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Yet Another Perl Conference - Israel

Gabor Szabo writes "For anyone interested in Perl, Yet Another Perl Conference is coming to Haifa, Israel on May 11th. Registration is now open. Though the schedule is not final yet the list of presentations is already finished. There are going to be a quite some excellent presentations including Perl and .NET. This is a great way to get involved in the Perl community."

38 comments

  1. The One True language by icemax · · Score: 1, Offtopic
    Perl isn't always good by Reuven Lerner Length: 5min Language: Hebrew Content: The Perl community -- and similar open-source language communities -- seems to think that Perl is the One True Language, and is appropriate for just about everything you can imagine.


    And here I thought Hebrew was the One true language
    --


    __________
    Love conquers all... except CANCER
  2. $yapc++; by Michael.Forman · · Score: 2, Funny


    while (<ID_LIKE_TO_GO>){
    if(in("Israel") == 1){
    $too_expensive = 1;
    }
    }

    return("Michael.")

    --
    Linux : Mac :: VW : Mercedes
    1. Re:$yapc++; by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to mention, a conference with a bunch of foreigners would be an inviting suicide-bomber target.

      As much as I appreciate and support our friends in Israel... I think I'll wait until things in that region cool off a bit.

  3. No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by repoleved · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    As much as Israel would like to say that it is the only democracy in the middle east, that doesn't amount to much when such a huge proportion of their indigenous population is being actively oppressed. As much as I admire the Jewish faith, I do not believe that its ethics are reflected in Israel's policies, and I do not support what is going on over there.

    I'm sure that this post will completely kill my karma, but it has to be said. Again, and again, and again, and again, and again.... until someone finally fixes the situation in an ethical way. And no, that does not mean bulldozing houses, erecting a fence, week-long curfews, erecting military bases, or building settlements on occupied land.

    What is going on in Israel is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Moderators do your worst. It has to be said.

    1. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Michael.Forman · · Score: 0, Offtopic


      My attempt at Israel-perl-code humor pales in significance to such a statement.

      What's the point of having Excellent Karma, if one does not put it on the line?

      Remember Rachel Corrie.

      Michael.

      --
      Linux : Mac :: VW : Mercedes
    2. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by epsalon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I am an Israeli citizen, and I agree that what the Gov't is doing is wrong. But, what you're saying is like confescating events in US because of the DMCA. There is no need to punish the orginizers of this event (most of which are against the Gov't's actions in the occupied territories), just because they happen to be Israeli citizens. I don't see you relinquishing your American citizenship because of the horrors in Iraq and Afganistan, not to mention the DMCA.

      YAPC::Israel has nothing to do with the Israeli Gov't. There are people here, and about half of them against what the Gov't is doing.

    3. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      If attending conferences is what Iraelis in protest of the Israeli government do, then perhaps the message is needed more badly than you think.

    4. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're comparing America's DMCA with Israel refusal to even give it's Palestinian citizens the right to vote?

      Excuse me, but that's simply insane.

    5. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      times are not good for _any_ conference(that tries to get people from all over the world) to be held in the whole middle-east region.

      i can't see many people willing to travel to isreal from afar, not even if they didn't have the west bank crisis(due to be being relatively close to a warzone), the whole region is a big mess and not recommended for travellers by anyone..

      if they don't agree with their gov. actions they can either vote them out (eh, why has this not happened yet? why do pro-conflict people get to power time after time?) or move out themselfs. of course the whole nation is too artificial to be stable for next couple of decades at least(like a 'democratic' iraq could very well be too, that's what you get when you invade the country and don't 'properly' send everyone to siberia)..

      sure perl conference sounds good, but how many would have attended to conference that had been held in south-africa during apartheid?

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    6. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by epsalon · · Score: 1

      Vote for a new fucking government, dammit!

      I did. Did you?

    7. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Gnulix · · Score: 1

      I'm afraid your government did more than self-defence. Did you know that your government routinely demolish homes of innocent civilians? Murder innocent woman and children without cause?

