Simanim

Our shul follows the kabbalistic version of the order in which the simanim are eaten on Rosh Hashanah. It makes more sense halachakli too, why would you eat an apple before a date. The order is taken from Rabbi Yaakov Chaim Sofer's book Kaf Hachaim.

First, the brochot are made, haetz on the dates and haodama on the leek.

After the brochot, the order is the following:

1. Silka (beets) - Sheyistalku oyveinu umastineinu.
   
2. Karti (leeks) - Sheyikartu soneinu.
3. Temarim (dates) - Sheyitamu soneinu.
4. Kra (yellow squash) - Sheyikoru roa gzar dineinu, vayikoru lefoneiha zehuyoseinu.
5. Rubiya (black-eyed peas) - Sheyirbu zehuyoseinu.
6. Rimonim (pomegranates) - Shenarbe zehus k'rimon.
7. Rosh Keves (head of sheep) - Shenihye l'rosh v'lo l'zonav.

Shana Tova!

Cafe Press - Sales report

Sales report for the month of September, 5 people bought stuff with my "Say no to BO" design and 1 person bought an item with my "Alternative Energy" design.

If you want to show your dislike for Barack Obama and support for John McCain, buy my Say no to BO design. If you're fed up with listening to Al Gore's psychotic rants or just plain don't like him, buy my Alternative Energy design. Who knows, maybe in an ironic twist of fate, it will actually happen.

Rashni - Baboushka

Out of line

Friday, I went to the Coney Island avenue Paperific. I quickly got the few items that I needed and headed for the register. I spent around twenty seconds choosing a line and settled on the leftmost one. Half a minute later a woman comes over and the following conversation ensued:

Woman: I was after the woman in front of you.
Me: No you weren't, when I came here there was no-one after her and I didn't see you standing in line.
W: I was standing after her and then I went to get something.
M: Right, you left the line, your cart or basket aren't here and your stuff isn't on the conveyor belt.
W: But I was after her.
M: And then you weren't.
W: So can I pay?
M: No.

Was I being an asshole, yep, but so was she. She didn't just turn around to get something nearby, she went, with all her stuff, into one of the aisles and fully expected for her place to still be there. I should've told her I reserved the place when I came into the store.

La Chevre

Just watched La Chèvre. Awesome comedy that brings together two of France's greats, Gérard Depardieu and Pierre Richard. Sometimes it's good to go back to the classics. The movie is in French with English subtitles and it's absolutely hilarious. Depardieu plays a private detective who's hired to track down a businessman's extremely unlucky daughter who's been missing for several weeks. He's partnered with Richard, an extremely unlucky employee of the girl's father, on the premise that their similar luck will aid them with finding her.

Gerard Depardieu starred in two American comedies, My Father the Hero and Green Card. I very much recommend everyone to see My Father the Hero, especially for the scene where he sings Thank Heaven for Little Girls. I became acquainted with Pierre Richard when a friend recommended I watch several of his movies which were very popular in Russia, Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe), Le Retour du grand blond (The Return of The Tall Blond) and Le Coup du parapluie (Umbrella Coup). In all three comedies he plays a man who ends up in the wrong place, at the wrong time and is mistaken for, respectively, a secret agent and a hitman. If you can find these movies, watch them.

T-SQL: Set Vs Select

First, let me just say that finally, in MS SQL 2008, you can declare and assign variables at the same time!

DECLARE @var1 [type] = [value1], @var2 [type] = [value2], @var3 [type] = [value3]

What's the difference between SET and SELECT?  SET sounds better and that's pretty much it.  With SET, you can only assign one variable at a time, with SELECT, you can do this:

SELECT @var1 = [value1], @var2 = [value2], @var3 = [value3]

Another great reason to use SELECT for setting variables is this:

SELECT @var1 = [column1], @var2 = [column2], @var3 = [column3
FROM [table]

Cafe Press - JBlogger

Is your neighbor harboring a secret life?  Are the people you see on the streets and in stores your secrets friends?  Wouldn't it be cool to have some way to recognize fellow jbloggers?  Here's my idea of how to solve this problem.

Your help is not appreciated

I just asked FrumSkeptic about her yidsense ads, if she made any money and how well they're paying. She mentioned that google closed her adsense. I'm guessing this was due to someone trying to "help" her.

I was talking to one of my friends and mentioned to him that I have adsense and that they pay per click. Then I had to tell him in no uncertain terms that he's not, under any circumstance, to go to my blog and click on the ads.

If you think you're helping your fellow blogger by clicking on the ads, you're not. Google's not stupid. They monitor who clicks, from what IP, at what time and if they came from a search or directly. If they see someone clicking daily from same IP and/or who came to the site directly instead of via searching or even if by searching but from same IP or same IP pool, they will close the account and they will zero out the balance. Though your thoughts are appreciated, you actions are absolutely not.

Rammstein - Kein Lust

I find this quiet hilarious.