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Facebook Gaming launches charity livestreams
Just in time for Giving Tuesday, Facebook is introducing new features for charity livestreaming on its Facebook Gaming platform. Gamers who broadcast on Facebook Gaming will be able to set up fundraising programs to raise money for a variety of worthwhile causes. A handful of popular streamers will be using the feature today, and Facebook will make it available to gaming creators in the near future.
Sonos is selling a limited-edition Beastie Boys speaker for charity
Prior to today, the easiest way to get the Beastie Boys on your Sonos Play:5 was to queue up your favorite songs from the trio. A new limited edition version of the speaker will always have the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers on it, even when you're listening to something else, thanks to a Beastie Boys-themed skin. Proceeds from the short run of speakers will go to charities that expand access to music and education.
Moby is selling his vintage drum machine collection for charity
Moby has put together an impressive collection of drum machines over the years, and now he's selling the whole thing for charity. On October 11th, nearly 200 vintage drum machines will go up for sale on Moby's Reverb store, including a pair of Wurlitzer Side Man standing drum machines from the 1950s, two incredibly rare Chamberlin Rhythmates and a Roland TR-909, which Moby says is one of the hardest for him to get rid of.
Twitch turns cheers into charity during 'Thursday Night Football'
Twitch has announced a couple of new features that aim to make Thursday Night Football an even more exciting -- and worthy -- watch. First up is the TNF Live Extension, where you can make your armchair coaching heard. Predict how drives will end, who will win and more, and if you call the right shots, you'll end up on the leaderboard, which you can gleefully flaunt in front of your friends next time they make a lousy call.
Bezos family launches $2 billion philanthropy fund
Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who happens to be the richest person on the planet, has launched a philanthropic effort with an initial commitment of $2 billion. He and his wife MacKenzie will use the Day One Fund to build a "network of new, non-profit, tier-one preschools in low-income communities" and fund "existing non-profits that help homeless families."
YouTube makes it easier for non-profits to raise funds
YouTube has launched a handful of fundraising tools non-profits can use to collect donations from their kind-hearted followers. You'll now be able to catch glimpses of the beta version of the "YouTube Giving" suite on select non-profit channels, including Hope for Paws, an LA organization known for rescuing homeless and abused animals. Hope for Paws is using the new Fundraisers tool, in particular, which embeds a fundraising campaign with a visible Donate button right next to creators' videos and live broadcasts.
Facebook birthday fundraisers earned over $300 million for charity
A year ago, Facebook launched its birthday fundraiser feature through which users can celebrate their big day by raising money for a good cause. And it appears to be a pretty popular tool. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post yesterday that so far, Facebook users have raised over $300 million for over 750,000 nonprofits -- which include food banks, animal shelters and Alzheimer's research -- with the birthday fundraiser feature. "Thanks to everyone who has dedicated their birthday and to everyone who donated," Zuckerberg said.
The first ‘blockchain baby’ is here
When you read the news that they put a baby on the blockchain, your reaction makes you one of two types of people. Either you think, Mon dieu, is there anything the magical fairy dust known as blockchain can't solve? Or you think: Surely, this is child abuse. For the past few years, techies have frothed and proselytized over the potential salvation of blockchain, the tech behind cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. So it's hard to even know what babies and blockchain could even have to do with each other. Typically, outside of grifter circles, blockchain is associated with vaporware, shady fraudulent ICOs or solving things that aren't suited at all for blockchain's "distributed ledger" system. Oh, and largely solving things that aren't even problems.
'Overwatch' skin raised more than $10 million for breast cancer research
Back in May, Overwatch added its first paid skin for the much-loved (and sometimes loathed) healer Mercy. At $15, it was nothing to sniff at, but all proceeds went to a good cause, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).
Speedrunners raised $2.12 million for Doctors Without Borders
Speedrunning charity event Summer Games Done Quick finished up this past Sunday. The recipient of the funds raised during the event, which saw players rushing as fast as possible through titles like Animaniacs, Pikimin 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider, went to benefit Doctors Without Borders. Gamers raised $2,122,529.20 for the medical charity that provides emergency aid to anyone afflicted by conflict, disasters, epidemics and more.
