Video: Israeli Girl Enlightens World About Israel

Hat Tip: Isrealli.org)

It looks as if yet another video highlighting Israel has appeared, except this time it features a little girl and some interesting facts about Israel.

Whoever made this video has done an excellent job portraying what the holy land is all about without the heavy reliance of music in the background.

Note: Perhaps the Israeli government should find a way to highlight and/or create more of these video's, as it may be cheaper to advertise them via Google than on television.

Should Skype Be Worried About Israel's Spikko?

It looks like another company may be positioning itself to dethrone the VoIP King, Skype. But unlike Jajah which hooks into one's email account, Spikko seeks to challenge eBay's chat program by presenting an alternative "business model."

(Globes Online) Spikko Ltd., a start-up that has been operating in stealth mode for three years, claims that it has found a way to offer free telephone calls and make a profit at it. The company's technology offers VoIP telephony services gratis for members. The only way to join the service is by invitation from an existing member. The service currently has 50,000 members. [...]

Spikko CEO Shay Gilboa: "Each user receives a local telephone number and an initial grant. For each incoming call, he receives credit to make an outgoing call by either landline or mobile. Each call goes to a computer, and will soon also go to a mobile telephone. The calls go to the devices' data channel, which means that the average payment (for airtime) will be no more than NIS 0.05 per minute, which will be collected by the cellular operator."

It will be interesting to see Skype reaction to this (that is if they actually consider them to be a serious threat). Currently Skype offers users various rates that range from two cents a minute to a quarter (and even more!).

Despite the high rates to other countries, Skype still seems to be cheaper in Israel than Spikko, although if the latter can keep its prices at a nickel a minuete (regardless of which country you call) we may see this author switch over...at least when calling friends in India. ;-)

China To Flood Israel With Tourists?

It looks as if Israel's previous tourism deal may be starting to pay off for as the rising Eastern power is opening its gates even more to encourage its own citizens to visit the holy land.

(Jerusalem Post) The Tourism Ministry is seeking for tour guides in the Chinese language in preparation for the arrival of 15,000 tourists to Israel in 2008. Chinese tourists will visit Israel following the signature on an agreement with the Chinese government that allows organized tour groups of visitors from China to travel Israel. [...]

"The tourism ministry works to adapt the Israeli product to the needs and the preferences of the Asian tourist in general and the Chinese tourist in particular, in order to boost the tourist potential to Israel from South-East Asia," said Shaul Tzemach, director-general of the Tourism Ministry.

With Kosher food invading the upcoming Beijing Olympics (which Israel is helping China secure), this should come to no surprise to those familiar with the Jewish state.

Israel and China both enjoy a strong economic relationship with each other, and this tourism deal may help revamp China's view of Israel (if it is not favorable there already).

Want More Kosher News? Subscribe To Kosher Highlights!

Ever since launching IsraGood, I have been fortunate enough to come across many interesting articles highlighting very impressive (and quite often unparalleled) technologies, medicines and yes, even sports regarding Israel.

Unfortunately there is not enough time to highlight all of them, something I attempted to do over on IsraPundit. While it makes me smile that more news agencies in Israel are reporting on some of the worlds best kept secrets, the sheer number of them has gone beyond what I can blog about here.

That is why I am launching Kosher Highlights, which you can view by visiting the homepage of IsraGood.com.

Basically whenever I come across an interesting article, I will highlight it there for everyone to see, which should be much easier than simply posting about it here.

You can subscribe to Kosher Highlights in your favorite feed reader (feed link over here), or via email (although you may want to seriously consider the former as Kosher Highlights will be updated very frequently).

Mytopia: Israeli Innovation For Social Network Gamers

One neat phenomenom about social networks is that they give users the ability to communicate and "poke" friends, even from long distances. While many of them have games on them, very few allow users from once social network to play the same game against a player from another.

Fortunately it seems as if an Israeli company called Mytopia hopes to change all of that--real soon.

