Category Israel & biblical history

Aug 19 2010

Donated laptop for Hebrew/Russian user

More fun at work setting up computers as gifts to local people.

Today in between usual jobs I have to do at work as the IT systems admin of a charity here in Jerusalem, I was setting up this Compaq Presario 2100 laptop I blogged on previously on replacing the DVD drive. This same computer came into my workshop as the staff member replaced it with a newer Toshiba, and this machine is to be a gift for our cleaning lady who is originally from Russia.

This lady hasn’t got her own PC, and told us she had been praying she could get a computer given to her somehow.  So we are looking forward to surprising her later this week. 🙂

To start with I needed to take a Ghost image of this system in case any files got lost.   It turned itself off part way.  Bah.   Turned out it had overheated.   I stripped it down and found that the fan inside was clogged up with dust, there was a wall of fluff so the fan was turning but no air could escape out of the system. After pulling out the heatsink and fan assembly and blasting some canned air into it, some big balls of fluff came out of it, and once clean I put it back together.  I managed to do a full back up off everything on the hard disk.   This computer is pretty old now being a 2004 model, but it has a 2800 AMD Athlon processor, so performance is quite good actually.

Next was to install Windows.   I found a copy of Windows XP home Hebrew edition in a drawer, I made a duplicate of the CD and merged in Service Pack 3 for XP into it and burned a new copy of the CD.  I used the normal XP home licence code on the sticker on the bottom of the Compaq.

This is interesting as our cleaning lady doesn’t speak much English, she speaks Russian and Hebrew only.   For me installing XP hebrew version is a little interesting.   After formatting the hard disk etc, everything seems to be like normal Windows XP in English, once the computer does its first reboot, it will show the “35 minutes left to install” in Hebrew.  The rest of the install I can do from memory as I have installed XP enough times to know roughly which menu features do what.

Once installed, up comes the familiar desktop with the grassy hill background, but with the Start button on the right.   Everything is back to front as Hebrew is a right to left language.   I am doing everything else from memory here,  I put on all the Windows updates which took about an hour.   All the drivers go on after this.

Laptop pimpin’

This particular type work I do is quite fun as I get to use creativity in setting up the equipment for user so they can work with no hassle.

If you remember the TV show ‘pimp my ride’ where car modification specialists adapt and improve and tired and shabby vehicle of a viewer of the show, they write in complaining their car is old and jaded and would like to be considered to be the subject of the show.  Usually around $30,000 is spent on a car worth virtually nothing to start with. Part of the charm of the show is the outlandish over the top extras done such as 8 TV screens set into the interior.  Of course this particular business that has the team of vehicle technicians do actually have customers in posh parts of California with vast amounts of disposable income purely for aesthetic make overs for their cars.

Here in my workshop I enjoy pimping out  old computers, generally tune and tweak things for performance and usability.   I also try and reuse second hand parts where possible, usually I prefer to buy new parts such as cooling fans and batteries as used versions of these components are never any good, so everything can be done as cost effective as possible.  I always use a lot of open source software which is free and doesn’t have unreasonable and complex licence agreements.

This particular system I have worked on is based around this lady’s background, and as Russian is her mother tongue, I put on the Hebrew version of Firefox, and also installed a Russian version of ‘portable’ Firefox.   This particular version of this popular browser (70+ languages are supported) is meant to be installed on a USB stick.   This means two versions can be put on together.  There is also two versions of OpenOffice, using a standard version and portable version.

Hebrew Firefox with Lion of tribe of Judah theme!!!

Russian Firefox with Tetris type church theme 🙂

Sadly it doesn’t seem both apps can be run at the same time, but don’t think this is too much of an issue.

As well as a simple Compaq wallpaper from the internet, I set the Firefox background themes to fit in nicely for each version of the browser 🙂

Software installed:- Windows XP home with Service Pack 3, Internet Explorer 8 (as not a great browser its just on for security updates) Media Player 11, VLC player 1.12, Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8 Hebrew version, Mozilla Firefox 3.6.8 Portable Russian version, Open Office 3.2 Hebrew version, Open Office 3.2 Portable Russian version, Adobe Acrobat 9.3, Google Earth, Free AVG 9.0, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and lastly Infrarecorder CD/DVD burning app which has support for Hebrew language.

Of course all the security is tightened up with Internet Explorer icons removed, all Windows updates on, AVG 9 does the job nicely and Malwarebytes is good for scanning for more complex threats – albeit has the to be run manually once in a while.

