by Maskil on July 5, 2010
(This blog post was originally drafted in response to the piece “Next year in occupied East Jerusalem!”, which appeared in the Jewish Journal (Los Angeles) in March 2010. The draft was on a USB memory stick that disappeared at the time and has just reappeared. While it’s no longer a timely response, I think it’s still an appropriate one. I’m posting it with only minor edits.)
A few reactions to this passionate summation of our historic attachment to Jerusalem, and the apparently unstoppable need to build in East Jerusalem at this particular juncture in history:
Yes, it would have been nice if we could have had it all, right now. We made do without having sovereignty over Jerusalem for almost 2,000 years, however. Maybe
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by Maskil on June 8, 2010
The requirement sounds like a simple one: synchronise my Outlook (2003) Calendar and Contacts (especially) with Gmail, Hotmail, or another secure, reliable Webmail or other service. As a lifelong corporate IT person, I still like using Outlook as my e-mail and PIM client (although I’m now 2 versions behind). I would, however, like to have my Contacts and other Outlook PIM stuff backed up and synchronised with a cloud service.
Surely it can’t be that difficult? Apparently it is, even if you’re prepared to pay for it. Here’s my experience testing out a number of options over the past couple of days. Let’s go through them, starting with the big guys.
Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook
My main e-mail account is a Gmail account, so synching with Gmail on the Web would have been first prize. Not only that, but Google already has a tool to do exactly that, Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook. You can download and install it freely, but it won’t work with a @gmail.com e-mail address, nor with Google Apps Standard Edition. It only works with the premium editions of G/A.
Here’s my request to Google to open up this app to the peasants as well:
by Maskil on June 3, 2010
I recently volunteered to become the Webmaster and all-round IT Guy for our local community police forum, the Norwood Community Police Forum (NCPF). (Officially, “The Norwood Community Police Forum (NCPF) is a community based organization that works in close harmony with community stakeholders. It creates a link between community and police and improves co-operation between both parties.”)
The NCPF’s two digital assets were:
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A Website. Technically a blog, as its platform is the WordPress content management system (CMS)
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The Website didn’t present any real challenges, as I’ve been using self-hosted WordPress for a couple of years now. The limitations (irritations) I have found can probably be addressed by using a better Theme.
I hadn’t managed a Facebook Group before, but wasn’t expecting any issues, as I maintain two Facebook Pages. I had three short-term objectives for the Group:
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by Maskil on May 31, 2010
Although, strictly speaking, there are many “tribes” in Israel (to use Bernard Avishai’s terminology), just as there are many streams or denominations within Judaism, in effect we can reduce this to only two Israels, and two Judaisms. Which Israel is yours, and which Judaism?
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One is welcoming, the other hostile.
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One seeks to include, the other to exclude.
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