Sunday, January 20, 2013

The god of luck (and who should I vote for)

Ok, so the elections are tomorrow and you want to know who to vote for, right?

But one thing you already know, is that you don't want SHAS or some other theocrat.

But how to choose???

Easy! Just ask the GOD OF LUCK!


What are your options:

HaAvoda
HaTnua
Yesh Atid
Meretz
Kadima
Likud (if you must)
Aleh Yarok (risky because they may not pass the bar, but you seem to be brave)
Or (very risky because most likely they won't pass the bar, but you seem to be very brave)

The GOD OF LUCK
-- Good luck!
P.S. For the GEEKS out there: 

GIVEN: a linked-list (or an iterator, if you like) containing anywhere between 1 and an UNLIMITED amount of items (and you don't know how many off hand).  

THE GOAL: choose one item from the list randomly (each having an equal chance of being picked)

CONSTRAINT: you need to do it as fast as possible! (meaning, O(N), loser).

YOU SAY: "But kind sir, this is impossible!" 

I SAY:  "Nothing is impossible but impossible itself!  Look at the Javascript in this post as PROOF"

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Girl Singing to the River


הילדה שרה לנחל
Leah Goldberg, 1946
The Girl Singing to the River

אפרת בן צור
Efrat Ben Tzur

מילים: לאה גולדברג
Lyrics: Lea Goldberg

לחן: אפרת בן צור
Melody: Efrat Ben Tzur

Translation: Ido Carmi



לאן יישא הזרם את פני הקטנים?
Le’an                isa        ha’zerem           et panai            haktanim?
Where to           carry     the stream         my face           the small?
To where will the stream carry my little face?
למה הוא קורע את עיני?
Lama    hu         kore’a   et einai?
Why     he         tears     my eyes?
Why does it tear my eyes?
ביתי הרחק בחורשת אורנים
Beiti                  harkhek             be’khurshat       oranim
My home           further               in a forest          pines
My home is distant, in a pine forest,
עצובה איוושת אורני.
Atsuva  ivshat               oranai
Sad      rustling             my pines.
Sad are the rustlings of my pines.


פיתני הנחל בזמר גיל,
Pitani                ha’nakhal          be’zemer           gil
Seduced me      the river            in song              happy
With a happy melody, the river seduced me,
רינן וקרא בשמי,
Rinen    ve’kara              be’shmi
Sang     and called         my name
It sang, and called my name,
הלכתי אליו אחרי הצליל,
Halakhti            elav      akhare’i             ha’tslil
I walked            to him   after                 the sound
I walked towards it, following the sound,
נטשתי את בית אימי.
Natashti            et bet                imi
I abandoned      the home           my mother
I abandoned my mother’s home.

ואני יחידה, רכה בשנים,
Va’ani   yekhida,         raka      bashanim
And I    single,            soft       in the years
And I am alone, soft in my years,
ונחל אכזר לפני
Ve’nakhal          akhzar   lefanai
And river           cruel     in front of me –
And a cruel river is ahead of me –
לאן הוא נושא את פני הקטנים?
Le’an                hu         nose     et panai            haktanim?
Where to           he         carry     my face           the small?
To where does it carry my little face?
למה הוא קורע את עיני?
Lama    hu         kore’a   et einai?
Why     he         tear       my eyes?
Why does it tear my eyes?

למה הוא קורע?
Lama    hu         kore’a?
Why     he         tear?
Why does it tear?