      You shouldn't be to hard on the Americans! Sure, the US is killing people all over the middle east, without ever being able to get the people they say they are after (Saddam, Bin Lade, Stallman, and so on.) However, something had to be done in Iraq and even if I had prefered the UN to have been behind the attack, I'm still glad that Iraq is being liberated.

    8. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by guybarr · · Score: 1


      I've actually read most of the above link.

      Natuarally, it is extremely biased.

      However, I have several remarks:

      1) having seen these buldosers, and driven an armored vehicle myself, I can tell you that indeed they are not safe to be around, let alone waltz in front of. In fact, they are the cause of accidents even when no-one is acting like an idiot.

      2) Gaza is a warzone. There is nothing that would satisfy the paletinian snipers more than to have the israeli soldiers leave the safety of their vehicles in order to drag hostile people to safety. A lot of israeli soldiers will get killed. Although Ms. Corrie perhaps would have liked that, I doubt if they or their families would.

      So, this amounts to a person recklessly endangering herself and Israeli soldiers, when she knows that should anyone treat her as a non-combatant, he would probably get killed.

      3) The article sais that the buldoser drove over Ms Corrie twice. However, this is glaringly a lie; she was evacuated to a hospital, but when 9 tons go over a person, let alone twice, there is nothing but pulp left to evacuate.

      4) So yes, perhaps the israeli policies (or lack of ...) should be contested, but the treatment of Ms. Corrie's story seems to me nothing more than irrelevant, morbid, propoganda.

      --
      Working for necessity's mother.
    9. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Israel refusal to even give it's Palestinian >citizens the right to vote?

      Arab citizens of Isral can and do vote.
      See:
      http://tellinglies.org/news/archives/ 000202.html

      The people in the Palestinian authority are not citizens of Israel- before 67 they where citzens of Egypt and Jordan, who both refused to get Gaza and the WB back.

      So like with any other subject- please check your facts before you post.

    10. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As much as Israel would like to say that it is the only democracy in the middle east, that doesn't amount to much when such a huge proportion of their indigenous population is being actively oppressed.

      You forget that the "indigenous population" remains in a state of war with Israel. That war was started in 1967 by the Arab nations, and is still unsettled today.

      Israeli Arabs, however, are the free-est Arabs in the Middle East. They vote, run for office, some are even elected to parliament.

    11. Re:No thanks. What Israel is doing is not right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I relinquished my Australian citizenship because of the horrors in Iraq. I've moved to a new country, yes, but I didn't have to give up my Australian citizenship - I chose to.

      Hooray for voting with your feet!

  4. Well ... by jmays · · Score: 2

    Israel may be interesting however I think the one in Boca Raton, FL will be my preferred venue!

    --
    KARMA TAG! You're it.
  5. Slightly offtopic. by jotaeleemeese · · Score: 1

    SO please moderators, do your job.

    --
    IANAL but write like a drunk one.
  6. It was NOT off-topic! by motown · · Score: 1

    Why is it that almost everytime anybody posts something negative or even critical of Israel (with regards to their occupation of Palestinian land) it is moderated down, mostly for being "off-topic"?

    Read the title, please. It's about a Perl conference in Israel. So both the aspect "Perl" and "Israel" are part of the topic. If the Israel-aspect was not considered on-topic, then how come the non-critical Israel-related posts (about wanting to go there on vacation, jokes about Perl versus Hebrew als the one true language, etc) are not being moderated down?
    I know that US politicians would never dream of saying anything negative about Israel, no matter what Israel would do wrong. But I really had the (rather naive, it turns out) hope that the intellectual crowd here on Slashdot ("Did you hear that? He called us 'inttellectual!' :D ;) ") would know better.

