\fR oo m-hāk\ n. Any application of ingenuity for those who are committed to observe the 613 Mitzvot. [ORIGIN: Yiddish פֿרום (frum|fR oo m) meaning "commited to observe the 613 Mitzvot, or Jewish commandments" and the English Slang term HACK (hāk|hak) or LIFEHACK (līf-hāk|lahyf-hak) meaning "anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever/non-obvious way or an appropriate application of ingenuity"]

Many of us already recognize the tremendous value that can be found online in the form of audio (and even video) shiurim. These shiurim have rapidly taken the place of the Torah Tapes of our youth and continue to offer thirsty students of Torah the opportunity to enjoy a quality learning experience no matter where they find themselves, anywhere from Brooklyn to Barbados and everywhere in between.

Audio shiurim can be found in a number of places online, two of the best repositories of consistently updated shiurim can be found at YU Torah and OU Radio. These are the two site we will focus on for today’s Mobile How To.

As mentioned above, most of us are aware of the amazing value of online shiuirm, but there is an incredible feature that most of us are probably missing out on: Podcasting. Podcasting is basically just an RSS Feed consisting of MP3 files instead of articles, but the magic of Podcasting is revealed when its features are married with those of today’s always-connected smartphones; with their powers combined they allow the end-user to stream audio shiurim from just about anywhere, without having to download or check for updates. Once you find a class, topic of teacher you like you can use Podcasting just as you would TiVo (chas ve’shalom) to capture new classes automatically and view or listen at your convenience, and using your smartphone (we will focus on Android in this article) you can stream, not download and play, those shiurim from anywhere, whenever the mood strikes or you have a free block of time…think: on your daily commute, waiting in line, waiting for the bus, while at the mechanic…anywhere, anytime.

“How can I set up this magical TiVo for shiurim?” you ask? In about 3 steps and 5 minutes you will be up and running and listening to shiurim wherever and whenever.

Things you’ll need:

• Android Smartphone (any smart phone will do, but we will be using Android for this How To)
• Computer
• Google Account (If you don’t already have one: https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount)

Step 1 – Set Up Google Listen:

Scan this QR Code to download Google Listen

Open the Android Market and search for Listen, visit http://listen.googlelabs.com or scan the QR Code to the right with your Android phone to download Google Listen.

Once you have downloaded and set-up Google Listen be sure that it is linked to your Google Account and proceed to Step 2.

Step 2 – Set Up Google Reader:

Open your browser on your computer and goto http://www.google.com/reader. When you set-up Google Listen and link it to your Google Account it will automatically create a new folder in Google Reader called “Listen Subscriptions”; this is where you will add the Podcasts you want to subscribe to.

Goto to your Reader settings page (by clicking the gear in the upper right-hand corner and clicking “Reader Settings”) and click over to the “Goodies” tab. Now, scroll to the bottom of this page and follow the instructions for adding the “Subscribe” bookmarklet to your browser.

Step 3a – Find Your Shiurim and RSS Feed:

YU Torah: Roll over the series of icons you want to subscribe to

For YU Torah: First, find the topic, speaker or series you want to subscribe to, next click-through to the actual shiur page and you will see a line of icons (RSS, Podcast, Apple logo, envelope), roll over them and click “Podcast”, next select the number of shiurim you want displayed at a time and click “Go”. A new window should now be open with the XML code of the RSS feed of your series of shiurim. Proceed to Step 3b.

OU Radio: Click the RSS icon to open the Subscription page

For OU Radio: Visit http://www.ouradio.org/podcasting, find the series you want to subscribe to, click the little RSS icon and proceed to Step 3b.
>Step 3b.

Step 3b – Subscribe and Enjoy!

Click "Feed Settings" to move your subscription to the "Listen Subscriptions" folder

All you need to do now is click on the bookmarklet you created in Step 2 and subscribe to this page. Once you are subscribed click “Feed Settings” and move the subscription to the “Listen Subscriptions” folder, now just fire up your Android phone, open the Listen app and you can stream all your subscribed shiurim, which will automatically update as new content is added!

