With the rise of social media and an increased reliance on the internet to create and maintain relationships, internet users are finding it beneficial, if not flat-out critical, to create a whole online persona, complete with the perfect profile and perfect profile picture.

In the world of social media, photos play a major role by connecting the opinions and information we send to the internet with a real flesh-and-blood person. It used to be easy to be brave online and not take any tangible responsibility for what you did and said, but people are starting to realize that if they want to be taken seriously, then they need to show a real person is behind the voice. Including photos of yourself  is an important way to add integrity to your online persona. You’re showing people what you look like in real life; meaning someone who reads what you write on the web might actually come over and say hi to you in waking life!

It makes sense to try and put your best foot forward when stepping into the social media scene, especially with online pictures and profiles making more and more first impressions for us. Our profiles and avatars are like little familiars… ephemeral digital emissaries that we send out into the virtual forest in the hopes of finding the people and things we are looking for. They are our eyes, ears, and personal proponents.

What I’m rambling toward is that importance-wise, how we look online is closing the gap on how we look in real life. Amazingly, I am not the first person to reach this mini-epiphany… enter our old friends self-consciousness and vanity. People have been “improving” their digital likenesses for some time now, as we are already armed with a mighty arsenal of photo editing software. But this is such a bother. Isn’t there a better, faster, easier way? I mean, c’mon. It’s practically 2009.

The answer is yes (a heavy sigh of relief fills the room). Professor Dani Lischinksi and his team of Israeli scientists at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have developed new software that, using a carefully tested and proven understanding of facial proportion, greatly improves the attractiveness of your face without damaging your defining features or recognizability. Ever seen a picture of yourself that was a little too good? You’re still you, you just look a tiny bit better than the real-life you. That’s what this software does, and it does it reliably, or so they say.

Oh, the ethical implications! Is this deceptive? Is it self-indulgent? If there was an “optimize portrait” button on facebook, would a lot of people use it? The answer to all three questions is: probably.

I just feel bad for the poor, poor person who is responsible for tracing the dog poop to its owner. Now that is a crappy job!

Fans of the latest Batman Movie, The Dark Knight, will be thrilled that they can try to imitate the man in a  black cape with the raspy, robotic voice, but this dare devil stunt should be relegated to professional pilots only, says the Jerusalem Post.

Unfortunately for Superman fans, the flyinig suit developers claim that a Superman landing didn’t work out, so you might have to leave your shiny blue underpants hanging on the closet hanger for Halloween or Purim.

Anyone who’s been to Israel knows that catching a glimpse of snow is rare, and even a welcomed treat. Come to think of it, I’ve never even met anyone in Jerusalem who owns a shovel. Perhaps a longing to play in the snow has pushed IDE Technologies to become a major player in the man-made snow market.

First Tracks , an online ski magazine reports that IDE Technologies , based in Tel Aviv, is introducing unique refrigeration technology to produce man-made snow.  The ice technology was originally developed for seawater desalination in the most unlikely place – the hottest, your-face-will-melt-right-off, beach city of Eilat in southern Israel.

So what makes Israel’s snowmaker so much better than the rest? It works regardless of the season or air temperature, ensuring ski resorts can open up  the slopes for an early ski season, and obviously early profits are not far behind.

Existing snowmaking technologies spray tiny water droplets into the air, which freeze into crystals before reaching the ground. Such technologies depend upon ambient temperatures being at or below freezing, depending on humidity. IDE’s snowmaking facilities produce large quantities of snow regardless of air temperature.

If you’re interested in getting your own snowmaker, it’ll only cost you a mere $2 million. Now paying the ski resorts doesn’t seem quite as expensive, does it?

[photo by: bevcraigwhite ]

Sabra Tech also features flying robotic ambulances (too cool for words) and dogs that are trained to patrol and guard jails. Wired gets a big high five for reporting on Israeli technology for avid robotic fans and Israel fans alike.

While I admit that this is no flying car, the electric car will create cleaner air and lower our dependency on fossil fuels, a good thing considering the only oil Israel has is olive oil and it’s too tasty to be wasted on transportation.

Newsweek explains that 150 recharging stations aka ‘swaps’ will be built around Israel and will take the same amount of time to fill up as a traditional gas pump. You’ll also be able to recharge at home or the office for shorter distances. Drivers can pay for the recharging with monthly subscriptions, similar to a cellphone plan, and it should end up being cheaper than gas.

When these guilt-free and cheaper fueling electric cars become available to the public, I will definitely want one. But I ain’t getting on the roads until the national aggression level in Israeli drivers is lowered significantly. Where is Project Better Drivers? That is the real question here.

Shai Agassi, of Project Better Place, is speaking at the President’s Conference in Jerusalem this week, so hopefully we’ll learn of the latest status of the project and report it here on israelplug.

Fraud Sciences was founded four years ago by two former members of the Israel Defense Force intelligence unit (of course!). Prior to this acquisition, the company raised $15 million in funding from Israel’s BRM Capital Advisors and Redpoint Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif.

The acquisition of Fraud Sciences fits into eBay’s recently announced plans to significantly improve trust and safety across its sites in 2008. “Integrating Fraud Sciences’ risk tools with PayPal’s sophisticated fraud management system should allow us to be even more effective in protecting eBay and PayPal’s hundreds of millions of customers around the world,” said Scott Thompson, President of PayPal.

And they all lived happily ever after (including us thanks to our shiny new link from TechCrunch about our original story.)

Samsung Ventures Investment Corp.

MCL’s press release states that “This is the first investment that Samsung Ventures has made in an Israeli technology company.” This is only partially true, since while Samsung Ventures may not have invested in other Israeli companies, another prominent arm of Samsung, Samsung Electronics, did invest in Israeli TransChip Israel in November of last year.

Here’s a little taste of last year’s event:

Click here to view the embedded video.