Category Archives: Technology

Updated: Israel Is Doing Just Fine Financially (& On Illegal Immigration)

Business, Economy, Israel, Technology

“The Med’s Best Kept Secret”: “Israel today has become a vibrant, functioning jewel of a nation tucked into the eastern flank of the Mediterranean. Tel Aviv looks more like San Diego or Barcelona than Baghdad or Kabul.” … it maintains “a stable macroeconomic structure and a strong high-tech sector.” …

“What’s the secret? Ayelet Nir, chief economist at IBI, an Israeli investment firm, lists six major reasons Israel’s economy has done well of late:

A very conservative banking system–without most of the complex and problematic financial instruments found in the United States.

No mortgage crisis in a country where putting 50 percent down isn’t unusual, and banks often ask for guarantors.

A current account surplus since 2003.

Negligible inflation.

Prudent governmental fiscal policy.

Healthy integration into the world economy.

“Israeli technology has certainly been a big part of the Internet age. The cell phone? Developed in Israel. Ditto for most of the Windows NT operating system and for voice mail technology. Pentium MMX Chip technology? Designed in Israel. AOL Instant Messenger? Developed in Israel. The list goes on. Firewall security software originated in Israel. The latest breakthrough is the “PillCam,” a video camera that can be swallowed and aids physicians in diagnosing intestinal cancer.”…

How has Israel managed to do so well in high-tech? Every Israeli high-tech player can recite the national data like a bleacher bum spitting out baseball statistics:

Israel produces more science papers per capita than any other country.

Israel lags behind only the United States in number of companies listed on NASDAQ.

Twenty-four percent of Israel’s workforce has a university degree; only the United States and Holland have a higher number.

Israel leads the world in scientists and technicians per capita.”

Read the complete article.

Update: Israel is doing something else right: deporting illegal immigrants without much fuss.

Updated: 'Secure Fences Work at White House'

Barack Obama, Homeland Security, IMMIGRATION, Technology

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Jon Feere of the The Center for Immigration Studies exposes the hypocrisy of the man who’s entrusted with the protection of his countrymen. That goes for the previous occupant of the heavily fortified White House:

“Open-border advocates often claim that fences don’t work. Why, then, does the White House have a secure, dual perimeter fence (both metal and ‘virtual’) and limited points of entry—with officials doing quick background checks at each?

Answer: Because fences work to filter the good from the bad. This fact was just illustrated at the White House yesterday when two illegal aliens attempted to enter the premises for a tour. The individuals were taken into custody after a routine background check by the Secret Service uncovered that they had outstanding immigration orders against them.

So the President is safe, but what about the rest of us?

It’s not that difficult to imagine such a system along our national borders. Is it too much to ask that our government protect those of us not fortunate enough to live in a gated community?”

Updated: Myron, how genteel. Sean, also in the business of designing all those signal things, laughed at the notion of a virtual fence. Unlike a dog, man will not turn and run from high-frequency signals. As Sean quipped: the sturdy illegal will stuff earplugs in his ears and march on. Unless you have a physical presence to turn back flesh-and-blood people, signals are worth squat.

Updated: ‘Secure Fences Work at White House’

Barack Obama, Homeland Security, IMMIGRATION, Technology

What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Jon Feere of the The Center for Immigration Studies exposes the hypocrisy of the man who’s entrusted with the protection of his countrymen. That goes for the previous occupant of the heavily fortified White House:

“Open-border advocates often claim that fences don’t work. Why, then, does the White House have a secure, dual perimeter fence (both metal and ‘virtual’) and limited points of entry—with officials doing quick background checks at each?

Answer: Because fences work to filter the good from the bad. This fact was just illustrated at the White House yesterday when two illegal aliens attempted to enter the premises for a tour. The individuals were taken into custody after a routine background check by the Secret Service uncovered that they had outstanding immigration orders against them.

So the President is safe, but what about the rest of us?

It’s not that difficult to imagine such a system along our national borders. Is it too much to ask that our government protect those of us not fortunate enough to live in a gated community?”

Updated: Myron, how genteel. Sean, also in the business of designing all those signal things, laughed at the notion of a virtual fence. Unlike a dog, man will not turn and run from high-frequency signals. As Sean quipped: the sturdy illegal will stuff earplugs in his ears and march on. Unless you have a physical presence to turn back flesh-and-blood people, signals are worth squat.

He's A Talking Doll

Barack Obama, Technology

“Amazing Obama” is a talking doll, whose string you have to pull every so often if you want him to work. Like “Amazing Ally,” another “interactive talking doll,” he can “recognize various objects,” and has “an internal talking mechanism that can store countless phrases.” “Amazing Obama” even has voice recognition technology that allows him to recognize the voice of “Mama Obama.” (Although she frightens him into having a … real accident.) “It’s hard to say where new (and cheaper) technologies will take talking dolls in the future, but wherever they go,” they will come with strings attached and teleprompters, of course.