Child’s Play

I haven’t blogged in a while, so when I came across the idea for today’s topic, I knew I had to write this.

I don’t know how many of you read Penny Arcade. It’s a very popular web comic that lampoons gaming culture and those involved in it. Jack Thompson is a popular subject (read as: target). But then again, he deserves it. If you don’t know Jack Thompson, he’s a very staunch advocate of the theory that video games are a societal ill which train kids for violence. If I had the chance, I’d show Mr. Thompson Child’s Play, an organization run and supported by the gaming society.

Child’s Play is a charitable organization started by the same two guys that write Penny Arcade. It’s truly a one-of-a-kind organization. What Child’s Play does is partner with Amazon and childrens’ hospitals worldwide to provide games and entertainment to children with long-term diseases, who spend most to all of their time in a hospital. The hospitals and kids create wish lists on Amazon, and then generous gamers can view the wish list for the hospital of their choice, and purchase anything on the list. Whatever they purchase is then shipped from Amazon directly to the hospital for the children. Large items such as consoles are often kept by the hospital for all patients to enjoy, while other items are given to children as gifts. Child’s Play also receives a commission from Amazon for each sale, which is then donated to the hospital. In addition, they’re a registered “eBay Giving Works Charity,” which means that you can sell an item on eBay and have 100% of the profit go to Child’s Play.

At first, buying video games for kids doesn’t seem all that impressive. But, imagine actually having to stay in a hospital for months or even years at a time. I can’t imagine how scared, lonely and restless I would be. Video games provide these kids with a means of entertainment, a refuge from the fright of a hospital where the children can have some fun. Not to mention the financial benefit from the donated commissions. Most donations come during the holiday season, giving some holiday joy to the kids as well.

Child’s Play has raised well over $3 million since its inception in 2003, and over $1 million in 2007 alone. This is an amazing organization. Look for me to (hopefully) start a fundraiser at PSU around the holiday season for Child’s Play. (I’ll need help!!) If you have a little extra money, or something you want to sell on eBay, give it a look.

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/ Child’s Play home page. You can also choose a hospital to buy for from that page, or donate by PayPal.

Filler Blog: 18 Rules for Living

There’s a graduation blog forthcoming, I promise. It’s just taking me much longer than usual to write. It’s turning out to be one of my favorite pieces I’ve written though. In the meantime, I stumbled across the Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living today. I think they’re absolutely brilliant, so I thought I’d share them with you here:

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
   1. Respect for self
   2. Respect for others
   3. Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Pretty Vista

So I was doing some reading about Windows Vista and its successor, Windows 7, when I realized something:

Vista sucks.

I know, I know, this isn’t a huge revelation. The fact that Microsoft is already rushing to release Vista’s successor before Vista is even widely used says something about just how bad Vista is.

Now granted, Vista is OK for casual users. But for computer junkies who love toying around with things, Vista is Satan. There’s a reason that Vista is appealing to casual users, despite its numerous problems. It’s the second realization I had while reading:

Vista is very, very pretty.

The only person who has disagreed with me on this so far is James, but James is a graphic design fascist anyway. (I kid the James!) So I decided to set about getting all the prettiness of Vista without any of the user-end problems.

This is how my Windows XP now looks. Check it:

There is just something about electric blue that captivates me…it’s so…electric. But anyway, getting this look in place wasn’t a very difficult process. In fact, there’s a whole program that’ll do it for you: It’s called Vista Transformation Pack. It’s free to download, and it does exactly what the name suggests: it takes Windows XP, and makes it look like Windows Vista. It even adds some cool functions of Vista that make XP a bit better. I’m already very fond of the Start menu search feature.

The only snag I’ve been running into so far involves the bundled side bar. For those familiar with Vista, you know that the OS includes a side bar similar to the widgets available for Mac. VTP has an XP version of this sidebar, but it hasn’t exactly been working very well for me thus far. I’m going to try reinstalling it from the developer’s website; maybe the version with VTP is bad.

