Revisiting charitable donations

Thinking about giving to charity this holiday season? Think again. If you are under the age of fifty you might want to reconsider gifting assets of any substance for two good reasons:
1 - You need to prepare for unexpected financial liabilities in your own future for both you and those for whom that you care.
2 - You can do more good at a later date by investing wisely and leaving a larger sum to charity than donating piecemeal over time.

Expect the Unexpected
The holiday season spurs many people to take out their wallets, even those that really cannot afford to do so. You can never know what financial liability you might incur in the future. For example, you might find out that you and your significant other will be having triplets instead of the singleton you were expecting. You might feel confident enough financially until a flood wipes out your home, or someone sues you unexpectedly.

These might sound like unlikely events, but they are certainly plausible. In fact, odds are that someone will bring suit against you at some point in your life, warranted or not. There are all kinds of issues with land ownership disputes, work-related problems, and simple relationship stuff that can bring suit. You need to be financially prepared for situations that pressure your savings, such as an injury, cancer (been there, too), or a long period of unemployment.

The point is that young people should not be giving to charity, they should be saving to provide security for their children, and to some day be able to give their unused savings to charity after retirement.

What about Goodwill?
Giving to charity means donating hundreds or thousands of dollars of disposable income, not dropping used clothing off at the Salvation Army or giving cans of food to the Red Cross. Small gifts to bell ringers and such are important, because even tiny donations add up when millions of people do likewise.

Well, when shouldn't I give at all?
If you are in debt, particularly credit card debt, you should avoid all charitable giving. Sell your old clothes on eBay, buy Ramen noodles instead of pizza, and stop subscribing to cable; pay off your credit card bills. There is no better investment you can make than to pay off your debt, because the odds are stacked against you of earning more than credit cards charge from month to month.

You won't guilt me this year!

Well, when can I give?
Unless you are Bill Gates or Warren Buffett - and if you are, please send this author a PM - you are probably best off giving via your Will. Yes, that Will. Basically, during your lifetime you may need to draw upon your savings for any number of events affecting you, your family, or your friends, who will always rightfully take priority over the unknown masses. Imagine your mother or spouse is critically injured after tripping and falling down the stairs, one of the most common household injuries. This can happen as late in life as your forties or your eighties. Would you place that financial burden on your kids if you could have instead withheld that $10,000 you gave to that Save the Whales fund last year (and the year before that, and so on)?

Bad things happen to everyone.

I'm not worried
Fine, let us assume you are clairvoyant, and know that nothing is ever going to happen that might strain your retirement and healthcare savings. Even if this is true, you can do more good by saving your money and investing it wisely to leave to an estate upon your inevitable demise. You should reach your maximum wealth at retirement, and your investments will have greatly compounded to be able to do more good than if you have given them piecemeal over the course of your life.

For example, assume the prevailing rate is 5% interest, for sake of argument, and you give $100 to charity every year for the next 50 years before you croak. That $100 perpetuity is worth about $2,000 in today's dollars. Conversely, if you invest that $100 every year and it earns 5%, it is worth $5,546 in a lump-sum payment when you kick the bucket. Your organization of choice can do more with $5,000 when you shuffle off this mortal coil than they can stretch that $100 today. Additionally, your charity of choice will change as you age, so you can be sure you have not been living regretting donating to that charity that was only 20% effective (for a list of the most efficient charities, visit Charity Navigator).

Get wealthy enough, and you can create a charity of your own to invest and distribute funds in accordance with your will. Howard Hughes did tremendous good with his fortune in this was (intentional or not), and the two aforementioned elitists have similar charitable organizations of their own. In fact, the Bill Gates Foundation is so large it employs 457 people, and spends about $800M a year on global health, nearly as much as the World Health Organization's annual budget.

It is not selfish to withhold charitable donations until a future date. You can do more good in the long-term if you stop donating in the short-term.

