Honk For Japan

I'm sure everyone has heard about the disaster in Japan. There are a few ways you can help right from the comfort of your own home. 

I'm sure everyone has heard about the disaster in Japan. There are a few ways you can help right from the comfort of your own home.

You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to Give $10 to Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami relief. This will be added to your bill at the end of the month, so it isn't necessarily the best way to donate, but it is the easiest. You can also donate by visiting the RED CROSS website.

Say you donate what you can, but still want to help more? YouTube star Nigahiga took to the streets with a couple friends to get people to "Honk for Japan." For every honk, he would donate $10 to Red Cross. After an hour, he had gotten enough honks for $600, and immediately donated it. In addition to that, he created a video of his experience and for every 1,000,000 views he'll donate another $600+ to Red Cross. While he could just donate the money without the video and views, he has a good reason why he chose to go about it this.

Here's what he had to say:

People keep saying "why don't you just donate the money instead of trying to get people to view it?" My biggest strength right now is that I'm fortunate enough to have a following. The purpose of this video was not only to support Japan myself, but to encourage others as well. I could have easily donated the money and not made a video about it, but I think its a lot more important to get support from all over the world. I personally can't donate a million dollars, but if millions of people watch this and decide to chip in, it is possible... I'm just trying to help in the best way that I can.
Money Donated so far: $1925
3/14 - $600 (honk!)
3/16 - $650 (1 million views)
3/17 - $675 (2 million views)

Watch the video below to add to the view count:

 

Lupe Fiasco, Kenna, Mike Shinoda - Resurrection

http://www.musicforrelief.org/

Linkulous: Booze, 2012, Twitter Effect, and more!

Some of the more interesting articles I read this week: 

Millennials: The Workers of the Future?

Naps Boost Learning Capacity -who else thinks nap time should be come standard in all grades and the work force?

Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth - 2012 is coming!

Bringing New Understanding to the Director's Cut 

Scientists Create Hangover Free Booze 

10 Signs You Should Unfriend Someone on Facebook 

George Washington University: Our Bad! - that's one brutal mistake. Poor students!

Oh dear, who's killed film criticism this week? 

How Lionsgate Plans to Take on 'Twitter Effect' for 'Kick-Ass' 

5 Reasons Lost's Parallel Universe is a Waste of Time - I hate to say it, but I kind of agree with this.

Scary thought...

I've lived in the greater Los Angeles area since I was 4 years old. I lived through the Northridge earthquake of '94, that was the biggest natural disaster to hit US soil until Hurricane Katrina. It's because of this memory that everytime we have a small tremor, I worry that it's just the prelude to something more. Seems like I'm not the only one who thinks this, and now there's a study to back it up.

Is the "Big One" coming?

Luckily, technology and architecture has greatly improved since 1994. These small tremors could serve as a good warning system, allowing evacuations to start early enough for people to get out of those areas most in danger. Also, all buildings have been brought up to a new code, so they can better handle the shaking of the earth.

We can all do our best to be prepared too, by knowing earthquake safety.
1. During an earthquake, the safest places to be are under a table or in a door frame. Make sure you stay away from windows or mirrors as they may shatter.
2. If you are inside, do not go outside of the building. The windows may blow out or tree branches could fall.
3. Have an earthquake emergency kit: flashlight, space blanket, water, and maybe even some dehydrated food. Actually, here's a complete list of what to put in your kit: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/earthquakes/archive/ready.dtl

in CA, earthquakes are really the only natural disaster we have to worry about. So be prepared! (That's the girl scout in me showing...)