(TechCrunch) There is a new casual gaming network in town that's got some serious cross-platform chops. Don't be fooled by the cutesy graphics. Today, Mytopia is simultaneously launching across Facebook, Bebo, MySpace (currently pending approval) and its own Website with eight games (Chess, Backgammon, Sudoku, Dominoes, Bingo, Spades, Hearts, Video Poker). On Monday, it will release the same games across the major Web and desktop widgets: iGoogle Gadgets, Apple Dashboard Widgets, Yahoo Widgets and Windows Vista Toolbar Widgets.

Here's the thing: the games work across all of these platforms. You can be on Facebook playing cards with one friend on MySpace and another on Bebo. And you can control what people on each network see about you. For instance, you can present your real profile to your friends on Facebook, and a different Mytopia avatar to everyone else. These are the sort of apps that could one day break Facebook's, or any social network's, hold on its members.

As the popularity of this game spreads, it will not be all that surprising to see Mytopia spread to other social networks with a more international flavor (such as Hi5 and orkut).

Note: Hopefully Mytopia can find a way to add this program to the iPhone, as many users (this author included) would be dying to play chess against friends on Facebook during the lunch break).

Video: Can Israel Win The Dessert Dish Olympics?

While Israel is attempting to win the gold in the upcoming Olympics in China, there is another international sport where a Jewish contestant is not only seeking to dominate the arena, but also fill up a few bellies as well.

(Israel 21^st Century) This year, Asher Toubkin, Israel's premiere chocolate sculptor, is confident that his team has a shot at taking first place at the Open de desserts de France (French Dessert Open) International Dessert Awards at the Paris Expo in the Porte de Versailles on March 30. [...]

The competition is indeed high-pressure. In just under five hours (including a half-hour allotted to clean-up), each team must create from scratch and present to judges: a showpiece exclusively made of sugar, a showpiece exclusively made of chocolate, and 10 identical desserts made from a combination of chocolate and fruit (one for each judge to taste, plus one for display), all around a particular theme. Pieces are judged based on the methodologies employed by the chefs, cleanliness, creativity, artistic presentation, attention to detail, time, and of course, taste.

Hopefully Toubkin is able to pull off a victory in France, as it could help yet another country to acquire a taste of Israeli treats (the previous ones being Japan and Australia).

Since When Did The Shin Bet Start Blogging?

(Hat tip: Blog Herald)

It looks as if one of Israel's security agencies has started not one blog, but four!

Despite their secrecy, Israel's Shin Bet, (which is like the FBI in America) is starting to open up on cyberspace.

(Guardian.co.uk) Shin Bet agents are routinely involved in surveillance, interrogation and armed operations against Palestinian militants inside Israel and the occupied territories. The bloggers have technical office jobs.

Still, they guard their anonymity, using only silhouetted portraits of themselves.

One, called H, says she is a quality assurance engineer and took the job as it allows her to spend more time with her family. "There are things that I can't even tell my husband in detail," she writes. "At a family event someone asked where I work and had trouble taking a hint."

Unfortunately, unless Hebrew is your mother tongue (or secondary, something I am attempting to achieve), the site may be of little value to you.

The authors blog anonymously under Hebrew letters, and you can visit the "agent" blogs by clicking the links below.

• Agent Nun


• Agent Alef


• Agent Het (note: she's the only girl)


• Agent Yod

While no one expects the Mossad to start blogging, it is good to see the Israeli government joining the "rest of us" in cyberspace. Hopefully more departments will open up in the future, as it is a great way to promote themselves to the public (not to mention over seas).

Pimp Your iPhone With IsraGood!

For those of you fortunate enough to have an iPhone, you will be glad to hear that IsraGood is now iPhone friendly!

For those wondering, the mobile site is powered by MoFuse which for about 16 monthly shekels (or $3 USD) is converting all of IsraGood into a format that's kosher for the iPhone.

In order to visit it, users can simply point their iPhone towards http://m.isragood.com/iphone and you can enjoy (and comment) on the site with ease.

For those of you preferring the non-Apple edition, you can direct your phone over at http://m.isragood.com.

Israeli Tech: Microsoft Assimilates Kidaro

After previously snapping up Secured Dimensions and YaData, Microsoft's continues its holiday shopping with its latest purchase of Kidaro, a company located in the holy land.

