I made what? It is called Challah (see Wikipedia). Basically, it is bread that is braided and eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays. Here is a picture of it:

Okay, fine - I didn't make it. My wife made it and I came down stairs to see her status with the Challah and it looked good. You know, the fresh dough - it smelled so good, I wanted to eat it. So the leftover dough, I convinced my wife to let me braid it. I really wanted to eat it, but I didn't. I picked a braid from the book and went with it.

That is how it came out. Not bad? Ehh?

Last time I braided a challah was when I was in day camp and I was like 5 years old. :)

Posted at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Category: Food , Religion | Comments (3) (0)

On Friday afternoon, I installed Snow Leopard which I pre-ordered early last week. The install took about an hour to complete, including restarts and so on. The install went smoothly, so no complaints on that front. Overall, the applications that take advantage of the 64-bit support are much snappier, much. So overall, I am happy with the upgrade.

However, there are a few annoyances that would make me reconsider upgrading again.

(1) My most favorite browser plugin, Inquisitor no longer works, and will likely not work anytime soon. I use it all the time, I really didn't realize how much I use it, until it went missing. I used it to do quick advanced searches to find things on this site, other sites or to remove personalized search from Google or search Wolfram Alpha and so on. I miss it!!!

But as the creator of the tool said (which is now owned by Yahoo), Apple doesn't allow these plugins anymore, at least not on the 64-bit version of Safari 4.0. He tweeted, "apple no longer allows safari extensions, unless you run safari in 32-bit mode." Do I miss it that much to go back to 32-bit mode? I might just create a search page and use two clicks, instead of one, to get my advanced search feature going again.

But Apple, either allow us to customize the search box or let us use plugins, please.

(2) In late July, I purchased the Kensington Dual Monitor Adapter in order to get a third monitor working off my MacBook Pro and it worked. Since upgrading to Snow Leopard, that monitor no longer works.

I am still with two monitors, my Apple Cinema Display and the laptop's internal monitor, but not the third. I can probably get away with just two monitors, until Kensington gets it working. That is why this item is number two.

(3) The finder hangs up a bit and works after a few tries. I am not the only one with this kind of issue. We got one, two, three and four threads with the issue. The fourth shows a screen cast of the issue, so I don't have to.

Posted at 9:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (2) (0)

Mabe, the RustyBrick designer behind the new RustyBrick.com site, blogged about her process and challenges when redesigning our site. She shared some screen captures of the designs that didn't make the cut. I wanted to add one more, one from before Mabe was with us.

The first redesign, before Mabe, looked something like this:

Then Mabe came up with this:

Then this:

And we finalized on this sweet design, which kept our core colors and look:

Remember the previous one from a week or two ago:

Remember the really old RustyBrick sites?

1999:

1998:

1997:

Posted at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (6) (0)

Today, I went to the local pizza store to pick up food for some of the guys and myself. Yes, the same pizza store that was broken and where I witnessed a big accident.

I get in the car and pull away, off to the pizza store. I then realize, I forgot my iPhone!!!!

I considered turning back and getting my iPhone, but then I thought - the whole trip will take me a total of 15 minutes. I thought, I can survive without my iPhone, access to my email, RSS feeds, my phone and so on for a total of 15 minutes. So I continued onward to the pizza store.

I survived, but let me tell you - I felt naked the whole way there, in the pizza store and on the way back. Yea, I don't touch my iPhone every week for a 25 hour time period, due to Shabbat. But driving a car, being in a store during the week, it just felt incredibly weird that I didn't have my iPhone.

Yes, I felt like I was in the pizza store completely naked. An awkward feeling for me, and I am sure it doesn't look that pretty to outsiders. :-)

In any event, I did survive to blog about this experience. Like I did when the Israeli Consulate seized my iPhone from me back in March.

Posted at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (3) (0)

Whenever I go places these days and the people I see know who I am and know I had a kid about three months ago, I get requests to see pictures of her. It is a common request, because I don't post pictures of her publicly.

But one interesting observation is that the majority of the time, the people requesting to see the pictures are women, females. It is actually extremely rare for a guy (male) to ask me to see a picture of my daughter, they just wish me congrats and ask me how I am sleeping. But women, they want to see cute pictures of my kid. Of course, I enjoy showing the pictures.

It is just interesting that 99% of the time, those who ask me to see pictures are women and not men.

You see the image at the right top of this blog post? Well, I did a Flickr search for [looking at pictures] and the first result was of five people looking at pictures of "ellen's niece." The funny part, they are all women, no men.

Posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Rambling | Comments (2) (0)

Yesterday, my daughter applied for her first passport at the local passport office. I was a bit nervous going in the middle of the day, between two conference calls, to get her a passport, but I came prepared.

I arrived at the passport office, meeting my wife and daughter there. We parked in the spots nearest to the passport office entry way (which is behind the building). We walked in, and we were next in line. As soon as we walk in, we look around and spot someone coming over. She asks if she can help us. I sigh in relief, that we were being taken care of right away. I explain the the lady that we want a passport for our daughter. She quickly asks, if we have all the paper work, assuming we don't - but I said we do.

She was then quick to ask us to come over. Then with a smirk, she asked for the passport application. I handed it to her immediately, all filled out via the dynamic PDF, so it is easy to read, cause it came from the computer. She then asked if we had a birth certificate - I said, I have five copies, how many you need and handed her one. She then asked us for IDs, which we both handed to her within seconds. Then she asked if we had a picture, I said no - but we would like to pay you to take the picture for us.

She takes out this huge old Polaroid camera and has us place our daughter on a wall and position her head so she is looking up and into the camera. It was a pretty cute thing to watch.

Then we write two checks, one for the passport application and the other for the picture. Then my wife and I sign the passport application and we are done. The whole process took less than 10 minutes, not including 15 minute drive time to and from.

I like to come prepared and know what to expect prior to going to any engagement, especially government offices. Between being really efficient with the government worker and our baby being really cute, we even got the government worker to smile at us (something you rarely find in these offices).

I also am proud to say that I efficiently (even though 5 different offices were required) merged my property lots into a single lot, which should help with my property tax issues with mortgage company.

Posted at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (2) (0)

I just pre-ordered Snow Leopard from the Apple Store.

Snow Leopard is the next version of the Mac operating system, i.e. version 10.6. Apple is selling it for only $29, because it is not a complete overhaul of the OS, so they decided not to charge as much.

You can learn more about the update at http://www.apple.com/macosx/.

Features include:

• Better, faster, easier
• 64-bit Next-generation technologies
• QuickTime X
• Out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange
• Safari 4 (already have that)
• and more...

Posted at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (0) (0)

Today we announced a new iPhone app we built under our IntuApps brand named Goldilocks. It is a interactive and fun iPhone book available in the iTunes store for 99 cents. You can download it by clicking here. If you want to win a free copy of it, be one of the first to comment on Ronnie's blog post and he will give you a redeem code to download it.

I made a video of this app, because words don't do justice in describing it. Here is the video:

Posted at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (3) (0)

Our first Palm Pre application was just pushed to the App Catalog. We are very excited about this and you can learn more about the Shabbat Shalom Palm Pre App at our site or download it for free in the App Catalog.

What was interesting was that as soon as Palm announced these apps, the anti-semitism began and a couple (check out the Kosher2Go app) of the Jewish apps already (within an hour) have Anti-Semitic reviews. Here is a picture of the review:

Honestly, I can say I am not surprised. I am a bit surprised how quick it was, because it took some time for our iPhone apps to get hit with these types of reviews. But Palm is actually acting on removing them now, whereas with Apple, they really never removed them - not until they added the policy that people who review apps must buy them. So kudos to Palm!

In any event, you can learn more about our first Palm Pre App at our Shabbat Shalom Palm Pre App page.

Posted at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (4) (0)

I was on the phone, fiddling with my recent search shwag and I noticed that the Google light pen had the Google logo in the middle.

Check it out:

How cool is that?

Posted at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (0) (0)

I just announced that we have launched the redesigned for our RustyBrick web site. If you can take a look at comment at my blog post at RustyBrick, I would appreciate it. This also includes a mobile version that looks sweet on the iPhone, Pre and Android.

Here is a sample of the home page, including the mobile site.

Again, please comment over here.

Posted at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (0) (0)

I got to many conferences and have access to some of the largest names that speak at those conferences. I often see them in press or speaker rooms, I am invited for Q&A sessions after keynotes, I am often asked to meet one on one or in groups with them for additional questions, and so on. But yet, I never have my picture taken with them.

Many people I know, show off being photographed with famous people in our industry. Such as taking a picture with the founders of Google, being photographed with Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, or Barry Diller of IAC and so on. I just have not done that myself and people sometimes ask me why.

A few reasons:

(1) I am a bit shy.
(2) I am too cool for school and don't want to be the kid that kisses up to get a photograph.
(3) I am always in a rush and rarely have time at conference to wait to get a picture.

Back in 2007, I snapped a picture with me and the founder of Teoma (now owned by Ask.com), Apostolos Gerasoulis. Why, well, only uber-geeks in our industry would recognize the face and name.

