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Facebook's new community tools help you become a mentor
Facebook is once again hosting a Social Good Forum, and that means a new suite of tools and updates to help communities. To start, there's a Mentorship and Support feature that helps mentors and would-be learners connect with each other to step through guided nonprofit programs. Also, the social network is eliminating fees for donations to nonprofits -- you can be sure that every bit of money you contribute will go to those that need it.
Breakfast Topic: Our community is great, and how it saved my cat
The World of Warcraft community is a special group of people. We've got numbers, diversity, and a ridiculous amount of charity from good people whose tenuous connection to each other is because of a virtual world. Personally, I wouldn't want it any other way. The WoW community does good things. Many of you recently heard about my cat Rocky, who was not doing so well because of a deep infection in both of his ears. Because of the generosity of our community, Rocky's bills were taken care of and we could get him the immediate help he needed. My little buddy is alive because of this community. It's such a trivial thing to worry about in the grand scheme of things, but it personally affected me in such a profound way. Sure, we have our low moments. We have our high moments, too, and it's all worth it. From Blizzard's own charity drives to Child's Play and the community reaching out to help sick children, I'd say we've got a pretty good track record. What has the WoW community done that has affected you personally?
Tim Cook focuses on charity during Town Hall meeting
Apple held an all-employee Town Hall meeting a little while ago after the earnings call, and The Verge is reporting that Apple CEO Tim Cook took quite a bit of time during the meeting to point out Apple's charitable contributions to the world. He said that Apple has given $50 million to Stanford hospitals, and over $50 million to the Project RED effort (to help fight AIDS in Africa), making Apple that fund's largest contributor. It seems as if we've found one big difference between Cook and his legendary predecessor: Cook wants to make it clear that he's serious about giving, and letting people know about it. Cook has also pushed for an employee donation matching program at Apple, so he's got a history, even in his short tenure so far, of endorsing strong charitable contributions. Of course, all of that said, $100 million is still just pocket change for a company that has almost $100 billion in the bank. But every little bit counts, we suppose.
Apple launches charitable matching program for employees
MacRumors has confirmed that Apple has instituted a program to match its employees' charitable donations, up to US$10,000 per year. It's restricted to full-time employees in the U.S. for now, but the company hopes to expand that. Tim Cook announced the initiative to Apple's employees earlier today: "Team: I am very happy to announce that we are kicking off a matching gift program for charitable donations. We are all really inspired by the generosity of our co-workers who give back to the community and this program is going to help that individual giving go even farther. Starting September 15, when you give money to a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, Apple will match your gift dollar-for-dollar, up to $10,000 annually. This program will be for full-time employees in the US at first, and we'll expand it to other parts of the world over time. Thank you all for working so hard to make a difference, both here at Apple and in the lives of others. I am incredibly proud to be part of this team. If you'd like more information on the program, you can get it on HRWeb, which can be easily accessed through AppleWeb. Tim" Good on Apple and CEO Tim Cook. It sounds like a great program.
Hit the iPhone snooze button and help charity
There's no shortage of interesting and creative iOS apps and Snooze is one of them. It's an alarm clock app developed by Letgive, a charitable donation company. The app lets you set an alarm and will donate money (US$0.25) to one of Letgive's non-profit organizations each time you press the snooze button each time you press the snooze button. Charities supported by Letgive include The Nature Conservancy, Music for Tomorrow and Classwish. Whether you love or hate the snooze button, you have to admit that Snooze makes donating money fun. The charitable giving app is available from the App Store for free. [Via Mashable]
Zynga, Ngmoco donating to Japan through iOS games
Giant gaming company Zynga has joined the Japanese relief effort by enabling in-game donations in FrontierVille, FarmVille, CityVille and other games. A full 100 percent of the virtual goods' purchase prices will be donated to Tsunami relief, and Zynga is partnering with the Save the Children to raise money for its Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund. Charity-minded players can donate by buying specific virtual goods, like a sweet potato crop in CityVille, a Kobe cow in FrontierVille, radishes in FarmVille and a royal flush for Zynga Poker. Ambitiously, Zynga is aiming to raise US$2 million. Zynga representative Dani Dudeck says the campaign was created in under 24 hours and is their largest charitable campaign to date. This will be the first Zynga.org CityVille initiative. "The recent earthquake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan brought unimaginable devastation and loss to the country and its citizens," says Zynga. "Our collective hearts at Zynga go out to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by this tragedy. Immediately following the earthquake, Save the Children, an organization that Zynga has worked closely with in the past, quickly sprang into action and created the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund. We at Zynga are grateful that we can offer some assistance to Save the Children by mobilizing our technology, people and amazing community of players to support this organization in providing aid to the children of Japan."
SEC forms show Apple execs donated $3 million in 2010
A few Securities and Exchange Commission forms filed this week show that Apple executives gave shares of Apple stock to various charities right around mid-December. The stocks added up to a value of about three million dollars across the four executives that gave. Unfortunately, none of the charities designated to receive the money were listed in the forms. Millard Drexler, the CEO of J. Crew and a member of Apple's board, gave away a total of 6,800 shares, as you can see above, and the other givers are also board members or executives. It's good to see the generosity flowing in Cupertino this year.
