Many believe that Israel is a perfect country for testing electric cars, due to the short distances between major cities, its entrepreneurial prowess, and its unique geopolitical needs.

Will Israel be the first country to be fully electric? Israel is already leading the way in solar technology. Story here and here. See more about Project Better Place. I think this organization could have real power in the coming years.

In Israel, I often get around by taxi, if a bus isn’t convenient. Many fear the public transportation system, because of past history of bus bombings, and avoid it altogether.

You have two choices when you climb in an Israeli taxi. You can have them use the meter, or you can negotiate a price. Negotiate a price for a cab ride? There is no such thing as a set price in Israel, or the ME in general. I’ve haggled with merchants for everything, including a loaf of bread.

If you do the standard method and use the meter, the time and distance traveled is how they get paid. What’s the incentive to them to get it done as fast as possible? So sometimes (I’ve personally experience this multiple times) where they’ll take longer routes, get stuck in traffic, and generally take a long while, because it’s in their best interest to run up the meter. Sure you could try and give them specific directions, but that requires more involvement on your part.

But if you agree on a price in the beginning, it’s very different. They know what they are being paid, and they want you at your destination as fast as possible, mainly so they can get to the next client and make more money. You get there faster. It’s a win-win situation.

“Work” in general feels the same way for me. Whenever I’ve done development work, I always aim for a flat price. It helps specify, when possible, the exact deliverables, and the client will know that it’ll change if the requirements change. If the client gets what they want, and the developer didn’t grossly underestimate the amount of time required, who cares how long it actually took?

You may be thinking that the taxi driver doesn’t have to worry about quality, other than getting from point A to point B without being killed – which in Israeli traffic is quite a feat itself. That’s true. We, however, do. But quality of work breeds follow-on work (even in a full-time job, if you don’t deliver quality, you’ll be fired…. or should be), so it’s our incentive to deliver quality work no matter what.

A Conversation with Yossi Vardi

Technology is like a piano. You need to have it to create music but you really need the pianist. The entrepreneur is to technology as the pianist is to the piano.

At the current time, people speak of “two-state” solutions. I propose instead a “two-star” solution, Two Stars for Peace. When America welcomes Israel and Palestine as the 51st and 52nd states of the union, the age-old dream of peace and prosperity in the land of milk and honey will have been achieved.

Wait… what?

Members of Palestine’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group aligned with
the Fatah political party, has admitted to using Google Earth for
mapping targets for rocket strikes.

Had to happen sometime.

Missile Attacks on Israel Increase with Updated Images on Google Earth

If someone has failed before he’s even more likely to invest – “It
makes them want to win even more,” he said. He generally doesn’t look
at business plans at all, and just invests in the individual.

I remember meeting Yossi Vardi when I was in Israel a couple years ago. Mike Arrington has a great writeup on him. I remember a bunch of my colleagues ran up and gave him their business cards afterwards, trying to “get in.” I didn’t understand what the big deal was. My, how things have changed for me.

Besides giving some good advice, I couldn’t help but laugh while watching this.

I love israelis.

A Kuwaiti newspaper wrote that “Russian experts are studying why the
two state-of-the art Russian-built radar systems in Syria did not
detect the Israeli jets entering Syrian territory. Iran reportedly has
asked the same question, since it is buying the same systems and might
have paid for the Syrian acquisitions.”

How Israel Spoofed Syria’s Air Defense System

A solid interview. Mearshimer seems to have toned down his rhetoric compared to the original article and accompanying book. Interesting nonetheless.
via Orthodox Anarchist

Another couple articles on Unit 8200, which I had talked about in a previous post.

Unit members are taught that there’s no such thing as “impossible,” while “no” is something temporary that can change by persistence and insistence, even if it’s the Unit commander himself who said “no.”

Billionaire Boot Camp [Subscription Required for Full Story ]
The Unit – Forbes.com
via BangItOut (of all places!)