GODbar is a Firefox extension that helps you stay connected to the major atheist communities around the web. Some of the most useful functionality includes:

1. The ability to perform a Google search limited to the online atheist communities. Useful if you want to quickly see what online atheists are saying about a specific topic.
2. A global chat room for all GODbar users to connect online quickly and easily.
3. Quick access to the most popular atheist communities online, national and international organizations, and other web sites of interest to atheists.
4. Direct access to the current top stories at a certain atheist web site.
5. Weather and email functionality.
6. A podcast player automatically set up to connect to the most popular atheist podcasts.
   

This tool has some potential to be really useful, especially in connecting atheists around the world in real time. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.

This week we've got an extremely fascinating interview with Moiz Khan. Reminds me a bit of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's story. I won't ruin it. Enjoy...

Hello, thank you for this opportunity. I am Moiz Khan and I was born in Pakistan 18 years ago. My parents were married for around five years at the time, and they already had two children. After applying for their Visa's multiple times they finally got their chance in 1992 and they took it. We moved from Lahore, Pakistan to New York City. There were two main reasons for this, education and my father's lifelong hate for hot weather. By 2000, we moved again, about 60 miles east of the city to the suburbs. As you can see, change has always been part of my life. Right now I am attending Stony Brook University for a double major in History and Philosophy. I love the world of the academia, so that is exactly where I am headed. I want the ability to teach people how to think for themselves and without fear or dogma as I have learned through a long struggle.

Q. What made you decide to blog about atheism of all things?

I actually began my blog while I still was a religious person. The original purpose of my blog was just politics (I was always very liberal) and to have a little fun writing. It was never intended to become what it did, though I am quite glad it has. From December 2006 to September 2007, it was mostly inactive. I was just too busy with schoolwork to give it much time. I then posted "My 'Spiritual' Journey" on October 5th, 2007 (that is actually around the time when I abandoned my Muslim faith for the Atheistic worldview). By November, I had wrote the second part of "My 'Spiritual' Journey." Almost right after posting these two blogs, I received an overwhelmingly positive response via email. People told me of their similar journeys, and this gave me the reason to continue. From that point on, I posted about my personal Atheism, Politics (as it effects all of us) and my other love, Music.

I can't actually pinpoint the exact date, as it was a gradual process. However, for much of 2007 I was an agnostic and somewhat on the fence. I think around mid 2007 is when I became an anti-theist and atheist. So I suppose I have been an atheist for a little over a year.

The first step is to actually understand the faith. When I was growing up, I could recite the Quran in Arabic, but knew nothing of what those Arabic words actually meant. We were told to accept it because it was true by our parents and other elders. For the millions of Muslims who don't actually know Arabic, I would suggest reading the Quran in their language. It contains certain material that can make any reasonable person sick to their stomach. Don't cherry pick which parts you like and which you don't either. If it is the supposed word of an all-powerful god, I doubt god would put in useless material. Then, read on the incompatibility between modern science and religion. Once you understand that science and religion simply can't coexist in an intellectually satisfying way, read about evolution. So in that process you will have, first rejected religion, second understood that religion and what we now know about the world can't be combined. Finally you will learn of the beautiful alternative (evolution by natural selection) that is far more intellectual satisfying.

The major problem with the Islamic world is its clash with modernity. When Muslims move to Western countries, they rarely assimilate into the culture. Rather, they stay far away from it. They are essentially living in their own worlds even when they are in modern societies. The children grow without understanding the other culture, and they continue the cycle with their children. In Europe, there have been quite a few movements that clashed with organized religion. The Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment come to mind. These movements had two major effects, water down Christianity and advance the idea of the godless (or at least no personal god) world view. In the Muslim world, there are no comparable movements. Islam has never been watered down, only grown more extreme in certain cases. I rarely meet a Muslim who even considers that part of the Quran might be metaphorical. Most Muslims really do believe in the literal truth of every single word in the Quran...this gets even more complicated because most of those don't even know Arabic. So they are brainwashed by their local mosques and elders to believe the particular brand of Islam that their community follow. Thus, the biggest problem of Islam is the lack of movements against it from within.

