Reality and Fiction

Month of Letters Challenge

2012-01-25T14:23:00.000+02:00

Readers of this blog will know that I have participated in the NaNoWriMo challenge, which involved writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

I have decided to participate in a new challenge, the Month of Letters challenge, which requires participants to write 24 letters and send them by mail during February.

I have a long history of writing letters. I started corresponding with penpals as a teenager, and during my teens and twenties I was in touch with 20 or more penpals at any given time, in many different countries.

Before the Internet, communicating by mail was normal. Airmail letters took about 5-10 days to reach their destination. I remember the daily thrill of seeing what had arrived in my letter box. Letters also sometimes contained photos, postcards, and "friendship books", little stapled booklets in which penpals wrote their addresses and interests and passed them on, hoping to receive letters from similar people. This primitive form of social networking was quite effective, for the time.

Of course, writing letters was a good excuse to buy pretty writing paper, stickers, rubber stamps, and coloured pens. At that time, my handwriting was much better than it is now. Later, when I started using a computer, I learned how to insert images into the text, and printed letters on coloured paper.

As time wore on, I lost contact with most of my penpals, and stayed in touch only with the few who were my closest friends. In recent years, I have renewed contact with a few of them through Facebook. I have been fortunate to meet a few of my penpals when they came to Israel or when I visited their country.

I have been thinking about this recently, with a growing awareness of the differences between my way of life when I was younger and today's online lifestyle. So when I found out about this challenge, it appealed to me.

I will spend February writing (well, typing) letters to my current penpals, and also to a few friends and relatives. There is an art to writing a good letter, and while it is possible to do this in an email, the tendency is to keep emails short. In some cases, my main contact with my penpals in recent years has been reading each other's Facebook status updates and blogs. I want to rediscover the experience of writing and sending "real" letters, and hope to receive some replies from my friends as well.

Good luck to all participants!

How to never get bored

2012-01-09T12:26:00.001+02:00

It always surprises me when someone claims to be bored. This just doesn't happen to me. I learned early on to avoid boredom. Being bored is a state of feeling frustrated with whatever is happening around you, and wishing you were doing something else. It is a great waste of time and energy, and worst of all, it is self-inflicted. My father always says: "There are no boring things, only bored people".

Boredom is often expressed by children, but I think it exists in all age groups. It is never too late to acquire the ability to prevent boredom. This can enrich anyone's life, and requires no external equipment.

Being bored is a state of mind you can learn to prevent, using combinations of three basic mental skills: imagination, observation, and curiosity. In the following examples, I will show how you can harness these innate abilities to avoid boredom.

First, imagine a situation where you are supposed to be concentrating on something: a class, a lecture, a presentation, a conversation. If you find yourself becoming bored, this means you are not engaging with the speaker or with the subject. Since you are supposed to be concentrating, the solution here is to find ways to spark your curiosity. Think about the subject matter, and try to find questions about it that interest you. If circumstances allow, ask these questions and turn the situation towards your own areas of interest. If you can't ask questions, keep them in mind, and try to find the answers in what the speaker is saying, or make a mental note to investigate further later on. If the speaker is not appealing, try imagining a more interesting personality saying the same words. Imagine the speaker as a charismatic orator enthusiastically addressing an excited audience. Or pretend you have to be the speaker, and visualize yourself giving the lecture or teaching the class.

Conversations are always a good opportunity for learning to see the world from someone else's point of view. If they are interested in something you find boring, ask yourself what it is about their lives that makes this interesting or important to them. Perhaps that will help you become interested in the subject, or at least see other people in a different light. It may even help develop empathy.

Another situation that often brings about boredom and frustration is having a long wait for something. This situation is ideal for developing your observation skills. Where you are waiting, there are usually other people, often complete strangers. Each one of these people has a complete life story. Try to guess what their lives could be like, based on clues they give you, such as their appearance, clothing, body language, and perhaps overheard conversations. The combination of observation and imagination allows endless speculation about strangers we see.

Sometimes the situation can set the scene for specific imaginative games. When I was stuck at a European airport for several hours due to a delayed flight, I tried to guess the nationality and destination of individuals and groups without hearing the language they were speaking. It was quite difficult!

Public transport always allows you to speculate about the purpose of people's journeys. Are they on their way to work, to school, to visit friends, or perhaps they are going on vacation? Maybe they have to visit someone in hospital or are in need of medical treatment themselves?

If you find it difficult or uncomfortable to look at people, or don't want to appear to be staring, close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. Try to imagine what the people you can hear look like, and work out things about them just from the sound of their voices and from whatever conversation fragments you can catch.

People often get bored when they are alone. If you find yourself alone, perhaps without the external stimulation that observation can provide, you can always turn to pure imagination. Your mind contains endless entertainment possibilities. First of all, if you like music, you can play back in your mind any piece of music you listen to regularly. You can probably remember every word and every quirk of the vocalist's tone of voice. In the same way, you can recall the plot of every book you have read and every film or series you have watched. Using these memories, if you like, you can mash up and remix music and stories, creating new versions of your own in your mind. Try combining different musical styles, or different plot elements.

Even without using these memories, you can create new imaginary scenes to occupy your mind while you wait. Picture yourself or any other person you know, real or fictional, in a particular place or situation. What would it be like to walk along the beach, or go on safari, or run a marathon? Try creating an imaginary setting - your dream home perhaps, or a beautiful garden, or an ideal holiday location.

Sometimes people feel bored because they enjoy excitement and need new thrills all the time. In cases such as these, the solution can be to develop an exciting internal imaginary life. Pretend you are a spy, seeking secret information, trying to avoid getting caught. Or maybe you are a time traveller from the past or future, investigating our current way of life. These methods combine curiosity with imagination and observation by granting our mundane experiences another, more interesting, secret meaning.

I would be interested to hear other people's suggestions for overcoming boredom using only mental skills.

The strange passage of time

2011-12-29T12:28:00.000+02:00

The year 2011 is coming to a close. All around, the media and individuals are looking back over events that took place during the past year, and perhaps wondering what they can expect during the next twelve months.

For me, time is not neatly divided into calendar years. First of all, for as long as I can remember, the academic year, starting for schools on September 1st and for universities some time in October or November (after the Jewish holidays), has been a more relevant unit of time.

I am more likely to associate past events with the place I was living at the time. Throughout my life, I have moved many times, staying in each place between one and six years. I remember where I was living when I heard about major world events, or when I met certain people, or when I did certain jobs. So past places of residence also constitute a unit of time for me. Now I have my own home at last, and intend to stay here forever, unless something forces or requires me to move elsewhere. I don't know how this will affect my use of this method of remembering time.

I have often observed that while children find each passing year important, because of their rapid physical growth and mental development, for adults the years can be very similar to each other. In many cases, adults lead very stable lives. Parents can mark the passage of time by watching their children grow up, and I expect they can often associate past events with the age their child was at the time.

I see my life as a continuum, sometimes marked by a sharp change, like moving house, or a memorable world event like a war. In other ways, it is marked by personal mileposts, like completing my university studies or getting a driving licence. But mostly my life is experienced as slow, continuous development within a consistent setting.

Whether you see life as I do, or enjoy dividing time up into units like calendar years, I wish all of us happiness and progress during 2012 and beyond!

Giving up NaNoWriMo

2011-11-19T13:50:00.001+02:00

As regular readers know, I started the NaNoWriMo challenge to write a 50,000 word novel during November. In the spirit of transparency, it is time for an update on this experience.

I did well during the first week of November, but then I was ill and unable to write (or work) for five days. When I participated in this challenge last November, and in Camp NaNoWriMo this July, I was able to catch up after missing out on a day or two of writing, but five days seemed like a much larger challenge.

I started writing again when I felt slightly better (and returned to work, which also involved catching up), but found that not only was I not writing more words every day to catch up, I was writing less than the average daily word target, so I remained just as far behind my target as before.

The other problem I encountered was the realization that my story wasn't going the way I wanted it to. I had outlined the beginning of it, leaving a major plot point as "something has to happen that will bring about a major conflict". Now I had an insight that in order to achieve the sort of conflict I wanted, I would have to rewrite the book from the beginning, changing many of the main characters' personalities, relationships, and attitudes.

At this point, I decided to stop writing the novel. I hope to spend some time thinking about it, outlining and planning it, and eventually writing it from the beginning, the way it should have been written. I may do this during the next NaNoWriMo (or Camp NaNoWriMo), or at another time.

My experience this month has taught me several things about myself and my writing. First of all, I think these challenges are good for some people, in some situations. I know that having written two 50,000 word novels in past challenges helped my self-image as a writer. I now know that I can complete a piece of writing, working through the story, watching the plot evolve, and practicing the persistence required to write every day.

I discovered through writing the previous novels, and particularly this one, that I would really prefer to have the entire plot worked out in advance rather than to "discover" it while writing it. Perhaps this means I'm "controlling", and prefer to bring things up into my conscious mind instead of hoping my subconscious will rise to the occasion. It may also relate to my working experience as a translator, where I am, in effect, writing in one language a text that has been "outlined" in another language. Bringing my translator skills to writing fiction, I would have an outline instead of a source-language text to base my writing on.

Thinking about my writing in general, I have found that I tend to make my characters rather too idealized, and therefore perhaps difficult to identify with. I also seem to bring my personality trait of conflict avoidance into my writing. I find that I haven't been depicting serious conflict, which is the core of any story. My characters have not been put in real danger, and as a result the story felt weak. I need to learn to create flawed characters, to put them into interesting and hazardous situations that threaten them physically, emotionally, or existentially. This is something I hope to work on at the outlining stage.

I don't see my decision to stop doing NaNoWriMo this time as a failure. It would have been pointless to force myself to continue working hard to catch up on a novel that I knew would have to be completely revised anyway. The circumstances forced me to reevaluate the novel and to think about my story writing so far, and I have learned a lot. As in many situations in life, quantity and quality have to be balanced, and I no longer aspire merely to write 50,000 words, I want to write the best 50,000 word story that I possibly can.

I wish all NaNoWriMo participants, and all other aspiring writers, great success in writing and developing their skills.

How to say no to low-paying translation work

2011-11-14T12:06:00.001+02:00

Caller: Hello. I got your number from ----. I understand that you're a translator?

Translator: Yes, that's right. How can I help you?

Caller: I need a section of my Ph.D. thesis in education translated into English. It's about 50 pages long, and I need it by the end of December.

Translator: I can do that.

Caller: How much do you charge?

Translator: NIS -- plus VAT per 250 words of the translation.

Caller: Can I tell you something? The previous translator I worked with charged half that rate. Why is there such a difference?

Translator: I don't know how other translators decide on their rates. In my case, I use the ITA's recommended rates. I am an ITA Recognized translator and editor with over 15 years of experience in academic translating and editing.

Caller: Is there any way you could be flexible with the rate? I'm not an impoverished student, I have a job, but that is still more than I was expecting to pay.

Translator: I could consider a slightly lower rate, but nothing like a 50% discount. This is why I don't usually work with students. I prefer to work for lecturers and professors, who have a budget they can use for translations, or in some cases have the means to pay my rates out of their own pockets.

Caller: But what if I tell you that I will have several more jobs in the next few months?

Translator: In that case, it makes even less sense to reduce my rate. Why would I want to spend even more hours working at half my usual rate when I have enough work at my normal rate?

Caller: So I understand you are not interested...

Translator: I realize that you can't afford my rates. You may be able to find another translator working at lower rates. Perhaps look on the notice boards in the university or ask at the Students Union. But they would probably not be ITA members or have as much experience as I do. Good luck!

Caller: Thank you. I'll think about it.

NaNoWriMo 2011

2011-11-01T19:44:00.000+02:00

Today I started writing a novel as part of the 2011 NaNoWriMo challenge. This is my third 50,000 word novel, having written one last November in the 2010 NaNoWriMo, and another this July, in Camp NaNoWriMo.

Unlike the previous stories, which I had been working on in my head for several years, I am now writing a story I only thought up recently. I was able to start outlining it before beginning to write, and plan to continue the outlining process as the writing proceeds, because I think planning ahead will help me write more easily. Without the pressure of making up the story as I go along, I should be able to focus on the writing itself as I write.

I feel very optimistic about this project, which has many layers of complexity. I hope my writing experience in the two previous novels has prepared me well enough to do this story justice.

I wish all the other NaNoWriMo participants the best of luck, and hope this challenge will benefit everyone who tries it.

William Gibson - Zero History

2011-10-20T17:26:00.000+02:00

William Gibson, Zero History, Penguin, 2011.

This book follows the novels Pattern Recognition (2003) and Spook Country (2007), and features some of the same characters, though this is not technically a trilogy or series, at least in my opinion. Like those novels, it explores the implications of contemporary or near-future technological and social change.

Hollis and Milgrim are hired by Bigend to investigate a secret fashion label, but end up involved in a more serious matter. The concept of a secret product, promoted by word of mouth, with a scarcity value, is presented as a counterpoint to the mass-marketing of mass-produced mainstream consumer goods. But does the fashion industry have more sinister applications?

I found the nomadic freelance lifestyle of the characters attractive in some ways. It seems like the ultimate independence, travelling, living in hotel rooms, with one's entire worldly property contained in a case, a backpack, and a laptop. I know they can only live like this because they have specific skills that others can hire, and it does impose restrictions on their personal relationships. But it is a world in which I enjoy spending time, in my mind, knowing that my own life will probably never resemble theirs in any way.

It is an interesting thriller, but at the same time a close character study. Gibson's attention to detail and evocative portrayal of realistic people in strange situations makes for fascinating reading. Following the character's inner thoughts and reactions to their experiences and surroundings, and tracing who knows what about whom, engages the reader in the world in an intimate and personal way. Like all great literature, it inspires readers to wonder in what ways they are similar and different to the characters, how they would behave in the circumstances presented, and what living in such a world would do to them.

I found it hard to decide whether this was the final story set in this world. Perhaps the author will return to the setting and some of the characters. I would welcome such a story, but I did not feel that this novel, or the two previous ones, for that matter, left plot threads unresolved in an unsatisfactory way. Each book really can be read on its own, unlike some series that claim each novel is "stand-alone" but end up having to summarize the back-story for new readers.

I have read all Gibson's novels, and look forward to reading whatever he chooses to write next. He is one of my all-time favourite writers, a master of plot, character, description, and language. I strongly recommend his work to all readers, even those who do not normally read anything that can be considered SF.

Legal relativism

2011-09-19T15:35:00.000+03:00

Here in Israel, serious traffic accidents often receive extensive media coverage, particularly if they are hit-and-run accidents. Last Friday morning, a woman was killed by a car that had been reported as driving dangerously just minutes earlier. The car's driver and passenger offered no assistance to the victim, did not report the accident, returned home, and fled the country. They returned to France, from where they had recently moved to Israel, with their families. There is no extradition treaty between Israel and France, and people accused of a crime in one country can only be extradited to the other by special dispensation. There is now some public pressure in Israel for this to be done in this case. It is also possible that the driver could be tried in France under French law, even though the crime was committed abroad.

When asked why he had left the country, the driver explained that in Israel he would be sentenced to 20 years in prison, while in France the sentence would be significantly lower. I have tried to find details about the penalties for driving offences in France, and it appears that causing death by dangerous driving would be punishable by a minimum of five years imprisonment, while hit-and-run would add another two years imprisonment. From what I have read, the 20 year sentence in Israel is the maximum penalty for killing someone in a hit-and-run accident. The law cannot treat such cases as murder, but considers them more serious than negligent killing, which only receives a penalty of three years imprisonment. When a driver abandons a pedestrian, this is considered a serious offence, because in some cases, the victim's life could be saved by immediate intervention, and anyone ignoring the fate of an injured person is potentially contributing to their death.

This case made me wonder why there are such significant differences between the levels of punishment for identical crimes in different countries. It seems to me that the legal system of each society reflects, to some extent, the values and norms of that society. The legal system can also be used by legislators to modify the public's behaviour and perception of certain behaviours.

Does this mean that French legislators or French society consider driving dangerously, killing a pedestrian, driving off, and not reporting the accident a much less serious crime than Israeli legistlators or Israeli society do? I have no way of knowing. From what I know about Israeli law, the punishments are relatively severe as a deterrent. The percentage of fatal and serious traffic accidents here, relative to the population, or to the number of cars, or the length of the roads (three different ways of comparing accident rates) is higher than in many western countries, and continuous efforts are being made to improve safety and prevent accidents.

In an ideal world, I believe most countries would share similar values, at least regarding things like traffic accidents. If countries had more similar laws and punishments, perhaps there would be fewer cases of criminals fleeing justice in the country where the crime was committed in the hope of evading punishment, or at least serving a smaller sentence, in another country.

Exposure helps build immunity

2011-09-13T23:44:00.001+03:00

Two unrelated recent news stories seem to me to be connected in a way. I find it interesting when I see this sort of connection, so I thought I would share my thoughts.

The first story is a report explaining what many people have suspected for a long time. The modern tendency to keep everything clean and sanitized may be partly responsible for an increase in certain diseases, such as asthma and auto-immune diseases. This was reported with headlines claiming that "some dirt may be good for you".

The explanation proposed is that our immune system requires some exposure to dirt and bacteria in order to develop its resistance. Living in an overly sanitized environment might cause the immune system to turn against the body's own cells, since it has not encountered enough foreign contaminants and learned to protect against them.

Many people now are extremely paranoid about exposure to anything that is not clean and "hygienic", but for most of the history of the species, and for most of the population of the world today, such circumstance are not available, and yet, these "dirty" conditions do not necessarily sentence people to a life of sickness, and many sufferers of some modern diseases seem to have developed them precisely because they live in such "clean" surroundings.

The second story concerns the ideas of modesty in Orthodox Judaism (and similar ideas exist in other religions). For a long time, Orthodox (haredi) men in Israel were exempt from military service because it was considered incompatible with their way of life. In recent times, efforts have been made to integrate them into the army, and to find ways to allow them to maintain their religious practices. One of the habits Orthodox Jews consider essential is modesty. They try to avoid contact between the genders, and one of the rules is that men are not supposed to hear women sing. At a ceremony in a military base, a few Orthodox soldiers walked out when female singers appeared. They were dismissed from the officer course they were attending, and the case has sparked controversy among the Israeli population.

On the one hand, proponents of religious freedom argue that people should not be required to do anything that goes against their religious principles. On the other hand, many people find it offensive that women should be treated as a threat to men's "purity".

It seems to me that the whole attitude of the fear in some religions that men will be unable to resist the charms of women if they see an "immodestly" dressed woman or hear her singing voice, therefore enforcing a sort of "hygiene" to prevent exposure to such risks, suffers from the same faulty logic as the thinking of the extreme cleanliness trend.

Men who grow up in a liberal society, exposed to "immodest" women, do not end up constantly thinking sexual thoughts, let along acting on them. They develop an immunity to the temptation, and learn to live normal lives in the presence of women. Of course there are some who act inappropriately, but this is also true within religious society. In some cases, the very lack of exposure among religious men can create the sort of hypersensitivity that I would consider unhealthy.

Since I believe that a healthy society involves giving freedom and equality to women, I find any attempts to restrict their behaviour counter-productive. I think that several religious attitudes toward women are blaming the victim by considering women inherently seductive, referring only to their physical aspect. These religions also seem to give men very little credit, considering them naturally incapable of controlling their urges. So these attempts at "modest" behaviour are demeaning to both genders, and leave them incapable of confident, authentic interaction with members of the opposite sex.

The lesson from these two stories seems to be that exposure increases immunity. To be healthy, people have to be exposed to the things they want to be capable of resisting. Avoiding exposure weakens and distorts the natural responses, and is an unhealthy impulse. I doubt many people with strong beliefs in cleanliness, whether literal or metaphorical, will change their opinions and embrace exposure to the very things they fear, but perhaps this is an argument people who favour exposure can use when explaining their position to such believers.

Three behaviours to avoid

2011-09-12T22:55:00.000+03:00

Yesterday during a visit to the supermarket I encountered three types of behaviour people should avoid, within a few minutes of each other. Having these things happen in such proximity made me aware that many people don't realize the consequences of their actions, so I decided it was worth writing about, even if these seem like obvious things to avoid.

1. Sexual harassment: As I entered the supermarket, the security guard said, "With a smile like that, I won't even check your bag". I hadn't been aware I was smiling, and it was probably my normal polite expression. I felt very uncomfortable to have a stranger I'd never seen before engage in this sort of banter. Then, when I left the supermarket trying to avoid any further contact, he said, "Where's that smile, then?", and I reacted with a forced, self-defensive smile. The man seemed creepy to me. He was old, had a goatee and a long, greasy pony tail. I don't usually judge people by their appearance, but in this case his attitude confirmed the impression his appearance made. If I'd said something like "Don't talk to me like that", he would have become defensive, saying it was just some harmless fun. He would probably not understand, or care, that it made me feel uncomfortable and that for me that was an intrusion into my privacy. Some readers may be surprised that I could be upset by something so minor. Indeed, I have experienced more serious cases of sexual harassment in the past, and I know many women would accept this as natural. But the point is that such men frequently treat women they encounter as sources of entertainment rather than as people with feelings. So, if you are a man reading this and have engaged in this sort of "harmless fun", please think again.

2. Inconsiderate behaviour: I have seen this often, but yesterday there were so many shopping trolleys (= carts) in the supermarket car park (parking lot), and in one place there was a whole stack of them almost blocking the way so I had to drive carefully to avoid them. Many years ago, supermarkets introduced the lock mechanism on trolleys, where you put in a coin and then have to return the trolley after use to reclaim the coin. This was supposed to ensure that people put them back in the right place instead of leaving them all over the car park. What happened is that people now have coin-shaped pushers that they can use to unlock the trolleys, so they no longer have to worry about retrieving their coins, and the situation has reverted to the original, pre-lock state. People don't seem to have enough consideration for others to put their trolleys back, and this can even endanger drivers. Until another method is invented to ensure the return of trolleys to their place after use, I would like to call on everyone to be considerate and responsible, take a few more steps, and put the trolley away. And this is just one example of the sort of selfish, short-sided lack of consideration that is prevalent in society.

3. Absent-minded behaviour: Then, when I was driving out of the car park, I almost had a head-on collision with a car trying to turn into the car park exit, which was clearly marked with a no entry sign. Luckily, we were both driving very slowly, and my headlights were on. As soon as the driver noticed me, he realized his mistake and turned the other way. But this demonstrated to me that careless and absent-minded behaviour could potentially have dangerous outcomes. I am a very cautious driver, and when I enter an underground car park, I turn on the lights, take off my sunglasses, and look around carefully to make sure I am driving the right way. This is not the first time I have seen people driving the wrong way in this car park, so I am always alert for people doing the wrong thing there. So I would like to call on people to be more aware of their surroundings, especially when driving.

I often wish I lived in a world with better people in it. There is not much I can do to change the world, but perhaps readers of this post will become more aware of their actions and of the impact such things can have on others. If through my writing, or as a personal role model, I can help even a few people change their behaviour, that will be my contribution to the net sum of goodness in the world.

The stress of home improvement

2011-09-08T14:21:00.000+03:00

At the moment, we are having building work done in our flat. This is very stressful, and I am trying to understand why the situation has such a strong emotional impact.

First, it was not exactly our choice to have this work done. We were asked to make these repairs by the neighbours downstairs. Rain water has been seeping into our external walls, trickling down, and causing dampness in their walls and ceilings in two places. To prevent this from happening this winter, we are having the balcony retiled, and part of the external wall of one room rebuilt. Having to do this work because our property is causing damage to the neighbours' flat is an uncomfortable situation. Obviously we have to do it, and we want to keep good relations with the neighbours. But it was not a decision we initiated, and if we had known the extent and cost of the work required, we might have been able to prepare for it better and felt more in control of the situation.

Second, I feel invaded and trapped. We have workers in the house several hours a day, making noise, making a mess, smoking, listening to their music, sometimes arguing. My home is an extension of myself, and I feel very uncomfortable with having other people here who are not our guests. Working from home is ideal for me, because usually my home is peaceful. I am now finding it hard to concentrate with the noise and the constant awareness that I might be interrupted. I can't just take my computer and work somewhere else, because I want to supervise the workers.

Third, we have two cats, and they are currently confined to the bedroom while the workers are here. They get very upset at the noise, and sometimes I have to spend part of the day in the bedroom with them just to reassure them. I don't know if it would have been better to put them into a cat pension/hotel, since they are very attached to us and hate travelling (we have moved home with them several times).

Finally, of course, there is the financial consideration. Because the damage was caused by rain water rather than burst pipes, the repairs are not covered by our insurance. This has forced us to take money out of a savings account. We always intended to use our savings for emergencies such as house repairs, but it is never a good feeling to have to large expenses, especially as we always have a large degree of uncertainty about our future financial security.

I have realized that the stress results from feeling helpless, invaded, trapped, unsure about the future, and from worrying about the cats. I know that my life is normally quite stress-free, and hope the work will be finished as soon as possible so we can all return to our normal routine, in an improved home.

Guy Gavriel Kay - Under Heaven

2011-09-04T16:08:00.000+03:00

Guy Gavriel Kay, Under Heaven, Harper Voyager, 2010.

This is a story about living in interesting times, and of having greatness thrust upon you. The main character, Tai, spent two years living in isolation, working on a personal mission to bury the bones of soldiers on a remote battlefield. He is rewarded with an unexpected gift, two hundred and fifty horses. This forces him to return home to the capital and engage with a world that has changed during his absence.

Tai discovers that his brother has become adviser to the first minister, and his sister has been made a princess and sent as a bride beyond the northern border. We follow her adventures in the northern region, where Tai had previously served in the army. Tai becomes involved in palace politics, and everything changes.

The story is set in a society based on ancient China, though no knowledge of history is required. It is a fantasy, but the fantasy seems to exist only in two aspects of the story: the ghosts of the dead soldiers, and the shamanistic powers in the north.

