E-Monk's Live Blog

This year I completely lost my faith. It's not because of the job loss or anything else, but because of a realization. This realization is quite strong but has a lot of logic in it: Anything we believe in, unless it has a proof or justification of existence in the real world, is just in our heads. Therefore, we can (and should) choose what to believe in. If you believe that something exists but have no proof for it yet, it becomes an opinion and opinions are definitely in our heads. Religion exists, belief exists, but does god exist? Does any deity exist? It's a matter of belief or opinion. As a matter of fact, religious leaders use this uncertainty to maintain power over those who believe in the existence of god. Had believers known if got exists, they would immediately stop serving their priests and start addressing god directly - which would certainly cause a sharp decline in social status of those who claim to be the messengers of god. The religious establishments (of all m

I will start with my conclusion: unfortunately, I won't remember 2010 as my best year. I lost a job that I liked for reasons that I do not understand and in general it seems to me as if the progress that I was doing has stalled. Maybe I should have worked harder, maybe I should have done things differently. But it happened, and I cannot change it. The only things I can do is to act quickly, find a new path and not to lose hope. And I should keep in my mind that my job does not define me - I just do it for the money. So what I did like this year? I liked traveling and I did so 3 times. Twice abroad to England and Slovenia but I also consider traveling with Eva as some sort of a trip, which happened to be in the country I live in. I liked Massive Attack's "Heligoland" and LCD Soundsystem's "This Is Happening", as well as the Chemical Brothers' "Further", Gorillaz "Plastic Beach" and Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs". The Div

It happens every now and then: we see a middle-aged or elderly man, making a fiery speech to a cheering crowd about the way he thinks the world should be. It can be Hitler or Stalin, it can be Hassan Nasrallah or Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and it can be Kim Jong-Il or Hugo Chavez. That man will always say roughly the same things: he will convince the listeners of their moral, intellectual or physical superiority over other people. He will also say that "the other people" oppressed and robbed them of some naturally-given rights. They will also refer to some golden age in which things were different, and mention names of rulers or leaders who were usually involved in unnecessary wars, which they lost. He will try to mimic the success of the west by building ridiculous and pointlessly large projects. He will also organize mock elections and establish several newspapers and a TV channel, in order to promote his agendas and show the world that he represents "the voice of the people&

Yom Kipur is upon us, the day for contemplation. Even though I really don't think there's anyone who counts our blessings and curses, I think it's as good a time as any to apologize: I apologize for those who were hurt by my actions or by my inactions. I apologize for those who were hurt by things I said or by the things I didn't. I apologize to people who were hurt by my carelessness. I apologize to anyone whom I talked about behind his or her back - I hate it when people do it to me, so I shouldn't do it to others. I apologize to the people that I criticized. Remember: when it comes to people, there is no such thing as "constructive criticism". I know that these apologies are extremely general - I apologize for that too.

Recently I've been told by several people that I complain a lot about the heat. I won't even try to deny it, because it is true. The heat this summer really takes its toll on and I have issues dealing with it. But why is that any different from past years? I've been living in the Israeli coastal plain for nearly 30 years and it's not as if the summers were particularly pleasant: the temperatures were always stable at around 29°C and the humidity revolved at around 70%. Yes, there were a few days of higher temperatures, but these heatwaves were not frequent and ended withing a few days. But this year seems to be different. I honestly cannot recall a single day with temperatures bellow 32° in the past month or so. To make things even worse, temperatures of 34° and more are very common (in fact, this is the forecast for today) and we had a week long heatwave with temperatures that reached 39°. Add the same amount of humidity as before and you will reach the inevitable conc

...So this is my first day at work. One word can describe this whole scene: casual. No screaming, no shouting, no crying - no drama. Just simple exchange of papers and polite words, promises to keep in touch and handshakes. But the void just grows: the job loss, the dissolution of the partnership, my friend's visit's end - all in the same week. But voids do not stay empty for extended periods of time - they get filled by the first thing that happens to flow into them. This situation can be harmful and I've been there - having too much free time on my hands was not good for me and in many ways finding a full-time job saved my life. But voids can also be a potential source of energy and free time can be a mean to self-development and creativity. At the end, it will be my choice and my responsibility of how to use this free time that was given to me. I just need to make the right decision and stick to it, and obviously find some people to support me in that. Will you help me?

On Friday I met my friend E who's visiting Israel for the first time and I planned to take her to visit Nachalat Benyamin and Shuk HaCarmel in what was once the center of Tel Aviv. Howevert a combination of hostile weather and a financial crisis forced us to change our plans and head to the air conditioned space known as Dizengoff Center. After working in that shopping mall for almost two years I knew that this place attracts the weirdest and most disturbed people Tel Aviv can offer, and it's an odd bunch indeed. Obviously E got somewhat excited seeing names like Mango, Zara and Accessorize but I couldn't blame her - her reaction was not much different than mine when I see names like Canon or HTC. We went on and visited several other shops until we reached a cosmetics shop. While E was checking some products, one of the sellers with her hair partly dyed green approached me, pointed at my camera and said in Hebrew "This camera can see everything ". Fortunately whil

You shouldn't follow rules which make no sense. You shouldn't follow rules that are unfair or unjust. Rules and laws that were made by humans should be criticized and checked for their relevance, sense and fairness in order to maintain the already fragile trust between citizens and law enforcement organizations and the governments. But who are we to judge if a rule makes sense? Actually, we have the right and authority to do so. If we find a rule or a law which should be cancel it's our right - no - our duty to try and change it. We can do it by either voting, lobbying, applying to the supreme court or, if all fails, use civil disobedience. However, before you decided that a law, a rule or a regulation does not make sense, remember this: sometimes, you cannot see the whole picture or foresee the consequences of breaking this law. And this is why .

