access to over 500 exclusive mental game articles, audio programs, and interviews with athletes and coaches to enhance your athletic potential: www.peaksports.com/membership or call 888-742-7225.

Golf fitness stretch training is such an important part of the modern game today and yet there are still many amateur golfers that do no see its’ benefits. They continue to avoid golf specific exercise programs or any exercise program for that matter.

There are numerous benefits of golf fitness stretch training. To start with they usually have a huge impact on the game to help the golfer warm up and prepare their body for tip-top performance when they tee off.

Golf fitness stretch training is also a great help in reducing he risks of injury which are rather high in golf for golfers who do not exercise. Stretch exercises are particularly useful in gradually stretching the golf muscles which ensures flexibility and conditions and prepares the muscles to be pushed to their limit.

The increased flexibility and increased strength in muscles that results from golf fitness stretch training also has a tremendous impact on the quality of golf played.

The end result is a consistently excellent round of golf played at a very high standard. Not to mention the fact that the golfer is bound to enjoy their round of golf much more when they have incorporated golf fitness stretch training into their program.

Without golf fitness stretch training the golfer will take time to get into their game after teeing off. By the time they do, it is usually too late and their opponent or opponents are so far ahead that they cannot be caught up with. The situation will even be worse if your opponent is one of the increasing numbers of amateur golfers taking their exercise programs very seriously.

There is really no doubting the power and effectiveness of golf fitness stretch training in improving a golfer’s game as well as protecting them from injury.

About The Author: Mike Pedersen is one of the top golf fitness experts in the country, author, and founder of several cutting-edge online golf fitness sites. For more information on his just released golf fitness dvds, visit his golf exercise site at Perform Better Golf.

It started out as a tiny star, barely a speck in the sky, at 10:37 p.m. approximately. A reddish colored dot, hardly noticeable until it began to change color as it get bigger, or closer, changing from red to blue to a bright red and finally to a true gold, not yellow, not orange, but a true gold as it became incredibly bright and huge. It was bright enough to cast a shadow, not like a ray or beam of light, but rather from an overall gold glow. Hovering… Quietly… Not making a sound, not rustling the leaves or making any breeze. It just got bigger, closer, brighter, “golder”. Much bigger than an airplane. Then, suddenly, it began to dart across the sky, rapidly, like on a straight line. Then, just as rapidly, without stopping, it changed direction and darted back towards its once previous position. Closer. Then it would begin rising and moving further away, only to suddenly become bigger again as it would quickly begin coming closer once again. Two witnesses noticed the red light from their windows and followed it, getting interested enough to go downstairs and outside to gain a better look. Two witnesses, one a woman, one a man, told matching tales of the object, agreeing on every last detail. Twice I tried to trick them by mentioning yellow or green lights but instead they would correct me saying it was red, then blue, then bright red, then an extremely bright glowing gold color, NOT yellow they would insist. No matter how hard I tried to sway them from their statements, they remained consistent and adamant.

This writer knows both witnesses well, and knows they are not the type or types to fashion some hairbrained scheme or story. The woman is a teacher of children, dedicated to bettering the life of young children. The man is a responsible businessperson, the manager of a successful business. Neither take drugs. Neither were drinking, not even so much as a thimbleful of cough medicine between them. No, it was not in their heads – it was real. Actual visions of something mysterious, frightening, and, perhaps, menacing. Both got spooked and sought shelter. Both continued to watch it behind locked doors. For over twenty minutes it would come, go, dart one direction for several seconds then dart back. Changing colors as it got closer or farther away. Finally, it moved “mostly North, slightly West”, perhaps NNW as it became only a reddish spark in the sky, until finally it had moved so far that it could no longer be seen, hidden by trees and the many miles with which it was traveling away.