This was an interesting story, partly because the main character seemed rather passive, having to react to circumstances beyond his control rather than asserting his will. At times, the story is a very personal examination of his inner thoughts, while at other times the author draws back from the action and describes how events are later understood or interpreted by historians and poets. The juxtaposition of a personal account and a wider view shows that objectivity is difficult to achieve, and the later presentation of events is no less subjective than any individual's perception of them at the time.

As always, I enjoy Kay's writing, with the vivid descriptions of people and places, the balance between the characters' personal motivations and the larger events that seem to control their fates, and the occasional insights into the minor characters' lives.

I recommend this book, and readers who are encountering Kay's work for the first time would do well to try his earlier novels, too.

Making challenges realistic

2011-09-01T16:34:00.000+03:00

As regular readers will have noticed, my plan to write a blog post every day in August did not work very well. I managed to write on 13 out of 31 days, which is less than half. On the other hand, it is more than I have ever written in one month. Since my original target when I started the blog was to write 6-8 posts a month (which I sometimes achieve), I now think that 8-10 posts per month would be a more realistic target than writing every day.

Just as during the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge in July I did not manage to write every day, and had to make up my lost word count on other days, I found that trying to write every day was a bit demanding, especially as I had a busy workload during August.

My problem has always been that my work as a translator and editor takes up the same sort of creative verbal mental energy that my writing does, so at the end of a day's work, I find it difficult to spend even more time and energy crafting words and sentences, and often prefer to do something else. Since I don't intend to change my day job, I will have to find a way to combine my own writing ambitions with my paid work.

I often think of subjects for blog posts and then never get around to writing them. Now that I have my little netbook, it should be more convenient to write wherever I happen to be at the time. I have some books to review, and perhaps also some more controversial topics to discuss. I hope that with a more realistic expectation of how often I should write, I will be able to meet my new target and keep this blog interesting for my readers and myself.

Wild boars in Haifa

2011-08-22T13:12:00.000+03:00

Over the past few weeks, we have been observing the wild boars who visit our garden late at night. They travel in sounders, groups composed of a few families. We have watched the piglets grow. Usually, they run away when anyone approaches, but on Friday night Ivor finally managed to film them, creating the following five-minute video:

Ever since we moved to Haifa seven years ago, I have read reports of wild boars in the city (and surrounding towns and villages). Last year I saw one boar in the garden late one night, and this year the sounder has been visiting once or twice a week.

Haifa is built on a forested mountain, and I like to remember that the forest and its wildlife were here long before humans. The city is still a very green place, with trees everywhere and green valleys between the built areas.

Following the major forest fire in the Carmel forest last December, the wild boars are probably finding it more difficult to survive in the damaged forest, and have moved into the city, with its abundant food supplies. I wonder if they will eventually learn to be friendly with humans.

In some parts of the world, boars are hunted by humans. I think this has been less common in our region, since Jews, Moslems, and Druze traditionally do not eat pork and so would have less motivation to hunt the boar for food.

As far as I know, the local boars have never attacked anyone. There is, however, a risk of running them over at night, and I read that three boars have been run over recently on a dark inter-city road south of Haifa. They have put up warning signs to alert drivers to this risk, but I think street lights might be a better option.

I am grateful for the opportunity to observe wild animals from my home. Some people have to go to the zoo, or on safari, to have this sort of experience. Every day I am aware of living in balance with the natural world, and it broadens my horizons to be constantly reminded that there is more to life that our purely human concerns.

Why we shouldn't worry about spoilers

2011-08-19T21:53:00.000+03:00

Recent research has found that knowing the ending of a story can improve our enjoyment of it. This goes against the popular idea that knowing too many details about a book or film in advance "spoils" it for the reader or viewer. We have developed a culture where people discussing any plot are expected to issue "spoiler alerts" and to ensure that their audience is already familiar with the work before revealing not just the ending, but any plot twists and details that might be considered important.

I have had mixed feelings about this tendency. Here on my blog, I have often either posted spoiler alerts at the beginning of a book review, or else discussed the plot in a subtle way, without giving away too much about the ending. This was not my original intention, and I had wanted the freedom to discuss books in detail, on the assumption that readers of the blog would have read them, or would not be upset by knowing such things in advance.

Now the study seems to show that this sort of knowledge can help us enjoy the experience even more. This makes sense to me, because I know that while the first reading is a unique experience of discovery, if I really enjoy a book I will read it again, often several times over many years, and almost all the DVDs I own are of films I originally saw in the cinema.

The repeat experience of a work of art has different qualities compared with the first tasting. Once you know what to expect, you start looking out for the hints of the ending throughout the work, and can also devote more attention to other aspects, such as the language, the pacing, the character development, and so on. In fact, I wrote about this only recently in a post about the experience of reading a good book.

I have often read books for the first time with full knowledge of the ending or main plot twist, often from reading book reviews and talking to people who recommend the books, and I never felt this diminished my enjoyment. There are very few stories that depend so completely on the element of surprise and the shock of discovering the plot twist or the ending. A story should be enjoyable all the way through, with the ending constituting a resolution or a pay-off for everything that has happened along the way. If the journey was not pleasurable, having an unexpected ending will not change that experience.

I am now wondering whether it is time to start writing about books without worrying about spoiling the ending. Perhaps I will put up spoiler warnings so those who know they will be disturbed can avoid reading the post, and then feel free to discuss whatever aspects of the book I want. I would be interested to hear what readers of this blog feel about this issue. Would you mind reading my book reviews if they contained spoilers?

What is love?

2011-08-15T19:22:00.000+03:00

Today is Tu B'Av, the Jewish equivalent of Valentine's Day, so it seems like a good opportunity to talk about love.

Love is one of those concepts that is used to describe a wide array of emotions and situations. Of course, there are many types of love, including family love, friendship, and passion. I want to talk about what is called "romantic love", the sort of love that people feel when they want to have an exclusive intimate relationship with each other.

When I think about this sort of love, the most important feature in my opinion is wanting the best for the person you love. Ideally, both partners feel the same way about each other. But if a person loves and is not loved in return, true love should help overcome the rejection and accept that it might be better for the other person not to be in this particular relationship.

Love should not be possessive. When people attack someone who has rejected them, this does not express love. I think it expresses frustrated passion and hurt pride. What is called a "crime of passion" in English is called in Hebrew "murder with a romantic background". I wish this term was no longer used, as there is nothing romantic about killing an ex, or the person that ex is now seeing.

Love should inspire us to become the best people we can be. We should aspire to be worthy of the love we want to receive from the beloved. Anything negative or destructive done in love's name proves that there was no real love involved.

A relationship based on love should bring the couple closer together, learning to understand each other, to communicate with each other, trust each other, and to feel respect for each other. Rather than trying to change your partner, first think about how you could change yourself in the interest of a more harmonious relationship.

I am very fortunate in my relationship, and give thanks every day for the love that we experience. I hope some of our friends can learn from our example and believe in the possibility of a loving marriage.

Ken MacLeod - The Restoration Game

2011-08-14T17:43:00.000+03:00

Ken MacLeod, The Restoration Game, Orbit, 2010.

The story centres on a fictional former Soviet Republic, Krassnia. Lucy Stone works for a computer company that makes a game set in this Republic, based on Lucy's mother's study of its mythology. Lucy soon learns that there is a kernel of reality behind the myth she had heard from childhood, and sets out to discover the truth.

Like many of MacLeod's books, this is a political thriller, but it is also SF. It is difficult to discuss the plot in any detail without spoliers. Let's just say that the many coincidences, parallels, and foreshadowings are there for a reason. The central plot device was apparent to me from early on, but this did not reduce my enjoyment of the story. I got the feeling while reading this that the author was relishing his cleverness, and inviting the readers who got the early hints to join in and enjoy the journey of discovery the characters undertake, while those who were slower to understand would end up impressed with what they discover along with the characters.

As we follow Lucy from her IT job into a complicated political world, involving her mother's past relationships and Lucy's childhood in Krassnia, a picture of the wider world emerges. At one central plot moment, two characters who should (in my opinion) mistrust each other, and one should be furious about what the other is about to do, just decide to cooperate for short-term expedience in a way that seemed to me unrealistic. I have seen these moments of easy trust in MacLeod's work before, and wonder whether this is part of his personality, or perhaps a form of idealism.

The story is full of subtle details, vivid descriptions (MacLeod is good at clothing), and moments of humour and emotion. Lucy's character is well-drawn, while some of the other characters are less fully developed.

The final revelation will please those who knew all along, and, I hope, be a pleasant surprise for those who had no idea where the story was leading them. It might give many readers a lot to think about. I enjoyed this book, though I do not consider it the author's best work.

Accepting compliments

2011-08-11T22:52:00.000+03:00

While not many people particularly enjoy receiving negative criticism, it seems to me that is it quite common for people to have difficulty accepting compliments. On the face of it, compliments are an expression of someone else's appreciation and respect. You would think this is the sort of positive attention the most people would crave. In fact, things are more complicated.

Compliments often make the recipient uncomfortable. Sometimes people just don't want to be the centre of attention, and they feel uneasy knowing that the spotlight of scrutiny has been directed their way, even if the outcome was a positive reaction. Other people find it difficult to believe in the sincerity of the compliment. They start wondering what the compliment giver is trying to achieve through this gesture.

From the experience of myself and others, I have learned the following techniques for accepting compliments. First of all, assume that the compliment giver is expressing a genuine opinion. It is not worth speculating and developing all kinds of conspiracy theories about their possible motivation. Second, the best reaction is always "Thank you!". If you are being complimented on something you did or made, you can add "I'm glad you enjoyed it". Third, even if you feel that the compliment might not be fully deserved, don't try to belittle yourself. To do this is to disagree with the compliment giver's opinion, and to reject a genuine positive comment. Finally, remember the compliments you receive, as they are useful feedback.

To be a giving person, you also have to know how to receive, since receiving something gracefully gives pleasure to the giver. You are actually giving them that pleasure when you accept praise. Practice giving compliments (only sincere ones!) to others, observing how they react, and how their reactions make you feel. Then reverse that lesson, and react to compliments you receive from others in a way that you know would give them pleasure.

Reacting to a good book

2011-08-09T22:56:00.000+03:00

Reading a good book is, obviously, a pleasure and a joy. A good book can transport the reader into another world, tell a story of great significance, create emotional identification with characters, and use language in inspiring ways.

When reading a good book, I am always torn between wanting to continue, to find out how it ends, and not wanting it to end. I sometimes have to use great willpower to put the book down and go to sleep, or to do other things, rather than read on to the end. In such cases, telling myself I am rationing the pleasure of reading by postponing the experience until later can help me convince myself to stop reading for a while.

Good books ask to be read again. Sometimes I reread a book immediately after the first read, wanting to have the very different experience of the second read, with the knowledge of the conclusion. In the second and later readings, the reader can notice all the small hints the author put into the book, foreshadowing the ending. Later readings don't have the urgency, the desperate need to find out how it ends, and thus allow readers to take greater pleasure in the process of building up the plot and the characters.

For as long as I can remember myself, I have wanted to write, and so reading is always a learning experience for me. Whatever I read, I try to notice how the author shapes the plot, creates suspense, builds characters, and structures the story. I notice things like the pacing, the construction of dialogue, and how much can be revealed and how much concealed to keep the reader's interest. While it is possible to learn from badly written work how not to write, it is naturally much better to choose good writing and draw inspiration from those masters who do it well.

We all have our weaknesses, and I must admit that sometimes when I read something really good, I become vividly aware that I am not yet able to write this well. I try to stay positive and tell myself that I am learning from the best, and I know that as I practice my writing regularly, I will improve. I have learned not to idealize even the writers I admire most. Everyone has a few faults, and even the best books are not perfect. I can always find something I would have done differently, a phrase that irritates me, or some logical flaw in the plot. When I see these things in good books, I know that when I write, I create something that is purely mine. My own writing will contain my own strengths and weaknesses, which I am learning, just as every writer's writing does.

There are some skills I know I will never develop. I can't sing, and it has always frustrated me that my voice cannot follow a tune I can hear clearly inside my head. I put aside this frustration so that I can enjoy music. With writing it is different. I write, to the best of my ability, and to do this I have to learn from writers better and more experienced than myself. With this in mind, I have to balance my admiration of their skill with the knowledge that my own skill is developing as I work on it. I may not ever write works equal to those I most enjoy reading, but one day I will write work that feels to me good enough to attempt to publish, and that should be my short-term aim.

Earthquake

2011-08-08T20:51:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I felt a minor earthquake. At about 11:55, everything shook from side to side, just one shake. I soon discovered that this earthquake had been felt in many places along Israel's coast, that its magnitude was 4.2, and that its epicentre was about 40 km. west, out at sea. Experts say this is a rare location for earthquakes, which normally happen along the Syria-Africa fault line. If a more serious earthquake happens out at sea, this could cause extensive damage and loss of life along Israel's coast, the most densely populated part of the country.

This was not the worst earthquake I have experienced. I think I have felt 4-5 worse than this, and a few similar ones, over the past few years. None of these caused much damage. Israel is a place where there have been many serious earthquakes in the past, and the next big one is statistically likely to happen soon.

For years experts have been warning the government that the country is not prepared for a major earthquake. Most of the buildings built before the 1980s are likely to collapse. There could be serious damage to infrastructure, and the loss of life could be more significant than in any war or previous natural disaster. The short-sightedness of the authorities in ignoring this risk is staggering, and I can imagine the sort of commission of inquiry that would investigate the negligence after the fact. When experts give this sort of warning, they should be taken seriously. The regional security situation is not necessarily the greatest threat to this country. We may eventually make peace with all our neighbours, but there is no way to prevent an earthquake, only to prepare as much as possible to minimize the damage it might cause.

The idea that my home might well be destroyed in an earthquake, and that I could die or be injured in it, is just another of the background stresses in my life. I try not to think about it, just as I prefer not to dwell on the likeliness of another war, of another wave of terrorist attacks, and so on. But knowing that nobody is making the necessary preparations is frustrating and infuriating.

I can only wish that no serious earthquakes hit densely populated areas anywhere in the world, but I know that now and then it happens, and if it happens here, a great deal of preventable damage and deaths will result.

Caesarea National Park

2011-08-07T20:51:00.000+03:00

Yesterday we visited the Caesarea National Park. Of course, I have been there many times before, on childhood school trips, on family visits, and sometimes with visitors from abroad. It is a place with a long history of habitation by various cultures: Pagan, Jewish, Christian, and Moslem. It is one of my favourite places to visit, and over the years I have seen the site grow and develop.

I remember on my earliest visits the main parts of the site were the Roman theatre and parts of the Crusader walls and city. Further north, parts of the aqueduct were visible along the beach. The site was sandy and there were a few facilities, such as bathrooms and a small cafe. Since then, additional sections have been excavated and opened to the public, including the Hippodrome and more of the harbour area. The site has been developed a lot, with better footpaths, lawns, and many more restaurants and shops in reconstructed buildings. It feels more hospitable, but at the same time less like an excavation and more like a tourist attraction that happens to have some ancient ruins lying around. It also feels more commercial, with many places to eat, souvenir shops, art galleries, and jewellery shops.

We went to see the new attraction at the site that we hadn't seen before, two short films about the site. One described the city's history, and another explained the various buildings from the different periods. These films were available in seven languages (Hebrew, English, Arabic, Russian, French, German, and Spanish), which I think is probably rare at most tourist attractions around the world.

The weather was hot and humid, so we didn't explore the whole site this time. I look forward to visiting the site again when the weather is better.

My office set-up

2011-08-05T18:17:00.000+03:00

I work mainly at a desktop computer. My current set-up has a 22-inch monitor and a wireless keyboard and mouse. While my for many years I was a Mac user, as described in a previous post, I moved over to Windows four and a half years ago, mainly because most of my customers use it, and Office for Mac has not been localized for Hebrew. I use Firefox as my browser and Thunderbird for my email, and iTunes for my music and to sync my iPod Touch. I have an inkjet printer, on the shelf under my keyboard shelf, and I have noticed that I now use it almost exclusively for printing hard-copy invoices and receipts. I have a very old fax machine to the left of my desk, which I think might be 20 years old. I now rarely need to send or receive a fax, maybe once a year or so. To the left of my desk is a bookcase full of dictionaries and reference books, though it's usually easier to look things up online.

The most recent addition to my computing life is a netbook. This is a LG X170, and it has a 10.1 inch screen, which seems to be about a quarter of the size of my desktop monitor. This is the first laptop I have had, and it has taken me a long time to be able to justify needing a laptop. I hardly ever work when I'm away from home, but there have been times when I have wanted to check my email, which sometimes results with having to do urgent work, which is not always easy on someone else's computer. I also used to think laptops were too large and heavy for me to want to carry just in case I might need to use them. But the new netbooks seem ideal in size and weight. I hope to use it in other rooms around the house when I don't feel like getting up to go into my office just to check something online or see if I have any email. Now that I am writing novels and trying to blog more regularly, having another computer will help me write more often, even when I'm tired of sitting at my desk after a long day of translating or editing.

I see my computers and gadgets as tools. They are both useful and fun, and my life would be different without them. I consider myself a sensible technophile, and a competent user of my equipment, but not as an early adopter of new gadgets.

Hannu Rajaniemi - The Quantum Thief

2011-08-04T15:14:00.000+03:00

Hannu Rajaniemi, The Quantum Thief, Gollancz, 2010.

This is a far-future novel, and its characters are post-human. A warrior called Mieli rescues a thief from prison, asking him to steal something for her. Together they explore the complex society of the Oubliette, a moving city on Mars. Meanwhile, a young detective, Isidore, is hired to solve a mystery. The city is policed by a sort of vigilante group known as the Tzaddikim.

The themes of this work are time and memory. Time serves as a currency, and people who run out of time become Quiet, meaning that they are taken to serve in the maintenance of the moving city, in a different form, for a while. People's memories are constantly edited, and their interactions are controlled by a complex set of permissions, known as Gevulot. People can choose how, or even if, others will see them, whether to reveal their name or identity, and whether to allow the memory of an encounter to be stored. This inconsistency of memory makes people's perception of reality transient, allows privacy and anonimity to be taken to an extreme degree, and poses challenges for discovering the truth about anything.

Gradually, the thief regains some of his past memories. The different threads of the plot come together, with characters meeting and secrets being discovered. There are clever tricks, fight scenes, advanced weapons, and the development of real human emotions.

The story keeps the reader at a distance, with important aspects kept hidden until the reader learns about them when they happen, or when one of the characters reveals them, but not before. It is often difficult to identify with the characters when they are so much more powerful than us, but this is balanced by their human stories, gradually explored and revealed.

The ending leads to dramatic changes, and this is an interesting future I might enjoy visiting again in other books or short stories. I hope for stories set in this universe that introduce and welcome readers to the setting, rather than mystify them.

One thing that bothered me was the misuse of a Hebrew term. While the author uses the noun Tzaddik (singular) and Tzaddikim (plural) correctly, he employs the term Gevulot (= boundaries) as both a noun and an adjective, and seems unaware that it is plural (the singular would be Gevul). Readers unfamiliar with Hebrew would not notice this, but I think words from real languages should be used properly, where SF writers prefer not to invent new words for their new concepts. This may seem like a minor point, but it did irritate me, and I wonder whether it would be possible to correct this if/when the novel is reprinted.

I had mixed feelings about this novel. It appeals as an intelligent, literary, and aesthetic experience, but is somewhat unclear and distant. It may appeal to readers seeking an intellectual challenge, and to those who enjoy post-human settings more than I seem to.

Protests for social justice

2011-08-03T16:27:00.000+03:00

Recent weeks have seen the birth of a social justice protest movement in Israel. People have started camping out in parks and public spaces to protest the high cost of housing and the cost of living in general.

On Saturday night there were large demonstrations in ten cities, with a reported total participation of about 150,000 people, with 100,000 in Tel Aviv, and 10,000 each in Jerusalem and Haifa. The Haifa demonstration was very close to where we live, and we could hear the speeches and the applause. I realized from the volume of applause that there were more people there than I have ever known to attend an event in Haifa, and it has been called one of the largest demonstrations ever in the city.

I have been following the story of this new protest movement with interest. For the first time, the movement is led by middle class professional people who still find it very difficult to reach the sort of financial security that would allow them to buy their own home, and even renting is becoming more and more expensive. I can attest to this difficulty. For twenty years we rented, and only when we inherited enough money, from my aunt and Ivor's parents and grandparents, could we consider buying our own place.

The reporting of the protest has involved several interesting comparisons between Israel and other developed countries, regarding salaries, working hours, the cost of various items, and the gap between rich and poor. Israel recently joined the OECD, and in most indices is at the bottom of its ranking. For example, if I remember correctly, Israel has the largest proportion of child poverty and the largest gap between the incomes of the richest and poorest.

One of the factors that must be taken into account is that in Israel, the citizens' contribution to the state is greater than in most other countries. Most Israelis are recruited to compulsory military service at 18, serve for 2-3 years, and some of them are required to participate in reserve military duty until the age of 40, sometimes for a month each year. Also, at times of war, the civilian population is called upon to stand strong, keep working, and not flee when Israeli cities are attacked from across the border. For these contributions, in addition to the taxes people pay, there is a growing feeling that the population is not being rewarded sufficiently.

What has been bothering me, though, is the distorted focus of the public debate and the attitudes displayed by some of the people opposed to the protests. At first, it was suggested that the protesters were spoilt, wanted to live only in Tel Aviv, and were unwilling to move futher away. This suggestion faded when tents sprung up in so many other cities, and when data about the cost of housing in all parts of Israel were published.

Many people are still arguing that the economy here is good, that the protesters could live more modestly, and that they are "just trying to bring down the government". These claims can be answered by first looking at the economic data, which show the protest is based on fact rather than feeling. To say that the middle class should live more modestly implies that the vast majority of the population should actually be working class rather than middle class. Telling your population to lower its aspirations does not seem to me to be a good way to improve the economy and morale. Finally, peaceful protests are a legitimate form of expressing the population's opinions about the government between elections.

There is a call for the restoration of the welfare state and an end to privatization. This is a point of ideology that raises some serious arguments, but also some very emotionally charged claims. I have observed that many of the supporters of the more extreme market freedoms, who claim the state should have a minimal intervention in the economy, are self-made wealthy people. They like to present their prosperity as evidence of their hard work, and to argue that anyone can become wealthy given enough hard work. This seems to me to be a form of blaming the victim - claiming that the poor brought their poverty upon themselves through laziness. These self-made people refuse to acknowledge the importance of luck in their success. Their careers have been helped along by contacts they made, and often by chance factors that gave them an advantage over others who worked just as hard. In some cases, such people have advanced by bending the rules, while more honest people who studiously avoid corruption end up falling behind.

The current proposals being negotiated by the protesters and the government may lead to some compromise steps being taken. Ultimately, I do not consider it likely that life in Israel will be made much easier for the working and middle classes, or that the gap between the richest and the rest of us can be reduced significantly. But an outcome I would like to see would be an improvement in the level of public debate, where people looked at the facts and listened to each other with open minds, rather than prejudging those who disagree with their ideology.

What does age mean?

2011-08-02T13:33:00.000+03:00

Today is my birthday. This makes me wonder what our age really means.

Age denotes the time a person has been alive. However, people develop and learn at different rates, so it is a poor indicator of where an individual is in the journey of discovery that is life.

Children place great importance on their age, and each year makes a big difference in their life. As adults, we generally stop thinking so much about the differences between one year and the next, except for parents watching their children grow up.

When we are young, we spend our time busily observing and learning how things work, how people communicate and interact, and what things mean. As we mature, we have a framework of the knowledge we have acquired, and we can place into this framework any new thing we learn or experience. We have context for many of the new things we encounter, and can compare them with similar things from our past knowledge.

For some, growing older means a loss of the excitement and pleasure of youth. Nothing is new any more, and familiarity breeds contempt. This seems to me unfortunate, since novelty in itself is not the most important aspect of any experience. Those who can no longer enjoy a sunset because they have seen thousands are losing some of the joy of life.

In general, older and more mature people tend to be more responsible and balanced, and less extreme, than the young. This is partly because over time they have seen things from different angles, learned to see in shades of grey and not just in black and white, and have had time to discover that the world and human situations are complicated.

I see my life so far as a process of growth and development. I have worked hard to overcome some of the problems I experienced when younger, and I am much happier than I used to be.

I am now in the best years of my life. I have reached a level of maturity and stability that I find comfortable, but I still see myself as young, in that I am constantly learning, open-minded, and creative. I hope this state lasts for the rest of my life.

New challenge: Blog every day in August

2011-08-01T11:05:00.000+03:00

After I spent July writing a novel, with a daily word count target, I have decided to set myself a new daily challenge: I am going to write a blog post every day in August 2011.

I have been writing this blog for three years now, and most months have failed to reach my intended target of 4-6 blog posts. Sometimes I think of a good subject for a blog post, but then never get round to writing it. There have even been several books I read and planned to review, but by the time I remembered that I hadn't written the review, I had already read something else and had sometimes forgotten what I had planned to say.

This month, I hope to find enough interesting subjects to blog about. It will be an experiment in discovering the sort of topics I would enjoy writing about, and if I get any feedback from readers of this blog, this will help me learn what you would like to read.

Doing something every day for at least three weeks is considered one of the best ways of forming a new habit. I know this has worked for me in several instances. A few years ago, when I started visiting the dentist regularly after years of neglect, I learned to start using dental floss in addition to brushing my teeth. At first, this extra step seemed like a burden, but now my routine is not complete without it. I think it became a habit after I managed to floss every day for three or four weeks.

Habits are mental shortcuts. When we do things habitually, it saves a bit of mental energy on thinking and deciding what to do. Habits become automatic, part of how we behave almost instinctively. Here are some good habits to adopt: Brushing and flossing teeth, looking both ways before crossing the road, getting ready to pay while still waiting in the queue (line), always checking emails before sending to make sure they are addressed to the right person, checking the spelling of everything you write (not just using the automatic spellcheck, but by reading it again), and keeping water with you to drink frequently throughout the day.