Update: Yeah, I gave up on the Thoosje sidebar. Google, however, makes the most amazing desktop sidebar. I updated the image above to include the Google Sidebar. The Widgets are all customizable, and there are tons to choose from (you can see some of the ones I have loaded). I highly recommend it.

Update 2: I also found a fun little program called True Transparency that sort of mimics the glassy effects of Windows Aero. It’s not exactly the same, and some might find it extremely annoying. But it’s floating my boat OK. 

But other than that, I love the Vista look without the Vista problems.

Shut up, James.

Sorry

I know I haven’t been fulfilling my promise of weekly blogging. I’ve been really busy, and it doesn’t help that I’ve been feeling really, really down all the time as of late. The CAS coordinator at Gresham telling me I have no future doesn’t exactly help that, either.

I’ll blog as soon as I’m less busy. Hopefully this week will be the worst of it, and after that I’ll have time to sort out my thoughts and get them down on paper. And trust me, I’ve got a lot of thoughts.

Anonymity

Following in the idea set forth by Chris, here is my list of anonymous statements to people in my life:

1. I don’t think you’re as bitter as you act; we both try to act emotionally distant. You’re just a better actor than me. I don’t know if you’d be happier if you opened up emotionally or not. I really don’t.

2. I can see in you a reflection of myself. If I’m the number I hope I am, then I’m honored. I won’t belittle you by saying I think of you as a younger brother…but to some extent I do. Don’t worry; I’ll do my best to stay around a little bit next year.

3. I listened to “Wonderwall” for the first time in a long time today. It made me think of you. If you’ve never heard of it, go listen to it. “’cause maybe, you’re gonna be the one that saves me; and after all, you’re my wonderwall.” You’re changing, and I don’t think you know it. I should talk to you about it, but I’m scared to. I still lean on you emotionally, though.

4. It seems like you conform a lot. You can be a genuinely nice and laid-back kid sometimes, and then suddenly you turn into the loud uncontrollable version of yourself. I’m not sure if it’s an issue of who’s around or what, but it strikes me as odd.

5. You don’t open up to people very often, huh? Or maybe it’s just me. I thought we could have something once. You’re a nice person, but I feel like things aren’t the same this year.

6. Sometimes, you really just don’t know when to stop arguing.

7. For all your shyness, you’re a really cool person. Genuinely caring of other people, too, which is rare.

8. You’re a very crass individual. It really is OK to turn that off sometimes. Though it is funny. You’re a good kid at heart.

9. I regret that you and I spent so much time not talking to each other. Even if it wasn’t out of anger, it’s regrettable.

10. You’re very innocent and kind. The world doesn’t like that, I think. It’s going to try and take that away from you someday. Don’t let it, please. You have a bright future.

11. Though I act like I’m fine with it, I secretly hate the person you’ve become. And I hate myself for letting it happen to you. It’s my fault. I’m sorry.

12. Your parents are right: you and I are going to be each others’ one-night stand someday, while we’re both getting divorced ten years from now. You’ve changed a lot over the last couple years; some of it for the better, some less so. You’re still like my twin sister though…which makes that first part even creepier.

13. I think you’re trying to cling to something that’s gone. We’re not in middle school anymore. Trust me, I miss those years, and there’s not a lot I wouldn’t give to be that happy again. But I like where I am now. You need to learn to embrace change. Stop being so closed off all the time. If you want to talk…then talk.

That’s all. You can ask questions if you like. And though I won’t guarantee I’ll answer, I won’t guarantee the opposite either.

PostSecret, as a concept, has captured my fascination as of late. I’ll probably follow that up in my Friday blog. I wanted to post this to make up for last week, and because it felt good.

A Slight Delay

Just to let everyone know, I’m delaying this week’s Friday blog to Saturday. I have a Mock Trial competition tomorrow, I’ve still got work to do, and I’d like to get to bed before too long. So I’ll blog tomorrow.