Partially due to the British and now American imperialism of the Middle East, most of those countries are in a state similar to most Western Countries were 100-200 years ago. So I believe the best course of action for Atheists at a national level in the Western world is to urge their governments to end their grapple hold over Middle Eastern politics. Such as support for the tyrannical kings in Saudi Arabia, a focal point in the Islamic world. The US has supported military dictators and Islamic extremists (Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan) for many years, and this has effectively stopped the already weak secular and atheistic movements in the Middle East. Another major thing is I think Atheists should be more vocal in their criticism of Islam. Most Atheists mainly criticize Judaism and Christianity, and this allows Muslims who are guilty of equally disgusting crimes to go under the radar.

The level to which we are beginning to get organized. We currently are a rather large minority (and probably larger than the statistics due to folks in the closet) and we are growing quickly. I am helping start a club at my university called, "SBU Freethinkers" and we already have somewhere around 60 members. Many of these members are incoming freshman and sophomores. It seems that atheism is growing quickly amongst the younger generation. With regards to optimism, in America, I want to reach the point where major politicians don't have to praise god in every speech. Also, I still hold out hope for the Middle East. As I said earlier, the Islamic world clashes with modernity. Sooner or later, this clash will become too large to be avoided by those Muslims, and hopefully it heads in the right direction, the secular direction.

It has made me gain interest in the Atheist and Secular cause. In America, we face the possibility of heading closer to a theocracy or heading towards a more secular state, as intended by the founding fathers. Both of these roads are possible and it all depends on each individual citizen to their part. I personally will work within my local community to help further science education (to me, the most essential education). Without blogging I would have most likely not become so passionate for the secular cause. I also would have become some sort of lawyer instead of my current plan to become a professor.

Don't be afraid to let it all go. Fear is one of the main reasons why many stay with religion. Of course, the fear comes in many different shapes and forms. Some are afraid of a possible community backlash, or their family, or death. But fear is pointless for it only restricts us. This is the only life that you will get, and you might as well make the most of it. Socrates said it best,"The pursuit of truth can only begin once you start to question and analyze every belief that you ever held dear. If a certain belief passes the tests of evidence, deduction, and logic, it should be kept and defended. ….If it doesn't, the belief should not only be discarded, but you must also then question why you were led to believe the erroneous information in the first place." I believe that the pursuit of truth is the only road to true happiness.

Thanks Moiz! Powerful stuff. So much to learn from this I don't even know what to say.

If you have a follow up question you'd like to ask Moiz, feel free to post them in the comments, or simply head on over to Moiz's site at http://moizkhan.com/blog/.

This week we meet The Amiable Atheist, a rare female atheist blogger! Similar to some of the recent interviews, she lives outside the States, but was raised here in the US as a Baptist. Read on for her story and advice to new atheists.

Q.Tell us a bit about yourself, where you came from, what you do now, where you're going. [Feel free to skip this question]

I am a 23 year female from Arizona. I am currently living in Germany with my German fiancé, learning the language, and wondering what I will do with my degree when I return to the U.S. I was raised Baptist and began doubting God’s existence when I was 18.


Q. What made you decide to blog about atheism?

When I was about 22 I became more interested in reading books and finding information about atheism. I began to engage in conversations online, out of curiosity and also out of a desire to hone my argument. I knew why I didn’t believe, but I couldn’t articulate it that well. Now it has become such a topic of interest for me that I felt I should compile my thoughts in one place.

The main reason that the topics of atheism and religion interest me is because I am genuinely worried about the way things are going in the U.S. and also in many other parts of the world. I am worried about our education system and I am worried about our freedoms, and I feel that both of these things are threatened by religion.
Now that I’ve had my blog for a while, I’ve begun to realize that I am mainly driven by a desire to confront the negative stereotypes that exist for atheists.


Q. How long have you known that you are an atheist? Tell us about that time in your life, and what led to that point.

But I think the main change occurred when I went to college and began learning about the world. The first big thing was learning about other religions: they believed just as strongly as me, and had just as little evidence as me. What made my religion more valid than theirs? Wouldn’t I believe what they believed had I been born there?