    About the moderating down bit: a good example was the Moshe Bar interview a couple of months back. Every single post even mentioning the word "Palestinian" was unconditionally moderated down.
    This really frustrated me, because I would really have liked to hear his opninion on the bad things Israel has been doing. What was Slashdot affraid of? That we would be hurting his feelings or something? That we would be embarrassing him? Why? To me he appeared to be quite an intelligent man with ample common sense. He would definately have taken such questions seriously and anwwered them. Even if I hadn't agreed with what his opinions would have been, I would still have liked to have read them. Hey, who knows? He could have surprised us all with an answer none of us would have expected? But now we won't know... At least not until he is interviewed again somewhere else where they will have the courage to ask him more controversial questions. (Perhaps such an interview already has taken place somewhere, if so, somebody please give me a link. Thanks.)

    The bottom line is: Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land (in violation of UN resolution 242 and about a dozen other resolutions) and in doing so, continously violating human rights on a large scale. Furthermore, that country is currently being run by Ariel Sharon, who has been accused of being involved in (or actually having masterminded) mass genocide in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. And that guy was democratically elected!

    Okay, enough right now. I have had this discussion over and over throughout the years. The point I'm trying to make is that Israel cannot be mentioned without the controversy which surrounds it, due to the occupation of Palestine and the oppression of it's people. Modding posts even remotely mentioning this down with "off-topic" is wrongful in any discussion involving Israel.

    When there's a cricket match in Zimbabwe (for the sake of argument, I know, this is Slashdot), would we moderate down any posts mentioning Mugabe? And if Iraq ever comes up (even if it's about a non-war topic, if that's even possible), come on: of course people would still start talking about Saddam Hussein and his alleged ownership of WMD's.

    Please moderators, be honest and just. That's all I ask. Repoleved's post had to do with Israel, so therefore it was not off-topic. Please moderate him back up.

    And Michael.Forman, thanks for the Rachel Corrie article. Why do you never hear of such things in the US-media? Isn't it typical that this topic has to be found on Alertnet (Reuters)? And may I also add the betrayal of the USS Liberty to that? (Check Google of you want to dig back into history.)

    One more point before ending this post, just to take away any confusion: I am half-Palestinian myself and I condemn Israel for how they have been treating the Palestinians throughout the most recent decades. But, although I support Palestinian armed resistance against military targets (including armed colonists), I condemn terrorist bombing of civilians, especially childr

    --
    "Oooh, does that mean we get to kick some puffy white mad zionist butt?"
    1. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by Chacham · · Score: 1

      Why is it that almost everytime anybody posts something negative or even critical of Israel (with regards to their occupation of Palestinian land) it is moderated down, mostly for being "off-topic"?

      Because it is flaimbait.

      In fact, your first sentence is only an excuse for you to post your personal feelings which have absolutely no relevance to the topic at hand. Unless, of course, because of your political hatred of Israel, you want other to hate her too, and then not go. But, I believe *that* is flaimbait, and thus it should be modded down.

      What was Slashdot affraid of?

      Slashdot is not a political website. Something inherently political such as "Palestinians" has no place here. However, if they get something on the internet and are awaiting authority in the computer arena, political issues *might* be relevant, such as a discussion of their country-code, if posted as a story, the political issues would be on-topic.

      To tell you the truth, I want to respond to the political aspects of your comments. They are filled with untruths that I believe can easily be corrected. I've already deleted more than one comment in this reply because it was offtopic. But if you want the replies, you'll need to start a Journal Entry for that, so as not to be off-topic.

      When there's a cricket match in Zimbabwe (for the sake of argument, I know, this is Slashdot), would we moderate down any posts mentioning Mugabe?

      If it would cause a bunch of responses, all particular to the politrical aspects of it, then yes, it would be modded down.

      So, please start a JE on this, and do not post political issues to an other discussion.

    2. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by motown · · Score: 1

      Because it is flaimbait.

      Oh, first it's off-topic, now it's flamebait? And are you sure you have read the line you quoted correctly? Do you really mean that all comments being "even critical of Israel" are undisputably flamebait? That really doesn't leave much room for discussion, does it?