I never thought I would be tooting my own horn more than once in a 30-day period, but the panel of the Thinking Outside the Box Union have seen fit to honor me as the featured writer of Write On! Volume #1 for my Geek to Chic series. I was particularly surprised because it was entirely unsolicited. Their praise is appreciated, because I started the column as a way to prevent other young adults from making the same mistakes as my peers and I, which included innumerable fashion violations to make the heads of the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy staff explode.

Thank you Union staff, for this honor. It was difficult to read the often glowing commendations without blushing. I wonder, however, if this was merely a request to post additional "Geek to Chic" columns, given that the last one I wrote was in October?

Please respond with who you believe should win, and who will win, as well as any comments or critiques to my own thoughts on the matter. The author has not played all of the titles in the list, and in many cases based his opinion on those of others or interpretations of Gamespot reviews. His opinions are subject to change.

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2007 has been a banner year for gamers regardless of their hardware selection. Whether it has been increased competition, strong economic environment, the attractiveness of the video game marketplace, or the deeper pockets of aging gamers, the results have been nothing short of fantastic. The question now becomes: How will Gamespot select their game of the year?

There is an absolute bevy of options to select from, and comparing World In Conflict to Crysis is like comparing apples and orange boxes. We can assume that Gamespot will limit their selection pool to those titles with a score of at least 9.0, but not necessarily to those with a 9.5, due to the change in the scoring system midway through the year. Enough, on with the games!

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CANDIDATES

Title: Crysis
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: Four of the top six rated games released in 2007 were first-person shooters, and for good reason: they are amazing. Crysis is at an advantage of not being a sequel, and sticking to a great storyline that keeps the player motivated. It also does not hurt that it is one of the most visually impressive games ever released. Still, you need a supercomputer to run it at higher resolutions, and it is not exactly original. Humans with super-powered suits battle aliens? Been there.

Title: Super Mario Galaxy
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): Wii
Outlook: Reviewer Alex Navarro described it as, "one of Mario's best adventures," which says volumes considering its lineage. Appealing to every level of gamer and every age, this is a top three if not top two title for Game of the Year.

Title: Halo 3
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): Xbox360
Outlook: Halo 3 was the best title in its series, and brought the mayhem of the franchise to the Xbox360. Working in its favor are its incredible graphics, solid multiplayer, and intriguing storyline. Many users complained that Halo 3 had an unsatisfying ending, and that despite additional features they had, "been there, done that." Those points are debatable.

Title: The Orange Box
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): PC, Xbox360, PS3 (soon)
Outlook: Three games - all of which might have scored a 9.0 or above on their own - for the price of one virtually guarantee this title to be a top-three finalist. Portal itself, a surprise bonus for many players, may be the icing that nets Orange Box the victory. There are two possible detractors. One is minor in that its Mature rating limits its availability to the youngest gamers. The real issue is that awarding Game of the Year to Orange Box is awarding Game of the Year to multiple titles.

Title: World In Conflict
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: The great sucking sound made this year was from the Gamespot user collective, drawing their breath in shock at the score for World In Conflict, which came seemingly out of nowhere. Since its release users have been invading and repelling-invasions en masse. Players snatched up copies of what was arguably one of the best limited editions ever, garnering an authentic piece of the Berlin Wall. World In Conflict offered numerous real-time-strategy innovations, impressive graphics, and top-notch voice acting, and may just surprise gamers again by taking the Game of the Year award.

Title: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
GS Score: 9.5
Platform(s): PS3
Outlook: Not a chance. Oblivion was already a contender in 2006 on other platforms. Like many other top-rated games, it made its way to the PS3 a little late, but has since been entertaining thousands of PS3 gamers. Still not a contender for Game of the Year, though.

