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Turn the Future Into the Past

trends
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The Tagged Tanakh (TT) turns the future into the past by making Torah study front and center in the Jewish educational experience. The Tagged Tanakh takes the Old Testament and places it in a contemporary format and context to suit the needs of current generations. Using the TT, educators can build new curricula, conduct faster research, prepare D’vrei Torah, and help foster communities of practice around Jewish text.

For everyone else, the TT offers an easy and engaging way to learn Torah L’shma, learning just for the sake of it.

Previously on this blog, we noted that the Talmud dominated the intellectual discourse of Jewish thought for more than a millennium. However, both halakhah(Jewish Law) and haggadah (Midrash) use biblical prooftexts to validate and ground their arguments. The foundations of Jewish scholarship, ethics, and imagination are found in the Tanakh.

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Digital Diplomacy and Our Not So Distant Future

technology trends
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In recent news, Google and the U.S. State Department unveiled their plans to work with Iraq’s National Museum to digitize their collection and offer a “virtual tour” of Ancient Mesopotamia with Google tools. Comcast officially announced that they are acquiring 51% of NBC Universal. Stevie Wonder was appointed a position at the UN as a Messenger of Peace. And poor Tiger Woods is being skewered by the media.

So what do all these things have in common? Each one of these headlines forecast major developments in technology that will profoundly affect our future. Although I don’t have a crystal ball, I do have a healthy imagination and read lots of Warren Ellis comic books. So here are four things that I think will change the way we conduct our lives in the coming years.

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The New Non-Profit: Convergence Culture Part 2

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Last week Philanthropy.com featured a fascinating report published by La Piana Consulting for the James Irvine Foundation. The report identified five key trends influencing the non-profit sector and gave examples of organizations that were effectively navigating our convergence culture.

After reading the report I felt a mixed sensation of vindication and dismay. Many of the conclusions validated the moves we have made with JPSI and the Tagged Tanakh and many other points reflected how much further we have yet to go.

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What is a dataset? Part 2

technology trends
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In an earlier post I introduced the concept of datasets and how they are becoming more valuable via crowd sourcing tools. Tech guru Tim O’Reilly has suggested that, “Data is the next Intel Inside,” meaning that the next major commodity in our economy will be specific bodies of information or data. Here’s the money quote from the O’Reilly post:

“The race is on to own certain classes of core data: location, identity, calendaring of public events, product identifiers and namespaces. In many cases, where there is significant cost to create the data, there may be an opportunity for an Intel Inside style play, with a single source for the data. In others, the winner will be the company that first reaches critical mass via user aggregation, and turns that aggregated data into a system service.

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All Quiet on the Philanthropy Front

identity trends
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Yes, yes we all know that times are tough. And as of late, philanthropies have found themselves in the hot seat. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article lambasting foundations for tightening their belts too much:

“An increase in the payout rate to 6%, all in grants, would eventually add about $10 billion a year to the coffers of nonprofit organizations to the approximately $40 billion that it is estimated that foundations now give. Foundations have claimed that such an increase would jeopardize the perpetuity of their assets, yet a number of studies argue that their assets could be maintained with a payout of 7% or 8%.”

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Tools and Resources for the Network Age

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Is the Information Age at an end? With a new decade nearly upon us, some have been saying that we are now entering the Network Age– a time when men will mine for data, not oil. Ranking and figuring out how people share their sentiments will become the driving force of community management and business growth.

In the book Authenticity, the authors describe “rendering experiences” for customers as the foundation of this new emerging economy. Digital Anthropology jobs and community management tools will drive the 21st-century economy. Eventually, we’ll all climb aboard the Cluetrain and ride off into brighter, more lucrative future.

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Is JPS Interactive a Start-up?

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In a recent post on GigaOm, Eric Ries asks a very simple question that relates to us here at JPS Interactive:

“So why become an entrepreneur instead of developing technology in an R&D lab? Three reasons: change the world, make customers’ lives better and create an organization of lasting value. If you only want to do one of these things, there are better options. But only start-ups combine all three.”

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Hello MediaMidrash!

education identity technology trends
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Yeah!!! An ideal organizational partner has just jumped on the map! Check out MediaMidrash an educational site that organizes online video content with Jewish educational curricula. They even have a section called Tanakh! Gee, I wonder whose version they plan on using…FYI Mechon Mamre is based off of the JPS 1917 public domain version.

Ours is much more au courant.

I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to receive an email requesting user testers for an online interactive Jewish educational platform. It’s like suddenly finding someone else who enjoys playing the same obscure video game. Compare our mission statements, they are strikingly similar. Ah zeitgeist!

I commend the folks behind the project for producing a succinct case for support and clear timeline. But there seems to be no mention of the technology under the hood. And for me, multimedia is more than just video, so where are the games, visualizations, and podcasts?

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A Sneak Peek at the Tagged Tanakh

education identity technology trends
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Just in time for the New Year! At long last, we can share with the world a taste of the Tagged Tanakh (TT) prototype!

The JPS Technical Advisory Board and our Tech Team developed the Tagged Tanakh prototype from January-June of 2009. Core functionality like viewing the English version of the Jewish Bible, adding and viewing tags and remarks, as well as basic moderation and content aggregation are now operational.

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