Dearest Board,

It's time again for my annual-Christmas-announcement/reminder.

As most of you know, I live in Jerusalem, Israel. I also know that there are some religious people/people of faith here, or people with religious families and friends. Yay, people!

So if any of you of any faith would like something from here, for Christmas or any other occasion, it's really easy for me to get it and send it overseas. In fact, I'd love to do this, given enough guidance and information (I am and was raised Jewish, and pretty much everything I know about Christianity comes from popular culture TV and a BA in history, which mostly covered the Middle Ages). I'm also OK with rubbing objects against graves/approximated graves/holy locations, if that what turns you on.

I would like to send your packages before December 1st, to make sure that they are there in time.

Profile addy is good and again - it's not a hassle. It's the opposite of it.

Happy holidays!

And right on the heels of Shir's announcement is the annual announcement of the Annual Holiday-Inclusive End of Year Gift Exchange (AHIEoYGE, pronounced Ah-Hie oh Yee-Gee). Yes, I'm aware the name gets more ridiculous each year.

As soon as I finish month end close at work I'll be setting up the Elfster thingymawhooha. If you have participated before, go check your elfster account and make sure email and mailing addresses are correct. If you have not participated before PLEASE CONSIDER it!!!!

If you want in either way, email me and specific any restrictions on matches. We automatically make it so you will not get matched with the same person as last year.

I am posting over on FB also.

3 more days to get in on the gift exchange!!! Come on, come play.

Last day to get in on the exchange, LURKERS YOU ARE WELCOME!!!!

If you want in, click this link or email me.

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Absolutely LAST CHANCE to get in the gift exchange AND/OR let me know if you want any restriction on who you draw (like, for example, I try to exclude anyone I have ever had before). I am going to take a shower and when I get done, I AM DRAWING THE MATCHES!!!!

If you have emailed or messaged me before about restrictions, could you do a follow up? I really do not want to miss anyone's request. TA.

Tis the Season for Holiday cards.

If you have moved/changed email in the last year or if you would like to get your address/email on there for the first time, we do have a B.org community list. If you are ok with your address/email being shared with active community members (and for email this means you will be included most likely in any community surprise gifting to a member that gets organized from time to time), then you can contact me with that info and I will get it or update it on the list.

There OF COURSE can be caveats. Some only share emails, some want to be notified before addresses are shared, some share everything and have provided emergency contacts in case we do not hear from them for a bit and are worried.

RIP Ron Glass - you will be missed.

Special board offer - I have extra bookplates and so anyone here who wants to personalize anything that has my name on it, hit me at the profile addy with "borg bookplate) in the subject line. Thank you so so much to everyone who is posting and reccing and talking up the books also - I am so grateful to you.

Hey all - I am working with HackEd, a startup focused on creating the cybersecurity experts needed now. I'm basically the DM - some big cybersurity names are providing the curriculum and I'm making the 7 weeks an immersive story-based experience. It's sort of a Cyberpunk game made real.

Applicants have to do a coding challenge and submit a fairly tough application, and we select about 12 per running of the course. Towards the end of the course we bring in companies and government who have the best jobs in cybersecurity and work to place the students. The 12 people who get in don't pay for the training; they are on scholarship. If they get hired, the company who hires them pays us.

The immersive, story-based approach gives the students the closest thing to real-world experience possible, to address the catch-22 of needing experience to get hired so you can get experience. It gives them stories to tell interviewers. And it forces them to work together, to compete, and to be creative rather than just following a manual or doing script-kiddie stuff.

So that's the sales pitch. If you are interested, yay! If you know people who might be interested in going through this, send them the link? There will be 4 runnings of the course each year, and we are hoping to expand the number of students we can accept for the last two to maybe 15-20.

Thanks!

George Takei's musical Allegiance was on Broadway last year, and now is being broadcast one night only at theaters around the country, on December 13th. This would be your only chance to see it with the original cast.

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