      Slashdot is not a political website.

      "Not a political website"? Are you kidding? People discuss politics on this site almost as much as technology. How often do you visit Slashdot, anyway?

      If it would cause a bunch of responses, all particular to the politrical aspects of it, then yes, it would be modded down.

      Alright, let me give you a more typical Slashdot example than Zimbabwe then: Disney. How often have we had political discussions in response to non-political Disney-related posts, such as the release of DVD such-and-such or the use of technology so-and-so? About Disney being this evil company that bribes American legislators and such? And how highly are such posts generally moderated? 4, 5, insightful? Again, in this example, I'm talking about Disney-related posts that actually start out (or are supposed to start out) as non-political. This aside from Disney-related posts, which were political in the first place, of which there have also been quite a lot already.

      Why do accuse me of being "anti-Israel" when all I'm doing is stating facts about the crimes that country has committed and is committing even today? I accept the fact that Israel is here to stay. All I am against are those illegal actions, which are being targeted at an entire population, while no one has the courage to hold them accountable for it.

      And with "country" I mean the government running it. Of course I'm not holding the entire Israeli population responsible, although I do condemn the majority of voters for electing Sharon prime minister.

      And at least I was honest: I didn't give any false pretenses about not being biased. I openly admitted being half Palestinian myself in my first post in this topic.

      Damn it, you did it anyway: you let me continue the political discussion itself, which wasn't even the point I originally tried to make here. The point was and still is:

      Attention, moderators: when Israel is part of the topic in question, don't moderate down any posts mentioning an actual conflict which has everything to do with Israel and for which we cannot stick our heads in the sand or look the other way as "off-topic", because it isn't!

      (Wow, that last sentence was pretty long, wasn't it? Are you all still with me? ;) )

      --
      "Oooh, does that mean we get to kick some puffy white mad zionist butt?"
    3. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by Chacham · · Score: 1

      Oh, first it's off-topic, now it's flamebait?

      Well, anything flaimbait, is also off-topic, unless the story itself was flaimbait. The actual moderation that moderators use (besides funny) is mostly of no use.

      Not a political website"? Are you kidding? People discuss politics on this site almost as much as technology.

      That is not true. Except with specific issues technology always beats out political issues. People talk about politics out of passion, and then only few do. Techology is what Slashdot is all about. I challenge you to show me that not to be the case.

      How often do you visit Slashdot, anyway?

      Except for about a 45 day period, I have been reading slashdot for over five years (before they had ids) and usually check more than once a day.

      How often have we had political discussions in response to non-political Disney-related posts...

      That is a bad case for two reasons.

      One, when dealing with companies, (similar to Microsoft) people unite to call them evil, as opposed to countries where there is usually a significant amount of people who disagree. That means that people can get away with saying it without much flaimbaiting, whereas with a country much flaimbait is likely to ensue.

      Two, Disney affects everyone here, countries usually do not. So, even if it is flaimbait at least it has some relevance to the majority of readers. As such, large companies that affects many people can be argued as on-topic, where arguing about countries cannot.

      Why do accuse me of being "anti-Israel" when all I'm doing is stating facts about the crimes

      Because your reply was stated with passion.

      And with "country" I mean the government running it

      That needs to be stated clearly when talking about it. Most comments about coutries are about the people, not their government.

      And at least I was honest: I didn't give any false pretenses about not being biased.

      Which is good, but the need to state that proves how off-topic the comment was. :-)

      you did it anyway

      No, ultimately it is your choice. Trust me, I want to go at it too, but being off-topic and flaimbait, I won't.

      Attention, moderators: when

      No, they should continue to mod them down, as well as most political discussions. They are almost always flaimbait.

    4. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The bottom line is: Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land (in violation of UN resolution 242 and about a dozen other resolutions) and in doing so, continously violating human rights on a large scale.