All software installed is legally licenced and has cost the grand total of zero. 🙂

Only slight negative points of this computer is the silver paint on the palm rest is a little scratched, the battery doesn’t work for more than 5 minutes and there is no onboard wireless card.   I think I will go with a cheap USB wireless stick if she needs this access.

Now just need to give this computer a clean and could benefit from some Hebrew/Russian keyboard stickers for its new owner.

Aug 18 2010

Kidnapped Gilad Shalit – 4 years on

Last Sunday I had a relaxing morning, went out to the old city, I wanted to visit the recently built big synagogue built on the site of a famous one destroyed in wars from long ago, but it was shut so this is for another day.  King of Kings Church was really good, great teaching as usual from Wayne Hilsden and some great worship music too.

After church, I went with my Arab believer friend as he said there was some special event happening at the Gilad Shalit tent.   There is a tent usually manned by two people with various pictures and news stories about the young soldier currently being held captive somewhere in the Gaza strip.   These days this street corner has got bigger as news last year confirmed that Gilad is still alive, verified by a videotape of him with a recent newspaper last year.

This sunday evening was extra special, there was a TV interview being held with Gilad’s parents and brother and a famous basketball player (I didn’t get his name) who came to show his support.   The tent is positioned close to some government buildings.

Anyway I am not sure exactly what is said as there was no English posters or spoken announcements.  But it is quite sobering to see something to see events shown on worldwide television and being actually there.

There are several very very long posters signed in a mixture of Hebrew and English there.

There were people opposed to event.  I am not sure what was said but someone stopped outside in a small Hyundai hatchback and yelled something probably abusive.   Across the road was another protest which someone told me was to stop the government making a deal to let out I think something like 1,000 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for this one solider.

Its crazy the rest of the world doesn’t have the courage to speak out why there is something seriously wrong with why one soldier should be a traded for a couple of hundred known terrorists responsible for the deaths of Israeli civilians in past tragedies

In the past, criminals have been traded for the bodies of dead Israelis who fell in foreign ground.   This is not a new thing, when you consider when King Saul, Jonathan and his two brothers Ishvi and Malki-Shua (funny these names aren’t as popular as Jonathan today 🙂 ) were killed by the Philistines, and much later their remains were found and brought home, check out 2 Samuel 21

If you are reading this, doesn’t matter if you are Jewish, Christian or whatever, please consider praying that this young soldier gets released without any negotiations to release terrorists. By not negotiating with these kind of deals this halts the incentive for future possible kidnappings.

In the past some people like Terry Waite, a British Christian author and humanitarian was free after over four years in jail in Lebanon, and a similar thing also happened John Macarthy so I think there is hope.

Aug 17 2010

Christians praying for Arabs during Ramadan

This week its Ramadan, an important fast for Moslems.   Looking out of my kitchen window I see across our big Arab neighbourhood, and there are animated Christmas style flashing lights in the distance, the house nearest to me has a bright blue star and crescent.

My friend Aaron sent me this, so I thought it deserves a mention in the blogosphere.

Greetings!

As most of you know, the Moslem feast of Ramadan began last night. During this month long festival, according to Wikipedia;

“Moslems refrain from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until sunset. Fasting is intended to teach Moslems about patience, humility, and spirituality. It is a time for Moslems to fast for the sake of Allah and to offer more prayer than usual.

During Ramadan, Moslems ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

Moslems believe Ramadan to be the month in which the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.”

All well and good.

What this wikipedia article does not talk about and what I wouldn’t expect it to talk about is that this month is widely loathed by Moslems who see it as a tremendous hassle.

The rate of car accidents, work accidents, and other problems related to people fainting or having trouble staying awake skyrockets in the Moslem world during this month, especially in places where there is great heat, as there is this summer.

Ramadan is also a traditional time when terrorist activity against Israel, the US and other “infidel” countries increases, because traditionally it was a time when Moslems felt they would have great strength to attack their enemies and/or the enemies of Allah.

So we need to be praying for two things.

One, we need to be praying for the Moslems themselves, for their physical safety and well being during this time when they are observing a religious festival most of them don’t know the source of, and that God, who loves them and sent His Son to die for them, will have mercy on them and grace for their physical health and safety.

Two, we need to be praying that God will protect all us “infidels” from the terrorist intentions of those Moslems who take it upon themselves to show their devotion to Allah by attempting to slaughter Allah’s enemies (which is, by the Qu’ran’s own definition, anyone who is not a Moslem.)

But there is a third thing we should also be praying for, and that is this.