The habit of writing something every day is very important to me, as I have always wanted to be a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works. This blog is part of my non-fiction writing, and by getting into the habit of writing something here every day, I hope to acquire the habit of writing every day for the rest of my life, which should improve the quality of my writing as well as the quantity.

If any readers have suggestions for blog topics, or wish to share stories about acquiring habits, please comment below!

Finishing Camp NaNoWriMo

2011-07-30T17:03:00.000+03:00

I have just finished writing my second 50,000 word novel! Last November I took part in the NaNoWriMo challege, and this July I decided to join the Camp NaNoWriMo challenge to write another novel I have been thinking about for a long time.

The differences between the two experiences are significant. I started this challenge with the knowledge that I had already succeeded the first time I tried, so I was more confident that it could be done. I also knew that writing the daily target word count was not going to be too difficult for me, though sometimes I knew that the quality of what I was writing was not my best. This time, there were several days when I was unable to write, and there were several days when I had to catch up, writing the word count target for two or three days in one session. I think the most I managed to write in one day was about 4,000 words (with about 1,660 being the daily target), which I recently read a published author saying was about the maximum output he could manage in a day. So I now know that when necessary I can do much more than the minimum.

I am not a summer person, and the heat bothers me a lot. July is probably my least favourite month of the year. However, I was happy to retreat to my air conditioned office and work on my novel in the heat of the afternoon, trying to imagine it was cooler outside. I was also fortunate to have less pressure of work this month, allowing me to concentrate on my writing. I now feel ready to take on a greater work burden, having spent a month expressing my creative side.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I did not have time to outline this novel. My experience last November, and this current experience, have shown me that I would prefer to outline and plan the novel in advance. I had to make up quite a lot as I went along, and the pacing of the story is not quite right. Both this novel and the one I wrote in November will need a lot of rewriting to be considered finished to my satisfaction. The rewriting process will teach me a lot, and inform my future writing efforts.

I recommend this challenge, which is also taking place this August, to aspiring writers who have yet to make the commitment to write every day. The pressure can be difficult, but I believe it is a worthwhile experience and life lesson. Professional writers almost all advocate writing every day, with some giving themselves a minimum word count to achieve. I look forward to taking the November NaNoWriMo challenge, this time with a novel I hope to outline in advance.

Camp NaNoWriMo

2011-07-11T18:14:00.000+03:00

Having written a 50,000 word novel last November, as part of the NaNoWriMo challenge, I am currently taking part in a new challenge, Camp NaNoWriMo. Once again, the aim is to write 50,000 words in a month, and the new camp version takes place in July and August.

I had decided that the next novel I wrote would be outlined and planned, as I found the "discovery writer" method I used in November to be a bit unsatisfying. But when I heard about the challenge in July, I decided not to wait until November. I am now working on the second of two novels I had been thinking about writing for years. Having ideas for plot, characters, and setting in your head is not the same as outlining a novel! Things still change when you start writing them down, and I'm waiting to see if this novel drifts as far from my original thoughts as the last one did.

July is not such a good time as November, for me, because I dislike the summer heat. I usually feel more motivated and creative when the weather is cooler. But at least this time I happen to have less pressure of work, so I'm taking advantage of this free time to be a full-time writer, until the next job comes in. I know I should be getting ahead, writing more than the minimal word count each day in case I have to spend hours working later in the month, or be away from home. So far I haven't managed to do this, though I find the daily word count relatively easy to achieve. I'm learning what my limits are, how much writing I can do, and how tiring it can be.

After I finish this novel, my aim is to start the revisions of the previous novel. I have not looked at it since I finished it on November 30th, and I know it will need a lot more work before I consider it finished to my satisfaction. I have often heard that it is good to put a piece of writing away for several months and then return to it with fresh eyes, seeing the product rather than the process. I hope I will be able to evaluate and revise it more objectively, as if it were someone else's writing. Eventually I will have to do this for the novel I am now writing.

I find it difficult to critique my own work while I am writing it. Perhaps the creative mind is naturally resistant to analytical thinking. I think if I were constantly judging my words and the structure of my work, it could cause creative paralysis. On the other hand, I want my writing to improve so that eventually it naturally requires less editing or revision.

I am enjoying this challenge, and encourage any readers who find this idea inspiring to sign up for Camp NaNoWriMo in August, or for NaNoWriMo in November and start writing their own novels.

Peter F. Hamilton - The Evolutionary Void

2011-06-25T18:11:00.000+03:00

Peter F. Hamilton, The Evolutionary Void, Pan, 2011.

This book is the third and final volume of the Void Trilogy, which in turn is set in a later period in the same universe as the Commonwealth Saga. As usual for this author, it is a large book, spanning many different characters, sub-plots, and worlds.

It is difficult to discuss the end of a series without giving spoilers. While in the Commonwealth Saga the threat to human civilization was posed by an uncompromising alien species, in the Void Trilogy it is the Void itself that threatens to expand and engulf the galaxy. All known species have been studying the nature of the Void for thousands of years, but humans have received a unique insight into the mystery when a scientist starts dreaming the lives of some humans living inside it. As the series progresses, we follow the characters outside the Void as a group of humans plan to try to enter the Void, which would lead to a catastrophic expansion. We also follow the world within the dreams, and gradually learn about the special nature of life within the Void.

This volume builds to a satisfying climax. The various sub-plots are tied together. The mystery is explained. Some things that earlier seemed to be trivial descriptions or local colour turn out to play central roles in the story. A few characters from the earlier stories are re-introduced.

I have read all of Hamilton's novels, and enjoy observing the progress of his skills over time. His work has a wide appeal, with something for everyone. There are characters, sub-plots, and aspects of the story that will interest individual readers more than others. For me, the combination of a wide-ranging space opera describing far future human societies, along with the Big Ideas, creates a perfect balance of enjoyable escapism with thought-provoking speculation into scientific and social possibilities.

One example of this is the idea that human life has been extended, and people can rejuvenate frequently. Most people maintain a young appearance, usually in their twenties, and are in good health and very attractive. An interesting thought experiment for readers: Try to imagine every adult you know, including family, friends, colleagues, and celebrities, all appearing to be around their mid-twenties, all in good health, and all as attractive as possible. Nobody would age, nobody would have any disabilities or any of the features that might be considered unattractive or unhealthy. Can you imagine spending your day with everyone, including yourself, looking like this? Imagine a wedding where the bride's mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and so on for many generations, are all present and all looking equally young and attractive. This demonstrates how used we are to the concept of ageing. We expect to be able to determine a person's age, more or less, from their appearance, and that this appearance will change over the decades. The social implications of changing this expectation are among the most interesting speculations in many SF works I have read, including much of Hamilton's work.

I recommend this series, and new readers will benefit from reading the books in order, starting with the Commonwealth Saga, or perhaps even the related stand-alone novel Misspent Youth, before reading the Void Trilogy.

Marketing Conference: Faster, Cheaper, More Focused

2011-06-15T18:26:00.000+03:00

This week I attended the Second Annual Marketing Conference organized by the Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Haifa & the North. This followed the first conference I attended last year, and was once again held at the International Convention Center Haifa. There were about 250 people attending, slightly fewer than last year.

The morning started with greetings from Haifa's deputy mayor, Oded Dunitz, who spoke about the city's development, and noted that the number of tourists visiting Haifa has doubled in the past year. Then the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Gad Shefer welcomed the participants.

The first lecture was by Osnat Rubin, who has spoken at two conferences I have attended, this year's ITA conference, and the last Jasmine conference. She explained that marketing messages should focus on the customer's needs and how the product/service benefits the customer. Next, Amir Cahani told us about providing value. He noted that locating a new customer costs 5-8 times more than preserving an existing customer, and stressed the importance of long-term relationships with customers, and of professional ethics. Avi Osipov of Open College presented his lecture as a story of a computer technician trying to find the right way to advertise his business. The suggestions were asking existing customers to give referrals, opening a business Facebook page with recommendations, and providing appropriate content.

After a short break, Yahel Demeter introduced us to his method of sociological branding, explaining that the brand has to represent something symbolic, not just functional, for the customers to want to be associated with it. To create good branding, it is important to study the potential customers through sociological theories. Next, Josepha Edman, who spoke at last year's conference, told us how to use Facebook ads for effective advertising, and gave practical tips for creating a good business page. She argued that Facebook ads are becoming more popular than Google AdWords.

Next there was a panel about marketing to different sectors in Israel. These sectors are the Israeli Arabs (20%), the Russian immigrants (15-20%), and the ultra-orthodox Jews (11% or more). Keren Bar told us that marketing to the ultra-orthodox sector stresses family values and uses sales promotion and word-of-mouth marketing. Jumana Boulus described the Israeli Arab population as having a growing middle class, with a rising education level and greater disposable income. Marketing to this sector should focus on community marketing, sales promotion, and should create an emotional connection to the brand. This sector has a greater cellular market than the Jewish population, and a new Arabic language television channel to be opened in 2012 will provide new opportunities. Avner Korin explained that there has been a decline in Russian printed newspapers, and now Russian speakers are very active online. This panel was not given enough time, so the audience was not able to ask questions and develop a discussion.

Nahum Donitza discussed digital media and the importance of creating a community, providing interesting content that encourages social interaction. He noted that Israelis spend more time than any other population on social media, and that 65.5% of them read their friends' recommendations.

Finally, Zeev Klang presented cellular marketing, noting that only 45% of cellular activity now is phone calls. The advantage of cellular marketing is that it is focused, content is sent only to those who request it, our phones are with us all the time, the some content can be location-relevant.

The conference ended with lunch. In general, it was well-organized and the lectures were more or less on time. I learned a few new things, and felt motivated by having things that I already knew confirmed. I met about ten people I knew. I hope to attend next year's conference.

Home ownership

2011-06-11T16:22:00.000+03:00

Five years ago this week, we moved into our flat. Before then, we had lived in rented flats, for periods of between one and six years in each place. Here are some thoughts about what owning a home means to me.

First of all, it gives me a sense of permanence. Before, we never knew how long we would be able to stay in each flat. Knowing that I might be forced to leave at the end of the contract, with the stress and upheaval of finding another place, packing, moving, unpacking, and informing everyone of the change of address, was a constant threat somewhere in the back of my mind. Now I know that I can live here as long as I want, and only move if or when I choose to do so, this background anxiety has been lifted.

Secondly, we were able to design our home to meet our requirements. The rented flats were designed for the owner's needs, and contained some furniture that was not ours. Our own home is designed to suit our tastes and preferences, and all the furniture and fixtures here are our own. This does give us the responsibility for any repairs required, but it also means no potential conflicts with landlords.

Financially, some experts say it is preferable to rent rather than buy. They are considering the interest paid on mortgages as compared with the interest you might get on savings in the bank. When we were renting, we could often afford a larger flat than we have now. I am also acutely aware that we were only able to buy a flat when we inherited enough money for the down payment (from relatives on both sides). So I think it is a complicated decision, and not all the factors are purely rational.

Thinking about why I enjoy owning my home, it seems that the reasons are both emotional and practical. When I was young and idealistic, I sneered at the idea of needing to have "a job, a house, and a car" for security. I thought happiness was purely internal, and as such, could be achieved independently of external conditions. Having lived a life with little security for the future for many years, I now think that while these externals are not something to aspire to in themselves, their absence does make life a bit more difficult. There is less anxiety in the life of a person who has a regular income, a home, and perhaps a means of transportation.

Some people thrive on variety, change, new challenges, and new environments. There are many young people now who are living a minimalist lifestyle, partly enabled by the growing importance of the digital over the physical. When people report that they can pack all their belongings into one case and one backpack, and be ready to move or travel whenever the opportunity arises, I can admire this, but I know it's not for me. I like having physical books, though I am reading more in digital form. I like having my own kitchen and cooking my meals. Also, I have cats in my life and they do not appreciate moving home.

To me, home means security, stability, comfort, and permanence.

Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl

2011-05-14T18:43:00.000+03:00

Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl, Night Shade Books, 2010.

The story takes place in Bangkok some time in the 23rd century. Climate change has flooded many low-lying cities, carbon fuels are now rare and expensive, and the world has suffered plagues and starvation. Energy is generated by storing it in springs wound by humans or animals. Multinational "calorie" companies create genetically modified food products to withstand plagues, and there are various genetically engineered creatures and humans.

In Bangkok, there is a struggle between the Trade Ministry, seeking to increase the Kingdom's cooperation with the rest of the world, and the Environment Ministry, seeking to prevent the spread of diseases.

Many of the main characters are foreign, allowing the city and its social and political tensions to be explored from different points of view. Anderson Lake is American and owns a spring factory as his cover for his secret mission of gaining access to the Thai seedbank, a source of genetic information for his calorie company employers. His assistant, Hock Seng, is a Chinese refugee from Malaya, who used to own a shipping empire and lost everything, including his family, during a fundamentalist uprising. Emiko is a Japanese "windup girl", a genetically engineered human created to serve as a modern sort of geisha and personal assistant. She is abandoned in Bangkok by her master, and ends up suffering increasing humiliations in a sex club. The Thai characters include Jaidee, an officer of the Environment Ministry, and his deputy, Kanya, who become deeply involved in the political struggle within the city.

Themes of tradition and change are central to the story. After everything the world has experienced in previous decades, people still retain certain traditions, including nationalism. All the characters undergo significant changes as the city's situation becomes volatile. The political machinations and the resulting violence seem inevitable.

It is significant that the book's title refers to the character of Emiko, who does not seem, at first, to be central to the story. She is a variation of the old theme of the artificial person, created, used, and abused by humans who consider her less than human. The sections written from her point of view make it clear (as it always has been, to me) that sentient minds are equal, whether they are formed naturally or created in other ways (such as AIs, robots, and genetically created beings). Her story also shows the extreme humiliation some humans are willing to cause others to satisfy their own distorted desires, and the dehumanizing effect of considering anyone as "other". It is a sensitive discussion of the sex industry that shows the author's empathy and morality.

This book has won many awards, and as soon as I started reading it, I understood why. The writing is very good. The world building is impressive. The characters feel real. The plot builds in a way that shows how events result from the characters' experiences and interactions. The detailed depiction of the setting draws the reader in, creating an immersive experience not all authors manage to achieve.

I join the many readers who have highly recommended this book. It is not always a pleasant story, but it is well-written and well-imagined, and leaves the reader much to think about.

Iain M. Banks - Feersum Endjinn

2011-04-23T16:53:00.000+03:00

Iain M. Banks, Feersum Endjinn, Orbit, 1995.

When I first heard about this book, a certain aspect of it put me off reading it (as I explain below), but I bought it a while ago along with some of the author's other novels, and gave it a chance. It is one of his non-Culture books.

The story is set in a far-future earth, long after a large part of the human population has departed. Humans live eight lives in physical form, after which they have eight incarnations in the Crypt, where human consciousness is stored in a virtual reality. As the story starts, the earth is threatened by a cloud of interstellar dust that is covering the sun, and we follow a few characters in their attempts to prevent the end of life of earth by activating a solution to this problem left behind by the advanced humans who had moved into space.

The aspect of the novel that bothered me when I first read a review of it was that one of the viewpoint characters' stories is written in a sort of phonetic form (hence the title, which is his way of spelling "fearsome engine"). I have always found phonetic writing irritating. Some writers try to portray the regional accents of characters by writing phonetically, and in this case this form of writing is supposed to reflect the character's dyslexia (though I'm not convinced any dyslexic would write like this, and it is not clear why this character would have written down his story, considering how difficult it was for him to write). It just makes the reading experience difficult. I had to adjust to reading these sections, sometimes having to decipher what the words meant. Perhaps this is an attempt to reflect what reading is like for people with dyslexia, but I don't think this experience will increase readers' understanding of dyslexia, or make them more sympathetic.

The story gradually brings together various pieces of evidence explaining what is happening, and follows the characters as they try to make sense of their roles. It seemed to me that the people who prepared for the Encroachment years before and left the mysterious solution could have planned better how it would be activated, preventing the chaos that happened in this story. But perhaps that is actually more realistic, and it creates the threat that drives the plot.

My impression of this book is that even without the annoyance of the phonetic sections, it is far from Banks's best work (which I really enjoy). There are big themes to be considered, the characters develop and change, and the conclusion is reasonably satisfying, if you don't mind a sort of deus ex machina, but for readers unfamiliar with this author, I would recommend starting with some of his other novels.

China Mieville - The City and The City

2011-04-08T17:32:00.000+03:00

China Mieville, The City and The City, Pan Books, 2010.

Imagine living in a European city that is physically intertwined with another city. Some streets, buildings, and people you pass are in another city. You are taught from an early age to identify the small differences between your city and the other one, so you can recognize and ignore people and places that are "foreign". Citizens of each city have to "unsee" and "unsense" all aspects of the other one. This means you sometimes walk down a street shared by both cities and have to see only people and places in your own city, while avoiding showing any perception of the foreign people and places you pass. This behaviour becomes second nature, and anyone breaching the conventions is liable to be taken away by the shadowy enforcers known as The Breach, and never seen again.

This is the setting for a noir detective story. Inspector Tyador Borlu lives in Beszel, and is investigating the murder of a young woman. As the plot thickens, it becomes more political, and Borlu realizes that solving the murder will require him to consider the unique nature of his intertwined city. His journey of discovery changes his life forever.

I have enjoyed Mieville's previous work, and this novel even exceeded my expectations. The subtle mystery of the cities pervades every aspect of the characters' lives. They grow up taking their circumstances for granted, accepting the restrictions and adapting to them. But as an outsider, I couldn't silence the voice in my head that kept asking "Why?". The book never answers the question of why and how the distinct but intertwined cities arose, and why the Breach keeps people living this way, observing the distinctions between them. Clearly, nobody in the world knows, and the frustration of not knowing something fundamental about the nature of reality felt authentic. I'm sure there are many things in our reality that an outside observer might find equally mystifying.

The idea of unseeing and unsensing the other is thought-provoking. I found myself wondering if we all do this, to some extent, in our reality. I think residents of many cities learn to unsee the homeless on their streets. In mixed cities, people may unsee members of different ethnic, religious, or social groups. In some cases, people may also unsee people with disabilities. So the concept is not so difficult to imagine, if we are honest with ourselves. In a wider, more explicitly political, sense, we also unsee aspects of the world that we consider irrelevant to our daily lives or our identity. Given the overload of information we can access about the world, we have to choose our areas of focus. Not everyone can expend equal attention and empathy on the plight of the third world, the suffering of victims of abuse, and the dangers of climate change, for example. We have to choose what to know about and what to care about. I suppose this is a natural filter, or one that gives individuals and groups some evolutionary survival advantage.

I don't consider myself an expert in the detective genre, but this aspect of the novel seemed to me to make sense and develop logically. While we follow the story from the main character's point of view, often sharing his thoughts and perceptions, he does not reveal his thought processes in full, so that sometimes we only find out what he had been thinking and how he had been connecting the clues when he talks to someone or takes action. The solution of the mystery and the ending of the story seemed fitting and relevant, both in terms of the characters and in terms of our growing understanding of the setting.

I greatly enjoyed reading this book. The experience of the world it presented will remain with me always. I highly recommend this novel to readers of all types of fiction, even those who would have avoided Mieville's previous novels, which were perceived as SF or Fantasy or "New Weird".

Japan survivors and trauma therapy

2011-03-16T12:30:00.000+02:00

One of my first blog posts here on Reality and Fiction was about the problematic assumption that people who have experienced a trauma should talk about it. I had read that sometimes it can be better for survivors to devote themselves to continuing their lives rather than dwelling on the past.

Now, following the disaster in Japan, another article points out similar concerns. Trauma therapists obviously believe in their methods, and motivated by a desire to help the survivors in Japan, they may actually make things worse for some individuals, who would have done better without this sort of therapy.

The article points out a few problems: first, there is a risk of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by telling survivors the sort of symptoms they can expect to experience (such as flashbacks and nightmares). Second, the therapists might not respect individuals' preference not to talk about their experience, and try to force them to "let it out". Finally, therapists coming from overseas might not be aware of the cultural differences between their culture and Japanese culture.

One of the strengths of Japanese culture, according to the article, is its collective nature. People will benefit from belonging to a cohesive social group that is recovering together.

I wish all the survivors a speedy recovery, using their own preferred recovery method, whether it is talking about their experiences and losses, or just getting on with rebuilding their normal lives.

International Women's Day 2011

2011-03-08T15:30:00.000+02:00

Today is International Women's Day. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the status of women around the world. This issue has many aspects, and I will share here just a few of my thoughts.

First, I have a problem with devoting a specific day each year to an issue. Anything worthwhile is worth thinking about all the time. Our consciousness is a collection of thoughts and attitudes, and it should not be necessary to raise awareness one day a year.

More generally, I am deeply grateful to be alive in a culture that treats women much more justly than in previous centuries or other current cultures. I was never at risk of being aborted or exposed at birth just for being female. I have never heard either of my parents wishing I had been a son. I received an education, developed a professional career, married a partner of my own choice, learned to drive, and I can vote in elections.

The freedoms women in western countries now take for granted were won through years of struggle. This struggle is still going on, both in societies where women are still subjugated or discriminated against, and also in western societies, where complete equality or justice for women has yet to be achieved.

It seems to me that the differences between men and women are natural and cannot be ignored. However, attitudes based on these differences can be changed. Sometimes, the individual differences between people are greater than the differences based on gender, but people still have a tendency to treat a person's gender as an important characteristic, using stereotypes rather than getting to know the individual.

The problem here is a more general one: the tendency towards group thinking. Generalizations are useful shortcuts, but they should be used carefully. Even if a generalization is true for a majority of group members, that does not mean it applies to all members. The generalizations applied to women are gradually being reconsidered, and we can only hope that eventually a person's gender will not be considered relevant in most contexts.

Being highly sensitive

2011-02-28T22:50:00.000+02:00

At the weekend, I read a newspaper article about a book that has recently been translated into Hebrew, The Highly Sensitive Person, by Elaine N. Aron. The article featured a self test, and I was not surprised to find that I scored highly on it. This was not a "wow" moment, suddenly explaining aspects of my life. I have always known that I was sensitive in the ways described, and giving it a rather self-explanatory name doesn't make any difference to my experience or self-perception.

I have not read this book, only the article about it and a bit of background about this topic. The author claims that 15-20% of the population are highly sensitive people. Sensitivity, like most things, is a spectrum, so naturally some people score highly in it, and this may be a qualitative difference, not just a quantitative one. The sort of sensitivity described here encompasses sensory sensitivity and social sensitivity. It is not necessarily a disadvantage, and people at this end of the spectrum can become aware of their tendencies and learn how to minimize their discomfort.

I remember as a young child feeling overwhelmed by certain social situations. I often ended up crying under the stress, sometimes without really knowing why. I realized that this was going to cause me problems, and decided that I had a force field around me so nothing could touch me (you can tell that I have loved science fiction from an early age!).

Growing up, I never liked noisy parties, and clubbing has always seemed to me like a nightmare, in both sensory and social terms. That is not the way I want to experience music, or meet people. My ideal social event involves spending time with 1-5 other people, in a quiet setting where we can talk and laugh.

I sometimes experience sensory/social overload in crowded and noisy places, and experience physical symptoms that are not quite a panic attack, but serious enough that I just have to get out into the fresh air and quiet. I also get social overload when I spend all day in the company of large groups of people, and feel the need to spend time alone.

Over time, I have learned to balance these reactions. Just as I have overcome a lot of my shyness, learned to feel comfortable meeting new people, learned some public speaking skills, and gained confidence in myself, I have also learned to avoid the situations that are most likely to cause negative reactions, or at least reduce my exposure. I know that it can help if I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing for a few seconds. Sometimes, even today, I remind myself of my childhood image of having a force field!

I was interested to see that highly sensitive people are also often sensitive to caffeine, and indeed, I gave up coffee many years ago because it had such a strong effect on me. Now I drink only green tea, which has a much lower caffeine content.

In my work life, I have always preferred to work alone, focusing my attention on one thing at a time. I don't like multitasking, interruptions, noise, or being watched while I work. My choice of career as a freelance translator working from home is ideal in this respect, most of the time.

On the positive side, being highly sensitive makes me extremely empathic. I always try to understand what other people are thinking and feeling, and to see any situation from other people's point of view. This helps me be considerate and helpful to others, though it can be frustrating when less sensitive people are unable to reciprocate and understand my feelings and needs.

I also think that my sensitivity helps my creative imagination, as I can easily imagine what different people would feel in a given situation. One of my aims as a writer is to portray people's inner lives, emotions, and motivations in a realistic, convincing manner.

Sensitivity is a feature, not a bug (as they say in programming), and it can bring great advantages once you learn to accept it and adapt your life accordingly.

Improving translator-customer communication

2011-02-19T21:58:00.000+02:00

The basis of communication is making sure both parties are talking about the same thing. I assume that both parties are equally responsible for ensuring that the communication is as clear as possible. In this post I want to discuss a few points that translators and their customers would do well to clarify early on, to avoid any misunderstandings.

Apart from the issue of price, there are several important aspects of a translation job: quantity, time, and area of expertise.

1. Quantity of work:

Customers don't always understand the way translators estimate the quantity of work. Translators usually describe the quantity of work in terms of word count, or in terms of hours. Most translators I know usually have a price per unit of 250 words. This is a more specific quantity than "per page", as the number of words on a page can vary dramatically. The translator is responsible for explaining to the customer how to count the words in the source text, divide by 250, and multiply by the price. Note: when translating some language pairs, the word count of the target language can change significantly, and this is something else that the translator must explain to the customer, if the job is charged by the word count of the target text. The customer is responsible for making sure what the quantity of work is, in the terms the translator specifies. Either send the translator the text asking for an estimate, or make sure the translator's explanation is clear, and give a reliable answer regarding the quantity.