But maybe I should spend the time and get over my fear of asking to take a photo with these people? I often hear that having a picture with you and a famous person on your blog or web site leads to more credibility for your name and helps you close leads. So maybe going forward, I should take advantage of this opportunity... What do you think?

Posted at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (2) (0)

I was driving just a a few minutes ago and noticed I was at 16,999 miles on the odometer. So I was thinking, when I hit 17,000, maybe I should blog it - since I can blog about virtually anything. But then I thought, who cares? I don't care that I hit 17,000 miles.

As I was driving, I was getting nervous, what if it hits 17,001 and I miss taking a picture at the 17,000 miles. So I started to slow down, thinking maybe it won't change as fast. I thought to myself, that was dumb. So I speed up to try to get to my destination faster. Yea, I know, speed doesn't change the miles it takes to get to a specific destination, but it was interesting to me, to have the feeling that speed did make a difference, even though, intellectually, I knew that had no say in the equation. Jeez, the more I blog about this, the dumber it makes me look.

In any event, you get my point. Even though you and I know speed has no factor in the number of miles it takes to get to a destination, going faster or slower does make you feel that it might be less or more miles. Kind of crazy.

In any event. I did not snap this picture until I arrived at my destination and I was lucky, it stayed at 17,000 miles.

The first time I took a picture of my speedometer was when I showed you how the car warned you if you were going over the speed limit.

Posted at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Category: Motor Vehicle | Comments (1) (0)

The other day, I asked a shwag question on which piece of search shwag did not belong in the picture. The answer is the Google Pen:

This pen was not at SES San Jose 2009. Erin Sap was the first to get it right, so I will email Erin to discuss his prize.

Other answers I guess were technically correct, but not the answer I was looking for. SES is not a search engine, so the pen was a bit out of place. Yahoo might not be a search engine more, etc. But the true answer was that the Google pen was not shwag available at the SES show this past week.

Posted at 9:06 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (1) (0)

At the SES show, I ran through the expo hall, and picked up some pens and stuff. Here is a picture of some of those items.

Let's have a little fun with this....

What item in this picture doesn't belong? Comment below. The first to get it right, will win something (not sure what, just yet). The answer is not that easy.

Posted at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (18) (0)

One of the worst parts of going to conferences is the lack of kosher places to eat. It is not an issue in New York or Chicago (places can be far to get to in Chicago). But it is an issue in places like San Jose and Seattle, and so on.

Last night, right before the last session ended, I get an email from a Jewish guy named Eli I know who lives in this area. He said, did you know about the new kosher place that is in Mountain View. He sent me the details of the place via email. We (Steve) ended up meeting Eli and his wife there.

The place is named The Kitchen Restaurant and it is a really nice place. The service, food and atmosphere was excellent.

Now when people want me to go out for dinner with them, I can say - yes, but it has to be at the Kitchen Restaurant. It was about a $50 cab ride each way. The prices of the food were not too expensive, relative to NY. I will 100% come back here when I go to SMX West, maybe you will join me.

Oh, the picture is from my Kosher iPhone app, which did have the place there, with several positive reviews. You can read the reviews without the app at Shamash.org.

Posted at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (1) (0)

Yesterday, as many of you know, I flew first class for the first time. It was a really nice flight, we took off on time, landed on time, quick to the gate, quick to exit (non-of that was due to 1st class). But the space, leg room, food, bathroom, and comfort of first class is nice.

Anyway, I was actually surprised to see that they upgraded the kosher meal to a "first class" version of the kosher meal.

It started with an appetizer:

Then the main and dessert courses came together:

The "normal" first class meals had choices of steak and other selections. They also had an awesome looking ice cream dessert, really looked great.

I am not thinking, "I can't go back to coach." Honestly, right now, I am thinking that I won't have an issue with the seat I have on the way back. But I am be a big talker now, I'll let you know when I land on Friday, how it is. Or who knows, maybe I'll get upgraded again (wishful thinking).

Posted at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , Travels | Comments (4) (0)

On Friday, I was checking my flight times for my trip to California for the conference tomorrow. I saw a little "upgrade" link, so I clicked it. Next thing I know, I was upgraded to first class.

This was the first time I was upgraded to first class on a Continental flight. I've flown "business class" without paying before, when I was 16 or so, on the way back from Israel, on El Al. I don't consider that first class, since it was just the seat, not the service.

This will be my first time in real first class (although I did not pay for it), on a real flight. I am not sure what to expect, but I am looking forward to it.

