Today’s Good Will Hunting Moment

The “road coloring conjecture” — a problem that was thought up in 1970 and has plagued mathematicians the world over for 38 years — has been solved by an Israeli immigrant from the former Soviet Union.

Professor Avraham Trahtman immigrated to Israel 15 years ago and found work as a security guard and custodian, a common first step for even the most highly qualified FSU immigrants. He later joined the mathematics faculty at Bar Ilan University.

Say, maybe we could make a movie out of this…

Read the full article here.

Same-Sex Couples Get More Adoption Rights

A decision yesterday (10 February 2008) by Attorney General Menahem Mazuz broadens the options for homosexual couples who want to adopt a child. According to Haaretz, they can now adopt a child who is not the offspring of either party and can also use the regular state channels to apply to adopt children. JPost gives a bit of background on the opinion.

If you haven’t been following our other posts on similar issues, you can find them here, here, and here. Just a friendly reminder of how forward thinking Israel is. To put this in a bit of a global perspective see this Wikipedia article.

Check out this audio clip from the Larry Flick show on Sirius OutQ Radio about Gay Adoption Rights in Israel. (Copyright: Sirius Satellite Radio www.siriusoutq.com)

Apple Uses Israeli Song

The song featured in this popular Apple commercial is by a French-Israeli singer named Yael Naim. Enjoy!

Cell Phone “Jackets”

Looks like our cellphones are going to get all dressed up for the ball…

From the NYT:

February 7, 2008
Modu Unveils Flexible Phone With “Jacket” Range
By REUTERS
Filed at 12:02 a.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - With a nod to the notion that mobile phones have become fashion accessories, Israel’s Modu says it can make $1 billion in revenue by selling “jackets” for its tiny new cell phone that give the device new functions as well as a new look.

Start-up Modu’s plan is to sell a range of casings along with its cell phone so that consumers can cheaply transform phones into anything from a messaging device, a music player or a gaming device, according to founder Dov Moran.

The phone morphing system goes on sale with three service providers in Russia, Italy and Israel in October, around the same time the company expects top fashion houses to have developed phone jackets for style conscious users.

By January next year the phone will also slot into consumer electronics devices it calls “modu mates” such as digital photograph frames, cameras, clocks or navigation systems to give such devices wireless connectivity.

Continue reading Cell Phone “Jackets”…

Blind Deaf Theatre in Israel

I saw this group when they were in NY not too long ago, and they were a true inspiration.

From the NYT:

February 4, 2008
Blind, Deaf Actors Take Centre Stage In Israel
By REUTERS

JAFFA, Israel (Reuters) - The theatre lights dim and the audience settles into their seats — usually a cue for the actors to deliver their opening lines. Instead, the Nalaga’at troupe start pummeling and stroking each other’s hands.

This is not a high-minded avant garde dance piece, but a group of deaf-blind actors, who are captivating audiences in Israel by blending touch, mime, sign language and music on stage in a cabaret-style show about dreams and disability.

Billed as the world’s first professional deaf-blind theatre company, only three of Nalaga’at’s actors can speak. One hears a little if you shout directly into her ear and a few still have some vision. But they all communicate primarily through touch.

To complicate matters, several of the actors are recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union and know only Russian sign language.

Rehearsals can be chaotic.

Continue reading Blind Deaf Theatre in Israel…

NY Post Travel Blog

From today’s NY Post’s travel blog:

Tel Aviv may be Israel’s city that doesn¹t sleep, but if the coffee culture in Jerusalem continues its fashionable rise, there won¹t be much shuteye in the Old City, either.

Three new ultra-trendy cafes have opened inside the old-meets-new Mamilla Quarter Complex, a $400 million, open-air shopping, residential, and hotel development taking shape under the nose of Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The 25,000-meter pedestrian mall features Israel’s trendiest brands. Teva Naot shoes, Ahava for cosmetics from Dead Sea materials. Some of the shops are carved out of meticulously restored 19th Century homes. The project is a brick-by-brick affair headed up by Alrov, which owns the David Citadel Hotel nearby.

But the masterstroke of the ongoing project is a trio of outdoor cafes, where tourists can blend seamlessly into a local crowd of the bold and beautiful. Everyone sips some of the best coffee in the city while pondering majestic views of the Old City and The Citadel (Tower of David).

Most popular is Aroma, which will be familiar to New Yorkers as that-cafe-on-Houston-that-looks-like-a-chain-but-you’re-not-sure. (It is.) Also check out Roladin for high-end pastry and a gorgeous wait staff) and Rimon, the veteran of the group).

– Kevin Raub

Remembering Ilan Ramon, Israeli Astronaut & Hero

We can’t believe it has been 5 years since that awful day when Israel’s first astronaut along with the entire Columbia space shuttle crew were lost. Let us not forget those great individuals.

From Ynet:

Science fair marks 5th year of Ilan Ramon’s death

Family, friends of Israeli astronaut gather at World ORT Education Society’s Kiryat Yam science fair to mark the fifth anniversary of Space Shuttle Columbia disaster

Ahiya Raved

“Ilan Ramon was an important man, not only in the history of Israel, but for the entire Space Program… I’m proud to continue Ilan Ramon’s work, his study and legacy,” said astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who is visiting a space and science fair in Kiryat Yam, marking the fifth anniversary of Israel’s first astronaut’s death.

The event, sponsored by the World ORT Education Society, was held in commemoration of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Lopez later added that holding the fair in Israel had special meaning.

Continue reading Remembering Ilan Ramon, Israeli Astronaut & Hero…