2. Time:

Time is a sensitive matter, since so many of the translation jobs are urgent, and since most translators are freelancers rather than employees with fixed working hours. It is important for both parties to discuss the time available and the time required for the job. This stage can only take place after the quantity of the work has been established. The translator must be realistic about the time required for the job, and how many hours can be spent on the job. If there is a deadline, the translator should be absolutely certain that it can be met, preferably without having to work longer hours than usual. When translators have several jobs lined up, they have to establish the order of priority, and make sure all jobs can be completed in time for the customers' deadline. The customer should be responsible for leaving sufficient time for the text to be translated. Translators are never thrilled when the customer needs the translation "yesterday"! Customers should also take into account that their freelance translators have other customers as well. To ensure the translator they want will be available, customers could contact the translator in advance, saying that a particular job will be coming soon. That way, the translator can consider turning away other jobs to keep some time free for the promised job. This is easier to do once the translator and customer have formed a relationship of trust. This trust should not be broken, so a promise of future work and a promise of future availability must be kept.

3. Area of expertise:

Finally, it is essential to match the right translator with the right job. Translators are responsible for defining clearly their area of expertise. People who say they translate "everything" probably don't realize how unprofessional that sounds. Few people can read and write all types of material equally fluently. Some are literary translators, some use their previous experience in legal, technical, medical, or academic areas to translate in these fields, and so on. Translators should never accept work they are not fully confident that they can translate at a sufficient level. This is another excellent reason for asking to see the material before committing to do the work. Customers should be aware that for different types of text they will have to find different translators. They should also learn how to assess and explain the nature of the material, and not assume that every speaker of the source and target languages can translate everything.

To conclude, both parties should be aware of each other's needs and expectations. Being open, honest, and specific throughout the communication is essential to building a good working relationship. Translators should know when to say "no", for reasons of insufficient time, inadequate pay, or translation jobs beyond their area of expertise. Customers should learn how to describe the work required accurately, and to anticipate the time the translator might need to do a good job.

2011 ITA Conference

2011-02-10T18:40:00.000+02:00

This week I attended the 2011 ITA Conference, held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Jerusalem.

The first day, which I did not attend, was devoted to workshops on specific topics. I arrived in the evening in time for the gala dinner. The after-dinner speaker was Israel's former UN Ambassador, Prof. Gabriela Shalev, who described her two years in office, noting the role of language in rhetoric and diplomacy.

Day 2 opened with a plenary session. Award-winning Israeli author, Rabbi Haim Sabato, raised questions of translating the grace of a language, giving examples of Biblical passages, sentences from his own books, and quotations from Maimonides. He noted that literary translators must possess a creative spirit of their own in order to capture and express the tone of the original text.

The plenary session continued with a lecture on ergonomics for sedentary people who spend hours at the computer. Dalit Ben-Tovim explained the principles of ergonomics and got the audience performing exercises to improve posture and avoid strain. I was reassured to have confirmation that my current work station and sitting position are ergonomic.

Following the coffee break, the conference split into four tracks, focusing on Judaica, business aspects, literature, and a workshop for translation companies. I attended two lectures in the business track. First, Osnat Rubin, whom I recently heard lecture at another conference, spoke about achieving success by defining goals and establishing targets.

Then we had a lively debate between Aviva Doron, owner of a translation agency, and one of the freelancers she employs, Eliezer Nowodworski. They discussed the advantages of working together, with the agency handling issues of marketing and collecting payment, thus freeing the translator to do the actual translation work. I was pleased to hear that Eliezer charges rates considered high by many agencies, which shows that some agencies, presumably including Aviva's, do agree to pay more for professional and experienced freelancers.

After lunch, I attended lectures in the literary track. First was an interesting discussion of political correctness by Donna Bossin. There is now an expectation for people to use language that provides the minimum of offensiveness to specific groups. We discussed the problematic usage of male-gendered terms to describe people in general, an issue I routinely encounter in my own work. As Donna recommended, I often change "man" when meant in a general sense to "human being", and frequently use the plural, which is ungendered in English. Donna also noted the usage of "people-first language", such as "children with ADHD", and touched on the sensitive subjects of how to refer to older people and how to term the Arab population of Israel (any terminology necessarily reflects some political bias).

Then, Dana G. Peleg gave a talk about the terminology used to describe individuals and groups of differing sexuality. She gave a handout containing a glossary of Hebrew and English terms, noting which of them are respectful, which may be used with the permission of the people involved, and which are offensive and should be avoided. This is the sort of information more useful to translators of literature, television, and scholarship on this subject, and so far I have not encountered this sort of terminology in my own work. But one of the things I most enjoy about these conferences is learning new things about new subjects beyond my usual areas of interest.

One of the conference's foreign visitors, Clara Chan from Hong Kong, gave an interesting talk about the changes in the translation and transliteration of foreign place names and people's names into Chinese in Hong Kong following the handover from British rule to China in 1997. I know very little about the Chinese languages and dialects, but from what I understood, Hong Kong uses Cantonese, which is more complicated than the simplified form of Mandarin used in Beijing. In some cases, the Hong Kong usage contained a closer transliteration of the phonetic values of the foreign name, while the Mandarin version translated elements such as "new". It also appears that the tradition of granting foreign people official Chinese names is falling out of favour, and foreign leaders' names are now transliterated phonetically.

I then attended a panel of translators from several countries. The discussion attempted to find common issues and some of the different approaches taken in the various countries. The chair was Micaela Ziv, and the participants were Igor Vesler from the USA, who has lectured at previous ITA conferences, Clara Chan from Hong Kong, Natascha Dalugge-Momme from Germany, Anna Zielinska from Poland, and Gabriela Gonzalez from Argentina. The panel compared the status of translators and translators' associations in the different countries, and there was a lively discussion on payment practices, and the difference between working with direct customers and with agencies. This panel reinforced my impression of the great diversity in working conditions for translators in different countries, areas of specialization, and language pairs.

Day 3 opened with another plenary session. First, award-winning literary translator and poet Rami Saari spoke about translating into Hebrew from distant languages. He gave examples from his own translations from an impressive number of languages, showing cases where the translator has to be aware of differences between the languages and cultures, sometimes adapting the text, or in other cases adding footnotes to explain thing the reader would find unfamiliar.

Then we received an update on the ITA's recognition and certification program from Micaela Ziv. I was one of the first ITA members to receive recognition, and now about 60 members (from a membership of over 500, I believe) have received their recognition. The next stage will be a certification exam, held, at first, in combinations of Hebrew, English, and Arabic, the most common languages of translation in Israel (probably followed closely by Russian). The Israeli certification exam will be on computers, but without Internet access (where people could receive help from others...), and people will be allowed to bring in printed dictionaries. Micaela stressed that while some translators' associations around the world have a minimum membership requirement similar to our recognition standard, the ITA welcomes new translators and helps them learn and develop through the mentoring program and various lectures and conferences. The exam is not intended to be as difficult as some in other countries, which only have a 20% pass rate.

Then we heard from Doug Lawrence, a guest from the UK, who gave a review of language service providers around the world. There are about 24,000 LSPs, of which 48.5% are in North America and 43.18% are in Europe. In Israel, there are 439 LSPs, and they were found to be surprisingly resistant to using technology (translation memory software, and even customer management systems), considering that many specialize in software localization.

The conference then split into three tracks, one on marketing and business relations issues, another on computer-aided translation, and the third on literary translating. I chose the marketing track, and first attended Leah Aharoni's review of translator websites, which has encouraged me to set up my profile on these sites, though I don't expect to find many relevant jobs in my area of specialization, academic translation, there.

Then, Tuvi Pollack spoke about using content for marketing. Perhaps I have heard too many lectures on similar topics, and perhaps I feel I want to do more with my blog than just market my business, but this talk was less impressive or interesting than the other lectures.

Finally, Sagi Adiv spoke about Simplified Technical English, a controlled language aimed at ensuring that technical documentation is written as clearly as possible, particularly for readers of English as a second language. This was quite remote from my area of expertise, as I doubt academic publications will ever be written in simplified language - in fact, many scholars think it is impressive to use obscure terminology and complex sentence structures!

As always, the conference was well-organized and enjoyable. There were more participants than ever, and the hotel provided excellent service. I would like to thank the ITA's conference organizers, Sarah Yarkoni and Alan Clayman, along with the ITA's chair, Pascale Amozig-Bukszpan, for their efforts. As in previous years, the technical side of the conference was organized, very professionally, by Ortra.

I look forward to next year's conference!

Pricing considerations

2011-02-07T11:03:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I received an email from the representative of the Junior Staff Union at one of the universities. She told me they were putting together a list of translators and editors willing to offer their services to junior staff members at reduced rates, and asked whether I would like to be included in this list.

I replied that while I understand the need of the junior staff to find inexpensive services, I believe it would be better for their union to fight for improved conditions, including budgets to use for paying translators. I explained that many translators earn low wages for their work, and so any union should show some consideration for other professionals aiming to improve their status and conditions.

I gave the union representative my usual prices, saying that if these are considered reasonable, I will be happy to be included on the list.

Another point the union representative raised, which I did not address in my reply, is worth explaining here for the benefit of other freelancers. She said there would be a large volume of work from the junior staff members, making it worthwhile for both parties. This is the common misconception known as the "quantity discount".

When someone is selling physical products, if a customer buys a large quantity of products, it can be worthwhile to give a discount. The seller needs to clear stock to make room for new stock, and can, in theory, sell one item or hundreds of items with the same investment of time.

For professionals providing services, such as translators, there is usually no benefit in providing a quantity discount for large quantities of work. There is only a certain amount of work that can be done in an hour, and working at a lower rate means it takes longer to earn what the translator expected to earn. The only case when it is worth taking on work at a reduced rate is when the translator does not expect to get enough work at the normal rate.

Another thing to consider is that lowering rates creates a precedent. When customers get used to a reduced rate, this makes it difficult for all translators to charge their normal rates. In order to improve the status of the translation profession and the rates customers expect to pay, translators should consistently charge their normal rates, and use discounts only on rare, special occasions, making it clear that this is a reduced rate. I think providing reduced rates for a whole sector of customers, even a sector whose financial situation might justify this, sends the message that translators are willing and happy to work for less than they deserve.

Organ Donation

2011-01-29T15:10:00.000+02:00

In one of those strange coincidences, the subject of organ donation recently came to my attention from two separate directions. First, the news reported that a man who had an organ donor card was critically injured in an accident, and when he was declared brain-dead, his family refused to honour his intentions and donate his organs. Second, I have been editing some academic research into attitudes towards organ donation. It was strange to be working on a subject that was also reported in the news.

I have been carrying an organ donor card for many years, and I want to explain here why I consider it important, and why I consider people's objections to organ donation to be irrational.

Medical science enables doctors to take organs from recently deceased people and transplant them into patients suffering from various medical conditions. In some cases, these transplants can save lives, while in others they improve the patients' quality of life.

In the modern world, we are living in a relatively safe and sterile environment, and many people are never exposed to death and serious disease. These subjects, part of the cycle of life, have become taboo to some people, who prefer not to think about them or discuss them. Some people even refuse to draw up a will, thinking that this could somehow hasten their death.

The decision regarding the treatment of dead bodies is usually made based on religion, or on traditional practices. The main traditional methods are burial, cremation, and disposal at sea. In Israel, dead bodies are buried (rather than cremated), so this is the burial type I will discuss here. Burials are ceremonies aimed at helping the deceased's surviving loved ones come to terms with the death, and they create a memorial where the deceased can be remembered.

Most religious leaders believe that saving a life is important, and support or even encourage believers to donate their organs after death. However, a minority of religious leaders and believers seem to think that organ donation is not acceptable to their religion, for various reasons.

First, there is the sensitive issue of brain-death. When the brain ceases functioning, this is completely irreversible. It seems that some people confuse this state with reversible states such as coma, and therefore consider the brain-dead person still alive, or think that a miracle could happen and the person could regain consciousness.

Second, the issue of how the dead body is treated is sensitive for those who believe in the afterlife and/or in some form of reincarnation. In my understanding of these religions, the soul is a non-material essence of the person, which leaves the body at the moment of death, and so the removal and transplantation of bodily organs after death should have no impact on the released soul. As for reincarnation, the idea that the body should be kept whole until burial seems strange, considering that the flesh decays. Religions that believe the dead will rise from their graves in their physical bodies must assume a lot of miraculous intervention to restore the flesh, and in that case, why not also restore the organs that were donated upon death?

Third, some religious believers seem to have a negative opinion of science and medicine in general, to the point of accusing scientists and physicians of "playing God". To counter this objection, I suggest that believers take into account that human cognition was, in their own view, given by God, and as an omniscient being, God should know how the gift of intelligence is being used. It should not be possible for humans to "play God" against God's own intentions.

Finally, some people seem to believe that patients carrying organ donor cards would be considered as organ banks, and would therefore receive less medical support than other patients, since the health care workers would hasten their deaths in the hope of obtaining organs for other patients. This is an offensive slur against the morality and integrity of hospital staff, who work hard to save lives and alleviate pain and suffering.

My own position is that once I am dead, my body is no longer of any use to me, and I would prefer to think that it might be of use to another human being, rather than to think that it was just buried and allowed to decay. If it were possible to use every one of my dead body's cells to save lives, with the result that there was nothing left of my body to be buried, I would still do this. My loved ones would be able to remember me without a slab of stone marking the spot where my remains were decaying.

In order to clarify this issue in the public mind, and increase the number of potential donors, the following steps should be taken:

A public information campaign explaining brain-death and showing transplant patients whose lives have been saved or improved.
Religious leaders supporting organ donation should educate their coreligionists who oppose it.
In some countries, I have heard, people renewing their drivers license have to opt out of signing an organ donor card, by ticking the box saying "I do not wish to donate my organs after death", which has increased the number of potential organ donors, compared with countries like Israel, where people have to opt in. This method is worth adopting.
In general, society would be healthier if people had a more open and rational attitude to death and disease, treating these as aspects of life and things that will impact all our lives at some point, rather than as taboo.

Neal Stephenson - Anathem

2011-01-25T13:40:00.000+02:00

Neal Stephenson, Anathem, Atlantic Books, 2008.

When faced with a book by one of their favourite authors, many readers would rush to read it as soon as possible. I did the opposite, delaying gratification, knowing that the pleasure of the first read would only happen once, and would only last a given time. First, I waited for the book to be out in paperback, which I prefer to hardcover books, due to the size and feel of the book in my hands, storage space, and price. Then, when the book arrived, I delayed reading it until I had completed a project, and then a bit longer, knowing that it would be best to read when I was not too busy and could devote more time to reading without feeling guilty. It was worth the wait. I then had to reread it, to appreciate the entire book with knowledge of how it ended.

Neal Stephenson's work is always intelligent, and draws on a wide range of knowledge in several areas. It is aimed at readers who enjoy an intellectual challenge, and find great satisfaction in the meeting of minds, rather than those readers who need to be spoon-fed.

This is the first of Stephenson's novels to be set on a different planet. Approaching the story without any foreknowledge, the reader has to wonder about the existence of humans on another planet - are they humans from earth, who settled the planet at some point in the past, or did they evolve there? In this case, it is made clear that humans evolved on the planet Arbre, which already raises some interesting questions to be answered later on. An author's note clarifies that the species of plants and animals mentioned are Arbre native, and are only given the names of Earth species to avoid saying something like "dog-equivalent" or inventing new names for everything. The reader is expected to assume that the planet and its evolution are similar to what we know.

A timeline in the author's note gives a history of about 7,000 years, which is somewhat longer than earth's human history recorded to date. It soon becomes clear that during this time, science and technology on Arbre have developed beyond our current level here on earth, but that there have been repeated efforts to slow down this development for social reasons.

Scholars have been separated from the rest of society, forced to live in monastic communities, and have had restrictions imposed on their research, to prevent the rapid development of advanced weapons, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and other sciences. They have been denied the use of computers and experimental devices, and as a result, they live a sort of medieval existence, writing by hand and developing the sort of sciences that result from abstract thought rather than experimental research.

The scholarly communities are known as "concents", and are inhabited by male scholars, "fraas", and female scholars, "suurs". In most places, sexual relationships are permitted, but the males are kept infertile, so there are no families. The concents adopt unwanted babies from the surrounding communities, and admit children and adults who wish to study. Each concent has several sections, each with a different period of total separation from the outside world. In one part of the concent, the gates open each year for ten days, and people who join commit themselves to staying inside and following the discipline for one year. This section is often used as a sort of college for members of the general community, who study for one or more year in this way, and then return to the outside world. Another section is closed for ten years at a time. Children who join this section grow up within the concent. Then there is a section that only opens its gates once a century, and another that only opens once in a thousand years. Scholars can move upwards if they wish, and the research that happens at the higher levels is considered more advanced and abstract than at the lower levels, since they have less access to current news.

The concents are also home to another class of people, the Ita, who operate the technology still permitted to the scholars, such as clocks and telescopes. They keep strictly apart from the scholars.

The story's protagonist, Fraa Erasmas, joined the concent at age 8, and is now 18. As the story starts, his section of the concent is preparing to open its gates for the first time in ten years. This great change in his life is just a prefiguring of the greater change that the whole society will experience later, when an alien star ship is detected. By the end of the book, the entire social order on the planet has undergone a dramatic change, and even our understanding of the way the world works can no longer be the same as before.

On one level, the story is a quest and an adventure story. Erasmas must leave the concent and travel, with a varied group of companions. On another level, the scholars must recognize the implications of the arrival of the star ship. This is a vast undertaking, both in practical terms and in the way people think. This is not just a simple case of first contact (not that first contact could ever really be simple), but something stranger and more challenging.

The characters are vividly drawn, and they develop as the plot progresses. In some cases, it seems frustrating that they never seem to say all that needs to be said in a particular situation, due to their habitual awareness that they might be under surveillance and subject to the discipline, or due to political considerations. However, this does advance the plot.

As with all Stephenson's work, the world building is impressive. Few novels provide such a comprehensive overview of a planet's history, geography, economics, and society. Some details are deliberately left vague, as the viewpoint character would not be an expert on everything, and so describes mainly what is relevant to the story. But I certainly feel that I have spent time in Arbre, and it is as real to me as the best fictional worlds I have visited. I would have appreciated a map. I know that some readers believe a map is redundant when the geographical descriptions are good enough, but I happen to like maps and do not consider a visual aid as detracting from the writing.

The language created for this book, often based on Greek and Latin roots, or on variations on English words, was a pleasure to experience. I particularly liked the concept of "upsight" (instead of insight), and the idea of an "avocation" (a sort of hobby or occupation the fraas and suurs adopted in addition to their field of studies). The terms are explained in a glossary, and there are several dictionary entries scattered throughout the book, but I am certain many readers will find it easy to understand all the new terms just from the context.

The book contains many detailed discussions and explanations of "big ideas" from the realms of philosophy, science, and mathematics. This should not deter readers who lack formal education in these areas, provided they are open-minded and patient in their reading. While these ideas are obviously related to some ideas proposed by thinkers here on our earth, there is not necessarily any one-on-one equivalence between the fictional theorists and any in our world, so no prior knowledge is required. I enjoyed these discussions, and found the climactic scenes involving quantum poly-cosmic consciousness impressively conceived and executed.

This is the second book I have read recently that discusses the idea of multiple universes, and here the theory is presented cohesively and given a somewhat far-fetched portrayal that was still very enjoyable. It does require suspension of disbelief, as do the best fictional ideas.

Not surprisingly, I consider this one of the best books I have read in a long time. It is probably not for everyone, but I strongly recommend it to readers willing to invest in a challenging and rewarding, intelligent, horizon-broadening read.

Kim Stanley Robinson - Galileo's Dream

2011-01-22T15:25:00.000+02:00

Kim Stanley Robinson, Galileo's Dream, Voyager, 2009.

This novel explores the life and scientific discoveries of Galileo Galilei, along with a far-future plot line that considers the importance and implications of Galileo's role in the history of science.

Galileo is a compelling character, with a stark contrast between his intellectual integrity and his emotional flaws of pride and stubbornness. We follow his scientific progress and the politics surrounding his career. He is committed to discovering and teaching the true nature of the universe, and is frustrated by the unwillingness of others to change their minds when superior evidence is presented. He is quoted as saying, "There is no hatred like that of ignorance for knowledge", a statement that is still true today. He keeps his faith in God throughout, and his problem with the religious authorities is their insistence on the literal truth of scripture. He believes that humans are capable of discovering the truth through the evidence of their senses and the power of thought, all of which are parts of God's universe.

The SF part of the story comes when Galileo is transported, at several points in his life, to a far-future era and embroiled in a political struggle on the moons of Jupiter, where humans are making first contact with an alien intelligence. His experiences there, and his gradual exposure to various alternate versions of his life and the impact he has on the progression of history after his era, are used to explain the choices he makes back in his own time.

The book cites in italics passages from Galileo's writings, and those of his contemporaries, and in some cases the citations seem to be explained in the context of the fictional future plot line. This is an interesting way of linking the historical novel to the SF content, but in some cases it felt rather forced.

This was the first of two books I read recently that used the idea of multiple universes, in very different ways. Here, Galileo sees many possible futures of his life, and wishes to alter one in which he is burned at the stake. It seems to me that a person understanding the multiple universe theory would realize that even if it were possible to prevent a certain outcome in one universe, this would not change others where it still happened, just add one new universe to the many that still exist.

As with many novels that contain two main plot lines, the reader is left wondering what is going on in the other plot line and waiting for the next section of the other plot. Each story line is read in light of what has been happening in the other.

The future part of the novel was interesting, but had a dreamlike remoteness. A society with such advanced abilities, such as time travel through alternate pasts, would be motivated by different ideals than ours. The characters are strongly drawn, but the reader gets the impression that they know much more than Galileo, or current readers, can possibly understand. This makes them hard to identify with, and Galileo is manipulated by them in a way that leaves him powerless and frustrated. The clear parallel between his struggle with the Inquisition and his involvement with future Jovian-system factions creates sympathy for Galileo's situation(s), even when his attitude and behaviour make him a flawed hero. All he can do is maintain his confidence in his discoveries and his world view, while others around him distort his words and intentions, kidnap and imprison him. The portrayal of such a strong-willed person becoming so helpless is touching.

The novel is beautifully written, with vivid descriptions of places, events, and characters alike, and an interesting plot and structure. The ideas raised are of interest in today's society, where the conflict between science and religion, or between rationality and dogmatism, seems as strong as ever.

Memories of the Gulf War 1991

2011-01-18T16:39:00.000+02:00

This week marks 20 years to the start of Operation Desert Storm, part of the Gulf War. The Israeli media have not been marking this anniversary very much, and it was an article about a popular satirical television series at the time that reminded me and brought back memories.

It all started on August 2, 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Since this was my 21st birthday, when I first heard this news, I remarked: "I have been given a war for my birthday". As time passed and we witnessed the planned international response to this invasion, it became increasingly clear that Israel would be attacked. I remember saying to someone: "Of course Iraq will attack Israel, they have nothing to lose".

In January 1991 I was a student at Tel Aviv University, and we were planning an archaeology trip to Masada, which happened to be scheduled for a day or two after the start of Desert Storm. I remember saying to a friend: "See you on the trip, unless there is a war!". Of course, this trip never took place. The population had been given boxes containing gas masks and atropine injectors, and everyone had prepared "sealed rooms" that were supposed to keep out chemical weapons. As the allied attack started, Israelis were ordered to stay at home in preparation for attack.

In the middle of the night, we heard explosions and woke up. After a few minutes, the sirens started up. We put on our gas masks as instructed, turned on the radio and listened anxiously to hear what had been hit. During those first minutes I was imagining that clouds of nerve gas were spreading outside, and that life would never be the same. It turned out that Iraq was firing conventional long-range Scud missiles, but we could never be sure that the next attack would be conventional.

The missile attacks came every night for the next six weeks. After that first night, we went to stay with my parents, whose sealed room seemed more secure. We developed a routine of sleeping late in the morning, spending much of the day reading newspapers and watching the news on television, and then awaiting the attacks at night. Sometimes we were woken up several times in a night, particularly when it was cloudy in Western Iraq, allowing the missiles to be launched without being observed by allied planes. Each time we heard the sirens, we would rush to the sealed room, tape down the edges of the door, put on the gas masks and wait for the explosions, and later the all-clear siren. The radio stations had a silent frequency at night, which only broadcast the siren warning and then played news and music until the all-clear. I remember clearly that our dog Fluffy always knew just before the siren warning came on air, and started running to the sealed room whining, so often he woke us just before the radio did.

It was a strange war, because Israel was being attacked for no reason other than the Iraqi leadership's hatred, and the IDF was not involved in fighting, only in protecting the civilian home front. For once, Israel could feel, and present itself, as an innocent victim.

Six weeks is a long time to be in a stressful situation. It left its mark on my psyche (and that of everyone else, I assume). My routine was disrupted, with the university closed for the last week of the semester and the exam period. That semester we were given essays to write at home instead of taking exams, and my concentration was ruined. The feeling of being unsafe in my own home and the fear of sudden noises have continued to accompany me, in varying degrees, ever since.

Since then, I have lived with the threat of suicide attacks on public places and public transport during the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and survived the missile attacks on my city, Haifa, during the Second Lebanon War (2006). Experiencing war as a civilian is unfortunately part of the life of all Israelis. I can only hope that all parties in the region see reason and work together to reach a rational accommodation. Everyone deserves to live in peace, and I hope future generations will never have to share similar experiences.

Language as a Life Skill

2011-01-15T10:02:00.000+02:00

I recently heard a discussion about teaching young children from underprivileged backgrounds life skills. The project took children of kindergarten age and over, and taught them martial arts, chess, and music. These subjects taught the children the life skills of self-discipline, logic, and creativity, and vastly improved their self-esteem.

This is admirable, but I would like to propose another additional and important subject to teach life skills to children: language. For a very long time, language has been undervalued as a subject and as a way of thinking. People who understand language and use it correctly have a clarity of thought that semi-literate people lack. Proper use of language gives a precision and accuracy to expression and thought, and opens up the entire written-word culture of that language to the user.

Since the 1960s, many countries have been neglecting the teaching of languages, influenced by an ideology whereby "children learn their own language naturally and don't need to be corrected or taught". I believe this policy has been shown to be a disaster. What is needed now is a movement to improve the teaching of languages. We need teachers who can understand and explain the grammar and syntax of a language, and make the rules and exceptions part of the children's way of thinking from an early age. Language teachers with a passion for language and its importance can change the way language is taught and perceived.

