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Instagram is testing personal fundraisers in the US, UK and Ireland
The feature will be available on Android at first, and iOS later.
Microsoft blood bot helps recovered COVID-19 patients donate plasma
Microsoft’s Plasma Bot is a screening tool meant to help recovered COVID-19 patients donate their plasma to treatment efforts.
Snapchat's new lens helps users donate to the WHO’s COVID-19 relief fund
Snapchat’s latest AR filter lets users donate directly to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. With the Snapchat camera, users can scan 23 international currencies in 33 countries. The AR filter will show how donations to the WHO are used for patient care, medical supplies and research.
Ask Engadget: Which charities give gifts to those in need?
The support shared among readers in the comments section is one of the things we love most about the Engadget community. Over the years, we've known you to offer sage advice on everything from Chromecasts and cameras to drones and smartphones. In fact, our community's knowledge and insights are a reason why many of you participate in the comments. This week's question asks which are the best gift-giving charities. Weigh in with your advice in the comments -- and feel free to send your own questions along to ask@engadget.com! What charities donate gifts to people in need?
Instagram will support fundraisers using Story stickers
Facebook's fundraising tool has raised over $1 billion for non-profits and personal causes since its launch, and now it looks like a similar feature will be rolled out to Instagram later this year. As TechCrunch reports, engineers Jane Manchun Wong and Ishan Agarwal have been digging around in the code of Instagram's Android App and have found a donation sticker, which will let users search for non-profits and add a donate button to their Instagram Story.
Facebook opens up donations for personal needs
Last year, Facebook announced a tool to help you create fundraisers for 501c3 nonprofits verified by the company. The social network even extended those donations to live videos. Today, Facebook is giving you the chance to raise money for causes that hit a little closer to home. With what it's calling personal fundraisers, the company will allow you to accept donations to cover expenses for education, medical, pet medical, crisis relief, personal emergency and a funeral or loss.
YouTube 'Super Chat' comments are a new way to support livestreams
Making yourself heard in a livestream chatroom can be nearly impossible -- on a busy stream, dozens of messages can scroll by every second. How do you get your favorite YouTuber to notice you? Starting today on select channels, you can pay for it. Super Chat is a new YouTube live feature that lets users pay to pin messages to the top of a chatbox for up to five hours.
Elon Musk pledges $1 million to help build Nikola Tesla Museum
Nikola Tesla just scored a very generous birthday present. The "father of electricity" was born 158 years ago today, and several fans are trying to preserve his legacy with a museum, to be built on the site of his final laboratory in Shoreham, New York. A 2012 Indiegogo campaign helped raise more than enough to cover purchasing the land, but nowhere near the $8 million that's needed to refurbish the property and actually build a museum. Fortunately, Elon Musk, the father of the modern day Tesla, has pledged $1 million and has promised to install a supercharger in the parking lot. That's still not enough to complete the project, but you can help out by making your own contribution here. [Image credit: Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe]
EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity
The Philippines recently suffered its worst natural disaster in living memory when typhoon Haiyan made landfall on November 8th, leaving over half a million people displaced and millions without food and basic supplies. Countries and organisations around the world have been sending relief aid into the region, and gamers have once again proven to be a generous bunch. Several livestreamers have been running donation drives; the developers behind Luvinia Online even promised to donate 100% of the income from three new in-game items to the Philippine Red Cross. EVE Online has now also joined in the fundraising by reactivating its popular PLEX for Good scheme. CCP started the PLEX for Good scheme back in January of 2010 as a way for players to donate in-game assets and ISK to help people in the real world. EVE Online players have collectively donated over $150,000 US in aid following 2010's Haitian earthquake, tsunami devastation in Japan, flooding in Pakistan, and tornadoes in the US two years ago. Players hope to smash all fundraising records this time around with dedicated fundraising auctions, events, and liquidation firesales happening across the game. There are even ways for ex-players without active subscriptions to donate their idle in-game assets to charity. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the PLEX for Good scheme, the fundraising efforts players are using to help out a country in need, and how you can donate your ISK to charity even if you've long since quit EVE.
Good Old Games unveils three games for $5 charity offer
Scoring cheap games is a noble pursuit, charity doubly so. Now, thanks to Good Old Games, you can tick off both boxes simultaneously. GOG recently hit its five-year anniversary, and to celebrate, the classic game distribution service is offering players the chance to download three games from its collection for only $5. Throwing more cash toward GOG won't increase the number of games you earn, but it should give you a case of the warm fuzzies from helping your fellow human beings. Full details, including which charities are involved, can be found on the official GOG website. There is currently no word on when (or if) this charity promotion will end, but if you'd like to take advantage, we'd suggest doing so sooner, rather than later. There's no telling when the orphanage might run out of porridge.
