Jeff Hoy, American

On rail mounted tactical flashlights:

One problem I witnessed, however, at least one of my genius buddies used their tactical light as a handy flashlight; running around the house pointing their gun at all kinds of stuff.  Tactical lights are very bright and designed to startle whatever they are pointed at, and you’re only suppose to point your gun at things you intend to shoot, so if you do get a tactical light and mount it to a gun, don’t use it like a flashlight!

Yeah, don’t do that.

Every holiday season since 2003 gamers of all stripes have united to bring the gift of game to sick and hurting children being cared for in children’s hospitals all around the world.  They’ve done this through a brilliant organization called Child’s Play Charity.  Last year over $1.4 million was raised through donations of cash, games, and toys for children’s hospitals all over the globe.  They kicked off their campaign for this year just a couple days ago and already they have received over $250,000 in donations.  Well over $5 million in cash, games, and toys has been donated through Child’s Play since it’s inception.

People who wish to donate can give cash through PayPal or by buying gifts from one of the wish lists on Amazon.com created by the participating children’s hospitals.  This year there are 67 participating hospitals all around the world, you can chose a hospital near you and give to them by buying through their dedicated wish list.  Just go to the site and click on one of the healing controllers nearest to you on the map.

Given the current state of the economy this year may fall short of last year’s amazing record.  But if more people know about this charity maybe we can help them set a new record.  Please consider giving or even spreading the word if you can’t spare any money.  Send your friends and family a link to the site with a small, personally written explanation of what it is.  You can also point them to the Child’s Play twitter feed, @CPCharity.

Last year I gave $200 worth of toys and games to the Denver Children’s Hospital through Child’s Play, the year before that, $800.  I say this not to try to impress anybody with my generosity, I say it to prove that I believe in this charity and I put my money where my mouth is.  This year I’ll be giving to Memorial Health Children’s​​ Hospital, which is the children’s wing of Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs.

Here is a letter written to the organizers by one of the participating hospitals detailing how they’ve used the money and gifts.

Hi, Kristin,

I thought I’d bring you up to date on what we’re doing with the funds from your grant.  We bought a number of handheld video games which can be loaned to patients who are confined to their beds.  In addition, we bought a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit.  This is a HUGE success and we will probably buy several more.  Not only are they suitable for recreation, but they serve a therapeutic purpose as well.  We have discovered that spinal cord injured patients can sit on the Fit’s balance board and work on core balance by playing the games.  Although we had initially thought we’d buy computer equipment, this is a much better use of the funds, and, I hope, you’ll “approve.”  So, in addition to the library reaping the benefits, we are able to get the equipment out to where the patients live at our hospital – on the units and in the gyms. Thank you again for the generosity of Child’s Play. I hope that, in the future, we might be able to apply for additional funds.  There are plans to convert space into a patient recreation center and we would like to include additional games, equipment, etc. that would enhance their quality of life.

Best,

Amy

Amy L. Frey, MA AHIP

Manager, Health Sciences Library & Resource Center

Hospital for Special Care

2150 Corbin Avenue

New Britain, CT 06053

Originally posted here.

Child’s Play Charity was conceived and organized by the comic genius’ at Penny Arcade!  They did it to prove that gamers aren’t just violence addicted, anti-social, losers that don’t care about anything but games.  I think this charity has proved them right over and over again.  Thanks Gabe and Tycho, you guys rock.

Sincerely,

Jeff Hoy, gamer

I’ve written before about ways to contribute to charitable organizations on the internet.  You can do it without pulling out a credit card, just click a button.  It’s quick and easy.  But there’s other ways to help out, simply by doing what you do every time you’re on the internet. 

Not too long ago I found a new search engine by the name of GoodSearch.  With GoodSearch every time you do a web search a small amount (usually no more than a few cents) is put aside to be donated to a charity of your choice.  There are literally thousands of charities registered with GoodSearch, from the big multi-nationals to the little locals, so finding one you support should be no problem.  Now a few cents may not seem like a lot, but imagine how many web searches you do in a day, month, or year.  The potential for raising a hundred dollars a year for your favorite charity isn’t completely out of the question.

To make things even easier you can install their toolbar which provides quick access to their search and to their GoodShop site which is another way to contribute.  If you’re looking to buy something online, check the GoodShop site first to see if they have a link to an appropriate retailer.  Follow that link and then whatever you spend, GoodSearch earns a small kickback from the retailer.  All the big web retailers are present, Ebay, Newegg, Toys “R” Us, and plenty more.

(This is a repost from the archives, it’s still important and I will be reposting it from time to time.)

Not everybody has money to donate or time to volunteer.  But there are things you can do to help many people in only seconds every day.  Visit these sites, click the button and consider the advertisements.  All the money earned from the ads on these sites go to organizations responsible for putting the money to good use, whether you click on them or not.

The first site on this list is The Breast Cancer Site.  At The Breast Cancer Site your click helps contribute to a fund for providing free mammograms to women that couldn’t afford to get them otherwise.

The Hunger Site is next, which provides food to hungry people all over the world.  All you have to do is click the button, and just like that you’ve made it possible for an organization to buy just over a cup of food for a starving person.

Reading is something I love to do.  I’ve spent a lot of time and money reading all kinds of books.  So the third site is something I consider to be of great importance.  The Child Literacy Site is an easy way to provide free books to children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to them.

Finally, The Child Health Site provides means for children to receive care that they couldn’t before.  By providing vitamin supplements and medical tests, the number of lives saved is innumerable.  A healthy child is a happy child.

