Israel in Living Color

Posted on November 26, 2008 • By David Danielson
Category: Art and Culture | Tags: Tags: art, blog, Israel, Tel Aviv, watercolor | 2 Comments

Although I’ve only been in Israel for a few months, it didn’t take me long to notice how popular and celebrated art is in Tel-Aviv and the rest of Israel. One of the few perks of my coveted fine art degree is an eye for clever artistic work, and Israel has more than its fair share. New artists are continuously sprouting up, and to reach a larger audience they have taken up blogging as well…

Case in point; meet Carol Feldman, born and raised in Oklahoma, USA. She moved to Tel-Aviv 5 years ago in 2003 with her husband and daughter, and has recently launched her paintings straight into the blogosphere. Carol works from life and from reference photos, capturing with paint and pencil the subtle splendor of everyday life here in Israel. Carol quickly found a community through her blog, and fans quickly found her (including me)!

As an artist myself, albeit in my pre-fame stage of life, its very rewarding to see regular folks with a forgotten talent find an artistic renaissance on the web. The publishing power of blogs gives power back to the individual artists, and they are hopping on board.. Blogging about art: blog + art =… blarting! Hmm, no, doesn’t sound pompous enough. What would the guys in the turtlenecks and black berets say?

To see more of Carol’s jaw-dropping watercolors, check out her blog: Drawing Tel-Aviv. Enjoy!

Israel in 3D: don’t get dizzy.

Posted on November 19, 2008 • By David Danielson
Category: Art and Culture, Communities, Multimedia | Tags: Tags: Israel, Jerusalem, pictures, sightseeing, Tel Aviv, Tourism, tours, virtual tour | 1 Comment

Behold Israel in all its glory!

Thanks to Israel 3D, you can beholden Israel right from your computer. With hi-definition, fully panoramic views of all the most legendary and beautiful spots, you can “virtually” experience the Western Wall, the Dead Sea, or the spot in front of that rainbow-colored hotel on the Tel-Aviv beach where I did some serious towel sitting. It’s the new next best thing to being there (no silly red and blue glasses necessary).

Check out a few favorites: Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Dead Sea, Acco.

How to be a pro-Israel activist online

Posted on September 23, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Social media | Tags: Tags: activism, Honest Reporting, Israel, pro-Israel, Stand with Us | 3 Comments

Israel’s biggest bully, The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, just visited the UN to speak at the General Assembly. How lovely. Thankfully, there are activists all over the web who are voicing their outrage and speaking their mind. For those of you still throwing staplers and keyboards at your screens, it might be time to roll up your sleeves and become an online Israel activist.

Honest Reporting and Stand with Us just put together a 24 page guide to Pro-Israel activism on the internet. The guide is especially helpful for beginners, who are trying to sort out how to read the mountains of Israel-related news on the web, and then decide what action to take – commenting, blogging, digging, stumbling, etc. You can read the activism guide PDF here. Also, check out israelplug’s How to get a pro-Israel article on the front page of digg.com

Hopefully they’ll be more resources like this, like a top 10 list of pro-Israel activists to follow on Twitter, Stumbleupon, Digg, etc. so people can connect and create teams with immediate impact.

Apparently advocacy efforts for the other team aren’t going so well, as Al-Qaida expreienced some glitches in their web presence – Al-Qaida’s Propaganda Sites, Smacked Down

Poop justice in Israel

Posted on September 18, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Technology | Tags: Tags: DNA, dogs, Israel, Petach Tikva, Technology | 3 Comments

While some Israelis are concerned about the collapsing stock market, or that Tzipi Livni will be Prime Minister soon, Reuters reports that others are flaming mad about the last time they stepped in dog poo and want justice. Some of those angry residents are in Petach Tikva (Petah Tiqwa, or spell it how you will), where a new program just launched to collect the DNA of the neighborhood pooches. If you pick up your dog’s poop and put it in a specially marked bin, you could be the lucky winner of coupons and prizes. But if they find your little puppy’s feces on the sidewalk, you’ll be slapped with a big fine.

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!

How to get a pro-Israel article on the front page of digg.com

Posted on August 24, 2008 • By Miriam Schwab
Category: Social media | Tags: Tags: digg, digg homepage, digg.com, Israel, techno, wheels | 6 Comments

If you happen to be a geek like me who reads the digg.com homepage on a regular basis, you may notice a certain trend when it comes to anything about Israel that appears there: they’re all about how Israel is the root of all evil.

To get on to the digg homepage, lots of diggers have to “digg” an article as newsworthy within a short span of time. Most diggers find posts about how Israel is the root of all evil as digg-worthy, while anything that is either neutral or positive gets buried in the avalanche of articles being dugg at any one time.

Today an article got to the digg homepage that was Israel related, and the diggers even left really positive comments on the item! So what piece of gold managed to overcome the usual digg consensus and achieve such success? This:

Yup, crazy guys flying down Israel’s highways on two-wheeled thingies.

Since this video achieved the impossible, let’s analyze it to see how we can maybe apply these lessons to future pieces of content about Israel that we want to get to the digg homepage:

Guys doing crazy things: digg is overwhelmingly used by males, and young males at that. They find things like this really cool, even if it comes from Israel. So the key to reaching digg’s homepage is to feature guys doing something that is fast and dangerous. If they are wearing some kind of body armor, all the better.
Wheels: from when they are born, boys like wheels. If you can create a video that features wheels predominantly, you may have a chance at digg success since boys can’t resist a good wheel.
Techno music: many of the commenters on the digg piece mentioned how awesome the techno music in the background is. So no matter what your video is about, make sure to put it to techno music.
Hot chicks: I know this video doesn’t have any babes, but I figure that if these are the types of guys that like fast wheels and techno music, they’d also like sexy babes. So if you don’t have any guys and wheels, use hot chicks and you might fare pretty well. Israel’s Foreign Ministry already tried this, although I don’t know if anyone remembers that attempt anymore besides me.

