It’s once again that special time of year when we give you a chance to do well by doing good. That’s right—it’s the 2025 edition of our annual Charity Drive!
Every year since 2007, we’ve encouraged readers to give to Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity, which provides toys and games to kids being treated in hospitals around the world. In recent years, we’ve added the Electronic Frontier Foundation to our charity push, aiding in their efforts to defend Internet freedom. This year, as always, we’re providing some extra incentive for those donations by offering donors a chance to win pieces of our big pile of vendor-provided swag. We can’t keep it, and we don’t want it clogging up our offices, so it’s now yours to win.
This year’s swag pile is full of high-value geek goodies. We have over a dozen prizes valued at nearly $5,000 total, including gaming hardware and collectibles, apparel, and more. In 2023, Ars readers raised nearly $40,000 for charity, contributing to a total haul of more than $542,000 since 2007. We want to raise even more this year, and we can do it if readers dig deep.
Feel like taking your creativity level… a bit higher? Available for booking beginning this week, Seth Rogen partnered with Airbnb to unveil “A High-ly Creative Retreat,” providing a unique getaway in Los Angeles with ceramic activities.
The retreat features a ceramic studio with Rogen’s own handmade pottery, a display of his cannabis and lifestyle company Houseplant’s unique Housegoods, as well as mid-century furnishings, and “sprawling views of the city.”
The Airbnb is probably a lot cheaper than you think: Rogen will host three, one-night stays on February 15, 16, and 17 for two guests each for just $42—one decimal point away from 420—with some restrictions. U.S. residents can book an overnight stay at Rogen’s Airbnb beginning Feb. 7, but book now, because it’s doubtful that open slots will last.
“I don’t know what’s more of a Houseplant vibe than a creative retreat at a mid-century Airbnb filled with our Housegoods, a pottery wheel, and incredible views of LA,” Rogen said. “Add me, and you’ll have the ultimate experience.”
According to the listing, and his Twitter account, Rogen will be there to greet people and even do ceramics together.
“I’m teaming up with Airbnb so you (or someone else) can hang out with me and spend the night in a house inspired by my company,” Rogen tweeted recently.
Guests will be provided with the following activities:
Get glazed in the pottery studio and receive pointers from Rogen himself!
Peruse a selection of Rogen’s own ceramic masterpieces, proudly displayed within the mid-century modern home.
Relax and revel in the sunshine of the space’s budding yard.
Tune in and vibe out to a collection of Houseplant record sets with specially curated tracklists by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg and inspired by different cannabis strains. Guests will get an exclusive first listen to their new Vinyl Box Set Vol. 2.
Satisfy cravings with a fully-stocked fridge for after-hours snacks.
Airbnb plans to join in on Rogen’s charity efforts, including his non-profit Hilarity for Charity, focusing on helping people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
“In celebration of this joint effort, Airbnb will make a one-time donation to Hilarity for Charity, a national non-profit on a mission to care for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease, activate the next generation of Alzheimer’s advocates, and be a leader in brain health research and education,” Airbnb wrote.
In 2021, Rogen launched Houseplant, his cannabis and lifestyle company, in the U.S. But the cannabis brand’s web traffic was so high that the site crashed. Houseplant was founded by Rogen and his childhood friend Evan Goldberg, along with Michael Mohr, James Weaver, and Alex McAtee.
Yahoo! Newsreports, however, that Airbnb does not (cough, cough) allow cannabis on the premises of listings. The listing, however, will be filled with goods from Houseplant. Houseplant also sells luxury paraphernalia with a “mid-century modern spin.”
People living in the U.S. can request to book stays at airbnb.com/houseplant. Guests are responsible for their own travel to and from Los Angeles, California and comply with applicable COVID-19 rules and guidelines.
A Ukrainian living in the U.S. has reportedly hacked a major drug market on the Russian dark web, diverting some of its crypto proceeds. The man says he donated the digital cash stolen from the illicit website to an organization delivering humanitarian aid across his war-torn homeland.
Wisconsin Resident With Ukrainian Roots Hacks Russian Dark Web Market Solaris
Ukrainian-born cyber intelligence expert Alex Holden, who left Kyiv as a teenager in the 1980s and now lives in Mequon, Wisconsin, claims he has hacked into Solaris, one of Russia’s largest online drug markets, Forbes informs in a report.
Supported by his team at Hold Security, he was able to get hold of some of the bitcoin sent to dealers and the darknet site’s owners. The cryptocurrency, worth over $25,000, was later transferred to Enjoying Life, a charitable foundation based in the Ukrainian capital.
Without revealing exactly how he did it, Holden explained he took control of much of the internet infrastructure behind Solaris, including some administrator accounts, obtained the website’s source code and a database of its users and drop off locations for drug deliveries.
For a while, the Ukrainian and his colleagues also gained access to the “master wallet” of the marketplace. It was used by buyers and dealers to deposit and withdraw funds and operated as the platform’s crypto exchange, the article details.
Given the rapid turnover, the wallet rarely had more than 3 BTC at a time. Holden managed to appropriate 1.6 BTC and send it to Enjoying Life. Hold Security donated another $8,000 to the charity, which provides assistance to people affected by the war in Ukraine.
Solaris Linked to ‘Patriotic’ Russian Hacking Collective Killnet
The darknet market Solaris is suspected of having connections to the hacking crew Killnet, which after Moscow launched its invasion in late February became one of Russia’s “patriotic” hacker groups vowing to target Ukrainians and their supporters.
Killnet has also conducted a number of attacks in the U.S., including on airport and state government websites as well as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. It reportedly hit the Eurovision song contest, the Estonian government and Italy’s National Health Institute.
The group was also blamed for attacking Rutor, the main rival of Solaris, which became Russia’s leading underground drugs market after Hydra was shut down this past spring. According to U.S. cybersecurity firm Zerofox, Solaris was paying Killnet for DDoS services.
Besides the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine have also clashed in the online space, with the government in Kyiv recruiting experts for its own cyberforce. The special unit was tasked to identify and prevent Russian attacks but also hack back.
Hits such as those on Russia’s largest bank, Sber, and the Moscow Stock Exchange have been attributed to the Ukrainian IT army. Social media accounts associated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous took responsibility for many other attacks.
What do you think about Alex Holden’s attack on the Russian darknet market Solaris? Let us know in the comments section below.
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