The next big eye-opener was finally learning about evolution and the age of the Earth, which was, unfortunately, not taught at any other time during my school years. At first I tried to reconcile a looser interpretation of the Bible, or that science and religion could coexist, but eventually I realized that I just didn’t believe anymore.

Q.What excites you most about the current state of atheism, what are you optimistic about?

What excites me is the fact that I am even able to write this and put it on the internet. We still have a long way to go as far as negative stereotypes, but I feel like things are getting better in that aspect. Maybe it is because of the internet, or frustration with the current situation. But I am glad that atheists are able to have a voice.

My favorite is “Letter to a Christian Nation” by Sam Harris. It is so concise, and I wish I could give a copy to everyone I know.

I also really like Carl Sagan. I unfortunately don’t know a lot about science, not for lack of interest, but lack of education on the topic. But I think Pale Blue Dot is inspirational and it makes me want to go out and learn more about our world.

I have learned a lot from my blog. I often make mistakes, but it is a huge learning experience. You learn a lot about how the words you say can be interpreted by others.

I think it’s a great outlet for my thoughts and frustrations on the topic of religion, and I like to think that in some tiny way I am helping. I don’t even hope to change anyone’s mind, I just hope to make them stop and think. If just one person sees my blog and is surprised that I don’t match their negative stereotype for an atheist, then I would be happy with that.

I would say to go out and just devour information on the topic. Learn everything you can and talk to people. And, believe something based on the evidence, not because somebody else thinks it’s true, and never stop challenging that belief when new information comes along.

I try my best to be honest and considerate on my blog. In the end, it is just one person’s opinion and not everyone is going to like what I think.

But if you appreciate attempts at courteous discussion on topics such as religion and atheism, then you might like what you see at The Amiable Atheist.

Thank you Ms. Amiable Atheist!

As always, head on over to The Amiable Atheist to learn more, or leave you comments for her here.

Fourth in our series of interviews we get to know Adrian Hayter, The Atheist Blogger. He comes to us from across the pond, giving some surprising perspective on how atheism is viewed in England.

On to the questions!

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself, where you came from, what you do now, where you're going.

I am a 20 year old student currently living near London. I was born in Southampton (south of England) in 1988 and spent most of my childhood in the area surrounding Salisbury, a city famous for Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. At school I expanded my interest in computing and managed to get into Royal Holloway, University of London where I am currently studying Computer Science with Information Security (REALLY not as boring as it sounds). After university I plan to emigrate to America and work in the computer industry, hopefully in either game design or for some computer security company. I am an Open Source advocate, and I use Gentoo Linux.

Q. What made you decide to blog, and specifically to blog about atheism?

I already maintained a personal blog, but rarely posted to it. I had just started renting a server with a friend and was getting more active with atheism, especially with my student group "Atheist & Agnostic Alliance". I decided the next logical step was to create a blog about atheism, and to be honest at that time I was not aware of the vast community I was entering into. The only atheist related blog I had read was Friendly Atheist, with the occasional glance over at Richard Dawkins' site. Still, I was very surprised that the domain "atheistblogger.com" and "theatheistblogger.com" were both available, and I quickly registered them both. The blogging community were on the whole very accepting of the blog though, and pointed me in the right direction in terms of finding the Atheist Blogroll, Planet Atheism, and The Atheist Spot.

Q. How long have you known that you are an atheist? Tell us about that time in your life, and what led to that decision.

The first time I actually called myself an atheist was when I was 11, although I suspect I had been one for longer. I was brought up in a Church of England family, but we didn't attend church that often and my beliefs were not enforced on me. I do remember attending church with my mother when I was quite young, looking up at her and telling her I "don't think I believe in God". She quietly told me that this wasn't really the place to announce such a thing. Looking back, I think it was the perfect place for revealing my doubts. Where better to see the flaws of religious belief than amongst its worshipers? At secondary school (high school for you yanks) I met friends who were openly atheist, and that probably persuaded me to become more active.

Of course a school that is quite literally in the shadows of Salisbury Cathedral is bound to be religious in nature, and we had regular religious based assemblies and monthly services in the aforementioned Cathedral. I joined the school choir for my interests in singing, and I reckon we probably performed religious songs 50% of the time. I didn't really mind though because at the end of the day, they are just words set to music. The beauty came from the sounds, not the meaning.

