Here are some examples of my work

Amazon Super Prime

The parcel arrived with a thud at 11:02am, causing Helen to startle, knocking her tea and sending a few drops arcing onto her keyboard. She looked up just in time to see the Amazon van disappear through the hedges at the end of the path.\

She sighed and dabbed the drops with her sleeves before going to retrieve the parcel. It was a big, rectangular box, not as heavy as she might have guessed from its size. Helen hadn’t ordered anything, but it was marked with Amazon Super-Prime labelling on top of the protective plastic wrap, so she knew it wasn’t a mistake. Read more

The British Lockdown to ‘Save Christmas’ Reminds Jews We Still Don’t Fit

No matter where I go, as an American Sephardic Jew in Britain, I often feel — to borrow a Britishism — slightly on the back foot.

Like many other Londoners, late on Halloween I tuned into Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of a four-week nationwide lockdown that he said was necessary so “families across the country” could be together for Christmas. We’d already heard public health advisers say the only way to “save Christmas” would be to impose harsher measures. Read more

Guide to charging electric cars - at home, at work, and out and about

One of the most common concerns people have about buying electric cars is whether they’ll have enough charge to get where they’re going or end up stuck somewhere along the way – otherwise known as range anxiety.

But modern electric cars can go much further between charges, with the average range of a UK electric car in 2020 being 193 miles, and the UK charging grid is catching up too. Here’s what you need to know about keeping your electric car charged up. Read more

‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Is Actually About My Jewish Family

When I was a baby, my maternal grandmother was the one who looked after me while my mother finished her medical school residency. Despite having years of quality time together, I think one of the moments I felt closest to her was when I watched Season 1, Episode 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Read more

Finding Empowerment Amid Orthodox Judaism in “Unorthodox”

Whether or not you’ve read Deborah Feldman’s memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots, there’s a great deal of suspense to be found in Netflix’s miniseries adaptation, written by Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski and directed by Maria Schrader. The story is partly told in Yiddish, and other languages are used as necessary, such as when characters pray in Hebrew or banter in German, which has the effect of making the viewer feel they are peeking behind the curtain. However, the miniseries makes some assumptions about its audience’s knowledge base, potentially limiting its mass appeal. Read more

Feeling lonely? In that, you’re not alone

Loneliness is a major mental health problem – and it can hit particularly hard around holiday season.

During the holidays, plenty of people think about their physical health – whether it’s because you’re aware of the impact of eating more rich food, drinking more alcohol, or cold and flu season, or even if it’s just because you’re extra grateful for everything you have at this time of year, it’s likely to have crossed your mind. Read more

How to plan your own funeral

Planning on dying? Good, because much like taxes, rain on bank holidays, and rail strikes, it’s inevitable. So, it’s best to be prepared.

While we can’t do anything about your mounting dread or your sinking feeling that you have accomplished none of the things you dreamt of as a child, we can helpfully point out that the average cost of a funeral in the UK is £3,757 – and it’s more than £4,000 if you want to get stuck in the ground. Read more

Naming yourself as the main driver on your teen's car insurance could get you into trouble

Getting car insurance for your teen is expensive, which is why it's tempting to save money by taking out the policy in your name. But it's known as 'fronting' and has serious consequences if you're found out.

When you take out a car insurance policy, you’re asked to name the main driver, the person who'll drive the car most often, and any additional drivers. This information is a significant part of how insurers calculate risks and therefore the premiums. Read more

Buying a diamond-studded gift this Valentine’s Day? Here’s one more way things could go horribly wrong

If you’re planning to whip something sparkly out at the dinner table on Valentine’s Day, you may want to make sure you’re fully covered by your home insurance, as many policies have a Single Item Limit of £1,500-2,000.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and you’ve made the dinner reservation. Your date has shown up. She’s enjoyed a glass of prosecco or two. She had the risotto, you had the ribeye. She went to the loo and you seized the moment: when nobody was looking, you dropped a glittering diamond ring into the remains of her custard. Read more

A buyer's guide to car financing

If you’re buying a new car, it can be hard to decide which is the best way to finance your purchase. Here’s a guide to all the options.

