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July 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. Duty to save gullible from themselves?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Islamists have the West just where they want us

JWisdom:: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 3: The Fully Loaded Human Being by Rabbi Dovid Gross

July 3, 2008

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget (TOUCHING!)

Jeff Jacoby: Israel still paying for its defeat

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part IV by Rabbi David Aaron

JWisdom:: The Moses Method by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

July 2, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Appeasers Make Poor Patriots

The Kosher Gourmet By Kathleen Purvis: Slaw, y'all: For BBQs or Sabbath dinner, these southern recipes are something else!

JWisdom:: Rabbi Mordechai Becher: Jewish Rx for A Simpler Life

July 1, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. I think it's important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Paul Greenberg:A President who is history deficient?

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism

June 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Remembering the architect of Torah Judaism for the modern world

Abe Novick: Hulk: Still a Jew?

JWisdom: : Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 2: The Abandoned Child

June 26, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Quantum leap to evil

Caroline B. Glick: Victimized families must not be allowed to dictate policy

June 25, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Today in Biblical History: King Jeroboam of Israel prevents pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Jonathan Tobin: Real Friends and Real Enemies

JWisdom: Raping of reason By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 25, 2008

Steven Emerson: Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch?

JWisdom: Rabbi David Aaron: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part III

June 24, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: What were they thinking!?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Guilty knowledge

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Warping Innocence

June 23, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Diploma dilemma

Jeff Jacoby: A world without children

JWisdom: Rabbi Dovid Gross: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality --- Introduction

June 20, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Man: The Crowning Glory of Creation

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's darkest week

JWisdom: We aren't worthy? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: The saints who don't come marchin' in

Chris Christoff: Muslim woman demands an apology from Obama after camera snub

June 18, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Chilled fruit and vegetable soups

JWisdom: Souls Need A Check Up? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Baby Einstein

Caroline B. Glick: Bush's rhetoric, Bush's policies

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

June 16, 2008

Varda Branfman: Bob Dylan, won't you please come home?

Diana West: Academic dares to question the 'religion of peace'

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Positive Backfire

June 13, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Trading manna for whine

Caroline B. Glick: Peace with friends

JWisdom: From the mouths of … by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 12, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet Paul Revere's pal, the Orthodox Jew who played a key role in laying Boston's cultural and business infrastructure

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: No need to be tempted by Wendy's mandarin chicken salad

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

June 11, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: What would Hillel say?

Jonathan Tobin: UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. 'Insult'

JWisdom: Sara Yoheved Rigler: Greatness Made Simple: How a momentary decision shifted life's course and destination

June 6, 2008

Rabbi Pinchas Stolper: Revelation: The basis of faith

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Mere hours after becoming Israel's new 'best friend' Obama backtracks on status of Jerusalem

Caroline B. Glick: UN choosing to protect rogue nuclear programs

JWisdom: Sameness in difference by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 5, 2008

David Lightman: Now Obama wants to be Israel's newest 'best friend'

Obama's remarks to AIPAC policy conference

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Lokshen Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread

JWisdom: Why a Jewish Jerusalem makes so many nervous by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 4, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: A different sort of 'religious broadcaster'

Jonathan Tobin: Misgivings on the Road to Damascus

JWisdom: 44 Years Without An Argument? by Sara Yoheved Rigler

June 3, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Obama vs. McCain on the Middle East

Everything's Relative: There is a crisis growing in Orthodox synagogues worldwide, reveals Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel

JWisdom: White Facades; Black Secrets by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Lie to outsmart discriminator?

He writes the songs that make our souls sing:Gavriel Aryeh Sanders interviews Jewish music legend Ben Zion Shenker; includes stirring, uplifting song

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Of laws and lives

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Oct. 3, 2007 / 21 Tishrei, 5768, 5767

Who's listening to those free calls?

By Lloyd Garver


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Tired of paying that monthly phone bill? A new company based in San Jose, Calif., is starting to offer unlimited, free telephone service. Sounds great, right? There's only one catch. Every time you make a call, they'll be monitoring what you talk about. So, how much is a free call worth to you?


Pudding Media is the company that is introducing this new Internet phone service. Like an older company, Skype, you plug a microphone headset into your computer, and make the calls from there. But unlike the older talk-on-the-phone-on-your-computer systems, this one listens while you talk. Actual humans aren't covering the mouthpiece and eavesdropping — like, well, like all of us have done more than we'd like to admit. Instead, they have computers with very clever voice recognition software to do the listening. The people at Pudding say they're interested in learning what you're interested in, so they can sell that information to advertisers.


To me, one of the more annoying side effects of the digital age is that sometimes when I talk to someone on the phone, he or she doesn't seem to be concentrating 100 percent on what I'm saying. (This is a totally different experience from talking to family members in person who don't seem to be concentrating 100 percent on what I'm saying.) I'm pretty sure that you've had this experience, too. I can sense that they are doing something while they're talking and listening to me. To be more specific, I can sense that they are doing something on their computer. Often, I'll stop the conversation for a moment and ask, "What are you doing? Sending some e-mail?" They'll usually 'fess up, and see nothing wrong with what I consider rudeness and what they see as multi-tasking.


Pudding people figured that since so many people send e-mail or surf the Net while they're on the phone, why not automatically give them the sites they're interested in? They aren't planning on gathering your information, and selling it to advertisers who will later place appropriate ads on your computer. They want to put the subject matter of what you're talking about on your computer while you're talking about it. So, if you're talking on the phone about the president's latest speech or a great play you saw on last night's football game, they'll put political pundits' opinions of the speech or the replay of the football run on your computer while you talk. I'm sure they'll also place ads there, like opportunities to contribute to candidates' campaigns or life-size photos of a football player trying to knock somebody's head off.


I can see a positive use for this service. Suppose I'm on the phone with a friend, telling him that I heard on the radio that some gas station in town is giving free gas to the first 100 customers today — but I can't remember which gas station it is. While I bring up this bargain to my friend, the story about that gas station can appear on my screen.


But I also worry that this thing can backfire. What if you're telling a friend that you think there's "too much porn on the Internet." Pudding Media's smart software will hear the phrase "porn on the Internet." So, will they then put the image of two people on your screen wearing nothing but snorkeling masks in positions that you thought only Romanian gymnasts could get into? Maybe, maybe not. Pudding says their software will filter out certain words that might result in offensive things being placed on people's screens. But if I know anything about American business, it's that the porn industry will always find a way to use the latest technology.


Let's talk about the privacy issue. I know that they don't plan to spy on people without their permission — like the government or the New England Patriots. But it still seems too high-techy weird for me. And the fact that it's a computer, not an actual person, who would be listening in on my conversation makes me feel worse about it. I don't want one smart computer laughing at the dumb things I might say and then e-mailing his "friend" — the computer down the hall — so they can both be amused. Call me old-fashioned, but if I'm going to be mocked about what I say, I'd still prefer to be mocked by a human.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Lloyd Garver has written for many television shows, ranging from "Sesame Street" to "Family Ties" to "Frasier." He has also read many books, some of them in hardcover. Comment by clicking here. Visit his website by clicking here.

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© 2007, Lloyd Garver

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