Title: Forza Motorsport 2
GS Score: 9.2
Platform(s): Xbox360
Outlook: Not a chance. Sports and driving games are a virtual annuity for some producers, like the Madden series of football titles, but rarely do they win a category-sweeping victory. When it comes down to it, a driving game today is little different than a driving game ten years ago except in physics and graphical power: you still just drive. Forza Motorsport is an exemplary title in its genre, but for Game of the Year, a title requires a bit more depth and/or originality.

Title: God of War II
GS Score: 9.2
Platform(s): PS2
Outlook: God of War II took everything its predecessor did and made it bigger, badder, and better. More story, more bosses, more fighting; Kratos is one angry demi-God. That being said, the game was a little too straightforward to garner a Game of the Year. You could conceivably smash your way hulk-like through the game. The combat system was a little disappointing. The drawbacks are minor, but just significant enough to allow its competition through.

Title: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
GS Score: 9.2
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: Not a chance. The original won Game of the Year 2004, and The Burning Crusade requires the original to function. If it were a standalone title, or included the original, it might be another story, but as it stands the excellent expansion may not exactly qualify for Game of the Year.

Title: Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
GS Score: 9.1
Platform(s): Wii
Outlook: Not a chance. A new interface is not enough to take a previously released title and make it Game of the Year, even if it was a great game.

Title: Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar
GS Score: 9.1
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: In a word, Nerdtastic. Those that played its muse are likely playing this title right now, one of the most addictive space-faring concepts to ever come to the PC. That being said, it is just too nerdy. This might sound counter-intuitive on a web site dedicated to video games, but even among the nerds this title is a cult hit. This is a shame, because it was one of the best titles of 2007.

Title: WarioWare: Smooth Moves
GS Score: 9.1
Platform(s): Wii
Outlook: Not a chance. Any minigame compilation taking game of the year would raise such an outcry from the Gamespot community that the bandwidth strain would shut down the site forever. Either that, or it is one of the best minigame party games ever created, and will shock and confuse the entire community with its victory. Yeah, right.

Title: Assassin's Creed
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PS3, Xbox360
Outlook: Anyone that ever played a Thief title waited with bated breath for this game, and were rewarded with a stellar experience. Reviews indicate the game has everything going for it, with only a few minor visual qualms. In fact, reviewers liked everything from the soundtrack to the pacing and environment; it was surprising it did not garner a score over 9.0 from Gamespot staff. With a score of 9.0 and complaints of its repetitiveness from users, it is unlikely to be selected for Game of the Year.

Title: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PC, PS3, Xbox360
Outlook: The only problem noted with Call of Duty 4 was that it was too short, typically an indication of the reviewer's love affair with a title. In this case it resulted in a point reduction, as nothing else was noted to be wrong with the game. In fact, it might just be an underdog candidate for the Game of the Year title given its premier reception from the community.

Title: Gears of War
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: Not a chance; Gears of War won as best title of 2006, a rerelease for the PC is not going to net the game the title for a second year, even with some added content. The competition is too stiff. Great screenshots, though.

Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): XBox360
Outlook: Not a chance. Puzzle titles are great, and all, but it would be surprising to find a user at Gamespot that would select Puzzle Quest over Halo 3 or World In Conflict, among others. The inevitable uproar in the forums that would follow the section of Puzzle Quest for Game of the Year alone is worth avoiding the hassle.

Title: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): DS
Outlook: The only DS title on the list is, appropriately, a Zelda title. Its innovative controls and engaging puzzles got more than one Gamespot staffer addicted. As a handheld title, however, it faces an uphill battle. A handheld title has never been selected as a Game of the Year.

Title: BioShock
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PC, XBox360
Outlook: "Halo 3 killer," was mentioned more than once in the online forums. Working in its favor are one of the most intriguing, thoughtful, and well-paced storylines ever brought to the gaming medium, amazing visuals, and art direction that caused more than one gamer to fall out of their chair. Working against it is a lack of replayability, no multiplayer option, and its easy level of difficulty. Still, the game has a strong chance of taking the top spot, despite its half-point rating deficit.