Unfortunately I was quite late into the militant atheist field, and I had already left school and got a temporary job before I bought and read The God Delusion, which pretty much tipped the scales for me. When looking at what religion has actually achieved for humanity, it deserves next to no respect at all. By the time I arrived at university, I was all set to unleash atheism on the campus, which we achieved as a group later that year.

Q. What excites you most about the current state of atheism, what are you optimistic about?

Even though I was a latecomer to the whole atheosphere thing online, it is still clear to me that its growth is exponential. Since I joined back in February '08, almost 200 new blogs have been added to the Atheist Blogroll, and that is always encouraging. It is also nice to see the growth of the number of young atheists online, because they will be the ones who have to deal with the next generations of creationists. Sites like Atheist Nexus are also going to be more important as the community grows. People who have remained anonymous online for their protection are going to be able to find other atheists in their area whom they could meet up or just talk with. Whilst many have compared organizing atheists to "herding cats", I think the overall attitude is changing. We might never all agree with each other (actually, I hope we never), but the closer we are as a community the more things can be achieved.

On a more local level, I am excited about how recent polls in England show an increase in anti-religious thought, and how more people are getting active about such ideas. I'm not sure whether Christianity in England will be dead in 100 years as the majority of people think, but I do remain optimistic. The younger generations do seem to be more open to new ideas and free thought, so only time will tell on that front.

Q. What advice would you give those that are new to the idea of atheism, that aren't quite sure what they believe, and could use some direction?

The main advice I could give would be to look up the individual definitions of atheism, theism, agnosticism, gnosticism, apatheism, deism, humanism, ignosticism, religion, and irreligion. Decide which apply to you before you go about claiming you are this or that. I often find people claiming to be agnostics because they were taught that it meant you were "unsure" of the existence of gods rather than its true meaning, which is that the truth value of certain claims is unknowable. I'm an agnostic atheist because whilst I do not believe in gods, I admit that I can never be 100% sure, since gods are supernatural (and therefore by definition undetectable) beings.

If you are truly unsure or do not care about the existence of gods, the definition of an apatheist is the most agreeable. You may even fit the definition of an ignostic, but that is for you to find out. As for finding definitions, every single dictionary seems to have a different way of interpreting words which is ever so helpful (note sarcasm). The best way to find a definition agreed upon by the general populace would be to use Wikipedia. It's not that good for accuracy in other places, but they seem to have the definitions sorted out quite well.

The issue of annoying labels now covered, I would send the new atheist (or whatever) off with instructions to immerse themselves in the communities, to make friends, to read philosophical arguments, but more importantly, to decide what kind of atheist they want to be. Not all of us are militant, and some of us have the utmost respect for religion. There are many arguments for and against all atheistic positions, but which side you wish to stand is entirely up to you.

Q. When someone asks you how you can be an atheist, why you don't believe in god, or anything to question your lack of faith, what's your single favorite argument for atheism?

The best arguments are the ones that attempt to put the theist in a similar scenario and make them think for themselves. When someone asks me why I don't believe in their God, I simply ask them why they don't believe in Zeus, Thor, or any of the other gods that have been before theirs. It really is quite astonishing how many people haven't considered the problem that other gods pose to their religion, or indeed how may gods they don't believe in either.

Often people wonder how I could even fathom the existence of a universe without a god, but in the entire history of humanity, we have never found anything that was eternal. Everything, even the universe, had a beginning. It takes a large leap of faith to go from literally no evidence of eternal objects to a eternal being who is all-powerful and all-knowing.

Q. You started an online Book Club for atheists where you discuss a new book each month on IRC and in online forums. What books have had the most influence on your life that you'd recommend others read?

The books that got me interested in science were (quite bizarrely) Douglas Adams' Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series. Of course the notions in the book are science fiction, but they opened my eyes to scientific learning and understanding, making me laugh at the same time. I think Douglas Adams' atheism shone through in each of his books as well, since there are quite a few references to God, religion, etc. One of my favourites is the Babel fish argument:
?
"I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."
"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."
"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't though of that" and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

Philosophy is another subject covered in the books, which invariably led me onto my interest in the subject

Q. Living in England, you probably see how living without religion as a major force in society affects the country. First of all, is that true, is England as progressive as it seems on that front? Second, what do you think we in America can learn from the British in overcoming the shackles of religion?

