I recently got myself a “job” on Second Life, for whatever reason. I found it while browsing the SL Classifieds one day and Googling the name of the company. It turned out to be a great project to be a part of; it’s much more than a job, it’s a performance.

The project/job is called Double Happiness Manufacturing, also known as “Invisible Threads: Sweatshop Jean Factory in Second Life“.

The project uses “virtual” workers to produce a real-world product. As I understand it, there is a computer and printer set up at a real-world location and customers give the order through the computer to the workers in the factory. We, as workers, select options (one person per machine per option) that the customer desires and send the virtual product to the printer, which prints the result on a fabric, where it is assembled and given to the customer to wear.

As an added bonus, this installation of Invisible Threads in which I’m taking part is set up at the Sundance Film Festival! While we work, there is an audio and video stream from the RL installation to our factory so we can see and hear the customers. During our job hours this evening, Robert Redford himself observed our process and said he liked our exhibit. Amazing!

Some videos: Double Happiness Demo, Double Happiness Factory Tour

1. If there is anyone reading this blog who lives in Virginia’s 6th District, please give your support to Sam Rasoul. (My home in VA is sadly in the 5th disctrict.) When I last visited VA and saw the huge Sam Rasoul signs in Vinton, I said “He must be a Republican, too bad!” After visiting CAIR’s 2008 Elections site, I saw his name again and checked out his website. Amazingly, he’s a Democrat! He’s also pledging half his salary for two new orgs. Good luck Sam!!!

2. In other CAIR news, I forgot to celebrate my one year anniversary working with CAIR-PA. I blame it on item #3.

3. We’re buying a house. OMG? :-|

4. Barack Obama (apparently) didn’t know what Current TV was, when approached by a journalist who recorded a pod for the station. This is important is because AL GORE was a co-founder and the launch of the station was big news. Disappointing… unless he knew but just forgot because of all the campaign running-about. (Video here. Segment starts about 1:01)

5. Current TV also did a spot about the “Saudi rape case” and the reporter said that the Quran commands punishments for drinking alcohol and stoning for adultery. Um. No.

That’s about it for now.

Is this a $#@!* joke? What the hell? Calls in Sudan for Execution of Briton. Come on, stupid “Muslims”, save your energy for something important… (yeah right.) Still we wonder why so many hate “us”!

Today, I’m giving my pet dogs the middle name Muhammad.

Global Climate Change and Population Growth: Two Challenges in One

Scientists across the globe agree that the influence of humans and their activities on the earth’s atmosphere and climate is an established fact. If population growth and climate change are closely linked, then they should be integrated into policy and challenged together. Long-term strategies to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in an equitable manner will need to account for the current broad differences among nations in per capita emissions. Effective, voluntary family planning plus improved educational and economic opportunities for girls and women are a central part of good population policy as well as a key to greenhouse gas reduction.

Danya recently linked to another important article, The Guardian’s “How to save the planet“.

One of the greatest environmental dilemmas is the issue of the world’s rapidly growing population. Many argue very persuasively that we have no hope of confronting all our environmental problems without greatly reducing the number of people on the planet.

I’m doing my tiny part to help balance against “the Duggars” and “Jon & Kate” (those famous “be fruitful and multiply” Christians) in the US and the Daad Muhammeds of the world.

Related and interesting: VHEMT

BBC News’ Day in Pictures today features this lovely lady:

In case you can’t tell, she’s spitting on the floor behind her. Indoors. While wearing a floor-sweeping dress. Erm. *puke*

Apparently China is attempting to make its citizens clean up their bad habits before the Olympics next year. Spitting indoors is a good place to start!

I’ve never seen anyone spit on the floor inside of any place, but where I come from, spitting outside is commonplace. In the country, it’s alright to be in the yard and let one fly, but I have a problem with people who spit in public places. I’ve seen it hundreds or thousands of times in my life. Spitting on the sidewalk, spitting into landscaped bushes, spitting on walls… Both northern and southern people seem to have the same love of spitting every-frickin’-where.

Every big city I’ve been to has the same sidewalk design: dotted with blobs of gum stains. This is the same as spitting in my mind, but it’s so common and probably an unconscious habit of millions of people.

This is a good time to remember “Do unto others” — if you wouldn’t like to see, step on, smell (ugh), or be hit by someone else’s mouth snot, don’t let anyone see, step on, smell or be hit by yours. It’s simple consideration.

While you’re at it, stop throwing cigarettes out the window of your car, too. And maybe stop smoking so you won’t have as much stinky, bloody, chunky spit in the first place.

And baby’s spit still counts.

Thanks.

I love Gmail. Here’s my favorite Gmail stuff:

Gmail Manager
Gmail Tweaks: Multiple Signatures
Better Gmail
Backup Gmail Using POP
Lifehacker’s Gmail Tips and News
Gmail: Advanced Search
Official Gmail Blog

Eid mubarak. Yay, food!

I believe that cutesy puppy and kitten (and other fuzzball) picture sites are contributing to animal cruelty. Sounds like an offensive and far-fetched claim, huh? I love to look at kitty, puppy, rabbit and hamster pictures just like everyone else, but I think that some viewers are not aware of the conditions which make and keep such sites so successful.

We can’t assume (and it simply isn’t true) that all the babies shown on these sites are the results of a do-gooder who adopted them from a shelter. I feel confident that, in fact, a large number of the babies we see on these sites are from breeders (”mills”), pet stores or other disreputable places. A smaller percentage comes from the irresponsible and/or ignorant who don’t spay and neuter their pets and allow them to continually breed, sometimes simply for the entertainment and “magazine/web popularity” of the owner.

Likely the smallest number of images seen on these sites (~2% or less?) are true rescues and shelter pets. There are several reasons a person might pass on adopting an older animal from a shelter and one of them is the “cute factor,” which is helpful on sites like these.

Unseen, behind the front pages of the sites, there are rude and infantile arguments about whether or not people should confront mill activity when they suspect it. Some say “we shouldn’t care where the pet came from, as long as the owner takes care of it” and “we shouldn’t ruin people’s day by talking about animal cruelty”. The site users have knowledge of pets with suspicious origins ending up shown on these sites, but many are unwilling to say anything.

People in the “cute animal business” know what pulls at our heartstrings and makes us desperately want to take home one of their products. They know that a child who sees bunnies all around Easter will beg his parents to get one, so rabbit breeders time their schedules to exploit this. Unlike a child with a short-lived and unconsidered desire for a bunny, adults should know better. But they don’t. The endless cute faces overwhelm their rational mind! People who are unfit to parent continue to have children and people unfit to care for pets continue to get pets!

The animal rights and cruelty debate (like most every other topic in the world) is vicious and heated. You have idiots on both sides: the “I want the pet of my choice no matter what horrors I am supporting!” and the “You should be killed for buying a pet from a breeder!” types. Good fun.

Unfortunately for humans, rational and considered thought is rare. As is obvious from the state of humans on Earth, the idiots get their way much too often.

Bulla ki jana by Rabbi. I fell in love with this song in 2005 in Pakistan. It brings back such nice memories and the video captures them well.

(Nearly Belated) Ramadan blessings to all. Strange enough, I used to have so much to say that I kept a Ramadan blog. Except for Umm Zaid’s references to me in her two blogs, nothing exists of it. Now I can barely type a paragraph. :-(

Thankfully, she and her friends have kept up the Ramadan blogging for all to enjoy at Ramadanish :-)

the Faerie Convention comes to Philadelphia. Still not sure if I’m going!