donations

Apple, Samsung, others raise $32M after China earthquake

Apple, Samsung, and other tech firms have raised more than $32 million to aid China as it tries to recover from Saturday's devastating earthquake.

The quake, which occurred Saturday morning local time in China's Sichuan province, has so far left 200 people dead or missing, 11,800 people injured, and more than 100,000 homeless.

Among technology companies sending money to aid in relief efforts, Samsung China has pledged around $9.7 million. China Samsung President Zhang Yuanji took to the company's official Sina Weibo page to express his condolences saying that "China Samsung always with … Read more

Facebook's Zuckerberg gives a boatload of cash to charity

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that he let go of nearly $500 million today by donating it to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

This nonprofit foundation focuses on grant giving to serve the community in the San Francisco peninsula. Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post today that he, his wife, Priscilla Chan, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation will work together to "look for areas in education and health to focus on."

The hefty sum of cash comes as a gift of 18 million Facebook shares, which is valued at more than $498 million, based on the social … Read more

iPad Mini launches with mini lines

While CNET's New York office waits for power to come back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Friday's top tech stories include:

- iPad Mini launch day: Lines were smaller compared to a typical iPhone or iPad launch, but there were still some crowds. New York saw a long lines at the 5th Avenue store, which was sold out of iPad Minis two hours after it opened. One analyst estimates Apple might sell as many as 1.5 million iPad Minis over the weekend.

- Apple released its first … Read more

Boxee set to battle Apple TV, Roku

While CNET's New York office waits for power to come back after the storm, we're bringing you the Update show from our San Francisco office. Thursday's top tech stories include:

- Boxee TV arrives at Walmart for $99 and offers perks for early adopters, including three months of free service and a discounted DVR subscription afterward.

- AT&T and T-Mobile have activated a new service that blocks smartphone thieves from using a stolen phone on GSM networks.

- AT&T launched the AT&T Locker app that offers 5GB of free cloud storage … Read more

Donate to charities using Facebook Gifts

Facebook is adding a new product within its gifting service -- charitable donations.

As part of the social network's Facebook Gifts service, users can now send donations in a friend's name to organizations like the Red Cross, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, or DonorsChoose.org.

The launch comes during the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the superstorm that's destroyed homes and left countless people without power.

"We are especially pleased to be launching this test now -- when so many people are looking for new ways to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, or assist … Read more

Anonymous turns its back on Wikileaks after paywall dispute

And the saga continues...Anonymous and Wikileaks got into a public tit-for-tat over Twitter yesterday about a donation overlay page that Wikileaks posted on its Global Intelligence Files. Anonymous called the donation page a paywall -- since it cannot be closed unless a donation is made or the Javascript is disabled -- and demanded it be taken down.

The page was taken down for a couple of hours in the evening and it looked like Anonymous had won the battle. But then, Wikileaks put it back up. And this time it's not only on the site's Global Intelligence … Read more

Wikileaks and Anonymous go head-to-head in 'paywall' battle

Anonymous is typically a big fan of Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, but earlier today, several of its members sent out tweets calling for people to stop donating to the site until further notice.

A Twitter tit-for-tat ensued and finally ended in what looks like a success for Anonymous.

What got the online hacker group all riled up was an overlay donation page that was first seen when accessing Wikileaks' Global Intelligence Files, according to The Next Web. These files contain more than five million emails from the international intelligence company Stratfor.

Anonymous publicly labeled the donation page a &… Read more

Buy shoes, do good: Socialvest promotes charity via shopping

Socialvest, a company that says it's raised tens of thousands of dollars for nonprofits through its shopping site, has launched an iPhone app to make it easier for people to help others while shopping.

The site lets shoppers give to the charities of their choice by working with online retailers like Target, Home Depot, Macy's and Amazon. When a user buys something from a partnered shop, between 1 to 15 percent of the purchase will be donated to a nonprofit.

It seems like a great way to be a do-gooder while satisfying your commercial needs.

According to a … Read more

As cash runs low, WikiLeaks finds way to accept plastic again

Following a concerted effort to starve Wikileaks of cash by cutting off its sources of funding, the controversial publisher of government and corporate secrets has found a way to once again accept donations via credit cards.

WikiLeaks yesterday announced that it has launched "a new payment gateway" that relies upon the French credit card system Carte Bleue. That system, which works globally with the Visa/MasterCard system that's currently blockading WikiLeaks, is "contractually barred from directly cutting off merchants," according to the organization. A French not-for-profit has taken advantage of that loophole and helped WikiLeaks … Read more

Internet raises big bucks for bullied bus monitor

Update 2:20 p.m. PT: Since this story was initially published, the fund for Karen Klein has skyrocketed. It is now well past $300,000 and continues to grow. The fundraiser is set to continue for a month.

(CBS News) Karen Klein wasn't having the best of days when she was recently bullied by a bus full of students from Greece, N.Y.

The middle school students teased, taunted and threatened the 68-year-old school bus monitor. The incident was caught on video, posted on YouTube, and instantly went viral -- outraging many viewers.

The students, between ages 12 … Read more