Whilst it is clear that religion plays a smaller part in English society, I do not believe we are as progressive as many are led to believe. The religious fundamentalists are a minority, but they are getting very powerful. A recent documentary shown here highlighted the homophobic activity of certain groups, as well as the protests that led to the early ending of "Jerry Springer: The Opera".

It might surprise most people that my atheist blogging was actually illegal in the UK up until July of this year when the blasphemy laws were finally abolished. By any standards, the UK is still a predominantly Christian nation. Members of the royal family, whilst being completely useless and well overdue for abolition, have to be CofE Christian if they want the throne.

In reality, there is only one thing that America can learn from the British, and that is our refusal to allow Intelligent Design in science classrooms. It is almost a shame that the first amendment of the USA prohibits Religious Education in schools. I found that whilst growing up, Religious Education was a fascinating subject and I deeply regret my choice not to study Religion at A Level. In a country that is filled with religious bigots, the best way to educate children about other religions would be through a school subject.

Thank you Adrian!

As always, leave your questions for Adrian in the comments, or just head on over to his site The Atheist Blogger. We'll see you next time!

One of the most consistent pieces of feedback we have received over the past few months has been other site publishers looking for buttons they could add to their site to allow their visitors to submit and vote up their stories on The Atheist Spot. I'm excited to announce that the buttons ar ready to go:

http://www.atheistspot.com/howtosubmit.php#button

You'll also find on this page a couple other ways to submit articles to the site, at least one you probably hadn't been aware of (http://www.atheistspot.com/howtosubmit.php#bookmarklet).

If you have any suggestions for different colors or styles of the buttons, or need any help with the instructions, please please please let us know. We'd love to hear suggestions or recommendations on making the processes smoother and making it fit seamlessly into any site design.

P.S. We've been amazed how many sites out there have already added the sharing buttons on their own. You guys rock!

This is is the first in a series of interviews we will be posting where we try to get to know some prominent (and some not-yet-so-prominent) atheist bloggers. We hope through this process to help bring the atheist community just a little bit closer, and to help raise the awareness of some really great blogs you may not have otherwise had a chance to check out.

Today we present Craig A. James, author of the blog The Religion Virus. Craig is also in the process of publishing a book with the same name! He also just had a pretty controversial post on his hands recently titled "Atheists: Get out of the Damned Closet!"

Enough introduction, on to the interview!

I'm a computer scientist who has spent my professional career writing scientific software for physicists and chemists. Currently my "day job" is as Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of a web site for scientists. In the mid-1980s while studying for my Masters degree in Artificial Intelligence at Stanford, I got interested in linguistics, evolution, and sociology, topics which led me to the Dawkins' ideas about memes.

I come from a liberal, free thinking family, but that does NOT mean all atheists. My paternal grandparents were very modern and intellectual, yet they were also deeply religious. (Several stories about them are recounted in my book). My interest in religion was probably sparked by my father, who was very bitter about the repressive Christian morals of his youth.
I follow the Atheist ethic, derived from natural principles and rational thought, which demands that each of us do our part to make the world a better place. Sometimes you can see something so clearly, something original and important, and you just have to tell others. Call me an atheistic evangelical!

I discovered back in 1985 that religion is nothing more than a complex, evolving memeplex, that religious ideas survive and propagate because of their appeal, not their truth (where "appeal" can include both desire and fear), according to the evolutionary principles commonly called "survival of the fittest." It took twenty years, the study of hundreds of books, many long conversations with friends and family, and lots of deep thinking on my part, before I had a complete picture. Only then was I able to put "pen to paper" and write the book.

The book has been read by about two dozen people (it will be published next year). To the last person, they've all said it affected them in a positive way.

My favorite comment was from my Aunt Carolyn (the topic of a story in the book), who said, "I feel so much better now!" Carolyn had converted from very serious Christianity to Atheism relatively late in life. The Christian guilt memes, and the heaven/hell memes, are highly evolved, very infectious, and very hard to cure. Although she was convinced that her decision was correct, these memes gave her lingering anxiety.

