Run Like A Geek? Then Do The PMC-Sierra Science Fair Run!

My friend Angela needed some help telling the world about her latest project, so of course I’m going to help out! Afterall, she did get me into parties that offer gratuitous exhibitions of lingerie and free drinks. So for all you geeks that like to pound the pavement for a good cause, this announcement is for you!

PMC-Sierra, where Angela works now, is hosting The 9th Annual Science Fair Fun Run. The event takes place this Sunday, May 25th, 2008 at 9AM and attracts more than 1300 runners from the technology and business communities, along with educators, students and the public at large. The event has attracted over 35 sponsors from all industries so if you want to get free stuff, this is a good place to grab some. Proceeds from this event go to the Dr. Michael Smith (not the Chef guy from FoodTV) Science Fair Endowment to support the promotion and development of Science Fair programs in the province. To date, the Science Fair Run has raised over $300,000 thanks to the generosity of geeks like you.

The event takes place at Science World in Vancouver, BC with a 5KM route that wraps around the scenic False Creek area. There is also a 1KM route for those geeks that have been playing too much Warcraft or have been too lazy to work on their cardio like yours truly.

So if you’re not doing anything this weekend, make sure you drop by and run for the young geeks of tomorrow. For more information on this event, you can check out the official website. Bust a gut!

Racing For The Kids At The 2008 Tiger Direct Charity PC Race

At last year’s CES, I was invited for the first time to participate in the Tiger Direct Charity PC Race. Since it was my first year, I had no expectations and went in to just not finish last. John Chow pelted me with smack talk saying that he would take me down like a n00b. Of course, as a veteran of this event, I would expect him to do much better than me. Afterall, it would be pretty embarrassing if he lost to this…n00b. 

As history would record though, I ended up with fourth place and a time of 7 minutes and 47 seconds.  John was nowhere to be seen and even Bob Buskirk who was also competing was nowhere to be seen. I know that the term “Beginner’s Luck” could easily be used to describe the upset, so this year, I was out to prove that it wasn’t a fluke and I was out to take home the big prize for my favourite charity, the BC Childrens Hospital.

 

This year, the competitors were cheered along by the beautiful girls from the UNLV Cheerleading Squad. Their presence along with their dancing, booty shaking and cheering was a welcome diversion.

Like last year’s event, the systems were tested and then disassembled identically so that everyone started from the same point. The only things that were left in the system were the power supplies, motherboards, and CPU’s. Everything else was pulled out and laid out neatly on each table. The organizers provided a list of what was disassembled. The first person to complete the assembly and boot the machine wins.

Since building a PC as fast as possible is hard work, the organizers provided a great spread of food for us so we could load up on energy. They also provided an open bar, but smart racers try not to hit it too hard.

 

After we had a chance to gobble as much food as we could, it was time to get ready to race. Every racer had a chance to run across the stage and wave to the audience and receive applause from their fans. As an added incentive, each attendee was given a racer to cheer for. If that racer won, the attendees would win a prize too!

The race started off fast and furious. Steve Bass of PC World (the white haired gentleman behind me) even cut himself and let a few drops of blood spill for his favourite charity. This years race was a tough one as the easy assembly features of the case proved to be more of a detriment than a benefit. Last year, we screwed everything down and that was way easier than trying to monkey with some weird quick release system on the Thermaltake cases that were provided.

At 10:10, I was the first one finished. Unfortunately, after inspecting the assembly, the organizers found that the power cable to the DVD-ROM drive was not attached and levied a 60 second penalty, pushing my time to 11:10. This would also push Will Smith (not the Fresh Prince, pictured below), Editor in Chief of MaximumPC Magazine ahead of me with a time of 10:50. I was actually shocked that I made this mistake because I was certain that it was one of the first things that I did. The only explanation that I have is that the CPU wind tunnel piece pushed the cable out when I was assembling the door and locking it down.

Will took the $10,000 grand prize for his favourite charity Child’s Play that helps Childrens Hospitals throughout the world by donating toys, books, games and cash to sick kids. He also gets to donate the $3500 gaming rig that he built to the same charity. 

Although I was disappointed that something small like the disconnected DVD-ROM power cable took me down, I coudn’t be more thrilled to be able to bring home a check for $2500 and over $3500 worth of computer hardware to my favourite charity, the BC Childrens Hospital.