Mojang's Mojam starts tomorrow, choose the theme today
The developers at Mojang, creators of Minecraft, are splitting into two teams and banging out a lineup of complete games in three days for Mojam, from tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET to Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. Six additional indie developers will be on hand to help Mojang make some games: Grapefrukt, Ludosity, Oxeye Game Studio, Vlambeer and Wolfire Games.Mojang will livestream Mojam, and viewers will be able to donate to the charities Block by Block and the EFF. Those who donate will be able to play the final games and any builds that pop up during the jam, and donating more than the average enters those people into exclusive raffles. The previous Humble Bundle Mojam raised $460,000 for charity.For now, vote for your favorite two words that will inspire the Mojam creations, from a list including "Dinosaur," "Envelope," "French," "Malarkey," "Pizza," "Squashy," "Triangulation," and terrifyingly, "Docking."
Super Mario Marathon 5 raises over $43k for Child's Play (and counting)
Super Mario Marathon 5 is streaming live from a Mario-themed living room in Indiana, where a group of gamers are playing select levels from a variety of Mario games. The levels they play are determined by the amount of money donated, with 800 total levels across ten Mario games available for them to complete.Donated money goes directly to the Child's Play foundation, which aims to improve "the lives of children with toys and games in [its] network of over 70 hospitals worldwide." Last year's event raised over $112k in donations to the foundation. Donations can be made here, and the stream can be viewed on the Mario Marathon site.[Thanks, Stefan!]
Indie Games for Good is helping Child's Play by killing themselves, over and over
Indie Games for Good is smack in the middle of its weekend marathon, raising money for Child's Play Charity. Its schedule is packed full of entertaining indie titles, which they're playing on a live stream right here and on justin.tv. Alongside play time, Indie Games for Good is hosting interviews with developers, including Kayin of I Wanna Be The Guy, Nigel Kilmer of Beret and Tim Ambrogi of Jamestown. The indie warriors have raised more than $3,000 so far, and if you're interested you can donate to an individual game to ensure they play it to your satisfaction. No one can lose in this scenario, except for the player when it's time to start I Wanna Be The Guy. Because that's how that one works.
OpenPaths lets you visualize your iPhone location data, donate it to science (video)
What use could science possibly have for your iPhone location data? Well, you won't be curing cancer, but you could theoretically be contributing to epidemiology, land use surveys, or a study proving that people move around just as quickly on foot in New York as they do inching down the 405 in LA. At least that's the idea behind OpenPaths, a web-based tool that lets you securely and anonymously "donate" your cache. If you've upgraded to iOS 4.3.3, your iPhone will no longer store your location, but there should be plenty of coordinates spinning around on your hard drive to play with. After downloading the OpenPaths Uploader, you'll be able to visualize your own location information, and even if you've somehow deleted the data from your computer, the tool will search Time Machine backups (for Mac users) -- a little scary, no? Of course, there's always potential for misuse with any such service, but a researcher probably won't care that those late nights at the office were actually spent in Cindy's home office, unless that researcher also happens to be your wife.
EVE Online players raise over $44,000 for Japan relief fund
Never let it be said that gamers don't have big hearts. When Japan was hit by an earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, people around the world stepped up to donate to disaster relief programs. Several MMO developers have made substantial donations using profits from their games. NCSoft made a huge donation of 500 million yen (6.3 million USD), and Sony Online Entertainment donated 300 million yen (3.6 million U.S. dollars). SOE, gPotato, Perfect World Entertainment and Hi-Rez studios have all been running schemes to help players donate, ranging from special once-only microtransaction items to just donating a percentage of all cash shop proceeds to charity. EVE Online's developer CCP Games has encouraged donations through their unique PLEX system. Players who couldn't afford to donate cash were encouraged to buy PLEX in-game using ISK and donate them to the relief fund. CCP would then scrap the PLEX items and donate their full purchase value to charity. The scheme has been very successful at raising money in previous disasters, raising over 40,000 USD for the Haitian earthquake fund and roughly a further 20,000 USD for the flooding in Pakistan. In a new devblog, CCP Fallout has released the final results of EVE's charity drive. A total of 2549 PLEX, each worth 17.5 USD, was donated to the scheme by players. CCP will be donating the full value of 44,607.50 USD to the Red Cross in the name the EVE Online community, and will be paying for all of the tax and management costs themselves. EVE players have now donated a total of 108,000 USD through the PLEX for Good scheme. Head over to the devblog for the details of the charity drive and some interesting information on three players who helped make it a success.