If you see me on the flight, don't give me a weird look. But do ask me if you want to share a cab from the airport to the hotel. :)

See you in San Jose soon!

Posted at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (3) (0)

When Google announced AdSense for mobile apps, I bugged Google to let me in. They did and finally, our iPhone Hebrew Translator app now has AdSense in the app. It is actually performing extremely well, I think because we dynamically load the translation terms into the AdSense system. In the example below, I translated iPhone, which then showed an iPhone related AdSense ad.

Prior to Translation (we feed generic keywords):

After Translation we feed the keywords from the translation:

So far, this is way out performing AdMob.

Posted at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (0) (0)

A couple days ago, I built my Sukkah using Google's CAD like software named Skechtup. It basically allows you to design full 3D models, including homes, towns, etc. So I decided to teach myself how to use it and within hours, I had built my own Sukkah. A Sukkah is a temporary home used by Jewish people during the holiday of Sukkot (more at Wikipedia).

Here is a video of my Sukkah using Sketchup. I didn't build out the whole deck, but you get the point. Oh, yes, one wall, the one on the side of the home, is left open on purpose.

This is my on going coverage of my Sukkah purchase and deployment process, in which I should have all the right pieces now. I did my Sukkah shopping, planned the Sukkah and then noticed it was two inches too long, but now we should be set. I hope to put the whole thing up this weekend.

Posted at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Homey , Religion | Comments (1) (0)

I have a UPS account, even though I rarely mail things. Okay, so I might use it once a month and then during the holiday gift season, use it a lot.

When I get invoices from UPS, I schedule them to be paid the day before, via my bank's bill pay system. This works flawlessly with all my bills that I cannot pay via credit card. So I got a bill that was due on August 1st from UPS. I scheduled the check to be received at UPS on that date. That date turned out to be a Saturday. UPS tells me they did not get it until the fourth. I am sure what they mean by "get it" is "process it."

In any event, I received a bill today from UPS for the amount of $1.11. Yea, the postage was about 42 cents to mail me the bill. I called, asked if I can either pay it via credit card or if they can reverse the charge. They said they can't do either. I would have to call a special department to ask if I can be approved for credit card payment (which I called, and was approved). But they could not reverse the charge because this happened once before, I was late (by a day, due to their processing schedule) once before.

UPS said, their policy is one late fee reversed for the life time of the account. You hear that, "life time" of the account, one late fee can be reversed. It is their policy.

How dumb. So we waste 94 cents worth of stamps, to mail a bill and a payment for a $1.11. That makes sense.

Posted at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Category: Business | Comments (0) (0)

As many of you know, I had my first child, about three months ago, it was a girl.

But did you know that RustyBrickers who have children only have girls? We have a total five RustyBrick kids, all of them are girls. Thing is, we have two more on the way and those two are also girls (at least that was what the sonogram said). So by the end of December, hopefully, we will have a total of seven RustyBrick kids, all girls.

That would make two dads with two girls and three dads with one girl each.

It is pretty statistically surprising that this is the case, but it is very funny as well.

Girls are great, I can attest to that (at least up to three months of age).

The big question is, who will break the trend?

Posted at 9:55 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (0) (0)

Matisyahu, the popular musician known for his Jewish reggae and for being a Chabad/Lubavitch Jew uses our iPhone Apps.

How do I know? Last night, he tweeted that he is looking for kosher food in Japan. A guy name Ross, replied to him, telling him to get our Kosher iPhone app. Matisyahu then replied to that saying:

wow I have the siddur but didn't know about kosher

So, Matisyahu, the famous musician, that has over 600,000 followers on Twitter and a huge following in the real world, uses our iPhone Siddur and probably now has our Kosher iPhone app. I bet he will be excited to learn that the next version will have an enhanced Chabad siddur. Update, it seems Matisyahu doesn't want to "box" himself into the Chabad sect, see more at Wikipedia, pretty interesting.

Posted at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Religion , iPhone | Comments (2) (0)

This morning, I took a bag of M&Ms to snack on. The interesting part, outside of my wife who will scold me later for eating them, is that when I poured some out, only orange ones came out.

I promise, I did not make this up. The bag was mixed with all colors, but when I looked down to eat one, I saw that they were all orange, at least the ones that came out of the bag. I snapped a picture, cause it was interesting.

No, I did not make this up and separate out only orange ones, simply to blog about something. I am not that type of desperate blogger.

In any event, what does this mean? Some type of sign from G0d? Should I be worried? :)

Posted at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Category: Food , Just Interesting , Just Weird | Comments (6) (0)