There is a is a tradition of doing stupid and painful things to oneself in order to raise money for a charity, from shaving your head, to sitting in a dunk tank. For some reason people are more willing to help the less fortunate if they get to see some jerk suffer first.

Well, in that tradition the website Loadingreadyrun.com presents their first annual Desert Bus for hope.

Desert Bus, one of the mini-games from the unpublished Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors is a "game" where the goal is to drive from Tuscon to Los Angeles at the speed limit of 45 miles an hour. This takes 8 hours. You cannot pause or save the game. The screen shows a constant unvaried desert, no other cars, no people, no animals, nothing. The bus edges slowly to the right, so you cant even tape down the controller and leave it. For gritting out the 8 hour trip you get, (Drumroll please) one point, and the chance to drive back.

The charity is up to over ten-thousand American Dollars in dontations, and have been playing this "game" for more than two days straight, and have donations enough to make them play for over 90 hours as of the time of this writing. Now that is dedication!

The funds will be donated to the popular Childs Play chairity, run by the author and artist of Penny-Arcade. The charity provides videogame and other toys for children in hospitals over the holiday period.

So, if you want to donate to a charity, and prolong the suffering of your fellow human beings, then donate to keep the desert bus running.