      Not true. Israel is occupying these lands as a result of a war started by its Arab neighbours in 1967. That war has yet to be settled. Resolution 242 does call for Israel to leave, but it also calls on the Arabs to recognize Israel and live in peace. It also puts equal weight on these two points.

      When Kofi Annan, who no one would claim is a friend of Israel, referred to "illegally occupied territories" he issued a quick retraction.

      Furthermore, that country is currently being run by Ariel Sharon, who has been accused of being involved in (or actually having masterminded) mass genocide in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon. And that guy was democratically elected!

      Yes, Sharon was elected. It's called democracy.

      In case you forgot, in Sabra and Shatila, Arabs massacred Arabs. Strangely enough, no one is interested in prosecuting Arabs for these massacres. It's so much easier to blame Sharon. Sharon was Israel's Minister of Defence at the time. The Israelis held Sharon to be indirectly responsable. Why? There is no evidence that Sharon knew anything about the massacres. But he was the Minister in charge. The buck stops with him.

      Some people blame Bush Jr. for Sept 11 - not because he had anything to do with it, but because he is charged with protecting the American people, and was not succesful on that day.

    5. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by zillahX · · Score: 1

      >One, when dealing with companies, (similar to Microsoft) people unite to call them evil, as opposed to countries where there is usually a significant amount of people who disagree. That means that people can get away with saying it without much flaimbaiting, whereas with a country much flaimbait is likely to ensue.

      Ah.. so it's only ok to disagree when everyone else also disagrees. Ok, posting something that goes against the opinions of the majority of the readers of the board would appear to be flamebait, but that doesn't mean someone doesn't have a right to voice an opinion on the matter, despite whatever controversy ensues. Suppress the dissention? I hope you never run for public office.

      >Two, Disney affects everyone here, countries usually do not.

      This seems like an ignorant statement to make. Situations in other countries don't affect everyone here? Did you already forget Sept. 11? I guess you're the person they make all those bumper stickers for.

      P.S. I'm not sure which aspects of your life you let Disney control, but I usually make an effort to not support or patronize Disney in any way.

    6. Re:It was NOT off-topic! by Chacham · · Score: 1

      Ah.. so it's only ok to disagree when everyone else also disagrees.

      No, it's always ok to disagree. But posting comments that are not exactly on topic is the question. On one hand they are connected to the business or country being talked about. On the other hand they cause many off-topic comments that just clutter the discussion. Because of the latter reason, I agree that they should be modded down as flaimbait.

      However, when dealing with a company as opposed to a country, the second reason isn't as prominent, and thus does not clearly outweigh the first reason.

      This seems like an ignorant statement to make. Situations in other countries don't affect everyone here?

      In most cases, they do not.

      P.S. I'm not sure which aspects of your life you let Disney control,

      I don't think I let them control any.

      but I usually make an effort to not support or patronize Disney in any way.

      As I try not to support China. Unfortunately, in many cases, I don't realize it until after I purchase the item.

  7. Fear not. Haifa is great spot for Perl conference by superyooser · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    Haifa is a city in northern Israel on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. There is significant distance between it and the so-called West Bank or Gaza Strip.

    I think Haifa would be a great place to visit. See the Haifa Tourism Guide .

    I've never been there, but it looks stunningly beautiful and fun judging by these pictures (check Haifa and click Go for 101 pictures)

    israel is too dangerous for me, and over the next couple of weeks lets face it it's only gonna get worse.

    That's a popular misconception perpetrated by the media. In spite of the ongoing Oslo War, most Israeli immigrants say they feel safer in Israel than in the places they came from, including America. Really, you probably have more chance of getting murdered in Brooklyn or Miami than in most of Israel. American and European tourists report that they feel safe there, too. Also, Israel's El-Al Airline is the safest airline in the world. Being among so many Arab countries, they have a lot of experience in dealing with terrorist threats. Its security is unmatched.