After an undefeated winning streak, Charlie Demerjian of The Inquirer was finally taken down, but still managed a solid third place finish. Despite all his smack talking, John Chow finished fourth…and yes…lost to me again. However, quietly, I had hoped that he would get a podium placing and allow us to really make mother Canada proud. John posted a video of the event. I love how he cut it off at where the MC announced me as the official winner. Hopefully next year we’ll be one and two. Tiger Direct has a full video of the event if you want to sit through it. It’s about 30 minutes long.

In the end, everyone won as each participant will have the opportunity to donate the PC they built to their favourite charity. I’d like to thank Tiger Direct for inviting me to the event and for giving me a chance to do something great for charity. For more pictures from the event, check out my gallery with over 200 pictures including more shots of the pretty cheerleaders. Till next year!

Did You Donate To Any Charities This Holiday Season?

One of the things that I wanted to do more this past year was give to learn to give to charity on a regular basis. For most people, this isn’t something that comes naturally, so I’ve had to work at it. Instead of making some huge lump sum donation during the holidays, I tried to spread out the love a little. From donating a computer and games to the BC Children’s hospital to eating enough food to feed several homeless people at the Union Gospel Mission. What does eating the food of the homeless have anything to do with this? Well, I had to feed 100 of them back in return. That turned out to be the most expensive lunch ever, even beating the bill during our Foie Gras Burger Adventure at Feenies. I’ve also run contests where I’ve put up the donation and the prize in order to help those in need.

As a result of my activities, I’m always looking for charities that make the best use of my donations. I’ve reviewed a number of different charities over the year. Here is one of my favourites…

Now you either laughed your ass off or your jaw just dropped in amazement that someone could get away with this, or both. Happy New Year!

Dot Com Foodies Hit The Soup Kitchen?!

When John Chow asked me to come out to the Union Gospel Mission soup kitchen for a free lunch, I thought he had gone completely insane with his lust for free stuff. In fact, he recently tried to claim my free stuff as his free stuff.  Afterall, You don’t get the name ”Root of All Evil” for nothing.  John is also well known for his mischievious ways with slaying pandas and kicking over scooters as just a couple of his hobbies, so I was totally dreading what stunts he would pull.

What Is The Union Gospel Mission?

Besides operating the soup kitchen, the Union Gospel Mission is known for all sorts of good work that I wasn’t aware of in the Lower Mainland…

Union Gospel Mission is committed to caring for the hungry, hurting and homeless of Greater Vancouver, through drug and alcohol recovery, community outreach, low-cost thrift stores, and emergency meals, shelter and clothing. Founded in 1940 as a small soup kitchen, UGM now has satellite facilities in Surrey, New Westminster, Mission and downtown Vancouver, and provides services from employment training to affordable housing solutions. UGM serves over 280,000 meals each year, and provides shelter for almost 10,000 individuals a year.

Before we were allowed to sample the food, Kevan Gilbert and Lorene Vernon from the Union Gospel Mission took us on the tour of the facility.

It’s Almost Like Club Med…

 

One of the things that I was most surprised with about the facility was how clean and organized it was.  In fact, even the alley and the surrounding streets were kept extremely clean.  The garden behind the building was peaceful and provides members in their drug and alcohol program a place to reflect, journal, and think about what they want to do with their lives moving forward.  They even have a waterfall and Gazebo in the backyard.  The Gazebo was built to honour one of their members that had passed away and is known as “Jimmy’s Place”. 

 

The Union Gospel Mission does not tap into any government funding so much of the funds including this computer lab comes from corporate and public donations.  In fact, coming up on Thursday (October 4) is UGM’s annual “Feed the Hungry” Thanksgiving Radiothon on JRfm. Tune in to 93.7 FM in the Lower Mainland to hear amazing stories from UGM’s clients. You can call UGM’s Radiothon lines (604-874-8837) during the day to make a donation, or donate online anytime.

I’m Impressed.  Let’s Eat!

After being totally impressed by the condition of the facilities I was ready to be dazzled with what their kitchen could do with food donations.  I often throw together things at home with whatever is available, but cooking for myself is easy compared to cooking enough food for for a few hundred people, especially when you don’t know what you have until it gets there.

 

Like the rest of the facility, the cafeteria area was clean and well kept and was a place that I felt absolutely comfortable in, even as an outsider.  Both staff and residents share this area and eat together.  I was most impressed with the kitchen facilities.  They were also very clean and I was pleased to see the attention to detail that the kitchen staff used in the preperation of the food.  They even regularly used temperature probes to check that food was cooked properly.

 

Joining us in the food line was Michael Kwan, Ed Lau, Greg Morgan, Danny Chang, and John’s Wife, Sarah.