Reading "The Religion Virus" completely cured Aunt Carolyn. Once she understood why the Christian religion memes are so infectious, she was able to purge the last of her doubts.

Another friend, a philosopher by education, helped me with the early drafts. He offered this thought: "I'm a member of a ... forum for atheists ... I've found recently that when the topic turned to the psychology of why people cling to religious ideas, I keep having two feelings: (1) This is obvious in an evolutionary sense, and (2) I wish I could just send a link to buy your book on Amazon and say, 'read this book!'"

"The Religion Virus" is intended to change your way of looking at religion. My step-sister, a former Catholic, said that when she first read it, she thought, "Well, that's interesting." But as the days and weeks went by, she realize that her whole world-view about religion had shifted. Things that had seemed mysterious, or "just one of those things people believe" were suddenly clear to her. Every news article about religion, every conversation where God came up, she saw it much more clearly, as though a veil had been lifted from her eyes.

That's what I hope to achieve for all of my readers: To shift your world view, so that when a question about religion comes up, you have a new way of understanding it.

You can learn more about my book, and read a couple of sample chapters, on my web site: http://www.thereligionvirus.com.
I suppose every blogger is motivated by some combination of altruism, egotism and a desire to be part of a like-minded community. Blogging is a wonderful meritocracy: Your ideas get attention if you write well and present interesting topics.

But I wouldn't be honest if I ignored the marketing aspects of my blog. My book required years of research, and thousands of hours at the keyboard, but that doesn't mean the job is done. The next step is to promote it, and a blog is one of the most important tools for an author in today's web-based world.
There was no decision. I've always been an atheist. I went to one of the very last rural two-room schools in the State of California, in the mountains north of Soquel, which is near Santa Cruz (about 90 miles south of San Francisco). I remember very distinctly the first day of the first grade, we were memorizing the Pledge of Allegiance, and I realized I'd have to leave out the part about "One Nation Under God."
Twenty years ago, when I first contemplated a book about The Religion Virus, it would have been very difficult to publish any book critical of Christianity. A noted scholar or highly-popular established author might have pulled it off, but a new author like me wouldn't have gotten anywhere. Even today, a remarkable number of book agents advertise "Christian Literature" as a specialty. Back in 1985 I'd guess that no agent anywhere would have taken on my project. If I'd gotten an agent, no publisher would have touched it, and if it had been published, few bookstores would have put it on the shelves.

Today, by contrast, you can find books like Dawkins' "The God Delusion," and Hitchens' "God is Not Great" on the shelves at Costco and Walmart. It's really a remarkable change.
There are so many great ones, I hate to single any out. However, I would like to recommend two books that are not about Atheism but should be read by every Atheist, and by every politician in America.

"Collapse," by Jared Diamond, is a remarkable book about why societies can make all the "right" decisions and still collapse into utter ecological self-destruction. It indirectly illustrates why faith is the enemy of rational thought, and why societies have trouble planning more than a decade into the future. It's really quite frightening, because today's world economy is repeating the pattern for collapse.

The second book, "Guns, Germs and Steel," also by Jared Diamond, answers the question, "Why did Western Culture spread around the world?" Many religious people have the Calvinistic idea that "God was on our side," that God favored Christians with wealth, health and power, and that the spread of Western culture, technology, and of course Christianity, was due to God's protection and favoritism. Diamond shows very convincingly that it was just good geographical luck, not God.
Again, I don't want to single out individuals. Every author, every blogger, every Atheist who has faced persecution or been shunned, is a hero in his or her own way. It's a tough road.
I just got started a few weeks ago; I'll let you know!
Read, read, read! There is so much good information available. Of course, I'd like them to read my book, I think it will give them a new way of looking at the infectious memes that are in their brains.

Most of all, don't be afraid to mourn. One of the biggest problems with accepting Atheism is that you're really losing something that was very important in your life. Religion is very comforting, very appealing. It gives you a genuine sense of belonging, of hope, of purpose. When you realize that these promise are false, it's OK to feel a sense of loss. It's very much like grieving for the loss of a loved one, a person who filled a special place in your life, that you'll never get to see again.