Title: Rock Band
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PS3, XBox360
Outlook: Rock Band added a whole new dimension to rhythm games. While Dance Dance Revolution might have popularized the genre, and Guitar Hero blown open its possibilities, Rock Band made it a party unlike any other. It did not hurt that the song lists are fantastic, and that there is additional downloadable content available. Other than the price, which limits its audience somewhat, and concerns about the included hardware, the title might just surprise users as a contender for Game of the Year, and wil undoubtedly be the best Rhythm Game.

Title: Ninja Gaiden Sigma
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PS3
Outlook: Review Kevin VanOrd described the title as "the best way to play one of the best, most brutal action games ever made." Sigma was one of the best titles in its series, but its lower rating and stiff competition make it a dark horse for victory.

Title: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PS3
Outlook: Not a chance. A latecomer to the PS3 platform, it had its chance once already in 2006 on other platforms, it will not get another.

Title: Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars
GS Score: 9.0
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: Tiberium Wars offered a polished presentation and was an admirable follow-up to its predecessors. Kane returned, and the game itself is a fantastic play. Unfortunately, it was hampered by a loss of content relative to predecessors, such as the complete absence of naval combat. One of the best parts of its predecessors was creating novel units, such as C&C2's Chrono Ivan and Yuri Prime. The three faction system of C&C3 made it feel more like a Starcraft clone than a unique C&C title. Finally, the game was not even mentioned in the Gamespot Preliminaries.

Title: Universe At War: Earth Assault
GS Score: TBD
Platform(s): PC
Outlook: General chatter in the forums indicates that Universe at War is unlikely to be a contender for Game of the Year. There are apparently problems with the interface and poor unit heirarchy, though time will tell once the retail version is released.

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BOZANIMAL'S PREDICTIONS

Finalists: Crysis, Halo 3, and Super Mario Galaxy

Who Should Win: Super Mario Galaxy
Super Mario Galaxy revived the aging platformer after Luigi's Mansion and Super Mario Sunshine brought into question the relevance of the plumbing duo. Mario returns in a new and intuitive way while still feeling familiar. The title was unilaterally accepted as one of the best games for the Wii, and one of Mario's best ever, stopping short of saying it exceeded Super Mario 64 (widely regarded as the best in the series). While it should win Game of the Year, and very well may, the competition in 2007 is very, very stiff. Losing is not necessarily an insult.

Who Will Win: Halo 3
Halo 3 lived up to player expectations, bringing its own brand of multiplayer first-person shooter to the Xbox 360 with stunning visuals and fantastic gameplay. Its incredible and deserved popularity practically beg for the Game of the Year award. That being said, it did very little that was novel. While new gameplay modes and a finalized storyline are all well and good, similar experiences are available from multiple titles on multiple platforms. Certainly it is still a great game, but is it worthy of Game of the Year when so many other amazing titles have been released? Only time will tell.

I realized today that, once our kids are born, together our family alone would be able to pilot Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Sadly, I still think I would end up piloting Green Lion. These are the kind of things that go through your head when you become an adult nerd.

Bozanimal: Ready to form Voltron! Activate interlocks, dynatherms connected, infra-cells up - mega-thrusters are go! Form feet and legs; form arms and body; and I'll form the head!
Dr_Boz & Bozlings: Let's go Voltron Force!

If you look over at my "Now Playing" list you may notice the worst has happened: I am playing World of Warcraft. At least, I am playing the two week trial edition. If you happen to be on the Scarlet Crusade server and see a low-level Dwarf Hunter with my handle, yes, it is me, Bozanimal. I will be questing around Ironforge for a few days, probably. I need to hurry and get to Level 10 to get my Pokemon, er, pet.

Bozanimal as he appears in WoW

So far I am highly impressed with the game. I have been "soloing" (playing without a group) for these first eight levels, but the sweeping landscapes, accessable interface, and deep gameplay have left me impressed. I hope to run into a reader or two in-game.