Now if only we could figure out how to get Reddit to publish something positive about Israel…yeah right. When pigs fly.

Teva Pharmaceutical goes bargain hunting, picks up Barr Pharmaceuticals for $7.46b

Posted on July 22, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Business, Healthcare | Tags: Tags: Business, Healthcare, Israel, Teva Pharmaceuticasl | Comments Off

According to Haaretz, Teva has been going on a “little” shopping spree, buying companies as if they were cute pairs of shoes they just had to have. (And FYI, this Teva company has no connection to the Israeli hikers’ beloved Teva sandal co., incidentally made in China.) Recently, Teva purchased Barr Pharmaceuticals, “the fourth largest generic firm in the U.S., for $7.46 billion.” Teva had previously bought “Ivax in January 2006 for $7.4 billion and Sicor in October 2003 for $3.4 billion.” Even though Teva is already the world’s biggest generic drug maker, maxing out its credit cards on all these ‘steals’ will elevate Teva to a “generic powerhouse employing about 37,000 people globally and operating directly in more than 60 countries.”

The big reversal

A quick look at Globes or Techcrunch, will leave you numb from repetitive headlines such as “Company X acquires Company Y for Z million dollars”. However, if these headlines refer to Israel, it’s usually because an American company is buying out an Israeli hi-tech startup. Just search for “Microsoft buys Israeli startup” in Google and you’ll see what I mean. Here’s a few examples of startups Microsoft has bought lately:

But Teva’s takeover has turned the tables proving that an Israeli company can buy out a huge US company. And, at 7.46b, it’s mighty impressive!

Israel is selling snow?!

Posted on July 21, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Featured, Technology | Tags: Tags: IDE, Israel, ski, Snow, Technology | Comments Off

Skiing

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 ]

Newsweek asks: Who Exports the Most TV to the U.S.?

Posted on June 30, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Art and Culture | Tags: Tags: CBS, HBO, Hollywood, In Treatment, Israel, Newsweek, The Ex List, TV | Comments Off

Your choices (think very carefully…)

A. Italy
B. Sweden
C. Israel
D. India

You may not have guessd it, but Newsweek confirms that the winner is Israel! I’m not sure the last time I saw a Swedish-based show, so it may not have been a very tough competition. Regardless, Israel is starting to appear in Hollywood headlines by contributing shows such as "B’tipul (In Treatment)" and "The Ex List". Apparently "too dark" for Americans, these shows are being adapted to American tastes and then produced. Read more»

Joke: Why it’s better for Jews to read the Arab papers

Posted on June 24, 2008 • By Miriam Schwab
Category: Jokes | Tags: Tags: Israel, Jokes, newspaper | 1 Comment

Here’s a joke that’s been going around the web for a while, but I thought I’d share:

A Jewish man was sitting in Starbucks reading an Arab newspaper. A friend of his, who happened to come in the same store, noticed this strange phenomenon.

Very upset, he approached him and said: “Moshe, have you lost your mind? Why are you reading an Arab newspaper?”

Moshe replied, “I used to read the Jewish newspapers, but what did I find? Jews being persecuted, Israel being attacked, Jews disappearing through assimilation and intermarriage, Jews living in poverty.

So I switched to the Arab newspaper. Now what do I find? Jews own all the banks, Jews control the media, Jews are all rich and powerful, Jews rule the world.

The news is so much better!”

Tourism in Israel is growing fast with big plans for even bigger numbers

Posted on May 28, 2008 • By Rebecca Markowitz
Category: Business, News, Social | Tags: Tags: hotels, Israel, Tourism | Comments Off

Not only is Israel breaking Guiness World Records for largest amount of people saying Hatikvah simultaneously, largest national flag, and the World’s largest Humus plate, we also keep breaking previous tourist records. According to the Ministry of Tourism, in April of 2008 alone, there were 290,000 tourists, a 41% increase over April 2007 and 26% over April 2006.

But the Ministry of Tourism has set its goals much, much higher, hoping to bring 5 million tourists in 2012. The Director of Tourism Shaul Tzemach is already nervous about a room shortage. As they say, that should be our worst problem! Anyone want to rent out their apartment for a few days? I volunteer. Tourists usually mean m-o-n-e-y. I say, bring it.

You know what this major increase in tourism will mean for Israel, don’t you? More hotels which means more construction! And Israelis just love construction and detours. There are 90 million shekels going towards encouraging tourism and millions more for the construction of more hotels in Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee area, Acre, Ashdod, Kiryat Shmona and the Upper Galilee. That brings the total cost to 1 billion shekels. The number feels too big to comprehend and reminds me of Austin Powers’ Dr. Evil suggesting the largest amount he could fathom “1 milllliion dollars”.

About israelplug

israelplug is Web 2.0 meets news on Israeli innovation. Fresh, fascinating, and often funny content written by our passionate team of contributors will keep you updated on the latest innovations in Israel. Your level of involvement here can range from reading, to commenting, to writing articles. Learn more»