Atheism is a life-affirming philosophy. It makes your actions in THIS world all that much more important. The life you have here on Earth is the one that matters; don't let false promises of rewards in an imaginary future deter you from achieving your maximum potential and happiness here, now, in this life.
The blog will have to speak for itself! My goal is to provide a fun, but thought-provoking, series of blogs, from what I hope is a unique, memetic, evolutionary perspective.


Thanks Craig for being our very first interview! If anyone has any more questions for Craig or wants to know more, definitely check out his blog or just post them in the comments here.

We are happy to announce a pretty fun new feature...custom avatars! You can now upload an image, whatever you'd like, which will be used to represent you on the site. It will display along side any stories you submit and comments you make, in addition in your profile page.

Also pretty exciting, if you happen to use Gravatars, you can also use your existing Gravatar instead of uploading a custom image.

We hope that with this little bit of a personal touch, visitors can start to build a mini-brand on the site, especially if their posts end up making it to the front page.

To customize your avatar, simply click on your "Profile" link at the top right, click the "Modify Profile" button, and you'll see the option to upload an image or use your Gravatar account.

Have fun!


Lenny

This week we review a new social network that's been getting some attention in the blogosphere: Atheist Nexus. An member named vjack submitted the story to The Atheist Spot just today (you can read it here).

The Atheist Nexus social network looks to have been built on top of Ning, which was founded by Marc Andreeson (the founder of Netscape) in 2005 to help niche communities connect and develop online. A perfect fit for us godless atheists!

Being built on an established platform link Ning, the site comes ready with some nifty features including real time chat, a video archive, a message board, and something that most excited me...a projects list. Currently the list of projects is all hypothetical (e.g. scholarships, library donations, recycling programs), but just the thought of sponsoring students and community programs in the name of atheism sends chills down my spine.

In the end, the fate of a site like this, and in reality most any site, lies in it's ability to keep its members coming back. The fate of most upstart social networks looks like a reverse hockey stick curve. Lot's of excitement up front (mostly early adopters), lots of new members, and then a pretty quick dropoff as people forget they ever signed up and move on to the next shiny site. I would say there are two keys to creating a long term success:

1. Getting to a "critical mass" number of members. I wish I knew what this number actually was, but I would say it is some percentage of the active atheist community. If enough people are members of the site, they will naturally bring it up in conversation, which will continue to spread the message of the site, and bring in a steady stream of members. It wouldn't hurt to have some atheist celebrities as members. As with most Web 2.0 sites, this is a Catch-22 situation. New members won't join until there are enough friends on the site, but there won't be enough friends on the site until more people join. But just note that every popular social media site started this way too, and they survived.

2. The more difficult of the two, and something that any new site has to deal with in some way, is to have a compelling reason for members to keep coming back. Since a typical social networking site doesn't actually produce any original content (not that there's anything wrong with that :), the site owners need to work hard to leverage the social aspects of the site to bring it's users back. Even trickier is to convince members to use the site instead of or along side a facebook or a myspace, where most members will probably already have accounts and be unmotivated to have two identities to maintain.

My humble advice to the owners of the Atheist Nexus:

1. Keep doing what you're doing. No matter what happens, this is a good thing for the atheist community, and I love the fact that so many atheists are so able and willing to use their tech expertice to further "the message". Just make sure to keep the interface as clean and simple as possible. It's too tempting to add features and more features. Control yourself!

2. Having said that, you must focus on the people and the community over the technology. What will make the site last will be real people connecting in real life, doing real things for the world, and making a real difference. Especially in a community such as this (as opposed to a tween oriented myspace).

3. Don't compete with the facebook's and myspace's. You have to learn to live with them, and somehow leverage them to further your site's power. Maybe create a facebook group driving people to your site, or a myspace widget with recent posts or videos. Just don't spend time trying to convince people to choose your site over facebook. Encourage people to choose both.

I recommend everyone check the Atheist Nexus out for themselves, give it a spin. I have no doubt the site owners crave feedback as much as we do (as hard as that may be to believe), so share your thoughts with them or leave your comments here.

In our minds we trust,
Lenny