This may well be the most awesome foot race in the history of foot races and it is called Course of the Force. It’s like those relay races your coach forced on you back in high school, but instead of small metal batons that you may or may not dream about beating your coach with, you get freaking lightsabers. And you get to keep those limited edition sabers, assuming you don’t fall and break yours in a pothole.

Basically, this is a charity event where geeks purchase quarter-mile slots of time that they will run carrying their lightsaber. The event spans from July 7th through 11th, between Santa Monica and San Diego, leading right up to Comic-Con. Funds collected will benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.

You don’t have to dress up to participate, but it is highly encouraged. I would love to see some guy dressed like Darth Maul panting and sweating profusely as he runs up the Southern California coast wielding a dual-blade lightsaber. This thing should be epic, check out the video and reserve your spot here.

[via Nerdist]

Not because I need it, but it’s also for charity (10% of the final sale price will be donated to the American Cancer Society) and it’s pretty darned cool. Of course, if I had that much money to throw around, I could probably also just have one drawn up and made for a tiny fraction of the price from some giant dryer hose. But just for private use, because the Human Slinky is probably already patented or something.

When you purchase the costume, you will also get the rights to perform the act under agreement, in addition to the costume itself. If you’re not into that, then you can just wear it during costume parties and Halloween. Six offers have been made so far for the costume, all of which have been rejected.

[via Reddit]

As if the 8-hour long drive wasn’t punishment enough, the eponymous bus can only go up to 45mph and ever so slightly veers to the right. You can’t just hold down the button that steers it to the left or spam the gas, otherwise the bus will drift off the road. And if you drive the bus off the road? You’ll be towed back to Tucson. In real time. Also you can’t pause the game. And people say Dark Souls is hard. Here’s a taste of this masochist’s wet dream, courtesy of YouTuber Phrasz013:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The game became popular when the sketch comedy group Loading Ready Run launched Desert Bus for Hope. A fundraiser for Child’s Play, every year the LRR crew subject themselves to the agony of playing Desert Bus in exchange for money. Now you too can join in on the suffering. Developer Amateur Pixels ported the game to both Android and iOS, with all proceeds going to Child’s Play as well. Of course you can just pay $0.99 to get the game and not play it. The way I see it, this is a new standard for measuring battery life. How far into the trip can your device – and you – last?

[via Touch Arcade]

But of course this clock can’t set up the financial side of things on its own. For its threat to actually motivate you to wake up early, you’ll have to connect it to the Internet and use its software to tie your bank account to a charity or non-proft organization, as well as specify the amount per snooze that you’ll lose.

The SnūzNLūz alarm clock sells is listed for $40 (USD) at ThinkGeek, who by the way has a nightmarish suggestion: set up the clock to donate to a cause that you hate. (And yes, I know this was an April Fools joke, but it’s still a great idea.)

That’s where Print A Forest comes in.

So how does it work? Well, first you need to download a piece of software so you can start “printing forests.” Each document that you will print via the program will include a small sponsored ad at the bottom of each page you print. Print 100 pages, and you will have donated enough money to plant a tree. How about that?

The problem is, of course, on people’s willingness to have ads printed on their documents. It’s one thing to click on ads on a certain site to donate a few grains (or was it cups?) of rice to impoverished people in need (now that I think about it, were those sites for real? Or were they just scam sites to get people to click on ads?), but it’s another to have ads printed right on your documents.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you don’t mind and want to get in on the green movement, learn more about Print A Forest, or get the program, head on over to their site to get started.

[via PSFK via Oh Gizmo!]

We’ve been going potty for decades on that thing and it’s been working fine so far, so why the call for a re-design? That’s because while we all have the luxury of flushing away our undesirable waste, millions billions of people in various parts of the world aren’t so fortunate.

People in developing nations across the globe don’t have access to a continuous supply of water, and therefore, don’t really have anything to flush their toilets with.

You can check out the video below by the Foundation about their new sanitation improvement initiative:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have decided to put in a generous $42 million in new program investments and strategies. But more than that, some of the funds will be channeled into efforts to develop sanitation technology and hopefully come up with a re-design for the toilet.

[via TechCrunch]

This hunky good-looking kind-hearted Australian plans to walk from Perth to Sydney while in costume. That’s around 4,100 kilometers or 2,547 miles, and while he’s covered up all over in his suit, too.

It might look like a pretty easy thing to do, but there’s no doubt that it’s going to get pretty hot and stuffy in that suit, especially during the warm and sunny afternoons. Proceeds from Paul’s trek across Australia will go to the Starlight Foundation, which is a charity organization that dedicates its time and resources to aid sick and hospitalized children. You go, Paul!

[via Geeky Gadgets]

The customized Xbox 360 was created by Richard Taylor and the Weta Workshop. It features a miniature Master Chief blowing a hole through the side of the console. It’s only appropriate since the Halo franchise and the Xbox brand are pretty inseparable. As a matter of fact, I  bought my original Xbox to play Halo, and play it I did.

