HP Magic Giveaway

I won a big prize!

Previously on this blog, I mentioned that I had been entering many of the 50 giveaways being run by HP and various tech bloggers to give out over $6000 in HP computers and accessories.

My proposal to all the sites that I entered was:

I would donate the desktop (TouchSmart) and both of the notebooks to NorthStar Youth Ministries in Birmingham, AL (http://www.northstaryouthministries.org/). My girlfriend has worked directly with that non-profit organization, and she has relayed to me how desperately the camp needs new computers. Both the staff of NorthStar and the children who go through the program could benefit from the use of these cutting-edge computers (I firmly believe that one of the ways out of poverty is good education, especially with computers).

I would also donate the software too, of course. I personally am really only interested in the Mini and the printer.

Well, halfway through the CSA trip to Biloxi, I got this email from Brad Linder of the blog Liliputing:

After sifting through 500+ entries for the Liliputing HP Magic Giveaway contest, your entry has been semi-randomly selected as the winner!

True to my word, I'm donating a large majority of the prize. NorthStar's newsletter has the full story. I will also visit NorthStar on 6 January to help setup the systems and assess the viability of the computers they already have.

I'll definitely be back posting pictures and an update come 6 January.

Thanks HP, Liliputing, and NorthStar Youth Ministries!

CSA Trip to Biloxi

I will be in and out of Internet coverage as I'm currently at the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi Office of Long-term Recovery mission building.

For the first day of work, my group helped on a Habitat for Humanity work site. The site went under a remarkable transformation, even for the first day. I've been involved in a Habitat blitz build before--and I thought we were efficient there--but this blows it out of the water.

About forty people worked on the site to get it from a slab to almost completely "blacked in" (completely framed, roof on, wrap on, prepped for roofing, electrical in, drywall ready to be hung, etc...). I will definitely post pictures soon.