Children who learn grammar and syntax properly will, for example, differentiate between the subject and the object of a sentence, thus knowing (in English) when to use "and I" and when to use "and me". Properly-taught Israeli children will know when to use masculine and feminine numbers and adjectives to agree with the masculine and feminine nouns in Hebrew.

Of course, the level of language-use is a strong social identifier, so using language correctly would separate underprivileged children from their social group more clearly than their skills in martial arts, chess, or music, but that is the whole point. If they are to become the first people in their family to attend university and have a white-collar career, they need to be considered and consider themselves part of educated society, and they could also serve as role models to others in their communities.

I also strongly support learning a second language as early as possible. Being able to speak, think, and read in more than one language gives the brain an elasticity that mono-linguals probably lack. A second language provides the user with another culture to explore. I am always impressed by people from certain European countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, many of whom become fluent in three languages by the end of high school. Imagine a world where everyone spoke several languages fluently!

I would like to call on language professionals and language lovers everywhere to consider how to promote the serious teaching of languages in all countries, in order to raise standards everywhere.

Lessons from 2010

2010-12-31T21:03:00.000+02:00

I generally view my life as a continuous flow of experiences and personal development. Sometimes I control my circumstances, and at other times I react to events beyond my control.

The New Year is an opportunity, albeit rather arbitrary, to look back over my recent life.

Here are a few things I learned about myself, or that were reinforced for me, during 2010:

I am capable of taking decisions and acting upon them.
I can undertake a large project and see it to fruition (NaNoWriMo).
I am realizing that I am increasingly known and appreciated within my professional community.
I have a much clearer idea of what I want to do with my life, both creatively and in terms of my personal mission.
I still react badly to extreme events beyond my control (the Carmel forest fire).

I have achieved many of the things I planned to do with my life in 2010. In the coming months, I intend to continue growing and developing in the same way. More writing, better use of my time, and focusing my professional efforts on the work I enjoy most and do best.

Happy 2011!

Multiverse experience

2010-12-28T17:57:00.000+02:00

The theory of the multiverse speculates that every action or decision creates a split, where each possibility actually happens in a different universe. I often think about this when something dramatic happens. It is easy to think "Let this not have happened", and then imagine a world where it did not happen. I thought like this when I heard that the Columbia space shuttle had exploded on re-entry, when Prime Minister Rabin was assassinated, and, of course, on 9/11.

Recently I have been thinking about this because of a book I read (to be discussed in a future post), and today something happened that made me very aware of this way of thinking. My husband was on a train that caught fire. He was unharmed, though about a quarter of the passengers suffered smoke inhalation or were injured by broken glass or when they jumped off the train to escape. Nobody received any burns.

Along with my relief that Ivor survived a potentially serious accident, I started thinking about the universe where he died. The version of me in that universe must be thinking "Let this not have happened", and I can only hope she finds some solace in imagining my situation.

Ultimately, this way of thinking is not all that helpful. Despite the speculations of SF writers, I don't think there is any way these different universes can communicate with each other. All we can do is imagine all the alternative situations that might have happened in given circumstances. So many things could have happened differently, and there is no point in regretting that we are in our particular version of the multiverse.

The only advantage of imagining alternatives is to create some emotional distance between yourself and your situation. If you become aware that things could have happened differently (and perhaps did, somewhere), you realize this is just one version of your life, so you can be more detached about it.

Lessons from the Carmel Fire

2010-12-06T06:42:00.000+02:00

The forest fire on Mount Carmel was put out on Sunday night, after three and a half days of intensive efforts. Here are some of the things I have learned from this tragedy:

First of all, it seems that Israel needs a serious public fire safety education program. The fire was probably started by someone's negligence, and the thought that a moment's carelessness can lead to such a vast disaster is very scary.

I was deeply disturbed by the seeming lack of coordination between the various emergency services, at least at first. Ideally, I would have expected there to be clear procedures defining the responsibilities of each body and the chain of command. I heard there were cases where the police were ordering an evacuation of certain streets, while the Mayor was saying he hadn't ordered this and people should stay at home.

Israel's fire services are the smallest and least equipped in the developed world, which is incredible considering that Israel is a hot and dry country that sees forest fires each summer, and that the value of land here is high. I have been speculating that perhaps part of the problem is that young Israelis wishing to help save lives and property are more likely to think they will do this during their military service. I don't think I have heard Israeli children wanting to be fire fighters when they grow up. Perhaps now the status of fire fighters will improve.

The lack of coordination and the sorry state of Israel's fire services do not bode well for the home front during the next war.

Of course, my main feeling after this ecological and human tragedy is deep sadness. But there are also some behaviours and attitudes that made me angry:

People who stopped their cars or slowed down on the roads to see the fire and take photos, making it difficult for the emergency vehicles to get into and out of the crisis area, and creating traffic jams that slowed the evacuation.
People who later tried to enter evacuated areas to get a good view of the fire fighting planes, giving the police extra work in trying to save their lives.
People who were evacuated and returned to their homes before they were allowed to, presumably to try to save something they had left behind, risking their lives and endangering the emergency staff who had to evacuate them again.
Those who quickly assumed that the fire was started either deliberately or negligently by Druze or Arabs. This racism is not helpful, and even if it turns out to have been negligence by two Druze youths who are being investigated, this should not lead to blaming their whole community.
Arsonists who started other fires in other parts of the country, forcing the fire fighters to split their forces. The cruelty of such actions is staggering.
The Israeli Minister of the Interior, Eli Yishay, who will not take ministerial responsibility and resign. In other developed countries, it is considered the decent thing for a minister to resign when something goes wrong. Here, Israeli politicians' first concern is to shift the blame onto someone else (often previous governments) and avoid or deny any responsibility. I would say "Shame on you!", but they are impervious to the whole concept of shame or decency.
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, who claimed that the fire was punishment for people not observing the Sabbath. Expressing such opinions is offensive, divisive, and shows an incredible degree of hutzpa.

Looking on the bright side, there are also many things I am grateful for:

The immediate response of many other countries in sending Israel their fire fighters, planes, and equipment. It is gratifying to know that in cases of ecological disasters at least, the world does not hate Israel. It is also good to be on the receiving end of the sort of help Israel routinely sends, such as Israeli field hospitals and rescue teams sent overseas following earthquakes and other disasters.
The fire fighters were able to prevent the loss of many houses (though not all), and even managed to save most of the animals in a wildlife sanctuary on the Carmel.
The Israeli public demonstrated its caring side when many volunteers came out to help the emergency staff and the evacuees.
And finally, this morning I was woken up at 4 a.m. by the sound of the first rain! Even though it would have been more useful earlier, it is still going to help prevent the fire from breaking out again in the burned areas, and I am always grateful for rain.

Fire in the Carmel

2010-12-03T15:21:00.000+02:00

Yesterday (December 2, 2010) at about 11 a.m., a fire started in the Carmel forest. At the time, Ivor was in the nearby Haifa University, and could see the flames from the Eshkol tower. He came home at about 2 p.m., when they started evacuating the university.

It soon became apparent that this was a very serious fire, and the fire fighters could not control it. We were instructed to close the windows and remain indoors. Here is the view of the smoke from our balcony during the afternoon. Note how the sun was covered by the smoke. It got dark early.

We started listening to the local radio station, Radio Haifa. They were our main news source during the 2006 Lebanon war, and the experience seems similar. Their professional and responsible reporting was careful to avoid reporting unconfirmed rumours, and they encouraged people to stay out of danger.

Soon we heard about the tragedies of this fire. A bus carrying cadet prison officers coming to help evacuate the Damon prison was caught in the flames, killing 40 people. Haifa's chief of police was following this bus and tried to help the victims, sustaining serious burns, and she is now in hospital in a critical condition. A few other fire fighters and police officers are injured or missing. The fire consumed Kibbutz Beit Oren after its residents were evacuated.

During the evening and night, the fire approached Tirat Karmel, a town just south of Haifa, which has been partially evacuated, and the Denia neighbourhood of Haifa, where some of the residents were told to leave in the early hours. The idea that the city itself might burn was alarming.

In the morning, the fire had moved south-west, and there was less smoke. Here is another view from the balcony this morning:

Several countries have sent firefighting planes and helicopters, equipment, and fire fighters, including Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, the UK, Spain, Egypt and Jordan.

It is worrying to realize how our fire services have been underfunded and underequipped, despite repeated warnings of the potential for disaster. This is particularly bad since Israel is a dry country and has forest fires every summer, and is also often attacked by rockets that can cause fires. The failure of the emergency services to deal with this disaster does not bode well for the next war.

This fire is also the result of the very hot and dry weather. We have not yet had any significant rain this autumn, and temperatures have been around 30 degrees C throughout October and November.

The loss of life and property is tragic. It is also very sad to think that the beautiful Carmel forest has been completely destroyed, and they say it could take up to 50 years for it to recover. Two million trees have been burned down, and most of the wild animals that live in the forest (including wild boars and jackals) are unlikely to have escaped.

My conclusions from this event: First, it is important for officials to act on warnings, such as the repeated requests for increased fire fighting capabilities, before the disaster happens. Second, this fire was probably the result of arson (or negligence), which would make it a serious crime.

I mourn for the great losses in life, property, and nature, and hope for the quick rebuilding of the damaged homes and the restoration of the forest.

This week was supposed to be a happy one for Haifa. The Carmel Tunnels opened, and this weekend I was planning to attend the Festival of Festivals, a co-existence event held every weekend during December to celebrate Christmas, Hannuka, and the closest Moslem festival (their lunar calendar means this changes each year). This has now been cancelled, but I hope to go next weekend.

Lessons from NaNoWriMo

2010-11-30T17:41:00.000+02:00

As I reported here earlier, this year I took part in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I challenged myself to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. Yesterday I completed my novel, the longest piece of writing I have achieved!

I learned a lot from this experience, both about myself as a writer and about the novel I was trying to write. Here are some of my conclusions, and I hope writers reading this will be able to apply some of them to their own writing.

First of all, I found it quite easy to write. I think I approached this project after years of having wanted to write, and having finally committed myself to do it, I removed my internal resistance and inhibitions. Reaching the daily word count was quite easy, and I managed to avoid writers' block.

An important part of my success was due to my awareness that this novel did not have to be perfect. In fact, I consider it a first draft of a practice novel. I knew from the beginning that it would need a lot of editing and revision, and that allowed me to write without worrying too much. I may spend as much time, or more on rewriting it later as I spent writing it this month. The achievement here is just getting the story written. It is now out on the computer, not locked in my head.

I learned the importance of writing every day. I wrote every single day from November 1 to November 29, apart from one day when I was away at a conference. I knew I would be going away, so I wrote a bit more before then and got my word count high enough so it wasn't difficult to catch up afterwards.

The story I wrote was based on ideas and characters that I had been thinking about for a long time. Of course, once I started writing, the emphasis changed, new ideas emerged, and the end result is not quite what I was expecting. It felt good to have these inspired moments when new plot twists and turns emerged.

In the future, I think it would be better for me to prepare an outline and decide where the story is going in advance, and how to pace the various events. Some writers like the control that comes from having an outline, while others like discovering things as they go along. I want to try outlining and see if that makes it easier for me.

Throughout my writing experience, I thought several times how much easier it would be for me to write non-fiction. I have always wanted to tell stories, but I also enjoy writing factual or educational pieces. This blog is currently my main outlet for writing non-fiction. It is interesting to consider the differences between fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, the author's imagination creates everything that happens. Non-fiction is mainly an attempt to describe some aspect of reality in a clear and entertaining or educational fashion.

In terms of writing skills, I feel I need to work more on the principle of "show, don't tell", to improve my dialogue and descriptions, and to structure the story so it is better paced and everything leads up to the conclusion. Much of this can be done during the editing stage.

I intend to put the novel I have just finished aside for a few weeks, and then return to it and read it with fresh eyes. I will then rewrite it and see how much I can improve it. It may turn into a rather different work.

I plan to continue my newly acquired habit of writing every day. My next project is a non-fiction work, and I will be able to compare these writing experiences.

To all writers, whether or not you have taken the NaNoWriMo challenge, I strongly recommend writing every day. Let it become a daily habit. Sometimes what you write will be good, sometimes not so good, but at least you are practicing.

Jasmine Conference for Businesswomen 2010

2010-11-26T22:17:00.000+02:00

On November 24, 2010, I attended the annual conference of Jasmine Businesswomen's Association. This was the third time I attended this conference. This year, it was held at the Sharon Hotel in Herzliya.

The conference was hosted, as in previous years, by journalist Iman Elqasem Suliman. She was highly professional, introducing guests in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, and providing some brief summaries of the English lectures. Simultaneous interpretation from Hebrew to Arabic using headphones was also available for those who required it.

The morning session was opened by Kiram Baloum, CEO of Jasmine and coordinator of the women's empowerment unit of the Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development (CJAED).

The first guest speaker was Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, MK, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor. He spoke about the economic development of the Arab sector and the importance of small businesses to the economy. He explained that Israel has 450,000 small businesses, constituting 98.5% of the businesses in Israel, and employing 55% of the country's workforce. His ministry is establishing dedicated loans and training for Arab women.

The next speaker was Helmi Kittani, CJAED Director, who stressed the importance of integration, and stated that the inclusion of Arab women in the workforce would guarantee a rise in the standard of living throughout Israeli society.

Next, we heard from Ran Kaviti, CEO of the Israel Small and Medium Enterprise Authority. He told us he had participated in an OECD conference entitled Road to Recovery, which stressed the importance of small businesses in economic recovery, and explained the role of the Authority in helping small businesses receive funding, training, and better regulatory conditions such as paying VAT on a cash basis.

Then we heard a regular participant in the Jasmine conferences, Dr. Lars Hansel of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, who impressed the audience by opening his talk with greetings in fluent Arabic, though he then continued in English. He spoke about the situation of women in Germany, where women are still paid 15% less than men, and constitute only 11% of board members. He noted two issues on the public agenda in Germany: gender diversity and pluralism, which contribute to companies' success; and arguments for and against a quota system. Supporters believe this is sometimes the only way to increase female participation, while opponents worry that women will be hired for reasons unrelated to their professional competence, and many women do not wish to be perceived as "token women" within an organization.

The next speaker was Yael German, Mayor of Herzliya. She is one of only 3 female mayors out of 71 mayors in Israel. She mentioned that only 15% of Israel's business owners are female, and stressed the importance of vision, decision taking, and optimism for women's success.

Billy Shapira, Director-General and Vice President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told us of her career development in the administration of the university. She noted that women constitute a majority of students and administrative staff, but only 22% of the academic staff. She attributed this partly to women's tendency to give in too easily, and said she had never encountered a "glass ceiling" in her career.

Yoav Zilca, CEO of Mentor Me, spoke about success, using terms whose initials created the Hebrew word success: decision (successful people decide quickly and change decisions slowly), growth (personal development and lifelong learning), faith (to overcome fear), vision, and persistence.

Next was a presentation about the Cartier Women's Initiative Award, by Israeli businesswoman Galia Albin, who has been a past juror for the award, and Freja Day, the award's project leader, who explained that each year three female entrepreneurs are selected as finalists from each of the five continents, and they receive coaching, then present their businesses to the jury, and one winner is selected from each continent. The winners receive $20,000, one year of coaching, networking opportunities, and media exposure. The presentation was aimed at encouraging Israeli business women to apply for the award, and it would certainly be an inspiration if one of the Jasmine members reached the finals.

The next talk was by Daniel Homyonfer of Hynon, about succeeding in international markets, and the importance of obtaining relevant information about the society and business atmosphere, for example through the local Chambers of Commerce.

Then, social media expert Hadas Adler spoke about social networks and the importance of providing free, useful content to form a personal brand and encourage followers to seek out your paying products.

The final lecture before lunch was by public relations expert Barak Rom, who spoke about the importance of achieving media exposure by combining professional knowledge with current events and offering to speak to the media, and publishing relevant content on social networks.

After lunch, the first speaker was Dr. Eyal Doron, who had created a television show about happiness, and gave an interesting talk about the research he explored for this purpose. He defined happiness as a moderate, positive, long-lasting emotion, stressing that happiness is not the same thing as pleasure, and should contain an element of meaning. People are happier when their work is a mission, giving meaning to their lives, rather than just a job (for money) or a career (for status). He also spoke about success, noting the importance of bringing up children to think independently and to practice their skills.

Next there was a panel of businesswomen, entitled "Succeeding against all odds". It was chaired by Iman Qasis, who stated that it is better to take risks than to avoid them. Dr. Amal Ayoub, CEO of Metallo Therapy, told us of her journey from studying physics to founding a start-up business dedicated to using nano-particles of gold for cancer treatments. She deserves to become a role model for young women embarking upon a scientific career. Alona Shechter overcame psoriasis and founded a successful cosmetics business. Julia Zahar inherited her husband's tahina factory in Nazareth and had to struggle as a woman in a traditional society. Natlia Corzon immigrated to Israel from Russia and started a business exporting cosmetics to Russia. The panel members answered a few questions from the audience.

Avishay Braverman, MK, Minister of Minority Affairs, spoke next. He argued that women are less narcissistic, more practical, and more organized than men, and hoped that women in Israel could bring the Jewish and Arab communities to get to know each other better. In Israel, the employment rate among Arab and Druze women is less than 20%, but he claimed this could not be for cultural reasons, since in Arab countries the rate is about 45%. His ministry is aiming to create more daycare facilities, better transport, and dedicated projects to enable Arab women to find employment. They are also devoting special budgets to higher education for the Arab sector, where there are already more female students than male.

The next speaker was another politician, Tsipi Livni, MK, Head of the Opposition. She told us that before entering politics, when she had her own law office, she did not feel there was any discrimination against her as a woman, but when she ran for Prime Minister in 2008, she encountered sexist reactions, but also widespread support from women. She encouraged Arab women to succeed, both for their own sakes, and also to become role models for others. She mentioned legislation aimed at providing appropriate representation for women on the boards of government companies, where there are currently only 3% female board members.

Yehuda Yizreel spoke about financial planning for businesses, stressing the importance of taking responsibility, saving for retirement, creating contracts for every business engagement, and so on.

Finally, business coach Osnat Rubin gave useful tips for business success.

The conference was enjoyable, but as in previous years, some talks started late, and some of the later speakers had to cut their talks short. The atmosphere of time pressure was not conducive to learning. I really hope this problem can be addressed by the organizers in future events, as I have attended several conferences that started on time and gave each speaker the allocated time. It can be done!

A new feature this year was the two prize raffles held immediately after lunch and at the end of the day. This was intended to get the audience back into the lecture hall after lunch, and to persuade everyone to stay until the end. The prizes included training and coaching sessions, and everyone was pleased to see that they were won by participants who would benefit from them.

I look forward to next year's conference.

My history of personal computers

2010-11-17T15:27:00.000+02:00

This month marks twenty years since we bought our first computer. I thought some readers, especially the more geeky types, might be interested in my computing history.

First there came typewriters. As a child, I was fascinated by my parents' manual typewriters. They had different typewriters for three different languages: English, Hebrew, and Greek. When a document contained more than one language, they had to leave spaces on the page, then transfer the paper to another typewriter and calibrate it carefully to fill in the text in the other language.

When I was about seven or eight years old, my mother received a new typewriter and gave me the old one to play with. I was certain that my future self would write books on such a device. I learned to touch-type on a manual typewriter in Hebrew at junior high school (a course that was available only for girls, and I wonder if such sexism still exists), and taught myself to touch-type in English.

As I grew older, I became aware of the existence and growing importance of computers. My first real encounter with computers was when I was 18 and worked in the library at Tel Aviv University. One of my tasks was transferring the card catalog to a computerized system. It made me sad to see the card catalog disappear, and the library's computer system was, and to some extent still is, rather user-unfriendly.

When I started university, I typed a few papers on manual typewriters. Most people still gave in hand-written papers, and students were not expected to type their work (or get it typed professionally) until they had to submit a thesis.

Then, in November 1990, exactly twenty years ago, we decided to buy our own computer. Ivor had turned his M.A. thesis into a book, and was required to submit a camera-ready copy to the publisher. One of his requirements was a computer that had a Greek font with all the accents used in Ancient Greek (no, the Symbol font used for mathematics was not good enough). One day, he arrived at the university and saw signs advertising a demonstration of a new Macintosh computer. He went to see it, and fell in love. The computer was very compact (an important factor considering the size of our home at the time), could use the sort of fonts he needed, and was much more user-friendly than the DOS-based computers we had previously looked at. We checked how much money was in our bank account, and discovered we had just enough to buy the computer and a pin printer. We also had to ask a friend to give us a lift home in her car, since it would have been difficult to carry the boxes on the bus.

So, our first computer was a Macintosh SE30. It had 1 MB of RAM, which we soon expanded to the maximum 4 MB, and a 40 MB hard drive. It accepted 1.44 MB floppy disks, had a small black & white screen, and was, by today's standards, painfully slow. We loved it, and spent hours working and playing on it. We had a bi-lingual, bi-directional word processor, painting and drawing programs, a few games, and HyperCard, a program that let us experiment at creating links. The user interface was friendly and easy to learn, and we could create documents with text and pictures and print them on the pin printer. The camera-ready manuscript had to be printed out on a laser printer, and for this purpose we visited the Apple Center and paid to use one of their printers.

Since then, we have owned the following Macintosh computers: Color Classic II, LCII, Quadra 650, G3 Graphite iMac, Lime iBook, G4 Flatpanel iMac, eMac, MacBookPro. Each new computer had more advanced features than its predecessors. The screens grew larger, colour was introduced, the speed and memory of each model was more impressive, and soon we got a modem and connected to the Internet. The software we used also developed and changed over the years.

The Macintosh market share in Israel has always been smaller than in other countries. One of the reasons for this is the dominance of Microsoft. We soon learned that in other countries Microsoft made fully compatible localized Mac versions of MS Office, but in Israel they refused to do this for what they considered a negligible market segment. This is why Mac users in Israel have always had compatibility problems when sharing documents with the majority, PC-using world.

Many people also attribute the weakness of the Mac sector in Israel to its local distributors, first Yeda and then iDigital. Mac users thought the local distributors were not pushing hard enough to get Apple to promote its products in Israel and localize them quickly. However, it is possible that no Israeli distributor would be able to use sufficient leverage in negotiating with a powerful multi-national company.

Another example of how Apple still treats Israel as a less important market is the iTunes Store. Israeli iTunes account holders can currently buy apps (for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch) in the app store, and download free content from the iTunes Store - podcasts and the free books available for iBooks (Apple's ebook reader). Israelis are not allowed, for reasons known only to Apple, to purchase music and video on the iTunes Store. For some reason, Israelis' money is good enough to pay for apps, but not for other content.

On the bright side, Mac computers have become much more common in Israel since the iPod and iPhone came out. Israelis are learning that the MacOS is easy to use, and the ability to run Windows on the Mac means they are getting two computers in one. It took a long time for the iPhone to be marketed in Israel, much longer than in some less westernized countries, but the iPad arrived here more quickly. Perhaps Apple is changing its approach to the Israeli market at last.

Now it's time to confess that I am no longer using a Mac as my main computer. My translating work has always required me to hand in Word documents. When the document was in English, I could use Word for Mac to create a PC-compatible document, but when it was in Hebrew I had to use whatever Mac word processor we had at the time and then convert the document to Word for Windows (usually this created an RTF document). Later, I was able to run Windows on my Macs using Virtual PC. As time went by, I realized I was spending much of my time using Windows, and while I still consider it inferior to the MacOS, I learned how to use it well enough.

Nearly four years ago, my new eMac started having problems and became unusable. At the time, I decided to buy a PC, and have since been using a desktop PC running Windows XP. I have adapted to using PC software, and still sometimes use Ivor's Macs.

I cannot imagine my life now without computers and technology, and will always be grateful for that first discovery of the Mac SE30 twenty years ago that started my personal computer journey.

Networking For Translators

2010-11-15T12:34:00.000+02:00

This article was first published in Targima, the journal of the Israel Translators Association, in October 2010, and is republished here with permission.

Networking for Translators

Ruth Ludlam

Having just completed four years of membership in a networking group, I would like to share some networking advice with my fellow translators. First I will provide some tips that anyone can use, and then discuss networking groups.

The premise behind networking is that each person is the hub of a net of other people. Networking happens when two individuals talk about their needs and think of ways to help each other through their networks of contacts. Ultimately, networking is a mutual experience, but sometimes it works indirectly rather than as a simple exchange. Successful networking is based on an attitude of giving. Instead of meeting people and trying to sell your services to them, think of how you can help them with their own needs.

The first step in successful networking is knowing how to present yourself. Take some time to think about how you would explain to a new acquaintance what you do for a living and what sort of customers or contacts you are looking for. Describe what sort of problems you solve, or what needs you satisfy, for your customers. Focus on the specific sort of work you want to do most.

Make sure all your relatives and friends know exactly how you like to present yourself, so they can listen out for opportunities for you and identify potential customers of the sort you are looking for. Take any chance to talk about your profession, even at social events. This is not inappropriate, since you are aiming to help people who may need your services. Our professional identity is an important part of who we are.

Always carry with you the essential tools: business cards, diary, address book, and pen. Today many people’s diary and address book are on their mobile phones, but it is important to carry a pen anyway. Business cards should look professional and contain basic contact details: name, profession, phone number, email address, and website. As translators, we may want to have bilingual cards. Always give people two business cards, saying: “One for you and one for you to give to someone else who may be interested”. You should also create a consistent system for filing business cards you receive. Some people scan them or type the information into a database; others file the cards themselves in folders or boxes.

When meeting a new person, remember to listen and ask questions. Some good questions to ask a professional you have just met: How did you get into this line of work? What do you enjoy most about what you do? What sort of contacts are you interested in meeting? And, most importantly: How can I help you? Then take their business card, and make some notes (either on the card or in a notebook, diary, or on your phone), recording where and when you met the person, and if you promised to do something for them, such as introduce them to a contact or send them some information.

