Being a mensch
I m not really a religious person. Having said that, I enjoyed and appreciated this episode of For Heaven s Sake from the Shalom Hartman Institute about being a mensch from a Jewish perspective:
Paul Jacobson
Life and its many opportunities
Latest posts
Ahsoka – Season 2 teaser
I m really looking forward to this. Also, there is a lot going on in this teaser trailer!
Prettify your WordPress dashboard with OpenStation
If you're a bit bored of the classic WP Admin dashboard of your WordPress site, try OpenStation for a more computer desktop-style view. It's a nice change. I have mine set to "Living Tree".
Not so competent AI overlords
People are worried that our soon-to-be AI overlords will take over our lives and run human civilization into the ground with their superior intelligence. Those people probably haven t had the frustratingly frequent experience of seeing these agents utterly fail to successfully complete tasks we ask and empower them to do. Repeatedly.
Science stuff as an antidote to Crazy World Stuff
Perhaps if more of us spent more time looking up and around at the wonder of the natural world, and paying attention to our place in it, perhaps we would live somewhat less stressful, divisive, and unhealthy lives.
Like it is the first time for the agent
Agents are peculiar constructs. At times they generate what seems to be to be utter genius. Other times, they behave like Skills they have run dozens of times before are totally new and surprising.
How quickly the Agents have become routine
I wouldn't say that we have reached anything resembling AGI (or whatever the catchword is these days) although these tools are remarkable, today.
FileZilla is still awesome after 24 years
FileZilla is still a robust, powerful FTP/SFTP app after 24 years. It still impresses me.
Taking our enemies at their word
One of the lessons from October 7 is to take our enemies threats seriously. I hope this is an enduring lesson.
Quietly preserve your WordPress site with the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
Link rot is an increasing issue on the Web, leading to inaccessible sites and broken links. To address this, Automattic and the Internet Archive have launched the free Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer plugin for WordPress. This tool scans websites, preserves content, and redirects users to archived versions of missing pages.
My homework assignment to visit a museum from our CEO
So, our CEO suggested a fun "homework" assignment—visiting a museum. I chose the Hasmonean Heritage Museum and really enjoyed it! The hands-on exhibits about Modiin's history were super engaging. The highlight was the interactive timeline and a cool 4D movie. Overall, a unique experience that connected past and present nicely!
Butterflies and Elephants: More Thoughts About Mastodon and Bluesky
At the risk of climbing on the "Bluesky vs Mastodon" bandwagon that seems to be making the rounds, I had a couple thoughts about the relative merits of both, at least from my perspective as someone who isn't particularly dogmatic about either option.
A prediction for Trump support for US Jews and Israel
Roughly 79% of American Jews voted for Harris. Trump will regard this as disloyal to him. The Muslim vote played a pivotal role in delivering a win to Trump. He ll remember this. Given how Trump is motivated by loyalty, I can see him deciding that the Jewish vote is less important, and with it I [ ]
Continuing trauma, attacks and our existential defence
In a week marked by jarring conversations about narratives surrounding Gaza and Israel, I realised something. A report about the traumatic events at Nahal Oz base, where Israeli soldiers were murdered, highlight a deeper, ongoing trauma. This fuels a collective existential defense among Israelis and Jews, uniting us against global criticism and varied threats.
Calling for genocide is not context-dependent
Renny Grinshpan published a video recently that left me utterly gobsmacked. People running top-tier universities seem to describe calls for genocide of Jews (you know, "From the river to the sea ...") as only being problematic based on the context. 🤯
Now posting from Mastodon too
I just discovered a gem of a plugin by @alex that enables me to connect my Mastodon app to my #WordPress site and post from here. 🎉
Hope, Miracles and Perseverance
This Chanukah is complicated. To me, this is a festival about hope and perseverance in the face of overwhelming danger. It is also a festival about miracles. This year, Chanukah has even more meaning as the war continues, and as we continue to hope and wait for the return of our people.
My blog is 19 years old
My son pointed out to me that my site just turned 19. 🎂 My first post was way back on 6 December 2004. 19 years just creeps up on you when you least expect it!
The false equivalency of “extremists on both sides” in the Israel-Hamas war
I talked with James on Mastodon, comparing the "unacceptably" bad governments of Israel and Gaza, suggesting they both harbor extremists. This implies a false equivalency, which I aim to address here.
Better sources of news about Israel
A recurring theme whenever there is a conflict involving Israel is that international media can be pretty unhelpful, bordering on pathologically biased against Israel. Here is a list of English-language news sources that we rely on for the most part.