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Child's Play 2005 Launch
It's that time of year again! Child's Play 2005 is underway. Child's Play is a charity run every year by Penny Arcade, the well-known online gaming comic created by Gabe and Tycho. Child's Play is your chance to give to the proto-geeks of the world who not only might not have the chance to play games otherwise, but find themselves sick in a hospital during the Holiday season. Child's Play gives money, games, and toys to children's hospitals in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.. Gabe's kickoff post was put up yesterday on the site. The Child's Play site itself is chok full of information, including a F.A.Q., letters from former patients who have been touched by games in hospice, and an order form for tickets to the second annual Child's Play charity dinner. This last is a swanky shindig with a silent auction, at which you can bid on one-of-a-kind opportunities like a tour of Bungie's studios or the chance to be in a Penny Arcade comic. Most important, though, are the links on the front page of the site to the various Amazon.com wishlists. There, you can purchase a book, game, or toy to have sent to a deserving kid at one of the participating hospitals. These folks are our folks, and if you have anything to give this is the place to do it. Thanks.
Let's show Jack Thompson the what for!
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
Now to determine how much money to donate to it...
As a side note, anyone know anything about get well gamers? They seem to be asking for non-monitary donations, but as I recall, last year Gabe said they weren't allowed to give already used stuff (I could be wrong on this).
Am I open minded towards open source, or closed minded towards closed source?
------- Code to try when you're bored: qsort( 0, UINT_MAX, sizeof( int* ), IntCompare );
As the father of a cancer survivor, I can tell you that whatever you can give to this charity, and these kids, will have a more positive impact than it ever could have had you spent it on yourself, and will bring more joy and happiness than you can possibly imagine to someone who desperately needs it. The letters on the Child's Play site will give you some idea of that, but know that it's only a pale shadow of what you actually feel when you're in that situation. Donate, and know that you've done something wonderful.
Children in India, Africa and South America need medical care and food above a PlayStation 2. That said, I understand that since the organization is Penny Arcade, they are doing this charity as a twofold purpose:
1) To give to children
2) To promote the idea that games are healthy for kids and offer education, not violence
The second reason is because there is a lot of criticism over the gaming industry and this is one way that PA can approach the subject with actions, not just words, and help needy children.
Kids in the US, UK, Canada, etc. who Child's Play is geared toward are getting the medical care they need -- the problem is, many of the parents of those sick children might be seeing all of their income go towards medical bills and basic expenses such as food and utilities.
They might not have enough money leftover for a good Christmas. PA steps in and helps a little bit. Yes, toys and games are material and can't be as valuable as clean water and food for children in India and Africa. But it's about evaluating what these countries need. Kids in India and Africa need medical care more than they need toys. Kids in the US and UK in these hospitals are already getting that medical care. What they need is a little happiness during their illness.
"Curse your sudden, but inevitable betrayal!"
Yeah, but Gabe did punch a baby once.
(In Gabe's defence, the baby was being kind of a dick.)