You can check it out here: http://itotallyforgot.com/sbg/

The other day I came across something pretty fantastic. It would appear that there's an annual fundraiser where gamers all around the world spend 24 straight hours doing their thing to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. I, for one, want to do my part.

Now I hope to do just a little bit more than play video games all day - I want to broadcast my efforts online as well. Whether or not anyone is interested in watching, I think it'll be a fun project to set up. From now on I'll be directing people to this post, where I will update the status of my donations, as well as information about what I'll be doing on the day itself.

I might also set up a voting/request system, if I get enough interest, so that anyone watching will be able to determine what game I'll play next. Later today I'm going to start compiling a list of games I have available, which I will also post here.

Link to my donation page
Link to the main Extra Life website

Basically I thought the number of similarities I could draw between salesmen and panhandlers was quite novel, but I'm no longer amused enough by it to go into any detail.

So now this gives you the opportunity to draw the same similarities on your own. It can be a game! The prize: being smug about having thought something clever I guess?

First off I'm going to say that, in general, any money being donated to charity is a good thing. As long as the money wasn't, for instance, stolen from another charity, and the donatee is reputable. But I am fairly certain that we can all agree with the statement "donating money to charity is a good thing", so keep that in mind.

That being said, there is one thing that quite pains me to see: corporations using charity as an easy way to gain some good PR. It truly is very very easy to do. Simply advertise that on a certain day, you'll donate 1$ for each a 4$ product that is sold. Your profit is probably more than 1$ per product, so you won't be losing money regardless, plus the "limited time" of the offer will give you a boost in business that day. I have even seen some companies set an arbitrary cap on the size of the donation they will make, and call it a "goal".

Like I said before, I don't have any problem with money going to a reputable charity. But to many companies it's just a form of advertising, and they are entirely disingenuous about it.

Be aware of tactics like these used by companies (most often in fast food). Does it really make sense to spend five dollars so that someone else will donate one? Go donate the whole five dollars yourself.

Because it sure as hell isn't sunny in Vancouver right now.

This got kinda long, and it is late, so I'll deal with the first topic now, and probably write something on the second later.

A lot of people are eager to help, but there's always the concern that your money will be put to ill use; or at least to a use you did not intend for it.  The main tactic used by panhandlers is to ask for money so they can buy food. Nobody likes to be hungry, and most of us view food as a very basic need, so it's easy to see why this is so effective. However, there's the ever present stereotype that the second you turn your back, they'll take that money and head straight to the liquor store or a drug dealer. (It doesn't help when people panhandle outside of liquor stores). Often this can be avoided by simply buying food for them. This can at times even reveal the true colours of the panhandler, if they aren't satisfied with the food they claimed to have wanted.
Some people will also base their decision on the politeness, or etiquette of the panhandler. Did they say 'please'? Were they unassuming? Did they give the impression that if you did give them some change, they'd be genuinely grateful?

It seems like the bottom line is this: Do they deserve my money?

When thinking about this... I am reminded of  an online game I used to play (Ragnarok Online).

This game had some characters that could heal, and others that couldn't. As these things would go, if you were a class with the ability to heal, you would often be asked by strangers if you could heal them. This being the internet, the politeness of such requests would vary greatly. When confronted with this, many people would only choose to heal polite players, regarding anything else as "begging". There was one player I knew (who is one of the kindest people I've ever known), however, who had the philosophy of "Will heal, even if they don't say please".

I think this illustrates two very different ways of thinking. One one hand, we can think of reasons why we shouldn't help someone. Or instead, why don't we think of reasons why we should help them?

I've been berated several times by several different people for helping out panhandlers. But, I don't feel bad for it. I don't doubt that every single person who asks me for change has an honest need for it. They may choose to spend it poorly, but that is ultimately their choice.

Don't get me wrong though; everyone absolutely has the choice to do what they want with their money. Even if someone had a strict "no panhandler" policy, I think that's totally fine. I just think that it's important, that when presented the opportunity to help someone out, to have an honest look at the motives for what we do.

I really want to get back in to playing music. Today I got to go for coffee and catch up with a friend from Kelowna who had moved down to Vancouver about a year before I did. He was the first person I ever drummed with outside of lessons, and is in general a very music oriented person, so I am feeling rather inspired. It sounds like his band is between drummers right now... I'm not sure if I'd be what they're looking for, but it'd be fun to jam with him again.

Been playing a game called "I Wanna Be The Guy". Stupid hard game... but it's so much fun. It's what's classified as a "platform hell" game, in the same ranks as Kaizo Mario. It's a throwback to the things that made 8 and 16-bit games difficult... and then amplified by about a hundred times. The whole game is very toung in cheek (The easiest difficulty is "Medium", and in you pick it, your character is given a pink bow and half of the save points are labeled "WUSS"), and is not in any way meant to even resemble being fair. Just about anything can, and will, kill you. I highly reccomend you check it out.

Check back for... hopefully something less ass looking!

I am officially a full-time workin man again. I was doing contract work when I first moved down to Vancouver, but in the end that just wasn't paying the bills. So now I get to commute all the way to Yaletown from Port Moody. It isn't really that bad; only about 50 minutes, via transit, no less. The building I work in is literally on the same block as a Skytrain station, so that works out well. Job is cool, more web dev stuff. Bosses seem chill. I spent almost an entire day doing research. My kinda job