Blog/August 2010/Aug 13th

August 13th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

It was a quiet week -- nothing but work, work, work! The dynamic duo of daughters didn't do any daring deeds. I'm making slow progress on the translation project. Attempts being made to help the less fortunate cast off their bonds of servitude to the Evil Empire™.

The weather has been hot (average 31C high, in Jerusalem), but normal range for Israeli summers. Since it's been about 10-11C cooler in the evenings, we haven't found it unbearably hot as the previous week was. We're hoping now to have a somewhat cooler "holiday season" next month.

Work has been the usual controlled anarchy. I'm really getting tired of people asking me the same questions over and over ad-naseum, but I suppose that's my lot in life.

The delightful daughterly darlings are getting ready to resume "real life". Daniela returns to Amerika in just over a week, while Sarah starts "National Service" in Tel Aviv in just over two weeks. Must start planning the wild parties Esther and I will be throwing now that we'll have the house (mostly) to ourselves!

Translation is hard work for a number of reasons. I was excessively optimistic when I said I expected to have something to show "soon". Instead, I'll be quite pleased if I have the "Introduction" finished by Rosh Hashanah (just under a month from now), even though I'm working on it almost every day. On the bright side, however, doing this kind of work really helps me fine-tune my understanding of the text itself -- which is, as far as I'm concerned, one of the best reasons for doing the work in the first place.

Alas! A friend of mine has had one-too-many bad experiences with Outlook (and Microsoft Windows in general), and I took the opportunity this week to try to wean her off her dependency on Evil Empire™ products. Things are looking up for her; but as a public service I'll start a mini-series on how you, too, can leave Bill "Want Windows™ with that Burger?" Gates' defective products in the dumpster where they belong!

Freedom from Tyranny (part I):
"In a world without walls and fences, who needs Windows and Gates?"

You've decided you're sick and tired of "blue screens", of "EULA"s which you don't understand, and most of all: of having your computer held ransom to the whims of a Large Faceless Corporation. You want control over your digital destiny! That's fine, but you have real work to do -- so what choice do you really have?

For a number of reasons I won't elaborate on, the best choice for you at the moment is ubuntu (or its companion version kubuntu. Download it (it's free) and make a CD to start your computer with. Or order a cheap, pre-made CD if you aren't able to, or comfortable with making your own.

Doesn't that feel good? You are holding freedom in your hands! Now, put the CD in your machine and reboot ... don't worry, Ubuntu will run without messing up your machine. This is what's called a "live CD". It lets you "try before you buy" ... except that you don't have to actually buy anything. Keep in mind that if you do decide to install Ubuntu on your machine, it will operate much more quickly than it does when running 'live' off the CD.

Play with it, check out all the (yes, free) software included. See whether you can get along with Linux (and more importantly, whether it gets along with your computer! That's all for now ... next week we'll take a look at installing it permanently, and some issues around that which may (should!) be of concern to you.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program...

This week we've got guests! My chevruta and his lovely family will join us for dinner, and presumably enjoy: zchug baked tuna steaks, green techina, baked chicken and yams, red lentil soup, baked schnitzel, the usual salatim, quinoa salad, cauliflower, meatballs, rice and cookies.

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom !

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