Is This Really How The Homeless Eat?

 

Well, yes and no.  Although the Union Gospel Mission does feed the homeless population on a regular basis, only the residents that have been accepted into their drug and alcohol program get to sample feasts like this.  The emphasis on their diet is on healthy and hearty foods.  It’s much easier to deal with an addiction when your mind is taken off hunger.  It was true that no one left hungry after lunch.

 

For some reason, the staff decided to load me right up with food.  I guess they thought I was looking a little thin.  Everyone was amazed that I cleaned off my plates so well.  In fact, the others joked that I had just ingested three meals that could have fed five homeless people. It wasn’t my fault!  They loaded me up!  The food was actually pretty good and way above any of my expectations before walking through the door.

What’s New at the Union Gospel Mission….

As we were all talking about the facility over coffee, Kevan told us about a brand new website that they were planning on launching in December, just in time for Xmas Donation time.  The new site will feature things such as…

• Regular blogging from UGM’s front-lines workers, telling the daily stories of pain and redemption on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
• News items and blog posts outfitted with RSS feeds.
• Heavy YouTube, Flickr and Facebook integration to help broadcast fresh multimedia from UGM’s daily work.
• A fresh new design that’s stronger, sharper and easier to navigate.

In addition to their new web presense, the Union Gospel Mission also has its own Facebook Profile.  To allow people to donate easier, they have also announced PayPal as another donation method.

Give The Homeless Something to be Thankful For on Thanksgiving

 

It’s pretty clear that I don’t need anymore food, but for those that are living on the streets, a hearty meal on Thanksgiving is a lot to be thankful for.  The Union Gospel Mission can feed someone for a measly $2.59 per meal.  Currently they are having a donation drive and John Chow has decided to match your donations up to $1000.  Just make a donation to the Union Gospel Mission and then email John a copy of your receipt.  John will also recognize everyone that donated with a link on a blog post this Friday.

Since I ate so much yesterday, I’ve decided to feed 100 people and have donated $259 to the Union Gospel Mission as part of my ongoing charity giving training.  If you have a few extra dollars kicking around, please help out a few of your fellow humans. Oh, and Michael will be giving away the free stuff he got from the tour which includes a Nalgene-Look Bottle and a Hat if you donate.  Just leave a comment for him that says you did.

Once again, I’d like to thank Kevan Gilbert and Lorene Vernon for having us as guests and opening up our eyes to the great work that Union Gospel Mission does.  I’d also like to thank John for being on his best behaviour and NOT starting a full scale food fight or slaying things during our visit.

Bloggers Making a Difference Online

It’s really great to see a growing trend with bloggers running contests to not just benefit themselves, but to benefit some great causes that need a helping hand. Here are a few bloggers that have done just that:

Are You A Breast Man or Woman?

Leo Chiang is a fellow breast afficianado and as a result of this hobby, he has decided to support his friend Darla in the CIBC Run for the Cure. This event is in support of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Leo has also sweetened the pot by putting everyone that donates a $25.00 donation into a draw for a Cryptic Studios T-Shirt and a copy of the game City of Villains by Cryptic Studios. If you like boobs and games, this is definitely the right contest and cause for you. Enter Now!

Derek Semmler Likes Boobs Too

Derek Semmler also has a strong love of breasts. He’s helping Leo out with his contest by giving away T-Shirts. All you have to do is reply to this post on his blog and he’ll put you in the draw. His goal is to get 100 entries so that he can give a $100 donation (that’s 1 dollar for every entry) to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Forgetting You Love Boobs is a Horrible Thing…

Derrich never wants anyone to wake one day not remembering their friends and family and somewhere on that list, what to do if some attractive boobs walk by. He wants you to become the dirtiest old man that you can be and that’s why he’s doing the Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk. Derrich signed up to be a Team Captain and if you can help him out he can definitely use your help.

I learned that the key to giving is to start with something that you are truly passionate about. I’m not a wiz at this and I was hardly the UNICEF poster boy at Halloween so giving away my money and time is definitely something that I’m not used to. However, it is something I want to be remembered for. For example, Leo likes boobs, Derek likes them too, and Derrich doesn’t want to ever forget he likes them. Why the heck not? All you have to do is start. Run a small contest and start putting up the donation on your own. Set a limit you’re comfortable with.

Eventually, you can kick it up a notch and start asking for others to pitch in. Sometimes you don’t have to ask if people see that what you are doing is for a great cause that they believe in too like in my last contest.

Leo, Derek, Derrich…thanks for your commitment to making a difference online! Bravo!