Zach F. saw it first. He frequently watches planes come and go at the nearby municipal airport. He knows an airplane or a helicopter when he sees one. He knows where planes land and take off from and the basic locations of all the small airports, and major ones, in the area. Zach knows planes and helicopters. He does not know of objects that can change speed and direction so abruptly and change colors so totally. Certainly not an object as large as this. Trisha M. knows what she saw, the whole experience indelibly imprinted into her memory banks by the importance and significance she felt as she witnessed it. “This is not right”, was an everpresent thought, so she watched carefully and noted each and every detail, not knowing what might be important.

An eerie thirty minute experience that will require some answers for two quite shaken witnesses and this inquisitive writer, who fully believes their identical, corroborated stories, but neither authorities, nor the media are interested in hearing their story. One can only wonder “Why?” Surely there cannot be some vast comspiracy could exist regarding UFOs, can there? More likely is that they saw some new hush-hush experimental military vehicle. Perhaps in ten or twenty years, classified documents can be declassified and made public about a highly maneuverable, extremely fast military vehicle that can change color and direction at will. Only then might we learn the truth.

This year’s U.S. Presidential election is not only much analyzed here, but is being watched with anticipation all over the world.

While both Barack Obama and John McCain have laid out their respective positions on many issues, one issue they have yet to address is their stance on legalized online poker The Poker Players Alliance, the million-person-plus grassroots poker advocacy organization, posted on its Web site a letter written by Sen. Obama in response to a letter apparently from a constituent asking about his position on online poker.

A full copy of the letter is available at www.ppa.org, but the gist of his response was noncommittal at best. Obama summarized the state of current laws concerning online gambling, then wrote vaguely, “I recognize both the need to comply with federal and state laws and the desire of many Illinoisans to not have the federal government over-regulate their behavior. As opportunities to reexamine this issue arise, I will certainly keep your concerns in mind.”

As of yet, the PPA has either not sent a letter to Mr. McCain or not received a response. However, netiher candidate’s Web site mentioned any sort of platform relating to online poker and, sadly, I don’t think it will be a priority issue for either.

Well, who actually did invent the game of Golf? The question has been asked and argued for many years with no true winner. Many countries have a valid claim to an early game that resembles the game of golf. Some of the countries that make this claim are England. Scotland, China, Rome, France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Laos. The most heated debate over who invented golf definitely comes from Great Britain and Scotland.

The first area to look when deciding the answer to our question must be what actually determines when a game with sticks and balls is golf or another game. Most countries in the world have had games where you hit an object with a stick at some sort of target. Is this enough to be called golf, I don’t think so. If so, then these early games could claim the origin of many sports played today. I think it takes more than just a game with some kind of object being hit by a stick to qualify as the origin of golf.

Holland is believed to be the origin of the name of golf but not the actual game itself. Holland played a game in the 1200s called Colf, which means clubs. This was a form of golf but once again the form of many other sports.

Colf has been traced back to Dec. 26, 1297, in the town of Loenen aan de Vecht in northern Holland. On that day, the local townsfolk played four holes of the game to commemorate the relieving of the Kronenburg Castle exactly one year before. The fact that colf was chosen to mark the occasion is proof that the game was already popular by that time.

Great Britain The earliest traces of golf history has golf being played are said to date back to 1340, where in a sketch from a stained glass window, the Great East Window, in the east wing of the Gloucester Cathedral, England, scenes of the Battle of Crecy in France showed a man apparently preparing to strike a ball in a golf-like manner.

One of the early forms of golf were all missing one important ingredient to their games to truly make the game golf and that was the hole. Scotland is widely believed to be the first country to put all the ingredients together and actually start a primitive form of the great game of golf.

Yes, this will always be a disputed point, who actually invented the game of golf. If you believe some of the claims that the game they were playing was golf and they didn’t have a hole, then you could take this same game and turn it into the origin of many games we still play today. I believe the hole is what separates all the early claims to who originated the game of golf.

Look at our Golf History section at the World of Golf Handicap for more detailed information on the History of Golf.

http://www.dave-and-maggie-world-of-golf-handicap.com/golf-history.html

Author
David Humphrey
World of Golf Handicap

http://www.dave-and-maggie-world-of-golf-handicap.com/index.html