The Daily Grind: Virtual worlds, real gifts
You can't really wrap up, say, a +1 sword in Dungeons and Dragons Online. But that doesn't mean it makes a bad gift. After all, for some of your friends it's cheaper to ship and more relevant to your friendship than a fruitcake. You can't always trade the important things in MMOs, but even as the games celebrate the holidays by giving us several cosmetic items, it's possible for the players to find a more personal and intimate way to share in the holiday spirit. Today, we ask you if you've given a gift to a friend in a game, whether they're an in-game buddy or a real-life chum. If so, what did you give them? Was it something that you farmed up or crafted just for them, a bit of equipment you had lying around that they always wanted, or something sentimental? If you havven't, is it something you would consider doing? Today's the right time of year for sharing these stories, so even if you've only been a giftee rather than a gifter, we'd like to hear about it. (And for safety's sake, please, don't try to wrap a +1 sword. Those things are sharp.)
Meet WoW Insider at the Chicago Child's Play benefit
Child's Play, the charity started up by Penny Arcade that hooks up kids in the hospital with videogames to play while there, is holding a benefit event in Chicago early next month on December 9th, and I'm going to be there. It's definitely a worthy charity, and I know there are lots of WoW Insider fans in the Second City (many of whom I was able to meet at our Wrath launch meetup), so if you're a fan of videogames, helping sick kids, and want to come out and talk some WoW with me, tickets are available right now.There's a raffle going on as well (I'm angling to get some World of Warcraft-related gear in the pot), and there'll also be a Mortal Kombat vs. DC tournament going on thanks to Chicago's own Midway Games (and I heard there was a Rock Band event, though that may have since fallen through -- we'll see). And oh yeah, since the event is taking place at Plan B, there'll be drinking. It's $10 admission, or you can give $50 for admission and an open bar, though you have to be over 21 for both. I'll let you guess which ticket I bought (hint: the one with the booze).Should be a lot of fun -- if you're in Chicago and weren't able to make it to our launch party, see if your calendar's clear for this event. And if you're not in Chicago, Child's Play has lots of events going on around the country, and obviously they're happy to take donations anyway. Hopefully we'll see lots of WoW Insider readers at the event next month -- when else do you get to drink, play games, and help kids all at the same time?
The spirit of giving, even in WoW
This holiday season means many different things to many different people, but whoever you are, and whatever background you come from, it's pretty hard to argue against anything that asks people to be a little more kind and generous with one another -- even if just for a little while. If you happen to be playing World of Warcraft today this is especially important. There might be a little voice inside your head saying, "Oh, I'm such a loser, playing a video game on a holiday," or similar such nonsense. You're not playing games today to avoid your loved ones, after all! More likely, you have special circumstances which prevent you from being with them -- so banish the thought that says you shouldn't hang out with people online in addition to in real life! Today is a wonderful opportunity to put down this and all other kinds of negative attitudes and make a special effort to be good to others, no matter where you meet them. The key to celebrating the holidays wherever you are is to exercise the kindness and generosity of the season with whomever crosses your path, whether it be the path outside your house, or the path around Alterac Valley. Just today, I was fighting in AV, making my way to the Frostwolf Relief Hut with several other folks I'd never seen before in my life. After the battle was finished (healthy competition in PvP isn't unkind at all -- but gloating about it would be), a mage standing in our group proceeded to cast his Ritual of Refreshment spell with a cheerful "Merry Xmas!" even though there were just 4 or 5 of us there! As we partook gratefully of his conjured manna, it occurred to me how people are always people, whether online or off, and such spontaneous kindness and generosity can uplift people's hearts in any situation.
WoW gifts? I has em!
WoW is a big part of the time my husband and I spend together. If we're not actually playing, we're usually talking about strategies or our in-game goals. Likewise, I spend a ton of time with my guildmates, either raiding or just joking around. These are people I consider good friends. So with one of the major gift giving holidays just around the corner, I've been working on ideas for WoW-themed presents for the lot of them. And I'm certainly not the only one. The folks over at Warcraft Chicks have been compiling a list of inexpensive to legendary items you can buy or make for your loved ones. There are also a lot of posts over on WoW Ladies about gift ideas. Likewise, Grumble N' Autumnn has compiled a list of in-game toys. At this point, though, there's less than a week before Christmas. Yikes! So in the interest of time, I'm going to put together one giant list of WoW-related holiday gift ideas and where you can get them.
Worst. iPod. Accessories. Ever
Podcasting news has put together a helpful guide to the most impossibly bad iPod accessories. These include the "Rock My Teeth" tooth whitening appliance shown here as well as the Griffin iBeam--perfect for frying your retinas, and the iFrogz Tadpole case that allows your toddlers to throw their iPods around like frisbees. Be aware, some of the items listed are not safe for work, and the hilarity of the other items may cause physical injury.
Ten donationware programs that are worth your money
It's the givingest time of the year, so if you're in the mood to be generous, why not donate to some of the best and most useful Mac software projects. Programs like VLC, Cyberduck, Adium and Handbrake all allow you to donate money to support the continued software development effort. Weblog FairlyUseless lists ten of these applications and suggests you put their developers on your Christmas list: "Now is a good time to thank them with a small donation. Can you imagine how much of a difference it would make to the developers if just 1% of users gave $5? It would only set you back $50 (or more if you can) for these ten applications."Thanks Brian Wente