Whether you use this tool for professional development, personal learning, to stay in touch with your students or to keep up to date on a class when you can’t be there, podcasting is an amazing tool that will help us all stay a little closer to Torah learning no matter where we find ourselves…happy streaming!

As many of you may know, I am a huge fan and supporter of Gmail. I love it and encourage everyone I know to join in the fun. The most frequent concern is “but what about my old email accout?”

For Israeli Readers (or those with leaky air conditioning units worldwide): In most of the world air conditioning units are piped into the drainage systems in our homes. However, in Israel and other places that AC units are installed on the fly (or if you have a self-installed window unit) the water just leaks out onto the street, sidewalk or on the heads of unsuspecting passers-by. Now you can harness that third world comfort and grow a beautiful garden with the run-off.

This is a good Sunday project and requires a bit of technical know-how but the benefits are huge! Fresh produce, herbs and flower, saving precious water, preventing mold growth from water run-off; it’s just a win-win-win!

Check out the Instructable here.

Image via Wikipedia

Well, the Seder is over but the fun has just begun. This time of year is always ripe with cool technological inventions to help us Frum Jews remember the only thing we have more difficulty remembering than our anniversaries: Counting the Omer. That’s right, as of three days ago the 49 day trek to Shavuot has begun and Jews worldwide have already forgotten to count…How many of you have felt that gut-wrenching feeling, you finish davening mincha just as the sun sets behind you and you realize, “Did I count last night? Where was I for Ma’ariv? I knew I should have stayed to the end of Ma’ariv!”But have no fear! Technology is HERE!I have some great new/not so new way to keep track of and remember to count the 49 days of the Omer.

I am going to outline 5 ways to help remember to count the omer, some are pretty technologically involved and other, not at all. Choose the one that suites you and don’t hock me if one is too simple/complicated for your liking.

Post It Note:
I know this seems stupid to write about, but my sister-in-law has been using this method for 3 years now and has made it through for all of them (Bli Ayin Hara). It probably doesn’t hurt that she’s a little OCD…
The method basically calls for a post it note being stuck into your siddur on the Omer Counting page with a little bit sticking out like a bookmark, every day that you count move the post it note down to uncover the day you just counted leaving the next day covered up.
This method requires you to use the same siddur and relies on the fact that you are at least partially paying attention during one of the three times you daven throughout the day.

Buddy System:
Again, this system isn’t technologically advanced but it works. Find a friend, or buy one (Pirkei Avos) and tag team each other. As the saying goes, ‘Two heads are better than one’ and in terms of remembering the Omer, if you make it a team thing, it is much more likely to get remembered.

Actually Daven:
This is not a mussar blog,but realistically if one actually davens from a siddur (even more so with a minyan) every night and pays attention to the davening without rushing through the chances of remembering to count are much higher.
In addition to this, I have added the minhag to count at shachris every day as well and have affixed a post it note to my siddur right after Shmonei Esrai to remind me. This is a big safety net for me.

Myzmanim.com Reminders:
Finally, some tech. As we have previously mentioned (Frumhacks: MyZmanim.com Adds Alerts!) Myzmanim now has a range of alerts to choose from. On the homepage (Myzmanim.com) enter your zipcode and follow the banner link for OmerAlerts. This service is free but requires a login (which you should already have for printing out monthly zmanim calendars, mincha alerts and candle lighting time alerts). OmerAlerts will either email or text message you to remind you to count once the time is right. The SMS service only works in the US and Canada and with specific times (it offers three stars and 72 minutes). For a more customizable/international solution see the next tip.

Blackberry/iPhone/iPod/Google Calender/Hebcal:
As we mentioned before (Frumhacks: How To: Get the Jewish Calendar On All Your Devices) you can easily add the Jewish Calendar to any of your devices, and recieve customized alerts via SMS, email and even pop-ups on your Google Calendar interface or Smartphone/PDA. As I outlined in the above post, you can use Hebcal to download a custom iCal (.ics) file and upload this file to Google Calendar (and sync it to your various devices or upload it to them directly).

Ah, the spring time, what a wonderful time of year. It gets 2-5 degrees warmer, there are 10% more flowers and greenery around and everything is just a little brighter. Well, I guess here on the West Coast spring isn’t as much of a change for us