There is a very interesting article in the New York Times today that talks about the 350 Jewish prisoners of war who were taken to a secret work camp and tortured, beyond the bounds of the Geneva Convention. What a sad time that was for humanity.

Labels: Judaism

Well, although I have attempted to get my web site online by hosting it on my own computer, SBC has decided that I can't have anything related to a stable IP address, so the DNS system can't stay updated. I am also not able to get access to the site from outside with my IP address (probably some setting I have not set properly), so I am just going to give up for now.

Of course, that is probably best, considering I am not even finished with the site yet, and I hate putting things online that I am not finished with... hence my sporadic and mostly uninteresting posts to this blog...

Labels: Technology

My baby, Chaya, laughed yesterday for the first time! This was not a little coo or gurgle, but a good, strong, straight-from-the-belly laugh. And it lasted for a good 30 seconds or more. Of course, when I tried to turn on the audio recorder on the computer, she stopped... Maybe next time.

Labels: Chaya

So, I have been a little too busy lately to post anything, what with playing Call of Duty on an all sniper server and doing research for my TOVAH paper due next week...

My brother posted today that he has been quoted in an article in eWeek regarding his stance on the IsNot patent application Microsoft filed recently. If you are remotely interested in technology stuff, check it out. Congrats Richard!

In other news, I will probably have my web site up and running sometime in the next few days, hosted here on my home computer. I am still trying to get the DNS server to route my domain name correctly, and I expect to have an interesting time keeping that up to date with a non-static IP address. What I might do is add a link to my current IP address here on my blog, and you can access the site that way.

I also have a lot to fix and add to the site, so I am somewhat cautious about posting the address just yet. Maybe I'll let you all salivate for a little while...

Labels: Personal

As my brother noted, Enterprise has been officially cancelled by Paramount. I was very hopeful for this show, since it has a cast that makes DS9 and Voyager look like the stupid shows that they were. I was really hoping for something that would succeed like TNG.

From what I saw, Enterprise has the right idea. It is a serial, so you have to stay tuned in to keep up. That is why I never kept up with it. I don't own a TV...

Anyway, if you are interested in working to save the show from the trash bin, check out EnterpriseFans.com. I think it would be worth it to let the show continue for a few more years. We might even get a few decent movies out of it and breathe some new life into a dying franchise.

Labels: Personal

Eliyahu passes on a challenge:

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t search around and look for the “coolest” book you can find. Do what’s actually next to you.

“Of course, that’s the default.” From Learning Perl (O’Reilly) — I'm at work...

Labels: Technology

Jim Davila links to an article about a group in India known as Bene Israel. Apparently, these people are descendants of seven Jewish couples who were shipwrecked off the coast of India 2000 years ago. They started a community, intermarried a bit, and kept some of their traditions and identity.

What is interesting is that I just saw a film called "Moving Heaven and Earth" at the Austin Jewish Film Festival this past Monday, which was about a group in Africa called the Abayudaya. These people are the product of one man's study of the Scriptures 70 years ago, by which he decided that Judaism was the proper religion to follow. The community was able to get some Conservative Rabbis to visit them and perform official conversions for everyone (in the hundreds). The Abayudaya are now having difficulty being accepted by other portions of the Jewish community (specifically the orthodox portion) because of the common differences in opinion over Torah observance, etc.

These stories bring up some interesting issues as we move toward the Messianic Era. The questions of "Who is a Jew?" and "What is valid Judaism?" are taking on more significance in our little world.

Labels: Judaism

My brother linked to another great article. It's not surprising that he finds this stuff more quickly than I do. I have a kid... ;)

Paul Graham writes about the issue of high school students and their approach to life in general and learning in particular. I think Paul has inadvertently developed insights into school that John Taylor Gatto and John Holt propose in their teachings about the way children learn.

Lindsey and I have had an ongoing discussion about how we plan to "school" our children, and I think Graham has summed up the general approach we will take quite well (though I am sure he did not intend to): “The important thing is to get out there and do stuff. Instead of waiting to be taught, go out and learn.... And you don't have to wait to start. In fact, you don't have to wait to be an adult. There's no switch inside you that magically flips when you turn a certain age or graduate from some institution. You start being an adult when you decide to take responsibility for your life. You can do that at any age.”

Now, to take those words to heart myself...

Labels: Chaya, Personal