Then, within the next 1-2 days, follow up. This is the most important stage in networking, and many people neglect it. The follow-up can be a phone call or email. Introduce yourself again, saying where you met, and if you promised to help, this is the time to deliver. One meeting does not make someone into a contact, and the relationship has to be developed and nurtured.

Sometimes, when meeting new people, you can already arrange a further meeting with them for a later date. This is why you need to carry your diary at all times. If you know you want a meeting, the sooner you make a firm appointment, the better. Then call to confirm the meeting the day before.

Attend meetings of professional bodies (like the ITA) and more general meetings, such as Chamber of Commerce meetings, and any conferences or lectures that interest you. I have found that many business people at these events consider translating an interesting occupation. At these meetings, wear your name tag on the upper right side of your chest, since when people shake hands, their gaze tracks from the shaking hands along the right arm, up to the name tag, then to the face. Never wear a name tag at waist level, as this is not a part of the body most people want strangers staring at!

Finally, for a more serious networking education, join a dedicated networking group. For four years, I was a member of the Haifa Chapter of BNI (Business Network International). The group contains one representative of each occupation, and members try to bring in new customers for each other. The group meets each week for a breakfast meeting. Members learn how to present their business and to interact with other professionals.

I learned a lot from my time in BNI. I started out rather shy and introverted, and gradually gained confidence in public speaking. My fellow members gave me useful feedback on my presentation of my occupation. Obviously, I made many useful contacts with a large number of local professionals from all walks of life. I also filled the various leadership roles within the Chapter, and even served as the President, chairing the meetings and running the group. This experience of leadership taught me a lot about myself, and would have been difficult to obtain in my normal position as a self-employed freelancer.

Networking groups are not for everyone. Membership requires a serious commitment to attend the weekly meetings and find customers for fellow members, and a willingness to learn and change. Most members cover the cost of membership, and more, from the referrals they receive. For two of the four years of my membership, referrals accounted for a third of my income. If you feel this might suit you, attend one meeting of your local group. You can find details of the BNI groups around the country at www.bni.co.il. There are also other similar networking organizations.

Ruth Ludlam is a translator specializing in academic material in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Heb-Eng and Eng-Heb).

Stever Robbins - Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More

2010-11-10T14:05:00.000+02:00

Stever Robbins, Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, St. Martin's Griffin, 2010.

I have been listening to the author's podcast, "Get-It-Done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More" for a while, and when this book was published, I knew I wanted to read it.

This is useful and practical guide to making the most of the time we have for the things we have to do, and those we want to do. It can be applied to work life and personal life, which can become rather mixed-up for those of us who work from home.

The book deals with people's attitudes and mindset, which must change when they decide to become more efficient. It also gives easy steps to apply the desired changes.

Where relevant, the book offers a choice between different options to suit individual styles. For example, readers can choose whether they prefer to be contacted by phone or by email. However, on some points the author has a clear opinion, supported by evidence. So, he explains why multitasking does not increase productivity, but actually decreases it (pp. 90-93). This may not surprise some readers, but there has been a popular trend encouraging multitasking that did not sufficiently value the different sorts of energy and concentration required for various tasks.

Many of the lessons of this book are ones I have been learning and applying myself over the years. I have learned to say "no" to work I don't want or don't feel qualified to do. Like Stever, I keep a handwritten to-do list on my desk. I have found what works best for me in many of the situations described in the book. I continue to learn and experiment, and this book is part of my journey of discovery and improvement.

The writing is entertaining, with Stever's sense of humour apparent in the examples. But the underlying message of the book is serious, and readers who want to improve their use of time will benefit from using this book (and the podcast).

My First NaNoWriMo

2010-10-31T13:57:00.000+02:00

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short, a rather ugly acronym in my opinion, and it is now international). Participants challenge themselves to write a 50,000 word novel during the month. The purpose is to gain experience and know what it feels like to finish a novel. Of course, not everything people write will be publishable, and that isn't the main point of the exercise. I have decided to treat my first novel as a practice novel and not to expect it to be published.

I have always wanted to write, and have written intermittently for as long as I can remember. Since reading has always been such a central part of my life, I decided as a child that one day I would write books of my own. This blog is part of my practice writing. I have been writing here for over two years now, sometimes every week, sometimes less. I like receiving feedback on my writing, and so far those readers of this blog who have commented on my writing (rather than just on the content of my posts) have been very supportive and encouraging. I have been building up the confidence, self-discipline, and working habits in preparation for November, and have finished off a large work project. I will probably undertake some work during the month, but I hope it won't take up too much of my time and energy.

One problem with my profession is that being a translator uses up similar sorts of energy as writing. I am always thinking in language, trying to find the right words and structures, and evaluating the consistency of what I have written. In some ways, it might be better for aspiring writers to have a non-verbal day job. Still, I have to start somewhere, and I feel ready for this challenge.

I have read two opposing theories regarding sharing your goals in public. The first recommends it, saying that when you commit to something in public, you are more likely to follow through rather than face the shame of failure. It talks about accountability. This seems to be the theory behind communities like NaNoWriMo and various support groups. On the other hand, the second theory says that once you have told people about your plans, your brain already feels like you have achieved them, so you are less likely to feel driven to actualize them. Since writing is a form of story-telling, if I tell someone the story I want to write, I have already engaged in the act of story-telling, albeit in a non-written form. So my intention is to tell people that I'm writing a story, but not discuss the actual details of what I'm writing with anyone.

I'm starting this challenge with full confidence that my experiences this November will change my self-identity forever. I will go from "aspiring writer" to "author of an unpublished novel", which is an achievement by any standards.

Charles Stross - The Fuller Memorandum

2010-10-31T13:32:00.000+02:00

Charles Stross, The Fuller Memorandum, Orbit, 2010.

This is the third novel in the Laundry series. Once again, agent Bob Howard embarks on an adventure, attempting to prevent the vast, scary monsters from other universes from destroying our world. This time the threat is in the form of reanimated corpses, more usually known as zombies, an unpleasant meme in popular culture, with a more serious twist in the context presented here.

As always, I enjoyed the combination of humour and realism. The geek-talk, office politics, and historical background make this series very vivid and current. At the same time, serious issues are tackled. Bob has a convincing rant against cultists. While in our world, people who choose to act out made-up rituals can easily be ridiculed, in the Laundry world they pose a real danger since they might wake forces beyond their control.

Being predisposed to religion has its uses, but it's a real Achilles' heel if your civilization is under threat by vastly powerful alien horrors. (p. 149)

The novel shows the strain experienced by operatives like Bob and Mo, who have to live with their secret knowledge of the real nature of the universe, are regularly exposed to life-threatening and potentially world-ending experiences, and know that there is not much hope for the future. This can make depressing reading, so readers are advised to remember that our reality is in many ways less dangerous and more chaotic. Knowing that the risks described in this series are not real in our world can put things into perspective.

Quite early on, I knew the identity of two mystery characters. This knowledge did not spoil my enjoyment of the story. I often wonder how authors find the balance between leaving enough clues for the reader to work some things out in advance and gain the sense of superiority, while keeping the characters credible all the time they know less than the reader. In this case, it worked quite convincingly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and recommend the whole series. It is worth reading the books in order, and finding the other stories set in this universe, which I hope will one day be collected into one volume. I look forward to following this series in the future.

Jeff VanderMeer - Finch

2010-09-29T17:07:00.000+02:00

Jeff VanderMeer, Finch, Corvus, 2009.

This is the final novel in VanderMeer's Ambergris series. I received this book without having read the previous novels, so this review reflects the reaction of a newcomer to the setting. My conclusion was that the book can be read alone, but that reading the others first might have provided additional depth.

The setting, and one of the main characters, is the city of Ambergris. It seems to have reached a twentieth-century level of technology, with items such as telephones, typewriters, guns and tanks, and to have been involved in wars with neighbouring cities and civil wars, before being occupied by an alien race called the gray caps, who have risen up from caves beneath the city. This species uses various types of fungus, and they have been changing the face of the city and its population. Many humans have simply disappeared, and a few collaborators have become hybrids. These are known as Partials. Some of the humans have become addicted to certain types of fungus.

The protagonist is John Finch, employed as a detective by the occupying force. As the story starts, he is called in to investigate a crime scene, where a human and a gray cap have been found dead. As he proceeds with this case, he finds the background more complicated and interesting than a simple crime. We encounter his partner, who has been infected by fungus; his gray cap boss; his mysterious lover; his book-collecting neighbour; and discover things about his hidden past. Eventually we learn about some surprising technology, and more about the city's history (which might be more familiar to readers of the previous novels).

This is the story of living under foreign occupation. What are you willing to do in order to survive? How far would you collaborate with the enemy? How much would you risk to become involved in the resistance? Who can you trust? All these issues paint a dark picture, and the future seems dim. The novel paints a vivid picture of the struggle to maintain a sense of human dignity and authenticity in an ever-changing world. As I read it, I found it hard to feel any hope for the future in such a dystopia. This made for an uncomfortable experience, and required some perseverance to overcome the pervasive sense of despair.

The novel is in the noir detective genre, which blends well into the fantasy setting. The style sometimes reflects the genre, using short sentence fragments. The author managed to create a reasonable balance between a more normal, descriptive style, and the choppy, blunt fragments that added to the overall feel and atmosphere of the story.

The story reaches a dramatic climax, providing a satisfying conclusion that was not the sort of taken-for-granted happy ending seen in many series. The character of Finch goes through a difficult journey, both in his experiences and in coming to terms with his past.

This was an interesting, well-written and dark novel, and I may read the other stories set in this world.

Being you own boss

2010-09-20T17:56:00.001+02:00

This idea started when I was thinking about my work duties as a self-employed professional, and then I realized it is also applicable to every aspect of life.

I see individuals as being their own bosses. This means they are responsible for deciding what needs to be done, motivating themselves to do these things, providing quality control and feedback, and rewarding themselves for successes.

Have you ever thought, “If I were my boss, I would fire myself”? This sort of disappointment in one’s performance often results from things like procrastination or doing something with less than one’s full attention.

Imagine the sort of boss you would like to have. This person would be responsible, sensitive, fair, and would provide appropriate, constructive feedback. You would like your boss to take all aspects of your life into consideration, be aware that apart from work you also have a family, friends, hobbies, and your own personal needs. At the same time, your boss needs to help you keep your priorities straight. A good boss doesn’t accept excuses, and is aware of the difference between genuine reasons for avoiding doing something and the avoidance that results from “just not wanting” to do it.

Now, imagine the sort of employee you would like to have. This employee has a clear set of priorities, does what is most important first, takes responsibility, manages time efficiently, and is honest.

In our lives, we have both these roles. We are our own bosses and our own employees in living our lives. To function well, we have to take responsibility for all our actions, thoughts, and feelings. We have to decide what is important at each given moment, and act accordingly.

For example, what started me thinking along these tracks is a particular piece of work I have been procrastinating about. I find myself sitting down and doing other things instead of starting working. I know that I need to finish it and get it out of the way. I know I am capable of doing it well. I also know that I don’t particularly enjoy it, and so I find myself avoiding it. So I started imagining a boss observing my actions.

Self-employed people can benefit from imagining they have a boss standing behind them. This will encourage them to spend more time working and less time engaging in the sort of avoidance activities that have become so common: checking email, visiting social networking sites, reading online news sites and blogs, and so on.

Extending this metaphor from the work arena to the management of our entire lives, we can think about ourselves as having bosses watching over us at all times, motivating us to do what we know is important. We can be benevolent bosses to ourselves, balancing what we need to do with what we want to do. This should help both productivity and happiness, as avoiding the things we need to do but don’t want to ultimately leads to pressure, guilt, and stress.

Audrey Niffenegger - Her Fearful Symmetry

2010-09-08T16:42:00.000+03:00

Audrey Niffenegger, Her Fearful Symmetry, Vintage, 2009.

Spoiler warning!

I enjoyed the author's previous novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, so I was looking forward to reading this book. As I expected, it contains the same combination of present day realism, detailed characterization, and a less convincing supernatural element.

The story takes place in a house adjacent to Highgate Cemetery in London (which sounds like a wonderful place to visit), and tells the story of the occupants of the building's three flats (apartments) following the death of one of them.

From the beginning it is clear that this is a ghost story, with Elspeth Noblin dying and becoming a ghost. The ghost element is not clearly explained, reflecting the inconsistent portrayal of ghosts in popular culture. The ghost seems to be energy rather than matter, but with time she learns to move physical matter and to manifest and become visible to some people. Also, it is not entirely clear why she is confined to her flat (not the place of her death), unless this is related to the psychological reason for her afterlife. The characters encountering Elspeth's ghost, and the readers, cannot infer from her existence that everyone becomes a ghost upon dying, or that all ghosts are confined to their former place of residence.

The main characters are Elspeth, her lover Robert, who lives in the flat below her, her American twin nieces Julia and Valentina, who inherit her flat and move in, and Martin, who lives upstairs. Their stories become intertwined, as the twins, rather predictably, form complicated relationships with Robert and Martin. There are also hints of secret between Elspeth and her twin sister Edie, which explains why Elspeth chose Edie's daughters as her heirs.

Robert is writing a history of the cemetery, and gives guided tours of it. Valentina starts a relationship with him, which is overshadowed by his grief for her aunt, Elspeth. Martin writes cryptic crosswords, and suffers from OCD, which is depicted very well. His wife moves out, and eventually Julia tries to help him recover.

The relationship between Julia and Valentina is described in great detail. Julia, the elder, is more outgoing and confident, but also overprotective and possessive about Valentina, who wants independence. Identical twins have always been interesting characters in fiction, sometimes because their similarity enables swaps and mistaken identities, and sometimes because their closeness is something most of us never experience. Much has been said about people's fear of the other, the different. I think there is also a deep-seated fear of the identical, which explains people's discomfort with the idea of clones or of humanoid robots. The phrase "you all look the same to me" is never a compliment. Twins have not only the greatest possible degree of physical similarity, they also have an intimacy grown out of shared experiences that in many cases seems to inhibit the development of their individuality. In this case, Julia and Valentina still dress in identical clothes at 21, and have yet to embark on career paths or have boyfriends, mainly because this would separate them from each other. As the story progresses, Valentina starts expressing her separate identity. This leads to inevitable and painful conflict. It made me grateful that I'm not a twin, and I wonder how many twin readers will identify with this sort of situation.

The supernatural story-line involving the ghost develops mainly in the second half of the book. It was very clear to me quite early on what would happen, so one of the main plot events was no surprise to me. I personally found it hard to accept, but readers who more easily suspend their disbelief might find it satisfying. The long-kept secret is revealed, and many loose ends are tied up in a way that gives relatively happy endings for most of the characters.

The writing is good, both in the descriptions and in the dialogue, where the author often conveys the personalities of the different speakers through their words. In some places there were turns of phrase that distinguished American and British characters and indicated their age and social class, something that many authors fail to achieve.

This novel is worth reading for the characters' interactions and development, even for readers like me who find the idea of ghosts difficult to accept.

Jeffrey A. Carver - Sunborn

2010-08-17T14:31:00.000+03:00

Jeffrey A. Carver, Sunborn, Tor, 2008.

Usually when I read a book, it is a book I chose, based on knowing the author or reading a review, or at least a book I received from someone I trust. In this case, I picked up the book without knowing anything about it, or the author, just because the bookshop was offering a "second book at half price", and I couldn't find anything else I wanted for the second book.

The first indication I got that I might have made a mistaken choice was when I opened the book later that day and saw on the inside front page: "Volume Four of the Chaos Chronicles". I feel very strongly that books in a series should mention this fact on the outside cover. In fact, I have often avoided buying books for exactly that reason. If a book is part of a series, I would prefer to read the first in the series before deciding whether to continue. I wonder if this is, in fact, why the publisher failed to make it clear on the cover. I feel slightly tricked, and this is not a good feeling to have toward a publisher I often buy books from.

Different authors have different approaches to writing series. Some assume, correctly in my mind, that the series will be marketed in such a way that readers are likely to read the books in order. This leaves them free to develop the characters, the world and the plot line over many volumes, as if the series were a much larger work that can be taken as a whole (and some series are eventually issued together, in an omnibus edition). Other authors prefer to consider each volume as a stand-alone novel, and state that readers can read the books in whatever order. This requires them to include a lot of explanatory background material about previous events in each volume, which is often insufficient for readers encountering the series for the first time, and can be annoyingly repetitive for readers who have followed the series. In this case, I think the author managed to strike a reasonable balance, which may explain why it was not considered necessary to state on the cover that this was book four of a series.

The following review is from the view point of a reader unfamiliar with the series, encountering this author for the first time.

The plot is a standard quest. Our hero is a human called John Bandicut, who is travelling with three aliens and two robots. They all have translator stones, some sort of advanced technology or sentient artifacts, enabling them to communicate with each other. From what I understood of the backstory, they were given these stones and then taken from their home systems and sent on various missions. Bandicut also has a telepathic connection with some being called a quarx.

These characters are brought in to try to prevent a major disaster. It is unclear why they are considered qualified to do this, apart from having succeeded in their previous missions (described in the earlier volumes). As is usual in this sort of story, they encounter various dangers, team up with powerful allies, and eventually there is a happy ending as the disaster is averted.

I have to state here that I did not really enjoy this book, and found it lacking in many ways. I spent a lot of time while reading it trying to work out what wasn't working for me. I consider it insufficient to say "it wasn't well written", and more interesting to try to find out exactly in what way it was deficient. However, I did read it to the end, as I usually finish books I start (which is why I try to be careful with my choices).

First of all, the nature of the story meant that the characters were helpless. They were thrown into the mission without having any say in the matter, without any real reason for them in particular to be suited to the task, and without any driving motivation to solve the problem, other than the threat to all biological life in the galaxy... As the mission proceeded, at each point, the more powerful allies undertook the most important parts of the action, and our team on their own would have achieved nothing. Even the self-sacrifice at the end, a theme I seem to appreciate in most cases, did not involve one of our heroes, since in this sort of story they must all survive to the happy ending.

The characters were superficial and stereotypical, and despite the author's best efforts, did not engage my sympathy. Bandicut had the typical combination of courage and inner anxiety. His three alien companions were insufficiently drawn (perhaps on the assumption that readers knew them from the previous volumes). They didn't seem to have specific talents that would account for their being chosen by the translator stones or sent on missions for the good of the galaxy. The female alien, Antares, is an empath, one of the tritest stereotypes for females in SF. She is also humanoid enough to have a sexual relationship with Bandicut, which serves to reduce his sense of isolation in a way that does little to enhance the plot. The other two, Ik and Li-Jared, are male. It is not surprising that the aliens designated male adhere to human male attitudes, though Ik later joins Antares by developing his empathic side. The relations between these characters are explored to some extent, as is their reaction to being exiled from their worlds and everything they knew, but this failed to impress.

The two robots in the team, named Napoleon and Copernicus, in a human-centric naming trend that appears throughout the story, are intelligent but annoyingly servile. It seems to me that once AI exists and becomes superior to natural intelligence, "artificial" beings will not be subordinate or inferior to "biological" beings. These robots were supposedly intelligent, and played a role in the story, but their actions and words did not portray much of their intellectual superiority over the biological characters. Also, they were unfortunately and patronizingly, given childish nicknames, Nappy and Coppy. I assume that Americans may not know that "nappy" in UK English means "diaper", but any readers familiar with this usage will probably find it amusing.

The other beings in this story include two other robots, Jeaves and Delilah; an alien whose world is under threat; two entities from another universe; several sentient stars; and the enemy, known as the Mindaru. It bothered me that characters were referred to as male or female despite not being the sort of entities that require two genders for reproduction or social purposes. I would have referred to them all as "it". The enemy was another standard theme, the advanced artificial sentience that wishes to obliterate all biological life. This sort of enemy has been portrayed much more persuasively, and chillingly, by other authors.

The novel also contained another story, interspersed between the chapters but mostly unrelated. It features Julie Stone, Bandicut's human ex-girlfriend, who is on Triton, working with the Translator, an advanced entity connected to the translator stones the main characters possess. This story interested me more, as it was easier to relate to characters in a human setting. Julie embarks on her own adventure, showing a bit more initiative than the other characters (despite also having an advanced and powerful ally), and eventually survives. The happy ending implies that Julie and Bandicut will meet up in the next volume, which will be complicated by Bandicut's relationship with Antares. A love triangle! How original!

One of the most frequently cited bits of writing advice is "show, don't tell". This book was almost entirely "tell", with everything being made explicit. The attempts to show us the characters' inner feelings usually involved either spelling out their inner thoughts, or sometimes conversations about these feelings, rather than showing how these feeling influenced their behaviour and relationships. The descriptions of the empathic communications assumed a basic similarity in concepts that would enable some degree of understanding between vastly differing beings, that was bridged by the various advanced entities involved. All the impressive speculative astrophysics was explained in great detail, somehow removing the sense of wonder that it should have invoked. The great contrast between the immensity of the mission and the banal nature of the characters, who go through so much, mostly passively, and emerge unharmed and largely unchanged, makes the whole thing seem like a waste of time.

I do not expect I will read any further work by this author, unless I am given persuasive evidence that his writing, plotting and characterization have improved by at least an order of magnitude. In future, I will be even more careful when selecting books to read. Caveat lector!

Leaving BNI

2010-07-28T19:36:00.000+03:00

Today an important stage in my life came to an end. I left my BNI chapter after four years of membership.

BNI (Business Network International) is the world's largest networking organization. Each chapter has one representative of each occupation, and members meet each week to give each other business referrals through word of mouth marketing. The weekly meeting is structured, with members and visitors presenting their business, a central talk by one member, and the passing of referrals. Members are also required to meet each other for personal "one to one" conversations.

When I was invited to join, I was unsure how useful it would be for my translation business, but I knew it would help me develop new skills. Being a member of BNI taught me how to speak confidently in public, how to present my business, and how to interact with business people from all walks of life. My development was relatively rapid, and my newfound confidence enabled me to give a public lecture at a professional conference.

It was also good for my business. During 2007 and 2008, one third of my income came from BNI referrals. This is considered a good result. Members achieve differing levels of income from referrals, but most cover the cost of membership many times over.

Throughout my membership of the Haifa chapter, I have been an active member of the chapter's leadership team. I have served as Visitor Host (several times), VP, Education Coordinator, Membership Committee, and President. My term as President was an important achievement for me, and I learned a lot about leading and motivating a team. I was also chosen by the chapter as the Outstanding Member for 2007, and my name was recorded on the chapter's cup (see photo).

My main reason for not renewing my membership for a fifth year is a change I am planning in my business. I am reducing my translation workload to make time for my own writing and creative projects. This new business is less suited to word of mouth marketing. I feel I have given and received a lot from BNI, but now it is time to move on.

I would like to thank the following people:

BNI Founder and Chairman, Dr. Ivan Misner, for establishing this organization that has helped thousands of business professionals worldwide over the past 25 years. I listened to Dr. Misner's podcasts each week, and was thrilled when he graciously commented on a blog post I wrote here about International Networking Week.

The co-National Directors of BNI Israel, Yarden Noy, who has been a role model for me since I first met her at my first MSP, and Sam Schwartz, whose lectures at various BNI events have been an inspiration.

Dr. Itai Plaut, who started out as a member of my chapter, and later became Area Manager of the North of Israel, and accompanied my chapter. Itai gave me guidance during my term as President.

Danny Weiss, another member of my chapter, who was President when I joined. Danny chaired the Open Table meetings I attended every month, and generously shared his knowledge of BNI procedures.

Finally, I would like to thank all the current and former members of BNI Haifa Chapter for the time they spent with me, for the referrals and connections they made me, for supporting and witnessing my development, for giving me the opportunity to become a leader, and for everything I have learned. I will keep in touch, continue to make referrals when possible, and perhaps one day return.

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Windsor Day Tours

2010-07-16T14:26:00.001+03:00

During my reports on my holiday in England last September, I mentioned that my sister-in-law Jill took us out on some of the tours she planned to offer as part of her new business.

Now I am pleased to announce that she has opened her tour business to the general public. Windsor Day Tours offers personalized private tours, including the sites we visited (Jane Austen country and Stonehenge) and others.

Some may have considered it unethical for me to write a testimonial on Jill's site, being a relative (and therefore possibly "unobjective"), so I haven't done that. Instead, I feel I can write about Jill's tours here, with full disclosure of our connection.

Jill has always loved travelling, and throughout the years of our acquaintance, I have enjoyed many trips in her company. She has extensive experience in guiding small tours, first for friends and relatives, later also for overseas students. Since deciding to set up her own tour business, Jill has studied the background to the places she visits, and also explored each site fully. She has invested in a luxurious car, and acquired all the licences and insurance coverage required to drive small tour groups. Jill is a people person, with an outgoing personality, and her previous work experience in nursing and teaching English as a foreign language, make her a pleasant and considerate companion for adults and children.

The tours are ideal for small groups wishing to explore various aspects of England's landscape and heritage with a personal guide. Many people are reluctant to join large coach tours, where they might not get an opportunity to ask the questions they want, and where the schedule is dictated by others. On the other hand, some find it difficult to tour independently, by car or public transport. There is often a feeling that even with a good guide book, it is hard to know the best places to see. An experienced private tour guide can solve these problems and create the ideal day trip.

If you visit Jill's site and decide to contact her about a tour, I would appreciate it if you told her that you first read about Windsor Day Tours on my blog.

Porcupine Tree live in Tel Aviv, July 7, 2010

2010-07-08T22:30:00.002+03:00

Last night I saw one of my favourite bands perform live, and it was the best rock concert I have ever seen (not that I have seen many...).

[Photo of Steven Wilson from jonklinger's flickrstream]

Porcupine Tree is a British progressive rock band with metal influences. In my opinion, they are the best current progressive rock band, and among the best rock bands I know in terms of musical skills. Their songs are complex, interesting, and varied. They usually combine loud and quieter sections, original rhythms, various solo sections featuring the outstanding musicianship of each member, and thought-provoking lyrics.

