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I have combined my interest/knowledge in the history/culture of Israel and my software development skills to develop the following two products as a service for the general public:
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The Palyam & Aliya Bet website (www.palyam.org): I have developed, webmastered and served as one of the editors/content writers of this website which is dedicated to preserving the heritage of
the epic enterprise of Aliya Bet - the clandestine immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel
during the years of the British Mandate of Palestine, and the Palyam - the naval company of the Palmach (the elite units of the Hagana, the underground military organization of the Jewish community in Palestine) whose members commanded the Aliya Bet vessels.
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SOH Lite smart cellphone/mobile application:
I & my son Jonathan (who did all the coding by himself!) have developed this application which allows users of mobile devices (iPhone/iPod/iPad & Android-based smart cellphones) to
learn, or refresh their memory, about various topics related to Israel & Judaism,
via short articles about the motifs featured on selected Israeli stamps. SOH are the initials of Stamp Of History. The application is available on Apple's iTunes Store and the Android Marketplace under the category of Education.
The featured topics cover historic events, prominent personalities, Jewish
tradition, places of interest, archaeology, arts, science & technology, and more.
Each topic is presented by a short article (in English) and the image of the corresponding stamp. I compile the articles from various sources that I consider to be reliable (including books, leaflets and online websites,
translated from Hebrew if necessary).
A new topic is published from time to time (54 stamps were featured in the course of 2010). The user can view all the topics that have been accumulated and published so far (the real fun though is to
watch for the new topics as they become available).
Click here to see ten examples as they would appear on a mobile device's screen (you can also see them on your phone by downloading the application).
Click here for the list of featured stamps in 2010 (the articles are only available on the mobile devices).
My true reward from the development of these products is when I get acknowledgements for my work, like the following one I got from Aryeh "Lova" Eliav, of blessed memory (from wikipedia: "Eliav is one of the most decorated citizens of Israel, a Doctor of Honour of all important academic
institutes of Israel and a 1988 winner of the Israel Prize for special contributions to society and the State of Israel. In 2003 he also won the Ben-Gurion Prize, and two years later was ranked 74th in a poll to find the 200 Greatest Israelis").
Lova was the commander of the Aliya Bet ship 'Chaim Arlosoroff' ("Ulua"). In his book "SS Ulua - The Story of Underground Aliya" he tells the facsinating story of his role in Aliya Bet (the book is also available in an English translation).
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Lova's dedication of a copy of his book to me reads:
"Dear Tzvi Ben-tzur, my best wishes to you and many thanks for your contribution to the creation of the Palyam website, Mar. 4, 2007, Lova Eliav" |
Following is another acknowledgement I received in Jan. 2010 from a senior executive in Israel's Ministry of Education: "I was deeply moved while visiting your [Palyam & Aliya Bet] website. A superb website, illustrating & educational.
It should be used to teach our history, the facsinating period of our fight for independence in particular. Kudos to you all!".
Some comments users gave about SOH Lite: "Great application. Attractive, easy to navigate and informative." (by joshr), "Beautiful App with awesome information" (by Jozef), and "Great app! Simple design that works with great info." (by Sharon).
Click here to send me a message.
Click here to send comments and suggestions regarding SOH Lite.
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