יום שישי, ינואר 22, 2010

Asking Moses, God, and Yeshivas about Halacha, Hashkafa, and IVF

So the internet provides alot of anonymity. And it's great! I can search for anything and everything.
Among the few remaining challenges are: how to learn to find the needle in the haystack and what do you do when your needle ain't there.
Today's linkdump will include a few interesting things that I've found recently. To you they may be old hat but I feel they are good contributions to the online Jewish community.

First off is a blog of a New York simcha musician. He gives wonderful insight to what goes on behind the bandstand at your wedding, the frustration of being a musician, and a bit of an insight into being a religious artist.

Next is an alternative to AskMoses.com (the Chabad run ask-a-rabbi site). The BeitEl Yeshiva has open halachic Q&A forums with a Modern Orthodox bent. There were a few other such sites I wanted to highlight but for some reason many were down.

A project that (I think) was just opened is a set of information about fertility treatment and halacha. The Puah Institute has created a site with articles about IUI and halacha, ovulation testing on Shabbat, and the highly identifiable "halachic infertility" (ovulation before mikvah). I think it's a good idea that someone is finally putting all of this information in one place. Warning: it does say that it is currently in beta-test.

I'll close out this post for now with one truly strange little yiddel. A fellow by the name Jonathan Rose has created a news service about himself. So he shares his thoughts, reviews and daily schedule with the world at the JRNS (Jonathan Rose News Service). It seems he even has other people writing articles about him for this news service. Yet again, the internet shows us the best, the worst, and the strangest.

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יום שלישי, ינואר 19, 2010

Intel interview questions and how to smile

Today I learnt two lessons. The first was in an Intel interview. Sometimes you do what you what you were asked to do and no more. I was asked during the interview how I would respond if I was part of a project and part of the project was undefined and wasn't getting done. Would I step up and do it? Now the challenge is in the fact that while stepping up and doing something without being asked is a wonderful thing - it shows initiative. On the other hand, in most cases, when you take on the job you were not asked to do, the job you were asked to do often suffers. I answered that I tended to take initiative and pick up the slack on a project when I saw that something wasn't getting done. They wanted to hear that I would focus first and foremost on the job I was assigned and then, once all of my work was done, to look around and lend a hand with other aspects of the project.

The second lesson I had today was to smile. I met with a fellow who is a sales and organizational development guru. He told me that from my body language when I walked in to our meeting he could tell that I was depressed about my job hunt. He said that I should practice smiling more and that I need to take more initiative and chances. Walk into the bank and talk to the branch manager. Call up friends and ask them if I could do free work for them in exchange for a recommendation. Contact and cold call folks. And view every meeting, interview & sales pitch as a learning experience.

One day, two lessons. Not bad.

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יום שלישי, ינואר 05, 2010

Industrial Engineering, Abe Lincoln & Planning

I came across a wonderful quote that encapsulates, to my mind, everything about what industrial engineering is. It also is a wonderful rebuff to all the folk who say "enough with the paperwork and planning - just get it done!"

Abraham Lincoln: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

How about that?

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