A little known fact about Ramadan is that during this time of fasting and (in many cases sincerely) seeking God, many Moslems come to faith in Jesus Christ. It happens every year, and it is a fast growing phenomenon. Often times it happens through them having a spontaneous vision of Jesus, or even in a dream.

So that’s something to be praying for as well, especially if you have Moslem neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc.

Below is a link to a very interesting editorial in today’s Toronto Sun newspaper. It is written by a Moslem about the Palestinian Moslems, and is a very educational couple of pages. I encourage you all to read it and pass this link on to your friends.

http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/salim_mansur/2010/08/06/14944096.html

God Bless you all.

Aug 16 2010

Widow’s mite coins for sale

This shop sells coins based in Luke 21:2-4 about the story of the Widow’s copper coins she gave to the temple treasury.

I was on the way to church coming back from the Kotel, so I didn’t get to properly see this shop, but I imagine these coins offered could be genuine as there is an abundance of history under the ground that has been discovered all over Israel.

These sorts of antiquities stores are pretty unusual as they sell jewelery made from pieces of Roman glass found in archelogical sites.  Some of these stores actually fashion pieces of glass that are cut and filed to shape and set in broaches, necklaces etc.

Aug 16 2010

Jerusalem UN Headquaters yard

I went walking today around my neighbourhood, across from my street is the Peace Forest or Promenade, that looks over Jerusalem.  Its one of several hills in different directions that look over the city.

From the path behind the building has some nice places for walks.

The building used to be the government offices for the British Mandate of Palestine (what Israel was known as before 1948)

There is  a road upto the security gate which cars have to weave around the blue barrels filled with concrete to stop possible terrorist attacks.

Here are some odd looking metal sheds that look like mini aircraft hangers.

Out the back gets more interesting, seems the UN run their own car scrapyard.   There are about 20-30 abandoned cars here that look like they are not running.   Mostly Toyota 4x4s, that have been crashed, rolled or have bits missing.   Reminds me when I got a bus through part of Los Angeles, I spotted the back of police station full of crashed standard US police model Ford Crown Victorias.  There are also a few recent Volvos and a BMW 7 series which are not damaged but have no licence plates and look very dusty as if they have not been used in months.  There are trucks with low open backs, I guess some of this stuff is mothballed for when there is a war or serious security issue.

On the side road, there is this monument called the ‘Tolerance monument’ and contains writing in English, Hebrew and Arabic encouraging reconciliation and understanding.   I think these monuments are a nice gesture, but peace will only be fulfilled by the return of the Messiah, Jesus one day.

This is a nice place to go walking around.  The UN’s compound is covered in barbed wires but you can easily see the back from a path outside.  Interesting fact.  I was talking to a chap who works there, who tells me its the cheapest place in Israel to buy Coca Cola (60c) although the prices for the canteen are in US dollars.

Also along the view outside, are these outdoor canopies that gives a bit of nice shade for when you want to take time to admire the view, especially this time of year when the extreme heat can be seriously overwhelming.

Aug 15 2010

Recycled rockets into gifts

Saw these souvenirs for sale a while back, which made me think about my trip to Sderot next to the Gaza Strip, although I have not seen them for sale in any markets in Jerusalem.

Some enterprising blacksmith from Sderot has taken spent rockets that have come over from Gaza and recycled them into works of art, from flowers to menorahs!!

http://www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com/christian-gifts-home-from-rockets-into-roses-p-1186.html

I was reading this bible passage the other day;

Isaiah 2:4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,nor will they train for war anymore.

Not an exact glimpse of prophecy yet, but as some of these souviners have been given as a gift to the Palestinian Authority seems a really nice idea to convert a tool for death into something worthwhile.

Aug 13 2010

Preparing an old PC to go to local family

In between looking after systems at work and sometimes staff’s personal computers when I have a quiet day, in my workshop this week is an old Pentium 3 computer that is about 8/9 years old.   It came from our Japanese office (don’t ask how it got here)  and had Japanese Windows XP for our staff from Japan that volunteer here.   These days its never used as we have one computer for volunteers to upload their pictures, go on Facebook and do any personal web browsing and email, we have people from dozens of different countries and they all speak English, including recent Japanese volunteers.   Obviously its not really practical to maintain it, as I don’t speak Japanese, as all the text appears in Kanji text.

This computer only has 1Ghz processor, its old and redundant.   One of my colleagues who deals with food delivery to needy families asked if we had an old computer no longer needed..