When I say that I'm not angry, it doesn't mean that I'm not sad When I say that I'm accepting, it doesn't mean that I'm not disappointed. When I say that I forgive, it doesn't mean that I forget. I'm doing my best to be Zen, but I'm still not there. I'm sorry that I'm imperfect, but it doesn't mean that I apologize for it.

Photography is not a good hobby for me. Firstly, because it is the most common hobby in the world and I don't like to be in the mainstream. Secondly, it is a demanding hobby, if you take it seriously: the equipment is expensive, you have to go out, talk to people and get their approval if you wish to shoot their portraits and then you have to sort, select and process the photos. Thirdly and most importantly - I do not think that I'm very good at it. And yet, it is my favourite hobby. I invest a lot of money and time and I make a point to process and publish my photos. I even trained in order to be able to hold the camera steadily. Even though in order to take a photo all you need is to full-press the button, it's not about instant gratification. Infact, taking a good photo resembles a football game: the team will try several times until it scores, and often just one in ten kicks will produce a goal. In photography, it can be one out of hundred. But I still do it. And I esp

Winston Churchill, I wish you were here to see how the country you lead during what you called "its finest hour", gracefully transformed from a political empire into a cultural empire. However, I am not so sure you will be pleased to see that after sacrificing hundreds of thousands of British lives in order to protect the Western Civilization, some people are discussing the Shari'a as a relevant alternative to the current system. Milton Friedman, I wish you were here to see what can happen to the world economy when it's left unattended by regulators. Your ideology of laissez-faire almost caused a 2nd great depression and in fact, we still cannot understand the full consequences of the credit crunch and how it will affect the global economy and politics. Kurt Cobain, I wish you were here to lead this generation of musicians. Don't get me wrong, a lot of great music has been produced in the past 16 years since you decided that life is not good for you, but the music

Customer: Hello, Apple? I am having reception problems with my new iPhone. Customer support: There are no reception issues with the Apple iPhone 4. It's the best phone with ever made. The problem is with you. Customer: Really? how can you tell? Customer support: Easy. What are you doing at the moment? Customer: Talking on the phone, with you. Customer support: Which phone are you using? Customer: An old mobile phone. Customer support: Why aren't you using your new iPhone? Customer: Because the reception is so bad that I can't even place a call! Customer support: But there are no reception issues with the iPhone. Therefore by not using it, you are proving to be an irrational person, who spends money on mobile phones without using them, hence the problem is with YOU. Customer: F*#k off.

A friend reminded me of this story, though I still can't find the original, but it has been attributed to the British climber Don Whillians: During an expedition to the Himalaya in 1970, the news of England's loss at the World Cup of that year arrived to the camp. One of the German climbers said to Whillians: "We have beaten you at your national sport". Don Whillians did not hesitate and replied "That's nothing. We beat you at yours, twice". A warning to those who wish to wipe Israel out: we are very bad at football.

The geeks of this world are divided into two groups: those who adore Apple and those who hate it. You may claim that this is not the case, and that there are some people who combine the use of Apple products with the use of products from other brands, but they are certainly not "Apple Fanboys". Those people are not really geeks then. People who choose their technology according to their usability and not according to their brands simply can't cut it as "real" geeks... I belong to the Apple haters, and I have the usual geeky reasons: their products are beautifully designed but always flawed and their attitude towards their customers and developers reminds me of either a feudalistic or a totalitarian regime. In fact, the way Apple fanboys (and fangirls) talk about Apple reminds me very much of a religion. Those who know me might remember my hypothesis that every religion has: God or a prophet (Steven Jobs), An unmistakable symbol (the bitten apple logo) Shrines or

And now she's gone. Considering her condition, she did not suffer much. And when it happened, she was probably asleep, or surrounded by her family. Her mind was clear and her spirit was there even in those last weeks when things looked (and in fact were) hopeless. She was my 2nd degree aunt, or my grandmother's brother's wife. It may sound complicated, but for me it was simple: she was more like a grandmother, and in fact she treated me this way. I even felt embarrassed taking her money after the computer lessons that I gave her, because to me she was a client, she was close family. At past the age of 70, she decided that the best way to communicate with her family around the world was using the internet, and it was up to me to teach her - and she did. She learned how to use an internet browser and an email client, long past the age when most people simply give up trying. I'm sure it was hard for her, but she understood that in order to keep in touch with our generatio

Following the recent event regarding a certain convoy in the Mediterranean , I would like to publish this statement: E-Monk's live activism has switched to a per-case model. Normal activism will be outsourced to external contractors, probably Foxconn (everything is made there, so why not political activism as well? I promise to pay more than the average salary and cause no more than 10 suicides per month). The per-case model will allow me to respond more accurately and calmly to accusations, and enhance E-Monk's live ability to maintain his mental stability. Regards, The Electric Monk

There are two sentences in English that never fail to scare me or at least deeply worry me: 1. How hard can it be? 2. What can possibly go wrong? The first sentence will end up with a written report which tries to explain where two years and billions of research dollars have disappeared. The second one ends in millions of oil barrels being spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. You should prevent everyone from saying these sentences around you. And if they happen to be said, the first one should be answered with "Very" and the second one with "Everything".

I do not feel the need to apologize for my country's actions tonight - why should I? Give me one good reason why I should, or at least what good will it do. Does anyone one have an actual record of what exactly happened? Am I responsible for this?

It's 8:36am, on the 31st of May, 2010 BC (before coffee). It means that the gray mass inside my head is no more able of doing anything productive than bathroom sponge. However, I did manage to open up this blog, as a temporary replacement for the legendary (or in other words, dysfunctional) web site. I will try to fill it up in the following days - maybe even later today, once the caffeine has been properly absorbed.