If you’re curious about the effect these sites have, just check out their daily results.

• The Breast Cancer Site results
• The Hunger Site results
• The Child Literacy Site results
• The Child Health Site results

So there you have it.  It only takes seconds every day, you can do it from home, at work, or where ever you may be that has internet access.  These aren’t the only options though, there are many web sites similar to these creating awareness and raising money for many different issues that may directly affect you now or in the future.

Now, Start Clicking.

For those planning on installing real hardwood floors in their house by themselves, I have just one tip: don’t.  Hire a pro, they’ll do it better, faster, and by the time you factor in materials and all the tools you’re going to have to buy or rent, it’ll probably cost the same.

MSNBC Tech & Sci has a great article on terrible tech habits that should be gone.  My personal favorite is #6.

Forwarding scary warnings without doing your research

Based on some of the emails I’ve received from some friends-who-shall-remain-nameless, I had better watch out for rapists trying to knock me unconscious with drug-laced business cards, pet-killing cleaning products from Swiffer, and diseased madmen infecting innocent movie goers with AIDS-infected needles. In fact, I had better not step outside my house because, according to an email I was recently forwarded, the sky is going to fall any minute now.

Here’s the thing: When someone sends you a terrifying warning email – whether it be about man-eating serial killers or computer-exploding viruses – and then asks you to “forward it to everyone you know,” there’s a 98.72 percent chance that email is nothing but an urban legend.

There’s no better place to check the veracity of that email than www.Snopes.com. The folks at Snopes do a fabulous job debunking the many yarns, hoaxes and scams making the rounds on the Internet. Please help make the world a sane place by doing a bit of your own research before you click the forward button.

Check them all out, and if you have any of the habits, then for the good of all humanity, please stop it.

Scott Bourne over at TWIP posted on brand loyalty and the reasons behind it.  I would slightly disagree on terminology with him, what he’s talking about is beyond brand loyalty.  It’s personal identification, meaning, people get so attached to a brand name or product that they think they’re as much a part of it as it is of them.  It’s not loyalty, they feel they ARE the product and any insult directed at the product is directed at them.  Some parts of the web refer to it as fanboyism.  If somebody introduces themselves as a “Canon shooter” and they’re not getting a check from Canon for saying it then that is a person who’s self is completely ingrained in the product.  It usually comes from spending a lot of money on said product and the self-doubt that usually comes with it.  Scott goes on to make a lot of points about that and the fear that drives it.  He’s pretty much right on.

Brand loyalty though is usually something along the lines of “Well, I owned this Dodge pickup for 20 years and it’s held up great, but it’s time for a new truck.  I think I’ll get another Dodge.”  That’s brand loyalty, not fanboyism.

Fanboyism certainly isn’t limited to photography gear.  I see it all the time in my other hobbies.  You have Losi drivers, Associated drivers, Traxxas drivers and they’ll have knock-down, drag-out arguments over which company makes the best monster truck or 1/10th scale stadium truck or whatever.  Don’t even get me started on the video game scene.  Fanboyism is taken to new heights in the video games.

I don’t really understand where it all comes from.  If you bought something, spent a lot of money on it, then just enjoy it.  Just remember that if you spend $1500 – $3000 on a camera body, you’re going to have a great camera no matter what brand you go with.  Who cares what somebody else takes pictures with, or plays video games on, or drives.  If you’re spending all your time arguing over who’s whatsits is better then you’re not out there spending time on the hobby you say you love.

Now that’s not to say that there can’t be a little ball-busting here and there over these things, I tease my dad sometimes because his Digital Rebel XS is so much smaller than my 5D, not that that really makes any kind of difference.  But if you’re sending people death threats about this stuff, like Scott says he’s received, then you need to chill out.  You should consider giving up the hobby, take up something that doesn’t get you so worked up.  Maybe try checking yourself into the psych ward and watching the grass grow for a while.

There’s a lot of people on Digg and Slashdot that need to give this post at Photofocus a quick read through.  It’s just an ever so quick primer on copyright law and common myths surrounding it.  So many people claim they know copyright law, but so many of them are wrong.

(This is a repost from the archives, it’s still important and I will be reposting it from time to time.)

If you’re not, you should be.  I am. On my quad core desktop, on my dual core laptop, and on my PS3.  All of them run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  All of them processing at maximum capacity.  They are looking for information that could lead to a cure of some of humanities greatest ailments.  Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Parkinson’s.  The answers may be out there and they may be hidden in proteins that live in our bodies.  That’s what folding does, it simulates the proteins and how they come together, or "fold."

Folding refers to a Stanford University project named Folding@Home.   It is the world’s fastest supercomputer.  But it’s not a supercomputer.  It’s the largest collection of regular home computers and laptops in the world working together to process all of this information.  Anybody can contribute to this project.  All you have to do is download the Folding@Home program from the download page, install it and let it run as much as possible.

Folding@Home doesn’t interfere in your daily computer use at all.  It runs in the background, using the spare processing power that your computer has.  It will always run, when you’re typing an email, reading a web site, or playing a game.  As long as you have spare processing power, and you always do, Folding@Home will run.  It’s that simple.

It doesn’t cost you anything.  It won’t interfere with your computer use.  It’s great research for all of humanity.  So why aren’t you doing it?

Go, now.

…President Obama’s Civilian Defense Force?

I’m not sayin’, I’m just sayin’ is all…