A week of speedrunning for charity starts Sunday
Summer Games Done Quick is back once again. Live from Minnesota, you can watch folks play through your favorite games as fast as they can, for charity. It starts Sunday afternoon at 12:30 PM Eastern and is scheduled to run until the wee hours next Sunday, June 30th. The benefactor this year is Doctors Without Borders, and games include Animaniacs for the SNES, the Wii U's Pikmin 3 and modern fare like Rise of the Tomb Raider. Closing it all out next weekend will be a glitchless run of Final Fantasy VI.
'Fork Parker's Crunch Out' is an SNES game made for charity
Do you still have an original SNES console hiding in the back of your closet? You might want to dig it out. Devolver Digital and Mega Cat Studios are releasing a brand new SNES game, Fork Parker's Crunch Out, with all profits going toward the Take This charity providing support and awareness for mental health issues. The title has you playing Devolver's fictional CFO as he "motivates" game developers to make it through crunch time and release on schedule, quality be damned.
Facebook adds donation matching to its fundraising tools
In 2016, Facebook began allowing its users to raise money for 501c3 nonprofits and it expanded that tool last year, giving users the option to create fundraisers for personal needs. Today, the company has announced a few changes to its fundraising platform. First, nonprofit fundraisers will now feature a donation match tool so that the individuals who create the fundraiser can pledge to match donations up to any amount between $5 and $2,500. Currently, this feature is only launching in the US, but it will expand internationally sometime soon.
Apple's red iPhone 8 and 8 Plus go on sale tomorrow
For over a decade now, Apple has worked with HIV/AIDS charity Product RED, raising over $160 million for the non-profit to date. That money comes from the sales of scarlet-colored covers, cases, Apple Watch bands and rarer, special edition devices. A recent rumor suggested the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus would be next to receive the Product RED treatment, which has just been validated by Apple. The deep red editions will be available to buy online tomorrow and in stores from Friday April 13th for the same price as existing models.
It's time to talk about mental illness in indie development
This is normal. Heart pounding, hands shaking, head packed with static. The absolute inability to process what anyone is saying, let alone respond to it. Sitting alone at home -- lights off because you've been inside all day and the sun set hours ago, but your legs have been glued to the chair for just as long -- computer screen glowing. Wanting to be outside but unable to deal with the idea of people, conversation, smiling, pretending. Feeling worthless. This is normal.
Alexa's latest trick is voice-activated charitable donations
Amazon's efforts to make charitable giving easier now extend to Alexa. The shopping juggernaut has partnered with some 40 organizations so that next time you're feeling generous, all you have to do is say "Alexa, make a donation to Detroit Achievement Academy" within earshot of the digital assistant. The initiative also supports Doctors Without Borders, Feeding America, ProPublica, St. Jude's and others. As you might expect, funds come from your Amazon payment account.
Facebook will invest tens of millions in community leaders
At its Communities Summit in Europe today, Facebook launched its Communities Leadership Program, an initiative meant to "invest in people building communities." The social network has pledged "tens of millions of dollars," including up to $10 million in grants that will fund initiatives proposed by individual awardees. Up to five people will be selected for residencies, while up to 100 will be chosen for a fellowship program. Residents will get up to $1 million for their proposals, while fellows will receive up to $50,000 for specific community initiatives.
UNICEF recruits gamers to mine cryptocurrency for Syrian kids
UNICEF has launched a new fund-raising project in the same vein as SETI@Home and Einstein@home, but with a cryptocurrency spin. In an effort to raise money for the children in war-torn Syria, the organization is asking gamers, eSports fans and anybody with powerful graphics cards in their computers for help in mining Ethereum. It's calling the new project "Game Chaingers," and joining it is as easy as going to its website, giving it a few details about your system so it can configure the mining software and installing that software to your PC.
Internet Archive gets $1 million donation from bitcoin fund
The cryptocurrency landscape has seen a flurry of activity lately as values have reached eye-watering figures and people scramble to get a piece of the digital pie -- they're even re-mortgaging their homes to get in on the action. But while many are in it for personal gain, there are those using bitcoin for more charitable causes. Namely the Pineapple Fund, a philanthropic fund set up by an anonymous bitcoin millionaire, which has just made a $1 million donation to The Internet Archive.
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.
