Last month, we asked readers to donate to a couple of good causes in our 2025 Charity Drive sweepstakes. And boy, did you deliver. With the drive now complete and the donations all tallied, we can report that Ars Technica readers gave an incredible $42,936.83 to Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in this year's drive. That doesn't set a new record, but it beats last year's total and raises our lifetime Ars Charity Drive donation haul since 2007 to over $585,000. Well done, Arsians!
Thanks to everyone who gave whatever they could. We're still early in the process of selecting and notifying winners of our swag giveaway, so don't fret if you haven't heard if you're a winner yet. In the meantime, enjoy these quick stats from the 2025 drive.
2024 fundraising total: $42,936.83
Total given to Child's Play: $19,424.27
Total given to the EFF: $23,512.56
Number of individual donations: 474
Child's Play donations: 272
EFF donations: 202
Average donation: $90.58
Child's Play average donation: $71.41
EFF average donation: $116.40
Median donation: $50.00
Median Child's Play donation: $26.25
Median EFF donation: $66.95
Top single donation: $3,000 (to EFF)
Donations of $1,000 or more: 8
Donations of $100 or more: 133
Donation of $10 or less: 72 (every little bit helps!)
Total charity donations from Ars Technica drives since 2007 (approximate): $585,872.01
So far in this year's charity drive, over 450 readers have contributed nearly $38,000 to either the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Child's Play as part of the charity drive (EFF has now taken a slight lead in the donation totals so far). That's still a ways away from 2020's record haul of over $58,000, but I know we can make a run at it if readers really dig deep today!
If you've been putting off your donation, now is the time to stop that procrastination. Do yourself and the charities involved a favor and give now while you're thinking about it and while you can still enter our sweepstakes.
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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