Donate EVE ISK to help disaster relief efforts in Japan
When it comes to collecting aid for disaster relief, EVE Online developer CCP Games has a unique way of helping players donate. While many MMOs ask for donations or release limited-edition cash shop items, CCP has managed to devise a way for players to donate in-game currency to help people in the real world. During the relief effort for last year's earthquake in Haiti, CCP began accepting donations of 30-day Pilot's License EXtensions (PLEX) for their full monetary value in game time. With the recent devestation in Japan, CCP has once again asked for the EVE community's help to raise money for relief aid. Each PLEX bought on the in-game market and donated to charity represents 30 days of game time that someone in the world originally paid for with cash but that won't be redeemed into game time. Because of this, CCP can donate the full cash value of that game time to a registered relief charity without taking a big loss. CCP absorbs all management and tax fees to ensure that 100% of the donated game time's value is passed on to registered charities (in this case, the Red Cross). To donate to the relief effort in Japan, EVE players are encouraged to buy PLEX on the open market and contract them to the character "CCP PLEX For Good" before March 31st. As usual, EVE Online's normally permissive rules on scamming have been suspended in relation to the charity drive. Anyone attempting to scam players out of ISK or PLEX using this charity drive will be dealt with harshly. With notable rich players and corporations able to potentially donate thousands of dollars' worth of PLEX, this charity drive is sure to raise a substantial amount of money for disaster-stricken Japan.
Waiting for Superman Blu-ray dated February 15th with HD special features & donation credit
Paramount has set February 15th as the date for the award-winning documentary Waiting for Superman to arrive on Blu-ray and DVD. For those inspired by the film's look at public schools, there's more than just the film and its special features (all in HD) in store, as buyers can go to DonorsChoose.org and select a program to receive a $25 donation credit unlocked by a code included with each copy. Just something to keep in mind when you're not opening tabs to provide immunizations and the like, check the press release after the break for more details.
Child's Play 2010 site now live, accepting donations
While you read up on Black Friday deals and pour over reviews from this year's holiday game releases, might we suggest taking a time out to donate? Each year, Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity collects donations from gamers of all walks of life -- be they Desert Bus marathon runners, major game developers, or anyone in between -- in an effort to provide "donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world." Last year, CP raised over $1.7 million, and the charity's expansion in 2010 will certainly help to best that milestone and allow over 70 hospitals to be chosen and donated to directly. Head over to the Child's Play website for specifics on how to give, or text "GAMERS" to 50555 and donate $5. You totally just did it, didn't you? You're the best!
EVE players able to donate in-game ISK to Pakistan flood relief
Back in January, the Republic of Haiti suffered a devastating earthquake. Several MMO development studios responded by coming up with ways to help their players donate to the aid relief campaign. EVE Online developers CCP Games came up with an innovative scheme that allowed players to donate in-game ISK to help the people of Haiti. Players bought PLEX in-game with ISK and donated them to CCP's sponsored relief fund. As PLEX are worth 30 days of game time each, every one donated represented 30 days of EVE game time that someone somewhere purchased. Although CCP had to absorb all tax and administration costs, the company managed to donate the full value of donated game time to charity without taking a significant loss. In total, players donated over $40,000 worth of PLEX to the fund, which was given to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti. With the recent flooding in Pakistan, a huge need for donations has arisen and CCP is once again allowing players to donate in-game PLEX to charity. In a new devblog, CCP Fallout has urged players to contract unused PLEX to the EVE character "CCP PLEX for Good." The full cash value of each donated PLEX will be passed on to the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, regardless of whether you bought the PLEX for cash or ISK. If you want to donate, the deadline for sending your PLEX is the 6th of October. As with the previous fundraiser, any players perpetrating scams around this donation drive will receive harsh punishment. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity for Bad Bobby, the player who recently confirmed that he'd made over 850 billion ISK with investment scams, to do something worthwhile with his accumulated wealth.
Citizen Game marathon gaming for Children in Need
On November 20, staffers from UK blog Citizen Game will be holding a video game marathon in support of Children in Need -- a charity established in 1980 in support of disadvantaged, disabled and abused children throughout the UK. Not to be outdone, Citizen Game will hold the event at a film studio in central London for the night and invite gamers from across the globe to help them battle children issues online. Interested gamers should visit Citizen Game to learn about event start times, Xbox Live Gamertags and PlayStation IDs and how to donate. Thus far, Citizen Game has reached £215 ($358 USD) of its £2,000 ($3,330) goal and have promised to game for one hour per every £100 ($166) they collect. We wish them the best of luck.