The console will be auctioned off at eBay in order to raise money for the David Peachey Foundation. Microsoft will match the donation and donate an extra $10,000 to Cure Kids.

[via Born Rich]

Leon Kennedy can apparently tear up unfortunate farmers even when he’s been broken down to his most basic elements. Also? His jacket remains chic and stylish. Is there nothing this man can’t do? Personally, I’d be more than happy to play the 8-bit adventures of Leon Kennedy, but for now we’ll have to settle for a painting instead of a game.

This particular painting was originally sold at a Child’s Play auction and now the prints–as above–are available at Etsy on canvas for $35. The charity goes on, though; half of the proceeds of each print sale goes to Child’s Play. Who says gore never helped anything?

[via Sprite Stitch]

The gorgeous, glowing computer is really the ultimate gaming PC. For starters, it looks amazing. But under the hood, it’s a serious workhorse of a machine, that’ll surely pwn any computer you currently own.

At the core of the system is an Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition CPU, and a pair of nVidia GeForce GTX 295 graphics cards running in SLI mode. The system has 12 GB of DDR3 RAM, and 2.5 TB of hard disk. There’s also a Logitech G19 gaming keyboard, a custom Razer Boomslang mouse, and 13 video games thrown in for good measure. In total, there’s over $10,000 worth of components in this bad boy.

Parts and labor for this amazing system were donated by nVidia, ASUS, Crucial, Danger Den, Intel, Performance PCs, SilverStone, Smooth Creations, TigerDirect, Western Digital and the whole thing was put together by Out of The Box Mods.

Currently, the system is up for sale on eBay, with a bid price of $4,000 – but I’m certain that will climb as the auction nears its end on 11/24. For more details head on over to the Charity Case Mod website. 100% of the auction proceeds (after auction fees) will go directly to the charity – so bid early and bid often.

[via flickr]

The mammoth LEGO Mario was created by Dirk VH, and is made up of over 40,000 individually placed bricks. All in all, Mario measures over 5-foot, 9-inches tall, and weighing in at over 110 pounds. That’s bigger than some people I know. And I know some small people! Check out the gallery below to see LEGO Mario as he came into being…

The guys over at Netherlands’ Game Mania commissioned Dirk to create this giant Mario for a good cause – The Ronald McDonald House. And all the bricks are glued together so you can actually count on Mario arriving in one piece. If you’ve got a ton of dough lying around, this amazing LEGO creation can now be yours, thanks to the charity auction going on now over on eBay.

[via 8bitfix]

Created by Goldgenie, each Starburst iPod Nano is encrusted with laser-embedded 250 color-coordinated Swarovski crystals, and features Sir Elton John’s signature etched into the back of the case.

They’re available in black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, and silver, and only 100 of each color is being made. Each iPod also includes Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits, a 2-CD set of Elton’s most famous tracks.

Priced at £449.99 incl. VAT (appx. $642 USD) for the 16GB model and £399.99 incl. VAT (appx. $570 USD) for the 8GB model, they’re definitely not cheap, but at least 12.5% of the purchase price from each purchase goes to a good cause, the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

I can only imagine that everything in Elton’s house is encrusted with color-coordinated Swarovski crystals, including his gold-plated cat.

[via the gadgeteer]

Pictured above is a beautifully illustrated monochromatic scene by furniture designer / interior designer / decorator Suzan Fellman.

Other designs include a vibrant blue portable featuring the iconic graphical imagery of Paul Frank Industries, and a hip stylized graffiti design by Manhattan street artist James De La Vega.

I really love the bold stencil work from Obey’s Shepard Fairey — the same guy who brought us those inimitable Obey Andre the Giant posters you see all over big cities.

Other artists represented in the collection include fashion label DDCLAB (pictured directly above), Soho shoemaker Matt Bernson Design, Epiphany Media’s Coltrane Curtis, sculptor Peter Harper and handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff. Under the hood, the computers include HP tx1000z, dv6500t, dv9500z and HP Dragon notebook PC models.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

All proceeds of the auction will go to benefit the National Cristina Foundation, a not-for-profit organization who matches donated computers and technology with schools, charities and public agencies around the globe.

For more details on the artists and updates on the auction, be sure to check out PC Magazine’s Computerlicious site.

[Photos: Veanne Cao, PC Magazine]

Product RED incorporates special products and services from a variety of major corporations including American Express, Converse, Armani, Motorola, Gap and Apple. What’s truly special here is that a fairly significant percentage of the proceeds of sales go to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria .

Initial products include a special RED watch from Emporio Armani, Motorola RED RAZR and SLVR phones and a new RED iPod Nano among others. Additional products and services will be rolled out in the future.

So the next time you’re in the market for a gift or a gadget for yourself, always be sure to check the Product RED website first. You might be able to make a difference while you’re indulging yourself.