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Season's Givings?
DevanJedi asks: "Many people around the world plan their charitable giving around this time of the year, for religious, tax or other similarly benevolent reasons. As a geek who spends an inordinate amount of time around his computer, I have compiled a list of entities that have made my geek life easier, in the past year. Which other projects does Slashdot believe to be worthy of praise, money, recognition, developer time or general applause?"
How about the OpenBSD Project? I know, some folks have issues with Theo deRaadt himself -- and I must admit to some mutterings, myself.
But in the realm of technical computing, they've raised the bar higher for everybody. Kudos to them.
http://www.openbsd.org/donations.html
I prefer to give my charitable dollars to the poor and infirm.
Its great to give money around Christmas to the poor and infirm, but if you don't have the extra cash (like me), another option is volunteering (and not just around the holidays).
I spend 4-8 hours a week helping students with math and science at the "poor" high school in my city. I also play guitar in a band that goes to the local hospitals a few times a month.
Giving money is good but its not your only option.
Live Long and Prosper
An area, often forgotten, that has a huge impact on whether open source products are easily useable is documentation. In this respect, kudos to the OOo documentation project who have done a great job this year.
Useful to a smaller group, but very useful to me this year, has been the excellent Linux Terminal Server Project Wiki.
The usefulness of the above resources is in sad contrast to the documentation available for most open source application software. I am very keen to make more use of some of these products, but a lack of good documentation is pretty much a show stopper.
You may be expecting a joke about putting up with a bunch of unruly 14-year-olds.
Sorry, he deserves it .
Details here.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
I really like Heifer International (http://www.heifer.org./ You're giving the gift of self-sufficiency to people that really want it: participants ask for help, and recieve training, assistance in building livestock pens and equipment, and depending on their individual and community situation at least one female livestock animal appropriate to their environment. The only thing Heifer asks from the participants in return is that they pass on an equivalent gift to another needy family, in the form of training or the first female offspring of their gift animal. Heifer works all over the world, including the poorer areas of the United States: they have a map on their site that shows current active projects. Due to the nature of their work they have to be in fairly stable areas -you don't want your newly-gifted goats to be stolen and fed to soldiers after all- but those are often the regions that seem to need the most help and that no one know s_how_ to help.
If it helps build their credibility, Heifer has been a Motley Fool choise philanthopy for at least two years now.
Uh, "if it looks roughly mouse-shaped according to my infra-red sensitive pit, eat it"? --Chris Burke 09-08-10
These are the faceless people who keep our society running. We all depend on them.
No, you cannot deduct these donations from your taxes, but fuck it. Do it anyway.
Well... ...by giving a tax deductable donation your money goes farther.
Yes, but the point is that the motivation behind your donation isn't all that benevolent if you're doing it just for the tax break.
Uncle Sam needs to figure out how to do more with less.
Good news! Uncle Sam is doing more and more, and has less in the bank than ever before!
I was in Toys 'R Us yesterday purchasing gifts for my 2.5 and 1 year old. In front of me was a kid who looked like a textbook nerd, probably about 10, with that quiet contemplative look that indicates an intelligent mind. He was asking his mom for something, I'm not sure what, but I overheard her say "We don't have a car to drive it home or enough money for that." He was holding one of those inexpensive rubber balls and it looked like all they were buying. They weren't dressed in rags or anything, and they looked respectable, but they were clearly financially "poor".
I was too stunned to act, and I really wish I did. I should have jumped in and offered to buy whatever that kid wanted and gave them a ride home. I just had my little "ivory bubble" burst in that incident and it shocked me. I came up in poverty myself and moved to an affluent area. I have a very healthy income now and like many who came up poor, I don't like to think back to those days because memories of going to bed hungry and being called white trash by yuppies aren't pleasant ones. While that mother and son didn't look as poor as I had been at one period of my life, they still looked like they could have used a blessing from someone.
Anyway, my point is, if anyone knows a family that's hurting, help them out. If they're too proud, put an envelope with money in their mailbox, or anonymously mail them a money order. I'm not saying don't write a check to an organization with a solid track record of helping those who need it(like the Salvation Army), but being able to impact a family in your area who needs it is powerful more direct stuff.
I'm really kicking myself for not helping them out. I honestly was just too shocked at what I heard and was confused by a rush of memories. By the time it even crossed my mind to help them they were gone. The next time I witness that, I'm going to take action.
I'm sorry to hear that you garner no sense on pleasure or self satisfaction from your seemingly altruistic activities. I'm really not into doing things that I don't want to do, and I don't want to do things that make me feel bad, or even indifferent.
I'm frightened of those who are ashamed to admit that they enjoy helping others or feel that somehow enjoying benevolent acts degrades those acts into not being 'true altruism.'
By that definition, only someone with mental or emotional issues could commit acts of altruism (without regard to their own happiness).
Please admit that it does make your life better by adding some value, be it pleasure, or purpose, or just a warm fuzzy feeling.
Probably just the scum of the earth.
;)
Where I live, there are 2 food banks: one is staffed by volunteers, with a part-time (4hx5d/wk) co-ordinator. They will accept food happily, but have volume discounts with local retailers and wholesalers for cash donations. The cash helps tho, because they still have rent to pay, and lights to keep on.
Then, there's a food "bank", where the execuitve director and manager are husband and wife, and between them get $120,000/yr salary. If you try to donate food to them, they freak out, but if there's a nickle of charity money to be had, they will literally knock you down to get it (they knocked a fireman over one time who was involved in a fundraising effort for the other food-bank, because he wouldn't give up 1/2 the money).
Choose your favorite.
Egads, donating to a Christian organization? This is /., after all - look at how hard the Salvation Army got smacked!
-h-