This concert was held at the Tel Aviv Exhibition Grounds, in a large, airconditioned venue. I find it hard to estimate numbers, but it seemed to me that there were between 2,000 and 3,500 people there. I have been unable to find any report of audience numbers online. That makes this quite a large concert for a band that is not quite mainstream, and shows the band's lasting popularity in Israel. The audience seemed to be 60-65% male (which seems normal for rock concert audiences, judging by videos I have seen), and probably about 60-65% aged under 30, though there were several older people and a few pre-adolescents.

There was a long wait outside before the audience was allowed in, and the female ticket holders were asked to stand in a separate queue so their bags could be checked by female security guards. I have never seen this done anywhere else, and wonder where this idea came from.

The acoustics and sound balance were probably not perfect, but sounded good enough to me. I don't have enough experience to say if another local venue would have been preferable in any way, and the airconditioning helped make it more bearable on a humid summer's night than an outdoor concert would have been. Unfortunately, people were smoking, and this is the first time in years I have been exposed to so much smoking, which I hate, but it was to be expected.

The supporting act was an Israeli band called Eatliz. I hadn't heard of them before, as I'm not really interested in Israeli music, I don't really like female vocalists, and so I can't say their music was to my taste. Some members of the audience appreciated them, but I got the impression most were impatient for the "real" concert to begin (especially after the long delay in getting into the venue). Supporting acts are always in a difficult position, playing for an audience that is waiting for someone else to come on stage. Also, the sound during their show was quite bad, for some reason.

It is ten years since Porcupine Tree's last concert here, and accordingly they played not just songs from their latest album, The Incident, but also many songs from previous albums. I was easy to please regarding the choice of songs, since I like all the albums. I was happy to hear one of my favourite songs, Dark Matter, and didn't mind that some other favourites were not included. In general, the songs selected seemed well suited to live performance. Of course, there will always be some people who either have clear preferences among the songs and albums, or perhaps don't know all the material, and they are more difficult to please.

The band's leader, Steven Wilson, is known as a great friend of Israel, having lived in Tel Aviv on and off over the past few years. I have heard this originally started with an Israeli girlfriend, but that he continued to spend time in Israel even after this relationship ended. He started the show speaking in Hebrew, which impressed everyone. As you can imagine, Israelis are particularly sensitive to the way foreigners treat them, especially after so many artists either refuse to perform here or cancel shows at the last minute. So Wilson's attitude earned him and the band great respect.

Apparently, drummer Gavin Harrison didn't really want to perform here, as he supports the Palestinians. Of course, he is entitled to his opinions, and I really respect him for performing here with the band despite his personal objections. He is an outstanding drummer and gave a great performance. I don't think the audience held his opinions against him.

I am not a fannish person. In the two main fields of art I consume, music and literature, I have a tendency to collect all the disks/books of artists/writers I enjoy, but I don't feel the need to publicize my support by buying posters or t-shirts, and I don't need signed copies. For me, it's all about my personal reaction to what I hear/read, and it's a private thing that happens in my head.

So, I was wondering why I felt the need to attend the live concert. First, in practical terms, I know that nowadays bands obtain most of their revenue from live performances rather than from selling recorded music. It is said that in the past bands toured to promote their albums, while today they release tracks to support their concerts. This is one reason why I wanted to attend, to pay back the creators of the music I enjoy. I believe in rewarding artists I appreciate. Secondly, since there are so few concerts in Israel by groups I want to hear, the moment I heard my favourite rock band was coming here I knew I had to go. I bought the tickets at the end of March, when they first went on sale. I felt quite confident the concert wouldn't be cancelled, and I'm so happy it wasn't.

As I mentioned earlier, I haven't attended many rock concerts in my life, and I don't go out dancing. So before the concert started, I was standing around wondering why I was waiting among a loud, sweaty, and smoking crowd of strangers just to hear music that I can listen to whenever I want. As soon as the concert started, I began to realize why. The experience of live music is so different to recorded music. First, there is something magical about seeing the creators of music I love in person, making music and talking to the audience. It felt slightly more personal than just listening to recordings. Second, the live versions of the songs included some solos that are not in the albums. Third, the light show and the video art were very impressive.

For me, it was an other-worldly experience. I was in a large crowd, but felt completely alone and uninhibited in dancing and singing (badly) along with the songs. I was aware that every audience member was experiencing the music differently, and I just went with my instinctive reaction to the music, based on my feelings about the songs. I was able to forget about externals like how I would appear to others, and just make the direct connection between the music I was hearing and my expression of my response to it. I felt at home.

Thank you, Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson, Gavin Harrison, Richard Barbieri, John Wesley, and Colin Edwin! You have made thousands of Israelis very happy.

(Also, thanks to the music shop manager who first thought I might like Porcupine Tree a few years ago - I did, and he benefitted from his successful recommendation when I bought all their albums in the space of a few weeks!)

Hit and Run Accidents

2010-07-06T17:07:00.000+03:00

Recently there have been a lot of hit and run accidents, where drivers hit pedestrians and then drive away without checking to see who or what they hit, and without providing assistance. Some of these accidents are fatal to the pedestrians.

Sometimes the pedestrians are to blame, when they jump out into the road and the driver has no time to stop. Sometimes the driver is going too fast, or just not looking. In some cases the drivers are drunk.

The hitting may be an accident, but the running is not. Drivers often say they didn't know they hit something, or they thought it was an object rather than a person. This is not convincing, especially when one sees photos of the car involved in the accident.

The law states that whenever drivers hit something, they must stop and investigate. If they hit a person or caused damage to property, they must report it and get help for the victim. Apart from this being a legal requirement, it is also a sign of human decency and even common sense.

It is sad that so many drivers seem to think they can avoid the consequences of their actions, and are more interested in protecting themselves than in possibly saving their victim's life.

I call upon all drivers to drive carefully, never drink and drive, and to stop if they hit something. I also call on pedestrians to be more careful, and never assume that drivers have seen them or will stop for them. Our use of public spaces like roads requires us all to be responsible and considerate.

Why boycotting a country is immoral

2010-06-12T16:26:00.003+03:00

We have recently witnessed various attempts to boycott Israel, both academically and culturally. The academic boycott involved not collaborating with Israeli scholars, not allowing them to publish in journals, not inviting them to conferences, and not accepting invitations to speak in Israel. The cultural boycott involved artists and musicians cancelling planned visits, and authors refusing to allow their works to be translated into Hebrew. These actions were motivated by the idea that Israel was behaving immorally, and the boycotters sought to distance themselves from Israel's actions and to make a public statement.

I would like to argue here that the act of boycotting is in itself immoral, and that it stems from confused and misguided thinking.

The first thing that is wrong with the boycott is that it constitutes collective punishment. In this case, the entire population of a country is considered to be morally responsible for the decisions and policies of its government, and the actions of its armed forces. In practice, the population holds a wide variety of opinions, and in some cases, the government's policies do not even reflect the opinion of the majority, due to the complicated electoral system and the formation of coalition governments.

It is particularly noticeable that the attempts to boycott Israeli academics end up targetting some of the most prominent pro-Palestinian activists among the Israeli population, since the academic world tends to be more left-wing than nationalist. It may also be the case, though this has not been studied to my knowledge, that Israelis interested in hearing performances by foreign musicians and reading translated fiction are more likely to have left-wing, universalist tendencies.

In this way, the supporters of the government's policies are likely to respond to the boycott with apathy, saying things like "good riddance" and "everyone hates us anyway", while those who want to be part of the world community and who value western culture feel they are being rejected because of actions and policies they do not support.

The second reason I find these boycotts immoral is the attitude of righteous indignation and self-justifying of the boycotters. By making these decisions, they are declaring that they have absolute knowledge that they are right and others are wrong, and they want to exclude those they believe are wrong from the human community. This demeans and dehumanizes the people they reject.

In my opinion, moral people have a primary attitude that we are all human and should all be treated as human, and that behaviours we believe are wrong should be corrected through education and dialogue. Refusing to have contact with perceived wrong-doers seems to me to reflect some sort of subconscious primal fear of contamination.

The boycott represents one of the most extreme forms of creating a clear separation between two groups, "us" and "them", implying that "we" are right while "they" are wrong. Moral behaviour requires people, in my mind, to expand the "us" group to include all of humanity, instead of excluding and dehumanizing certain groups.

Ultimately, we are all individuals and our lives involve certain things beyond our individual control. Some people may agree 100% with the policies of their elected leaders, while others may violently disagree. To treat all the individuals living in a country as a uniform group with uniform opinions is misguided and naive.

I also find it strange that so many people around the world have such strong and definite opinions (or even certainties) about the complex issue of Israel and Palestine, while they probably express no such opinions about other national disputes around the world. In most cases, I don't believe their opinions are based on thorough knowledge of the facts.

It is also strange that the boycott weapon is not applied over other issues that could be considered just as important. For example, I think many British and European academics and artists might be strongly opposed to the death penalty if they thought about it, but would they boycott the US states that execute convicts?

There seems to be a lot of hypocricy going on among the sort of people who say, on the one hand, that the west must have dialogue with countries like Iran and China, because dialogue is the only way to promote progress, while on the other hand they consider Israel somehow beyond this sort of treatment.

The final point I would like to address is the motivation behind actions. Some actions are motivated by the survival instinct. A country whose existence is threatened, after being at war for its entire lifespan, behaves differently than countries that are safe, prosperous and thriving. Of course, this does not justify every action, but it does explain the mindset and needs to be taken into account. However, I now believe that there are more than just these two levels, surviving and thriving. There is a worse level, below that of surviving, and this is where people are motivated by destructiveness. In order to thrive, one's physical needs have to be guaranteed, so one has the time and energy to spend on development. In order to survive, one has to be willing to fight and sometimes pay a high price. This is not an ideal state to live in. However, there are also those who actively enjoy destroying things and causing pain, and are motivated by hatred. It seems to me that singling out the population of one country as unworthy of receiving the same treatment as the rest of the world can be, in some cases, an act of hatred, disguised as a moral act.

I would like to call on readers who supported the idea of boycotting Israel to reconsider. First, please think of Israel as a country full of very diverse individuals rather than as one uniform group. Second, learn the facts and discover that things are not as simple as you may have thought. The world is not made up of black and white. Finally, please be honest with yourself and consider the motivation behind your opinion. If you find you are a person capable of hatred, I hope this will shock you into trying to change yourself.

Conference: How to Magnetically Attract Customers

2010-05-26T21:19:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I attended the first annual marketing conference of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haifa and the North, entitled "How to Magnetically Attract Customers". It was held at the International Convention Center Haifa. There were over 300 participants, mainly from Haifa and the North, but some from other parts of the country.

The conference was opened by the Mayor of Haifa, Mr. Yona Yahav, who spoke about the municipality's recent Internet innovations, followed by the President of the Chamber, Mr. Gad Shefer, who announced that this would be the first annual marketing conference the Chamber organizes, so it will become a regular event.

The first lecture was by Dr. Yaniv Levyatan, on social media marketing. He described the various social media sites, and the difference between interruption marketing and permission marketing. David Friedman of the Interdisciplinary Internet Center spoke about the new model of marketing, involving dialogue with customers, niche target audiences, interaction and extensive information about customers. He noted that the number of blogs now equals the number of other types of websites. Maor Kaplansky spoke about personal branding, and how to create an online presence in just 3 hours a week: one hour creating content, one hour networking, and one hour syndicating the contents. He recommended buying your full name domain, which is something I'll have to look into. Then we heard from Liron Mor, aka Video Wonder Woman, about using video for marketing. She made a huge impression as someone who had achieved success at an early age, through her authenticity and openness.

After a break, we heard Dr. Dan Herman talk about short-term strategies, arguing that long-term success is a series of short-term successes. Things are changing so fast that people have less brand loyalty and are driven by the fear of losing out to try new things. Instead of aiming for customer trust, marketers should now try to create enthusiasm for short-term brands, and think in terms of opportunities, not just goals. Then, Silvio Pinko of Clickim spoke about affiliate programs. Josepha Edman (who was one of the conference organizers) gave an advanced talk about social media optimization, automizing and syndicating content, which was probably above the level of many participants, but gave an idea of what is possible. Doron Hayout of BPI spoke about location-based applications and the use of Google Maps. While in some cases it could be useful to have services provided based on my current location as known from my mobile device's GPS, there are privacy issues that need to be addressed. Who will be able to know and store data about the location of users at any given time? Ronny Gorlicki told us the story of marketing the Quicktionary. The session ended with a talk by Amir Hardoof, promising us 5 secrets not taught in business school. He spent half the time giving testimonials from customers who had made money quickly following his method, and spoke about the importance of addressing the customer's emotions. He ended by a very hard-sell pitch for his set of CDs and a conference, which angered most of the audience, as it went against most of what we had been hearing all day about not using hard-sell, and it seemed very inappropriate for a conference like this. Also, he went overtime just before the lunch break, something no speaker should do!

After lunch there was a panel giving their personal take on the theme of attracting customers. Solly Anaf spoke about the importance of listening, liking and showing empathy towards customers. Adv. Orly Sapir Sehayek (who is my lawyer and a former member of my BNI chapter) gave some legal advice about marketing without breaking the law (being careful not to offend, not to violate privacy, and to get permission), and described the importance of the human relationship between individuals in business. Andre Suidan of Special Reserve wine shop in Haifa described attracting customers by providing added value in free events (in this case, wine tastings) and specialist lectures and courses. Hila Rom, of the Get Green website, explained how customers now expect businesses to do something for the environment, and that investment in creating a greener business is a win-win situation. We then heard from two lecturers at WebSem. First, Mickey Lerner explained how to use Google AdWords for niche marketing. Then Asaf Paz explained how to make good landing pages that create a good immediate impression.

This was an informative conference, and most of the speakers were entertaining and interesting. The organization was slightly marred by the late start, necessitating shorter lectures than planned in some cases, and the inevitable tension between the lecturers wanting to give their full prepared talk and the organizers' and audience's need for the conference to end on time. One lecturer was unable to attend after being involved in a traffic accident on the way. I look forward to seeing what I can implement from the things I learned, both in my translating business and in another venture I am planning. I hope to attend next year's marketing conference.

Mastermind Conference

2010-05-04T20:57:00.003+03:00

Yesterday I attended the First Mastermind Conference in Israel, held at the 09 Conference Center in Kfar Sava. About 70 people attended.

This conference was organized by Ronnie Dunetz, who has created the DunetzMastermind system, and his team of Mastermind group leaders, known as the Masters of Mastermind.

Masterminds are groups of business professionals who meet to help and support each other. The idea originated in Napoleon Hill's book Think and Grow Rich, first published in 1937. Hill researched the secret of the success of many business leaders, and discovered that they all participated in groups of peers who consulted each other regularly.

I have been attending one of the Mastermind groups for several months. We meet about once a month, and one or two members share a business or management issue they are facing, then the others make suggestions. It is more than brainstorming, since personal and emotional factors are taken into account. The meeting also includes other positive exercises, and the atmosphere can be really supportive and encouraging. The members come from many different types of business, and are at different stages in their careers and personal development.

The conference started with a presentation by Ronnie Dunetz, describing the system for audience members new to the subject. He led an exercise in pairs, which showed the power of working together. Then the seven group leaders presented themselves.

Then, the participants split into groups of 6-10, and each group held a sample Mastermind sharing exercise. I had been asked to present an issue for discussion, and I was pleased with the feedback and support I received.

After a break, we heard a lecture on Positive Psychology by Prof. Oren Kaplan. I have heard him lecture before, at a BNI event. Among the insights I gained from this lecture: Happy people have at least 3 times more positive than negative thoughts; variety is not necessarily a good thing; when you decide to do something, willpower is not enough, and it is better to turn it into a habit, for example, by scheduling time for it every day or every week. Finally, people cannot improve from their weakness, they can only do this by concentrating on the successes in their lives.

The conference was well-organized, with everything starting on time, and all the stages thoroughly prepared and designed to showcase the power of Mastermind. The atmosphere was positive, and I had the satisfying experience of both learning a few new things and reinforcing much I already knew.

Earth Day 2010

2010-04-23T14:26:00.003+03:00

Yesterday was Earth Day 2010. Here in Israel, there were several special events.

One event was Earth Hour, when people were supposed to switch off their lights for one hour. We did this in Haifa from 20:20 to 21:20. The starting times for the different participating cities were staggered, to prevent sudden drops and surges in the power consumption. I read today that the city with the highest participation rate was Kfar Sava, where I used to live.

I have always been aware of environmental issues, and my lifestyle reflects this awareness. As reported in a previous post, I don't use a dishwasher, and I dry washing on the washing line. For many years I used only public transport, and even now that I have a car, I don't use it when I can walk, or when public transport makes more sense. I carry shopping in cloth shopping bags, and reuse or recycle paper, plastic bags, bottles and batteries. I am careful not to waste water and electricity.

I think the sparing use of earth's resources shows consideration for others and for future generations. Even people who are skeptical about the idea of global warming being caused by human activity can find other reasons to prefer a less polluting and less wasteful lifestyle.

Tel Aviv

2010-04-13T10:23:00.002+03:00

I spent a few days in Tel Aviv last week, and decided to look at the city with new eyes and see what impression I formed.

My normal view of the city is that it is noisy, polluted, crowded, and stressful. The traffic noise is certainly constant, day and night, justifying the slogan "The city that never sleeps" in a sense they probably did not intend. Central Tel Aviv is also polluted, and the climate there seems more humid than here in Haifa, at least at this time of year.

A city has two main components: the physical and the human. I spent much of my time there walking around, looking at buildings and watching people. Both aspects are interesting to observe.

Central Tel Aviv is famous for its Bauhaus International Style buildings, giving it the nickname "the White City", and earning it the status of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site. Some of these buildings are currently being restored. I like this style, and there are some similar buildings in Haifa, though probably not so many and not in such a concentrated area. I also observed the work to rebuild Habima theatre. The new design seems to echo the original, and I hope the building will fit in well with its surroundings and with people's memories of the original, a local landmark.

Tel Aviv is built on a grid pattern, to some extent, with many roads either parallel at right angles to the sea. There are many tall hotels along the seafront, which blocks both the view of the sea and the sea breeze, though sometimes pedestrians suddenly get a breath of sea air in the middle of all the traffic and noise. Haifa has avoided this problem, with one major exception, by not allowing large buildings along the seafront. Haifa has the additional advantage of not being flat like Tel Aviv, so sea views are available far inland, from the slopes of Mount Carmel.

The people of Tel Aviv are a varied and generally tolerant population. Young people from all over the country move to Tel Aviv to study, work, or to find somewhere they can fit in. The population seems densely packed together, compared with Haifa where there are tree-filled gaps between various residential areas, usually in the valleys between the various peaks of the Carmel. Walking along a major shopping street on Friday around lunchtime showed me that the people can be relaxed, though the constant traffic remained as tense as ever. Many people were walking dogs of all shapes and sizes. There were many cyclists, something I have become unaccustomed to here in hilly Haifa. In some places bicycle lanes have been marked out on the pavement (sidewalk), and pedestrians usually respect these lanes and leave them clear, except where there is no other option due to parked cars or cafe tables blocking the pedestrian areas.

I saw some of the better aspects of Tel Aviv, along with the problems I remember from when I lived there for a year (1995, I think). I will try to appreciate these positive aspects in the future, though on balance the experience made me happy to live where I do in Haifa.

Holocaust Day thoughts

2010-04-12T09:04:00.002+03:00

Today Israel commemorates the Holocaust (other countries have different dates for this). The message is "Never Again".

Here are some of the lessons that I believe should be learned from the Holocaust:

First of all, there does seem to be something different about antisemitism compared with other forms of racism, and this does justify the existence of the State of Israel, since living as a minority in other countries never seemed to work out very well for the Jews.

Second, there is the danger of charisma and rhetoric. Charmismatic leaders can easily sway a population to accept and collude in immoral ideology and actions. As individuals, we must remain vigilant and always question the motives of leaders and our own motives. "Only obeying orders" and "everyone is doing it" are very weak excuses. Individuals are ultimately responsible for their actions, and so should beware the influence of persuasion.

Thirdly, and most importantly, group thinking is dangerous. Members of a group have one or several characteristics in common (for example: ethnicity, location, language, culture), but they are still individuals, and each group contains the full spectrum of individuals on any trait you wish to examine. There are intelligent and stupid, good and bad, responsible and selfish, peaceful and aggressive, individuals within every group. To think of groups is to reduce or remove the individuality of the people composing it, and this is the first step to dehumanizing them.

Many believe that Holocaust Day should serve to remind the world that the Jews suffered genocide, in order to prevent it happening to the Jews ever again. I believe this is not enough. We must prevent it happening to any group ever again. There have been other genocides since the Holocaust, and the memory of the Holocaust did not seem to prevent them or oblige the world to intervene fast enough.

Not only is there still a risk that anyone could become a victim, there is still a risk that anyone could become a perpetrator. One of the worst things I have ever heard someone say, with a sincerity that sent chills down my spine, was "Let's do a Holocaust to the Arabs".

For me, the strongest message of the Holocaust is that we must avoid this sort of thinking, recognize the individuality of all humans, be very careful using generalizations about groups, and strengthen our empathy so we genuinely cannot consider doing to others what we would not want done to ourselves.

Liberty

2010-03-29T14:29:00.002+03:00

One of the themes we celebrate in the festival of Passover is liberty. The traditional story tells of liberation from slavery, but there are many lessons to be learned for everyone, even those who consider themselves free.

Liberty is the sort of concept that is extrinsic, meaning that it relies on something else. The person who is free is always free from something. In this respect, it is a less purely positive concept than something like fulfilment or achievement.

Among the things we may still have to liberate ourselves from: our own fears, and other people's expectations. When we can do what we choose without holding ourselves back and without worrying about other people's reactions, we are truly free.

One of the most liberating experiences I have had was deciding to change my personality. I used to be shy and introverted. When I was asked to teach in a translation course, my first reaction was fear. But I decided to face and overcome that fear. I taught that class for 18 months, and gradually became less inhibited. I learned to think about what I wanted to get across rather than about my fears and the reactions of the listeners. This was ten years ago, and since then I have continued developing my public speaking skills. I learned the important lesson that I can decide what to be, and I am free to make choices, even about basic aspects of my own personality.

A good way to find things worth liberating yourself from is to listen to the reasons you give yourself not to do things. When you identify things that scare you, or hear yourself using other people's opinions as a reason to refrain, this is an opportunity to think further. Is this something you really want to do? Would it be worth changing yourself in order to achieve it? Do the opinions of others really matter so much?

I wish everyone fulfilling experiences of self-liberation!

John Scalzi - The Android's Dream

2010-03-22T18:10:00.000+02:00

John Scalzi, The Android's Dream, Tor, 2006.

Spoiler warning.

This novel is not related to the author's Old Man's War series. It is a story about the misunderstandings that can arise in inter-species diplomacy.

Agreements with alien species can be strange. In this case, the aliens require a particular breed of sheep to be used in a ceremony. An agent is sent to find the sheep, and ends up protecting a woman with a bizarre and disturbing background, which she didn't know about, while politicians and factions among the humans and aliens struggle to control the fate of humanity.

This book manages to be both very funny and great fun, while also discussing culture clashes and the wide range of human deviancy. The characters are engaging, and the plot reaches a satisfying conclusion.

Haifa BNI chapters networking event

2010-03-08T12:08:00.004+02:00

On March 7th, 2010, the four BNI chapters of the Haifa region held a networking event at the Mount Carmel Hotel. The four chapters are BNI Haifa (my chapter), BNI Haifa Pesagot HaCarmel, BNI Haifa Betenufa, and BNI Tsafon Asakim (from the nearby Krayot). There were over 80 participants, mainly BNI members, but also some visitors (though not really enough, in my opinion, to justify the name Visitors Day, as this event was originally intended to be).

The guest of honour was Shaul D'Angeli, of Haifa Municipality's Business Development Unit, who spoke optimistically about the types of businesses here in Haifa, the development of transport solutions in the city, and the recent increase in real estate prices in Haifa compared with the rest of the country.

The main presentation on networking was provided by Dr. Itai Plaut, BNI Regional Director for the North (pictured above). He explained the principles of networking and encouraged everyone to adopt them, whether or not they were BNI members. The speech was refreshingly not a hard-sell recruitment attempt, as Itai noted repeatedly that business people can network without belonging to an organization like BNI, though he did present figures that showed the success of BNI Israel in the past year.

We then had three rounds of speed networking at the tables, where participants presented themselves and got to know each other, and then arranged meetings for later. The aim was to have all the participants leave the event with four meetings in their diaries.

This was another successful event, though it would have been better with more visitors.

Update: Here is a report on this event (in Hebrew) with photographs, in a local news site. One correction: this event was not part of International Networking Week as they mentioned, since that was a month ago.

Alastair Reyonlds - House of Suns

2010-02-28T16:02:00.002+02:00

Alastair Reynolds, House of Suns, Gollancz, 2008.

Spoiler warning!

This is a far-future novel combining big themes and the personal story of the main characters. The background story, told at the start of each section of the book, tells of Abigail Gentian, who became one of the first people to establish a Line, by creating a thousand clones of herself, with her memories, whose purpose is to explore the universe over thousands of years, and regularly meet up and share memories. These "shatterlings" differ from Abigail to some extent, so half of them are male and half female, and their appearance varies. From the moment they start their separate voyages, they become different people, and the regular meetings help them pool their memories and experiences.

Two of these shatterlings, Campion and Purslane, fall in love, something frowned upon within the Gentian Line. They are late returning to the meeting place for the reunion, and discover that someone has attacked the meeting place, killing most of the Line. The story follows the few survivors as they try to work out what has happened and who among them is a traitor. The survival of the Line is at stake, and the tensions between the survivors complicate the investigation. They are joined by some visitors, and the Machine People among them play an important role in the mystery, which turns out to be far larger and more important than anyone could have imagined.

This is a complex, exciting and touching story, with sympathetic characters and a satisfying ending. It is well-written, carefully paced, and engaging. I would welcome further stories set in this universe, which seems to have great potential.