When I sometimes have a quiet day, I often fix other volunteer’s personal laptops, and also have fixed a PC that belonged to a local Arab family.

So grabbing it from a dusty corner, I put it on my work bench and tested it out.  Looking through my boxes of spare bits, I now have 1Gb of memory and replaced the CD drive with a dodgy eject mechanism with a LG CD writer.  It doesn’t do DVDs, but another driver could be bought quite cheaply and easily fitted.

I put on a normal installation of English Windows XP Home edition.  There is no Windows licence sticker on it, and I have a spare licence code from another HP PC that had a bad motherboard, as the stickers are not easily removable, I hacksawed a square out of the case with the sticker, and put the rest of it in the bin.  I have saved licence codes from other computers in case someone wants to escape from the ghastly horrors of Windows Vista, I keep a library of CDs of all different versions of Windows XP, and despite XP’s 9 years on the market its easy to customise it to how you want and extra aesthetic features and functionality of Vista and 7 can be copied to some degree.

After setting up both English and Hebrew keyboard support and set all the region and language options to Hebrew and Israel.   I downloaded the Hebrew versions of Firefox and Open Office.  You can find all language versions of Firefox here.

Note, as Hebrew is a right to left language, icons and menus follow the same way.  Interestingly enough Open Office shows these little dots you put under Hebrew symbols, not so much done with modern Hebrew but often used on religious books.   Open Office is a good free alternative to Microsoft Office, as I don’t have a legal free licence I can give away.   For almost all regular writing and spreadsheet requirements this does a perfect job and costs nothing.   You can download it here. Versions for non-English users are here.   The Hebrew version is on a totally separate page here. There are versions for Mac and Linux computers as well.

Here in Israel I like the fact that more things get repaired here, ie: TVs, jewellery, shoes, etc, often this is not always the case of too much hassle to repair something, its a case that there isn’t enough skilled people to do it.   Jewish people seem to always have a knack for repairing and working with small precision objects such as jewellery, watches and such.  Skills that are passed down in generations I guess.

I think its daft in how people call this “recycling” of PCs.   Recycling is normally breaking something down to its component value for parts of for scrap materials.  If I buy a car that 8 years old, its not a recycled car, it just past through several owners, seeing as not everyone can buy goods for the original asking price and have to make do with something older at a fraction of the value.

Also this month I have virtualised an important system, for regulat non-IT folks this just means one computer pretends to be two or more computers having multiple versions of Windows simultaneously.   If the physical hardware breaks, a single file that contains the extra invisible PC can be quickly copied onto a another physical box, meaning less than hour of down time.  This saves our organisation in less hardware needed (One PC freed up for a spare unit for next member of staff)  and also electricity usage.

I replaced missing screws gave the case a clean too.  I have a spare 17″ CRT monitor and keyboard with English, Hebrew and Russian characters and a decent mouse too.  Some more parts scrounged from some cupboards means I have another similar spec system to put together when I have a quiet day some point soon.  Plus I have cleared the workshop of old parts.  Looking forward to going out and handing this over to a family this week as their first ever computer…. 🙂

Aug 12 2010

Guide to volunteering in doing overseas charity work. Part 1.

For Christians or non-Christians alike thinking of doing volunteer work I thought I would put together some ideas if you are thinking of getting out of the conventional work rat race and do something worth while for a bit, whether it be for weeks, months or even years.  For a single person like me its good to get into doing something new and worthwhile, especially as I am in my 30s and all my friends are married, it keeps you positive and focused.