/wave

My father has been a source of tremendous - if sporadic - wisdom over the years. This Thanksgiving he said something to me that seemed painfully obvious yet eludes many people: Don't wear white in the woods, particularly white hats.

You see, my father hunts from time-to-time, and so do millions - yes, millions - of other Americans. When deer-hunting, the hunter looks for the white of the tail. As such, if you are wearing a white hat, you may appear at distance much the same as a deer. Remember too that, even though it may not be hunting season and drinking while in posession of a firearm is illegal, many people ignore the law.

Well, maybe one person should wear a white hat in the woods.

Whenever you go hiking or walking in a woodland area in the United States or Canada, be sure to wear orange if you are at all uncertain about the area in which you are hiking. In fact, you might want to wear it even in areas considered safe.

Let us ensure headshots remain a subject of photography and video games.

Donkeys live a long time.

The holidays bring misery to many gamers.

Some gamers look at the holiday season and rejoice at the prospect of being showered with all the great titles they had not purchased over the course of the year. Their anticipation for their respective gifting holiday - be it Christmas or otherwise - contains thoughts of, "Thanks, Mom, I can't wait to play Bioshock!" and "Oh, Santa, how did you know I longed to play World in Conflict?"

For this gamer, he is merely saddened by his inability to purchase titles for himself.

Around Turkey Day, give or take a week, the family locks down the ability of its members to purchase merchandise for themselves. Considering buying that Daft Punk compendium? That Transformers DVD caught your eye? Maybe the PC edition of Unreal Tournament III? You had better not, because nothing is more embarrassing or disappointing for a gift giver than presenting their loved one with an item that they already own.

I and many other gamers are barred henceforth from Crysis and Super Mario Galaxy purchases by the unwritten laws of gifting. Forlornly we wait for the month to pass, so that we may be either relieved to have received our desired presents or not, and thereafter have the freedom returned to us to go buy said item(s) ourselves.

So quietly, patiently, and often frustratingly, we wait.

Happy holidays.

There are some very sad keys on your keyboard. Despite the best efforts of affirmative action programs, many of the buttons on your keyboard remain underpressed. In fact, I would wager you don't even know the names of some of those keys on your keyboard, you racist jerk. In an effort to educate, following are the symbols, names, and descriptions of several overlooked keyboard characters. Try not to judge them on their appearance alone, pig.

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| - bar - (bar) - The bar symbol is always hammered. Some of the other symbols are upset at their lack of usage or mislabeling, but the bar symbol has come to accept his obscurity, and quietly drinks away the pain. Sometimes you will find him in text-based pictures like the textual Tie Fighter |-o-| after a night of imbibing. Sometimes he will angrily defend his views, "That's not just five, it's absolutely five." (i.e. |5|). But otherwise, you will not really notice the bar. He sits like a homeless man in Times Square, sitting right next to the Enter/Return key without getting any notice.

@ - at - (at) - The "at" symbol was so bored it nearly fell off the keyboard until the internet came along. Once E-Mail hit the world, it never looked back, and is now one of the most popular keys on the keyboard. In fact, it practically embarrasses its spouse, the number four, with all the attention it gets that had previously belonged to him.

# - hash - (hash) - You read correctly, it is not a "pound" symbol. Teleprompters may openly weep; it is also not a, "number sign" or "musical sharp" unless you are actually reading sheet music. On a keyboard it is called a hash. The hash is actually a popular fellow among his fellow nerds. Spending most of his free time playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, at work the hash symbol is an integral part of most programming languages, and often found in basic web addresses.

^ - caret - (ke-air-et) - The indignant caret has every right to feel upset, as millions of people call it a hat. In reality, the caret has a very important job making sure that mathematical equations are able to process exponentials properly, and that English papers have the correct punctuations when mistakes are made. Anything less than its proper moniker would be undignified.