Jerusalem - Bridge of Strings

2010-02-19T19:25:00.007+02:00

The hotel room where we stayed for the ITA Conference gave us a good view overlooking the Bridge of Strings. This bridge will serve the light railway (or tram) service, and as usual in Israel, its completion was delayed considerably.

Here are some photos of the bridge at different times of day, with different lighting conditions.

Jerusalem - Western Wall Tunnels

2010-02-19T18:55:00.009+02:00

During the ITA Conference, we were taken on a guided tour of Jerusalem at night. The main focus of the trip was the Western Wall tunnels alongside the Western Wall, which was the supporting wall of Temple Mount. We learned that the current Jewish worship site, the most holy place in Judaism, is only a small part of the original wall, and the tunnels underneath the adjacent parts of the Old City follow the wall further.

It is worth taking this tour with a knowledgeable tour guide who can explain the history of the site. At one point, there is a moving model showing the various stages of the Old City around the Temple Mount. This helps visitors see where they are walking, what it looked like at the time of construction, and what was built above the tunnels later.

The wall contains the largest building block in the world, weighing 570 tons. It is unclear how this stone was brought to the site.

The tour reached the place where construction of the Herodian walkway alongside the wall ceased, and the stones that were being quarried for use were still only partly separated from the bedrock. Further on there are rooms that were used as water reservoirs for many centuries.

After emerging from the tunnels, we walked around the Old City, getting a good view of the Western Wall itself, and of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock on top.

The tour continued with a walk through the Jewish Quarter, including the Cardo, a street from the Roman period that has been reconstructed, and is now lined with souvenir shops (which were, however, closed late at night...).

It was an interesting tour of a city I don't know very well. This was my first time in the tunnels, and I had never toured the Old City that late at night, when it was largely deserted. This was just a small taste of the history and archaeology to be sampled in Jerusalem.

ITA 2010 Conference

2010-02-11T22:49:00.002+02:00

The Israel Translators Association (ITA) held its annual 2010 Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem on Feb 8-10 2010.

This conference is one of the high points of my professional year. I have been participating in the ITA's conferences since they started, and this is the eighth time I have attended the event. It is an opportunity to learn something about the professional and business aspects of my occupation, to meet translators and to make connections.

The first day of the conference is always devoted to workshops. These are either aimed at beginners, or focus on specialist subjects, so I only attend when there is a topic of particular interest to me. This year I skipped the workshops and arrived at the hotel in the evening, in time for the cocktail party and gala dinner.

The keynote speaker after dinner was Oren Nahari, journalist and foreign news editor at Channel One News (Israel's public television station). He spoke about the decision making process in the media. Specifically, he noted that when there is a choice between what is important and what is interesting, the interesting is always given precedence. This seems applicable to many aspects of life. There are things we want and things we need, and we are often tempted to choose pleasure over necessity. Television news is supposed to tell people what they need to know, but instead it often has to tell them what they want to know. For example, celebrities get more attention than important but unglamorous news. Nahari mentioned that 83% of the Israeli public gets most of its information from television, but later contradicted this by noting the decline in viewing numbers and the rise of the use of online sources. I suppose it is not easy to get this sort of data, but either way this lecture seemed to support my decision not to have a television at all. I learn about the news from a combination of print newspapers, radio, web news sites and blogs, and I have no way of knowing whether the information I get is any more accurate than what is provided by television. At least it is less influenced by the power of pictures (or video).

Day Two opened with a plenary lecture on Humour and the Bible, by author Ephraim Sidon and illustrator Danny Kerman. As they noted, there is not much humour within the Bible, but biblical stories have been the basis for humour, both verbal and graphic, particularly in the last two centuries.

The first session started with Andrew Wilson, author of Translators on Translating: Inside the Invisible Art. The invisibility of the translator is sometimes considered essential - the translated work is supposed to read as if it had been written in the target language. The translator is also invisible in another way, by not being given credit for the work in the same way as the author. The final product is always someone else's. This seems to be an interesting book, and I may read and review it.

The next lecture was by Jeffrey Green, on the way literary translators need to read and understand texts in order to translate them in a literary form equivalent to the original work. This talk touched on the constant tension of form and content. A factual translation will focus mainly on conveying the content in the target language, but in literature the form, style, tone and register are equally important.

After lunch, Rachel Halevy, who edits translations into Hebrew, spoke about the role of the editor. It seems that in Israel, many editors think their duty is to lay down the law about which words and grammatical forms should and should not be used. Since Hebrew is a small language, such restrictions limit it even further. The long history of the language enables many alternate usages, and so the decisions editors make to permit particular forms and ban others are often completely arbitrary. She noted that Israeli authors use a range of language that editors of translations into Hebrew would probably find unacceptable. Instead, she suggests, the role of translation editors should be to catch "translationese" that the translator couldn't see, and to propose alternatives that sound better in terms of the musicality of the sentence or the register.

Then we heard the preliminary findings of some interesting research conducted by Prof. Rakefet Sela-Sheffey of Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Dr. Miriam Shlesinger of Bar-Ilan University. The study investigated the professional self-image and status of translators and interpreters in Israel. On the one hand, translators possess great power as cultural mediators. On the other hand, the profession has a weak image, is unappreciated and low paying. Translators are considered invisible, they work behind the scenes, and their efforts are in the service of someone else's text. The self-image and social status of translators was assessed by studying published interviews with literary translators (the elite of the profession, at least in the public eye), and interviews were conducted with working translators of various sorts. The elite literary translators tend to view translation as an art, as a calling or a destiny rather than a profession. They consider it to depend on personal skills and qualities, and some even consider the issue of payment to be irrelevant. At the same time, the ITA is trying to professionalize translators by teaching them business skills. Translators have to decide where they stand on the spectrum between art and business.

In the afternoon session, I heard Perry Zamek speak about using e-mail and e-mail groups for professional communication. As a reasonably technologically skilled professional, I didn't learn much I didn't know, but this was a useful lecture for many of the audience members.

There followed a lecture by Uri Bruck on translating websites. This was an important and familiar topic, as I am often asked to translate websites. The first problem is in providing a quotation and schedule for the translation, particularly when the customer says: "Look at the website and tell me how much it will cost and how long it will take". It is difficult or impossible to count the words on a website, especially a complex one with many links. Uri recommended ideally getting access to the website's content management system, or failing that, receiving the text for translation in a Word document or html. It is also important to proof-read the translation once the website is live.

That evening we had a tour of Jerusalem, about which I will write later.

The second day opened with a plenary lecture by Jost Zetzsche on the importance of using technology in translating. He argued that translators have been missing out by resisting new technologies instead of embracing them, with the result that software has been adapted to the needs of companies rather than translators. Personally, I am still skeptical about the need for translation memory tools for the sort of work I do, but my attitude may change eventually.

The morning session started with Don Jacobson speaking about translating for the construction business. It is always interesting to hear about other fields of specialization. Don translates for international construction projects where English is the common second language shared by people from many countries and backgrounds. There is a wide variety of documentation types, and many sub-fields, each with its own technology. Many of the documents are written by engineers who may be experts, but are not usually good at communicating. In this field, he also stressed, it is important to have professional liability insurance, and to explain to the customer that the translation must be checked carefully.

Next, Rina Ne'eman, owner of a prominent translation company in New Jersey, gave a lecture on freelance translators and how they can become more business-like. She gave many useful tips on how to be a successful entrepreneur, both in terms of practical behaviour and in terms of attitudes and presentation. While I agree with almost everything in principle, the way it was presented was as a sort of ideal of the sort of freelance translator a language service provider would like to work with. This person, it appears, must adopt a work-first attitude. While it is true that people who don't check their e-mail frequently may miss opportunities, the idea of being available for work all the time seems a bit excessive to me. I believe even the most dedicated professional is entitled to take time off and switch off mobile phones. Most translators work for several customers (direct customers or translation agencies), and sometimes have to refuse work from one customer due to prior work commitments for others. In the same way, I think even professionals can afford to refuse (or miss out on) work when they need to spend time with family, friends or themselves. Our work should be one part of our lives, one part of our identities, and it is important to find the right balance between wanting to gain a good reputation and satisfy the needs of our customers, and other aspects of life.

The session continued with former ITA Chair Micaela Ziv presenting the ITA's new Recognition program. This will be the first step towards ITA Certification. The recognition will be granted to ITA members who meet the criteria regarding training and work experience. I intend to gain this recognition, and will write about this in greater detail when relevant. Micaela also described the ITA's mentoring program, which helps new translators gain experience and confidence with help from experienced professionals.

Fabienne Bergman then spoke about her experience of collaborative translating. She helped translate a book from Czech to French, without knowing Czech. Her contribution was related to understanding the content and adapting the language to the appropriate style and register.

This conference was worthwhile as usual. I enjoyed the lectures, meeting translators I knew and also new people, the hotel and the guided tour. I look forward to next year's conference.

International Networking Week 2010 event in Akko

2010-02-05T20:29:00.003+02:00

International Networking Week event in Akko, February 4, 2010.

This event was organized by BNI Israel and MATI Western Galilee Business Development Center, and held at the Palm Beach Hotel in Akko (Acre).

This is the fourth time I have attended events for International Networking week. Here in Israel, they seem to alternate between having large events for the whole country (like last year's conference) and having smaller, local events. This was one of the smaller events, with another, probably larger, event taking place two days earlier in Binyamina. This year's slogan was "Together we will do more", which in Hebrew has a secondary, implied meaning of "we will make more money"...

There were about 60 participants, mainly BNI members from chapters in the north of Israel, some from chapters farther afield, and a few non-members.

The first hour was devoted to open networking, and there were a few stalls where products and services were exhibited.

The event's presenter was Dr. Itai Plaut, BNI Regional Director for the North (and a former member of my own Haifa chapter). He introduced the speakers, and also gave some networking tips. The first speaker, Sam Schwartz (pictured in the photo above), co-National Director of BNI Israel, spoke about using networking to gain customers in a competitive market. Sam is an excellent speaker, and his enthusiasm has inspired many new members.

There followed two presentations on professional issues. First, Aviram Petel spoke about business development and financing, focusing on the financial sources for the various expenses of a new business. Then Doron Benita discussed the past, present and future of the Internet, focusing on strategies for online networking and marketing. Interestingly, while most of the people in the room said they used Facebook, very few used LinkedIn, and only two people used Twitter. This may be due to Facebook's Hebrew interface, which makes it easier for Israelis than English-only services.

After a break for refreshments and further networking, we had structured networking sessions at the tables. Since most participants were experienced BNI members, this was a familiar activity, and some people already knew a few people at their tables.

I enjoyed the event. I met some new people and introduced people to each other, perhaps leading to collaborations. I received a referral from one person at my table. It is always good to meet members of other chapters I know. However, it was a pity there were so few participants, as the larger events have a more energetic atmosphere. I would also have preferred to see more non-BNI participants. I hope next year BNI Israel organizes a large national event for International Networking Week, as these seem to be more worthwhile.

Iain M. Banks - Against a Dark Background

2010-01-25T19:11:00.002+02:00

Iain M. Banks, Against a Dark Background, Orbit, 1993.

Spoiler warning!

This stand-alone novel certainly lives up to its title. The subject matter is dark, and reading it can feel like an ordeal. However, this is one of the best books I have read recently, in many ways, and I recommend it to readers who consider themselves tough enough to overcome the darkness and suffering presented here.

The story starts, setting the tone for the whole book, with an assassination of a woman and her bodyguard. She manages to save her infant daughter at the last moment. This child grows up to become the main character, Lady Sharrow, and we soon discover that the religious group that killed her mother is trying to kill her too, for obscure religious reasons.

The narrative alternates between the present day, when Sharrow is trying to evade death, and flashbacks to her past life. This gives the reader a comprehensive life story, and the flashbacks can serve as relief from the tension of Sharrow's current situation, while also providing insights into her past and personality, and introducing some of the other characters in greater detail. The reader learns about her relations with her half-sister and cousin, and with her former army colleagues.

Sharrow's persecutors are given a year in which they are legally permitted to kill her, unless she provides them with an ancient weapon, which they believe her ancestress stole from them. She embarks upon a quest to find the Lazy Gun, accompanied by her team members, who had previously served with her in a war. The team is supposed to have some sort of personality attunement, enabling them to act as one, but this was not very evident in the story. This point was the one weakness of the narrative, in my opinion. I was expecting this attunement to play a larger part in the quest.

During their adventures, Sharrow finds that she is under another threat. Someone has infected her with something that enables them to induce terrible pain throughout her body remotely at will. This is used to blackmail her. This concept was very upsetting. I can imagine even very strong people suddenly feeling helpless and vulnerable knowing that this pain could happen at any moment.

Despite the dark nature of the story, the time spent with the characters is entertaining. Sharrow is strong, obstinate, and has grown up with a sense of entitlement that leads her to endanger her closest friends on her behalf. Her personality is not always sympathetic, but her circumstances make the reader identify with her and hope for a happy ending, which seems less and less likely as the quest progresses. The journey around the planet Golter and its system is full of rich, varied settings and people. The team encounters various challenges, hints and setbacks. There are are captures and escapes. They meet others and have to decide whom to trust.

I enjoyed and appreciated this novel thanks to the vivid and engaging characters, the detailed world-building, and the high stakes of the mission, which maintained the narrative tension throughout. Many aspects of the story, the characters, and even minor incidents, will remain in my memory for a long time, and I hope to read this book again many times.

BNI Israel 2010 Leadership Conference

2010-01-16T17:02:00.003+02:00

On January 4th, 2010, I attended the annual Leadership Conference of my networking organization, BNI Israel. It was held at Pitaya Conference Center in Kfar Saba (the town where I grew up from age 12). For the first time, this conference was open to all BNI members, instead of just three representatives of the leadership team of each chapter. There were about 250 people there from Israel's 37 existing chapters, and a few from the new chapters soon to be announced. The theme for 2010 is Local Business, Global Network, which may be particularly relevant to non-physical businesses like mine.

The conference started with an hour of networking. I spoke to many members I already knew from other chapters, and met many new people. I discovered that a former customer from 15 years ago had become a member, and we became reacquainted and may work together again soon. There is a type of coincidence that makes me think "it's a small world", and this was demonstrated by the following story: I was talking to someone who heard I was a translator and told me his wife was also a translator. It turned out that I had met his wife at last year's Israel Translators Association conference and talked to her without knowing that her husband was a member of BNI! I also met a few translators and translation agency owners who are members of other chapters. My profession is getting a stronger representation in BNI every year.

Yarden Noy, the Co-National Director, gave us a review of 2009. BNI Israel has 37 chapters, with a few more on the way, and 850 members. Worldwide there are 5,570 chapters with nearly 125,000 members. The reported income from referrals in Israel increased in 2009 by 17% compared with 2008, which was quite an achievement for a year considered as a recession. When the chapters with the highest reported incomes from referrals were announced, I was pleased to hear that my chapter, BNI Haifa, was the second most profitable chapter.

Itai Plaut, the Regional Director for the North of Israel (and a former member of my chapter), gave a fascinating lecture on decision making and the irrational nature of human decisions. For example, people prefer to choose the middle of three options with different prices. He stressed that people distinguish between social norms and business norms.

We then had group discussions around the table on BNI issues, and tried to help each other find referrals and contacts. I managed to connect one person at my table with a member of my chapter, and hope they will collaborate.

We had lunch, and then there was a ceremony giving awards to the outstanding members of each chapter for 2009. I received this award for 2007, so I know what it feels like to go on stage and receive the chapter's cup.

There was a short comedy show, followed by a panel where four former or current chapter presidents shared their experiences. Our president spoke about the Mastermind meetings he has been providing for our chapter.

The conference ended with a prize draw among the participants' business cards. I was very pleased when the first prize, a hotel vacation, was won by the outstanding member of my chapter, Danny Weiss, who deserves both the recognition and the prize!

I really enjoyed this conference, which was well-organized and had a good atmosphere. But my experience was slightly diminished by having a bad cold which made it difficult to talk to people, as I kept losing my voice! This has also prevented me from writing my blog for over two weeks, but I now hope to resume normal blogging.

Goodbye 2009, Welcome 2010!

2009-12-29T16:19:00.004+02:00

I am taking time this week to look back over the past year and forward to the next.

For me, 2009 was a good year. I proved to myself (and others) that I have leadership skills, serving as the President of my BNI Chapter for six months. I made the usual progress in developing my professional skills and contacts, taking on a variety of projects and attending several lectures, workshops and conferences. I continued developing my personal skills through reading, listening to podcasts and attending workshops.

It was a year of family events. My sister got married and had her first baby. At the wedding I met some of my relatives from both sides of the family. I got to know my new brother-in-law's family on several occasions. Then we had a holiday in England, and managed to meet many relatives from my mother's side of the family and Ivor's family.

Socially, I have reached a level of comfort in public that would have seemed out of reach a few years ago. Sometimes I still blush when speaking to strangers, but this no longer worries me. I spent time with several of my friends, including some Israeli friends who now live abroad and came to visit. I also renewed and strengthened my contacts with some of my foreign friends, sometimes through social networking sites, sometimes through simple email.

Culturally, I read many books, some of which I wrote about here. I enjoyed some new music, saw fewer films than in previous years, but visited more art exhibitions, also discussed in this blog. I also had my portrait taken.

In general, I have reached a high level of life satisfaction and contentment. I still have things I want to achieve, but from a desire for self-actualization rather than from any deep frustration with my current lifestyle.

Now, my plans for 2010 - not "resolutions", just plans. I will set up a website for my translation business. I hope to manage my time better and work more efficiently. I will get to know my new baby nephew, and spend more time with my parents, perhaps even travelling with them. I hope to have a holiday abroad again. I want to take more photographs. I hope to write more blog posts and increase my readership. Most importantly, I will work on my own writing projects.

Happy New Year!

Charles Stross - The Jennifer Morgue

2009-12-19T08:08:00.002+02:00

Charles Stross, The Jennifer Morgue, Orbit, 2006.

Spoiler warning.

This book is set in the Laundry series, which started with The Atrocity Archive. Bob Howard, computational demonologist, is sent on another mission to save the human race from the horrors of the deep. He faces a stereotypical bad guy, software billionaire Ellis Billington, and the events take place in exotic locations. His partner on this mission, Ramona, turns out to have some surprising abilities, and their relationship develops some interesting complexities. Meanwhile, Mo has been training, and when she finds out what Bob is doing, she rushes to the rescue.

The story cleverly employs tropes from the James Bond world, and while some of them are obvious, I felt that I would have appreciated the work better had I been more familiar with the Bond books and films. Perhaps I am in a minority in not having watched any of the films (well, perhaps one, a long time ago). The story does work even without having any knowledge of the Bond themes, so readers who share my ignorance need not be put off.

The main twist of the plot was a satisfying surprise, though one of the loose ends resolved in the final chapters had occurred to me. The writing, humour and pacing were good, and the story was dark, exciting and entertaining. I have read several short stories in the Laundry series, and expect there will be further Laundry novels and stories to look forward to in years to come.

My portrait

2009-12-11T20:17:00.004+02:00

My friend, artist, gallery owner and art conservationist, Michael Karo, has created a mixed-technique portrait of me. It started with a photograph of me in his gallery, which was then digitally processed and finally printed onto canvas and painted in oil paints. I was pleased with the final result, and the painting is now hanging in my living room.

The painting has a sense of space and light, and a relaxed, cheerful atmosphere. On the wall, it seems like a window into another room, with windows into the garden beyond, so it brings depth to the room in which it hangs.

I never expected to sit for a portrait, thinking that nowadays most people only have photographs taken. A few years ago, I started sitting for another friend who draws portraits from life, but for some reason she found it difficult and that attempt was never completed. I think this is a worthwhile experience for anyone who appreciates art, and I am grateful to have had this opportunity. Thanks, Michael!

John Scalzi - The Last Colony

2009-12-05T16:34:00.002+02:00

John Scalzi, The Last Colony, Tor, 2007.

Spoiler warning!

In this book, we join some of the characters familiar from the previous stories in the series, Old Man's War and The Ghost Brigade. John Perry and Jane Sagan have married, adopted Zoe Boutin, and settled on a colony world. Their life is changed when they are asked to become the leaders of a new colony.

The new colony of Roanoke is special, because it is colonized not by people from earth but by citizens of other colonies. When they arrive there, they discover that the colony is being used as a pawn in a complex game. The new colonists are forced to adapt to their new circumstances, while their leaders try to work out what is happening and what can be done about it. The challenges are both practical and ethical, with loyalty to the Colonial Union being questioned.

With each book in the series, the horizons of our knowledge about the universe expand. First we knew only what was known to a CDF soldier, then we learned more about the Special Forces and the power struggles between other races. This book gives a wider picture of the players in the colonization game. It seems likely that there will be many more stories told within this setting.

Having first read the later book, Zoe's Tale, I already knew what to expect in terms of the plot outline, but enjoyed revisiting the story from a different point of view. The dilemmas faced by the main characters were interesting, and the story here went on a little further. A comparison between the books in this series led me to conclude that Scalzi's writing improves over time, which bodes well for his future work.

"Get a life!"

2009-12-01T18:49:00.002+02:00

The phrase "get a life!" ultimately means "get a life like mine", and expresses contempt for something that is very important to someone. It is usually said when people tell someone about their interests, which the listener finds unworthy in some way - uncool or boring or too serious or not serious enough.

Most people think the way they are living is the best way to live, and that more people should be like them. But to imply that someone else's way of life is unworthy, and to negate or disrespect their interests, shows a high level of intolerance of difference.

The differences between people, both individual differences and the differences between groups and cultures, are what make life interesting (not always easy, but interesting). Tolerant people acknowledge that there are many ways to live a worthy human life. They can accept and respect different lifestyles, interests and behaviours.

People all have their chosen lives, and while some may seem less worthy, less healthy, less interesting or more trivial than yours, your reaction to them says more about you than about them. Being capable of accepting difference means you are stronger, more gracious and more certain of yourself than accusing others of not having a life.

John Scalzi - The Ghost Brigades

2009-11-30T12:24:00.002+02:00

John Scalzi, The Ghost Brigades, Tor, 2006.

Spoiler warning!

This is the sequel to Old Man's War. It expands our understanding of the world presented in the first book, and presents a more multi-layered perspective.

On one level, it echos part of the story of Old Man's War, which described the training and combat activities of a CDF soldier. The story this time describes the origins, training and combat activities of a Special Forces soldier. To me, it was immediately obvious what the term "Ghost Brigades" meant when it was first mentioned in OMW. This level of the story provides a first-person report of what that experience is like.

On another level, the main character is not, or not entirely, what he believes himself to be. He has the memories of another person, which take a while to emerge into his consciousness. He finds that his whole existence is aimed at discovering these hidden memories and acting upon them.

Despite his unenviable origins, Jared Dirac becomes an interesting person in his own right, and serves his purpose in an unexpected way. The memories that rise up in him are those of a scientist, Charles Boutin, who has turned against the Colonial Union and plotted with other races. Unfortunately, he comes across as a caricature of a mad scientist type villain, despite efforts to explain his choices.

This is a story about identity and humanity. Can people created as super-human fighters, trained from inception for warfare and survival, become fully human? The answer here is a resounding "yes".

Michael Chabon - Gentlemen of the Road

2009-11-25T19:49:00.002+02:00

Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road, Del Rey, 2007. Illustrated by Gary Gianni.

Spoiler warning!

This short novel tells the story of two Jewish mercenaries around the year 950 C.E. One is a former soldier of African descent, the other Western European with medical training. They embark on adventures in the Khazar Empire, a Jewish state in the Caucasus (about which little is known).

The story involves wars, elephants, an orphaned prince trying to reclaim the throne, and clashes between Jews, Moslems and Christians. It is a wide-ranging adventure story with insightful treatment of the main characters. There is a twist in the plot that makes it all the more interesting.

Chabon is a gifted writer, and the high literary style serves the story well. Each sentence is beautifully crafted, and the story-telling is masterful. The story is accompanied by charming illustrations, reminding readers that not only children's books can benefit from a visual interpretation.

Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End

2009-11-25T15:21:00.000+02:00

Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End, Tor, 2006.

Spoiler warning!

Poet Robert Gu is given a new lease of life. He emerges from the confusion of Alzheimer's healed and rejuvenated, in a teenage-looking body. But the world has changed while he was ill, and now he must learn how to use the new technology, so he goes back to school. He is helped by his young granddaughter Miri and some of his new school friends. As he adapts to his new situation, he realizes he has lost his gift for poetry, but acquired some technical skills. He also realizes that he used to be a selfish and nasty person and pushed away his family.

Meanwhile, we learn that a senior intelligence agent is planning to release a "You Gotta Believe Me" virus, which will brainwash the world's population. Several intelligence professionals are trying to prevent this from happening, but who can they trust?

The plot converges on a university library, where the books are shredded and then scanned. The library is restored as a VR version of its former physical self, with haptic feedback so users can feel the images they see. This raises questions about the importance of books. Readers will already be in one camp or the other (to some extent), depending on whether they are holding the dead-tree copy or reading an electronic version of the book. My own opinion is that no matter how we value our physical books, eventually most information will be purely digital. This makes sense in terms of saving the environment and more efficient usage of space. I still read most of my books in physical form, and have overburdened bookshelves. I expect to read an increasing proportion in electronic form in coming years. The content matters more than the form.

This is a complex, thought-provoking and entertaining work, with many levels and sub-plots. One that interested me was the fate of Robert's ex-wife, who is suffering from an incurable disease. The time will soon come when some medical conditions can be reversed and some people can be rejuvenated, but at first this will only be available to a few people, with particular diseases and enough money to afford it. The first to receive these treatments will be in an unenviable position. They will have to accept that some of their contemporaries will suffer and age and die, while they live on, perhaps for many more decades. They will be viewed with jealousy and perhaps feel survivors' guilt. Their life experience will become worthless in a rapidly changing society. This will be a transitional generation, and there will be many lessons to be learned before rejuvenation becomes universally available.

This is a story of ideas, but it also has interesting characters, a vividly depicted near future, a thrilling plot and moments of humour and emotion.