Remember when I said that we could use some smiles around here? Well, Abdul-Kareem al-Faleh agrees with me. “Look at the photos on our ID’s and passports. No smiles in these photos. Why?” he asks, and then says that some of our weddings look like funerals! :-)

Wired News: “Some people want free iPods so badly they’re willing to pay for them.”

The Maid Comes First: Badria al-Bisher has written a nice column on the role of maids and drivers in the life of Saudi families. Here’s a post of mine about something I noticed during my first few weeks in Riyadh.

After their great 43Things, the Robot Co-op launches another website with the same lucky number. 43Places, a website where you can share stories about great places in your city and around the world. Neat idea. This is the Saudi Arabia page. I think this website could become the best tourism guide in the world.

AdRants talks about two new Blogspot-hosted blogs. One steals Gawker’s entire editorial content, and the other steals the NY Post’s Page Six content. “The only thing these two blogs leave behind are the ads,” AdRants wrote. The person behind these blogs said in an email sent to AdRants that they wanted to see if they “can draw viewership away from popular online blogs and news sites by removing the advertising.” AdRants expects that this will either “turn into a giant legal cease and desist party or it will turn out to be some kind of insider joke.”

The issue of women’s driving is getting more attention day after day. Today, Arab News reported that two “Saudi women journalists have submitted a petition in support of women driving to the Kingdom’s National Association for Human Rights.” The petition, submitted by the journalists who requested anonymity, is signed by 102 Saudi men and women of different background and professions, and come from different parts of the Kingdom.

The idea of the petition came after a statement by the interior minister who said that this issue is a social matter which has no priority at the present time. One of the journalists said “she had a great deal of respect” for Dr. Mohammed Al-Zulfa, the Shoura Council member who raised the issue for discussion in the council last month.

This petition repeats the same reasons Dr. Al-Zulfa was talking about, that “many Saudi families cannot afford to pay for a driver” and “the dangers of foreign drivers who learn the most private family details,” and “may exceed their responsibilities and may, in some cases, commit various crimes.”

Hamad Al-Majed, the association’s deputy head, said the association will discuss the petition next week. I want to know what this governmental organization has to say on this matter. Are they going to take Dr. Al-Zulfa’s side, or they will simply take the safe road and take Prince Naif’s side?

I have finished reading Blink, the second book by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of the best-seller The Tipping Point. The book talks about the process of thinking without thinking. The idea that our first impressions can be as good and valuable as months of research and deep thinking is compelling. And even though some seminal bloggers have tried to make fun of it, the argument of this book is seriously interesting. No matter what you interests are, this book is definitely a must-read. I really enjoyed it, and I think it would be a perfect choice for you as a start for the summer reads.