& - ampersand - (amp-err-sand) - The ampersand is an anarchist. The Molotov Cocktail of the English language, it is happily appropriated to replace the use of the word, "and" whenever necessary. The ampersand is as happy on the business card of a law firm as it is in SMS (Short Message Service) on cell phones. Go ahead and use the ampersand, he doesn't care. Woo! Attica! Attica!

~ - tilde - (till-duh) - The humble tilde has seen a resurgence of interest as a shortcut key in games like Unreal Tournament. The symbol is used in math to denote approximations. I just think she's cute. That's right, she. Shame on you for not even knowing keys have a gender. For shame.

` - grave - (Grave) - No, that is not an apostrophe, and shame on you for thinking they all look alike. You make me sick. Its relationship to the apostrophe, or single quote, is purely physical. The grave accent symbol is used to stress a vowel. In the United States this key can never seem to land a job working with anyone but foreigners.

Welcome to the first edition of job hunting. This is not a column to tell you things you already know, like polishing a resume or practicing your handshake. This column will feature advice to give you a unique edge when you apply for a new position. This particular column is aimed at anyone with or looking for a professional career.

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You are hiring two people with identical backgrounds for the role of Vice President of Corporate Finance, a six-figure salary. One person spent the last three months of unemployment searching for a job, attending job conventions, applying online to open positions, and knocking down doors. The other candidate has done the same, but also juggled a part-time job selling tools at the local hardware store. Which person do you hire?

The Bridge Job is a part-time position you take that for filler work between career roles. For example, if you left a finance job due to personal matters, a move, or layoffs, you might take a job at an electronics retailer or as a teller at a local bank. These jobs have low entry requirements, a quick hiring process, and positive work experience.

Why Take a Bridge Job
There are many, many good reasons to take a bridge job:
1 - Your Resume - Gaps between jobs look bad. If you take a job doing something even as base as bagging groceries, it shows you are a modest worker that needs to be doing something productive with their time. Demonstrating that no job is beneath you shows excellent character.
2 - The Interview - The Bridge Job is one more topic to discuss. Though most of your time in an interview should be spent discussing your professional history, you can benefit from discussing those things you have been doing since leaving your prior employer. A bridge job is a better filler than, "looking for a new job." You can also discuss how your Bridge Job has been a positive and rewarding experience.
3 - Money - Having a job makes money, even if it is half or less than half what you were previously earning, earning something is better than nothing.
4 - Boredom - Getting a professional job takes time, with an average hiring rate of three- to four-months. That is a lot of time to wait to hear responses, and you are not going to fill all that time between jobs with chores and video games. A Bridge Job keeps you sane by not only giving you something to do, but introducing you to new people.

5 - New People - Sitting at home applying for work is all well and good, but you are not meeting anyone new. Even the most base job may put you in contact with someone that can get you a professional job. Meeting someone you are bagging groceries for, during the course of a sale of a speaker system, or idle chit-chat at the teller counter may yield a job lead you would not get sitting at home looking through Monster.com and the paper.
6 - Unknown possibilities - If you take a job with a large electronics retailer but you have a college degree in, say, accounting, what would stop you from applying to an open position internally for an accounting job at the corporate offices? It is far easier to land a job from within the company than from the outside, so consider lateral moves that might advance your career when selecting a Bridge Job.

When to Take a Bridge Job
Immediately. If you do not already have another career job lined up, walk from your previous employer to a temporary staffing agency or retail store and fill out some applications. It still takes a few weeks to hire someone even for unskilled labor, so apply for your Bridge Job before you start applying for career positions. You will have time to look for a new job between the time you finish applying for your bridge jobs and your hire date, whereafter you should begin interviewing.

Job Disclosures
Be up-front with your hiring Bridge Job. They should know ahead of time that you are looking for a permanent employer before hiring you, so that there is no awkwardness when you inevitably leave the position.

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Good luck!