    Right now is an especially safe time to visit Israel because the terrorists are on the run and cowering in their lairs. Yassir Arafat and the PA are scared to death of doing anything that might expand the war in Iraq into their region. They wouldn't dare attack during this war. They're keeping very quiet. Iraq hasn't attacked Israel either.

    I would have absolutely no qualms about visiting Israel now. I just wish I had the money. Don't let fear be the factor that prevents you from going to the Perl conference.

  8. EASILY DEFEAT CORRUPT MODERATOR CENSORSHIP by repoleved · · Score: 1

    Hi Motown,

    You're right.. my post wasn't offtopic, but there is a method to the madness. When the moderations are meta-moderated, there is a chance that offtopic will not get the moderator banned from moderating, if there is any reason to give that moderator the benefit of the doubt (that perhaps the post was off-topic after all). Some moderators do not even think about this and will mark messages such as the one I posted as flamebait. Very often, both of these rankings will be marked as unfair, but it is more likely that flamebait would be marked as unfair, since what I said was true and relevant. Troll would have the metamoderators looking through my history, and they would see that I am not a troll. Another tried and true one is "redundant" since (especially in well populated topics) it is hard to argue that something wasn't "redundant".

    Anyway, my philosophy is why try to stop a river? Moderators will always try to suppress ideas that they do not like in predictable ways. Just use the following slashdot features that will render the attempts at censorship ineffective in your own case, and then speak your mind when appropriate. The more voices there are to speak the truth, the harder it is to waste modpoints on hiding it.

    Actively choose whether people are: Friends/Foes/Freaks

    and use the following modifiers in your preferences:

    Offtopic +6
    Redundant +2
    Anonymous -6 (this cancels out with the offtopic modifier since anonymous people often write offtopic posts)

    Karma Bonus +2
    Friend +3
    Fan +2
    Friends of Friends +1

    New User Modifier +2

    Cheers,

    Repoleved

    PS. Spread the word... :)

  9. Re:Fear not. Haifa is great spot for Perl conferen by KingRamsis · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Being among so many Arab countries, they have a lot of experience in dealing with terrorist threats
    so *all* arabs are terrorists now ?

    did it ever occur to you what made people so desperate and willing to wear explosives and blow themselves up? what cause ?
    and dont give me the Zionist bullshit propaganda about attacking civilians Israel systematically kills civilians and demolish homes of civilians and suicide bombers families...is do you call that JUSTIACE?
    the latest was bombing of a school by right-wing jewish extremists
    read the link and fuck yourself for being so ignorant
    and one more thing TO HELL WITH KARMA

  10. Re:$yapc++; (simpler) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    $too_expensive++ if(in("Israel")) while ();

    "Rob."

  11. YES!! by NaveWeiss · · Score: 1

    I am looking... for a girlfriend!!! From... ISRAEL!
    So, any lovely girls still reading this article, please email me. Beseder?
    Toda raba veLehitra'ot.

    --
    Slashdot community, please notice: I am looking for a girlfriend.
    Nave H. Weiss
    1. Re:YES!! by DNA+Land · · Score: 0

      Are we not drawn onwards, we Jews, drawn onward to new era?

  12. Ms. X by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are a BAD BAD BAD person, because you don't care about me. I can't make any sense out of it.
    Therefore, this song is dedicated to you:

    How can people be so heartless
    How can people be so cruel
    Easy to be hard
    Easy to be cold
    How can people have no feelings
    How can they ignore their friends
    Easy to be proud
    Easy to say no

    CHORUS:
    And especially people
    Who care about strangers
    Who care about evil
    And social injustice
    Do you only
    Care about the bleeding crowd?
    How about a needing friend?
    I need a friend...

    How can people be so heartless
    You know I'm hung up on you
    Easy to give in
    Easy to help out

    CHORUS:
    And especially people....

    How can people have no feelings
    How can they ignore their friends
    Easy to be hard
    Easy to be cold
    Easy to be proud
    Easy to say no