  • Plan in advance to free yourself from any financial ties before you go.  Ideally pay off loans, sell or store your car, get rid of mobile phone contract/DVD rental/gym membership, etc.  Oh, and give enough time to quit renting your house before you go as well.
  • Aim to put together as much money as you can before you go.
  • Be able to promote yourself in what you are doing, speak at your church, get a web site or blog (You don’t have to have technical skills, you can get a template type job like WordPress or Blogger, so you can just do the writing and the site is all hosted for you) I found you have to do a LOT of selling yourself to show people you are serious about going overseas to do something like this.   I find conventional emails of updates often get little response sometimes, mainly because everyone has a lot of email and things get skipped ‘to be read later’ physical printed material is a good plan as well.  Don’t just aim to promote at just your own church, be prepared to speak anywhere and talk to as many people as you can at what you are planning.
  • Get online banking and familiarise yourself with it before you go.   As you know I am an IT sort of person, I would only trust my own or my workplace computer to do banking, and not one in an internet cafe or public computer.  You will want the ability to check your account regularly whilst you are away, as its generally a bit impractical to have family forward your bank statements that could take an age to get to you.  Some countries are more susceptible to fraud, or a legitimate transaction in another countries may be flagged up as suspicious which your bank might freeze your account if it thinks its unusual.
  • Take great care when writing things online on emails etc, to give a positive impression of your particular charity’s aim.
  • Credit cards, if used responsibly they come in handy for buying stuff without fees which you commonly get when using debt cards or ATM machines in other countries.  Most credit cards have freebies or incentives for you to join up or earn credits towards a flight or something.   Of course if ordered through cashback sites like topcashback, you can even get a nice bit of cash given to you as well which is nice.    Don’t forget credit card applications insist you are in full time in employment, so this should be done before you quit your job.  If you are a UK resident check out this article I wrote which explains how you could earn you some extra dosh.  Travel insurance companies also can be found on these sorts of sites.   Top cashback is also great for fans of ebay, lots of online music/DVD retailers like HMV and Play.com amongst hundreds of businesses are on there.
  • Get Skype, best way to call long distance.  Most laptops have a microphone hidden in the palm rest so you can just talk straight into it often without a headset.
  • Having an extra language is not essential but can be very useful.
  • Have a mobile phone that is unlocked to any network so you can get a SIM card put in it, again you may find a phone new cheaper before you go away, or just have a spare one not being used.
  • If you bring your own laptop, aim to make back ups of photos and important things onto bank CDs or DVDs, they are cheap and easily mailed home.   Or upload onto a free hosting site like Picasa or Microsoft’s Skydrive (all of these are free)   These don’t use up valuable luggage space.  A common type USB hard disk is ok, but hard disks can still break or get lost or stolen, so they shouldn’t be your sole source of important files.
  • Take electrical adapters necessary for your required country.   Laptops don’t need to have their voltage changed, the always work on anything between 110-240 volts.   Everything else won’t though, so it might be best to leave that hairdryer at home and get one in your chose country 🙂   In general:- Europe/Middle East/Australia = 220 or 240 volts.   US/Canada/Asia = 110 volts.
  • If you do some research in where to ride safely, a bicycle is a fun way to get around, an investment with mostly tiny running costs and saves a lot of money in bus and taxi fares.
  • Avoid wearing Tshirts with something political on them.  I have a bright yellow Tel Aviv basketball club shirt although it still occasionally gets me funny looks as there’s is a little bit (very minor) of rivalry between Tel Avivians and Jerusalemites. 🙂
  • Do bring Tshirts and other things that from your own country or favourite music etc, as these are good conversation pieces, especially when you make friends with people all over the world.
  • Work out what parts of town are not safe and figure out how to get home by bus or taxi.
  • When packing your case, you have to aim to be less than 20kg if you don’t want to pay nasty surprise charges to the airline, and its possible the security departments will want to look at absolutely everything in there of course.   A decent solid case with wheels makes life a lot easier to get around of course.
  • Get a new pair of trainers (Sneakers to Americans) before you go, if you like me you wear out your shoes a lot as you may pay more for new shoes than you would in your home country.
  • Hot countries require you drink a lot of water, make sure you always carry some, half a day outside means you need at the very least 2 litres of water.  You should certainly have some even when outside for half an hour.
  • When you are planning to finish volunteering bear in mind that December and January can be pretty quiet when looking for jobs.

Hope this helpful, I would be happy to give personal help to anyone with questions.

I will add a part two to this with with some more things soon, more specific to Israel.


Aug 11 2010

A glimpse of Israel’s brief car industry

Saw this ancient possibly Eastern European looking automobile at the weekend.

Appears have a fibreglass body, not a particularly pretty car, but noticed the chrome badge on the back looked like Hebrew.

There was elderly gent sitting in the car asleep and it was parked in a rather dangerous part of King George Street, a busy main road.

Like a lot of other Mediterranean and Middle East countries, there are quite a few ancient cars around especially old Fiats, unlike a rainy country, rust seems to be less of a problem.

This wiki article on the Sabra / Autocars business of Haifa is worth a read.  Seems these cars were nothing special and were not able to keep up with more established makers.

Nowadays a small number of military vehicles are built in Israel are still made today.

Aug 10 2010

Computers translate ancient extinct Ugaritic semitic language

Read this recently.  Some people had used software to read some biblical extinct language.   Seems pretty exciting even if there is no explanation yet given.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/07/100719-science-technology-computers-lost-languages-translate-bible-hebrew/?source=link_fb07192010c