(Globes Online) Microsoft Corp. has announced its intended acquisition of Israeli start-up company Kidaro, a provider of desktop virtualization solutions for enterprises. The announcement does not mention the acquisition price, but sources in Israel's high-tech industry estimate it at between $90 million and $100 million. "Globes" reported the impending acquiistion announcement yesterday. [...]

Microsoft's announcement said, "In combining Kidaro’s virtualization technology with its suite of desktop management tools, known as the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance, Microsoft will enable IT professionals to optimize their desktop infrastructure by providing management capabilities for Virtual PCs, streamlining deployments and easing application compatibility issues."

Microsoft has made a steady habit of shopping for the best of Israeli minds in an attempt to thwart Google (who has secured its dominance upon Silicon Valley).

The software giant sees Israel as a means to dethrone Google, who has ironically been making various assaults against Microsoft's "bread and butter" by purchasing iRows.

It will be interesting to see in a decade which company comes out on top, but regardless of the results Israeli's (along with their American friends) are going to enjoy reaping the rewards of this mega tech war.

France Going Ga Ga Over Israel?

(Hat Tip: Solomonia)

Ironically it seems that a nation once regarded by many to be Israel's "distant buddy" is now embracing their Jewish friend with open arms.

(Associated Press) His embrace of Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke of more than personal chemistry: Nicolas Sarkozy wants to rebuild France's frayed ties with Israel, notably by echoing its tough stance against Iran. [...]

And during a pomp-filled dinner Monday, Sarkozy lost no opportunity to assure Peres of his friendship, saying France will always work to ensure Israel's survival.

"Not from time to time, Mr. President — always," said Sarkozy. "And those who call in a scandalous, scandalous way for the destruction of Israel will always find France in front of them to block their route."

This recent embrace of Israel by the French may surprise many people, who may not realize that France has already expressed support for the missing IDF soldiers, not to mention finding ways of easing trade between the two nations.

Hopefully this trend will spread throughout the rest of Europe, as they have much to gain from aligning themselves with the Jewish state (hint: energy, cough, energy).

Apple Gets A "New Soul" (Yael Naim)

(Hat Tip: Isrealli.org)

While Apple has yet to make an impact on the Israeli market, their latest commercial has propelled an unknown Jewish into "super stardom."

(Jerusalem Post) Naim's English-language single, "New Soul," has been the surprise hit of early 2008, the biggest in a decade for an local artist overseas. (You'd have to go back to 1998, and Dana International's "Diva," to find a comparable Israeli hit in Europe; the song is simply the biggest ever by an Israeli solo artist in the US.) A piano-driven number that's equal parts bounce and introspection, "New Soul" has compiled a list of "firsts" that continues to grow. The first song by an Israeli to hit No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart, "New Soul" was also the first to crack the Billboard Top 10, where it remained for two weeks after earning the magazine's "Hotshot" designation at its debut. [...]

And the single's success goes beyond pop charts and the Internet. Thanks to its use in a ubiquitous ad campaign for Apple's newest laptop, "New Soul" has become the rare song recognized even if listeners aren't sure where they've heard it, even if they don't know a thing about the person providing the voice.

Note: The original apple commercial can be found over here, although readers who want to enjoy Yael Naim's song in its entirety can watch it below.

Tourists Just Keep Lovin' On Israel (January Stats)

(Hat Tip: Israel Times)

The Jewish state continues on its previous trend, with the first month of January reporting record levels of tourists visiting the holy land.

(Ha'aretz) The year 2008 may have started with blues in the capital market, but hotels are applauding. Incoming tourism broke all records, with 182,000 tourists visiting Israel in January, up 57% from the year before, when 116,000 arrived.

The previous record had been January 2000, when nearly 170,000 tourists came to Israel. Tourism industry sources estimate that for the year, about 1.9 million people will visit the country.

Whether one cites falafels, religious pilgrimages or the thirst for Mediterranean beaches, Israel is still drawing foreigners to visit its tiny Jewish state. Hopefully this trend continues, as Israel would love to show the world a side of itself very few get to encounter (outside their television sets that is).