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would generate a virtual map on the fly in response to a user's clicks to zoom and pan. It would prove to be the first of many map Web servers to come.

Seeing such sites, scientists and government groups, who had an obligation to make their data available, were realizing it would be easier to put the information up on the Web than to answer repeated requests for it. Typically, when another scientist requested their data, they had had to write a custom program to translate their information into a format that the person could use. Now they could just put it on the Web and ask anyone who wanted it to go get a browser. And people did. The acceptability of the Web was increasing. The excuses for not having a browser were wearing thinner. The bobsled was starting to glide.

As June 1992 approached, I increasingly felt the need for a sabbatical. David Williams, head of my division at CERN, had seen this coming and was ready with an offer I couldn't refuse. He explained that I could go away for a year and have my job when I returned. However, during that year I would lose my CERN salary and benefits, which were quite good, and I would have to pay all my travel expenses. As an alternative, David said I could go away for an extended business trip for three months and he would pay me a per diem rate for this "extended duty travel," on top of my ongoing salary and benefits. Not surprisingly, I chose the second option. My wife and I planned a three-month mixture of work and vacation. I would visit MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also attend the IETF meeting in neighboring Boston. Then we would vacation in New Hampshire, and end up in the San Francisco area where I would visit Xerox PARC.

The summer turned out to be a great opportunity for me to take a snapshot of the state of the Web's penetration and acceptance in the States.