There are many ways to finance a new car purchase, from paying for it outright in cash to taking out a loan for the full amount from a bank. But which is the best option for you? It all depends on your circumstances, so the more you know about your various options, the easier you’ll find it to make a choice. Read more

Having a baby? Here’s how to work out your shared finances

There are a lot of ways to share your finances with a partner, and you may already have found a system that works for you – but that may need to change if you’re having baby.

If you’re planning to have a baby, or have discovered that one is on the way, you’ll probably need to discuss how your household – and your new family – will run financially. Here’s what two personal finance experts say about how to manage this change. Read more

What is the difference between Organisational Learning and Knowledge Management?

A newcomer to the information and knowledge management field like myself - whether you are entering the KM field or entering a field that will necessitate working with information professionals - has to answer some very big questions. Who are information professionals, and what do they do? Read more

15 stories that foster a lifelong love of libraries

Your kids, your peers, and even your bosses might not understand what you do as a librarian. However you know that your role is absolutely essential, no matter what kind of library you work in. The good news is that you don’t have to lecture them to get them to understand. Every librarian knows that books make the best teachers, so here’s a list of 15 stories that can teach kids and adults to love libraries. Read more

How do we combat fake news? 3 simple steps before clicking 'Share'

We tend to think of fake news as a modern problem, thanks to the increased focus on fake news generated by events like the 2016 American presidential election. But the spread of misinformation is a concern that dates back much further. In 1710, Jonathan Swift wrote, “Falsehood flies, and the Truth comes limping after it.” Read more

Placebuzz Launches Property Search App for iPhone

Placebuzz, a website that offers users an easy, one-stop United Kingdom property search, announces the launch of a new iOS app to bring added convenience to the Placebuzz experience.

Placebuzz for iOS will offer users the functionality they expect from the desktop and mobile versions of the website. Users will be able to do things like access and create new saved searches, see Google Streetview, and book viewings within the app, as they would on a browser. The app also makes it easy and quick to book viewings with agents, and request free, zero-obligation valuations. Read more

The Guest

Nina dropped her fork back onto her plate. “Are we done yet?”

“It's time to fill Elijah’s cup,” Mom said.

“I’ll do it,” Raina volunteered.

“She can't!” said Nina. “She’ll spill.”

“You're supposed to spill, dummy,” I said.

Mom pushed back her chair and set Elijah’s cup down in front of Raina. She opened the Manischewitz and let Raina wrap both hands around the square bottle. “Try and keep it from getting on the tablecloth, but it's okay if it overflows into the saucer. It's supposed to. It represents how our lives are overflowing with joy.”

I snorted. Raina poured the wine, the bottle trembling slightly in her hands. Read more

3 Expert Tips on Anxiety Management for #WorldMentalHealthDay

I was first diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) in my early teens. In the decade since, I’ve tried individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, inpatient therapy, SSRIs, benzodiazepines, aromatherapy, prayer, witchcraft, getting a dog, getting a bigger dog horse, swimming, running, rock climbing, yoga, meditation, and denial. I’m not a medical professional, but if 10,000 hours makes you an expert, then I know everything there is to know about anxiety. Read more

Je Ne Suis Pas Exactement Charlie

In the aftermath of the Paris killings, all the focus is on the evils of any restraint on free speech. But perhaps that is not exactly right. Your freedom of speech is not being violated when someone requests that you not, for example, use a racial slur for their ethnicity as the name of your sports team. You are legally allowed to call the Washington, D.C., football team whatever you want. You are also allowed to draw whatever you want, in America and in France, even if you know that it is considered by many to be extremely disrespectful to depict Muhammad. The law of the land does not prohibit the violation of Islam’s religious rules any more than it enforces Jewish dietary restrictions or Christian holidays. But just because you are allowed to do it, that does not mean anyone is required to like it, or that you should do it. Read more

Stewart, Colbert and Oliver for the win: Satire, millennials and fear of an extreme right-wing Senate

This week "The Daily Show" ramped up their media coverage of midterm elections by heading to Texas for a week of shows entitled Democalypse 2014: South by South Mess. The guest the first night? Wendy Davis, of course.  But before we get too excited at the idea that a satire news show is going to the center of a hotly disputed governor’s race, it’s worth remembering that four years ago today, on October 30, 2010, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert rallied on the National Mall in an unprecedented media stunt that put satire at the center of political debate.  Compared to last midterm election’s rally, "The Daily Show’s" move to Texas may seem like a bit of a letdown. Read more