The University of Minnesota has developed an online video game called Distraction Dodger, which teaches young drivers about the dangers of doing stupid things while driving. You know, eating, drinking, using your cell phone, texting - those kinds of things. In the game, players drive a virtual pizza delivery truck with the goal of delivering those pizzas while facing a number of distractions like eating and using a cell phone. At the end of the game session, the player is given feedback on how they did.

If you have ever wondered what it would be like to work in a sweatshop like those poor souls at Foxconn (who work long hours for little pay to build the devices we all use every day like iPads, iPhones, Xbox 360's and PS3's) then developer Littleloud has just the thing for you: a game called Sweatshop. Yes we have highlighted this game before here at GamePolitics, but in light of recent events at Foxconn it's worth revisiting again.

Children’s charity (powered by the goodwill of the game industry and the gaming community) Child's Play raised a total of $3,512,345 in 2011. The group also announced that it has raised over $10 million since its launch in 2003. Both are pretty impressive numbers and the group deserves praise and recognition for its continued work on behalf of sick children in 80 hospitals around the world. Here's more from the web site:

Calling it a "socially responsible adventure," MindJolt SGN announced the release of Fluff Friends Rescue. The iOS game, which was developed with the help of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), challenges players to rescue pets, nurse them back to health, run their own animal shelter and contribute to The HSUS.

Speed Demos Archive is looking for some help to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, starting on January 4. As you can probably glean from the title of the group, they are dedicated to running through games in the shortest amount of time possible, and enjoy posting their exploits on places like YouTube for notoriety’s sake.

Kotaku points out that those of us who believe in the history and tradition of the video games industry should donate to the American Classic Arcade Museum. The American Classic Arcade Museum is located in New Hampshire's Funspot arcade.

Charity event Play for Good has launched, with the proceeds of this initiative going to SpecialEffect, a charity dedicated to helping young people with disabilities enjoy computer games in the UK. For many disabled children, the majority of computer games are simply too difficult to play, but with the help of this charity families can learn which games are accessible, and how to adapt those games that aren't more accessible.

A team of 19 Greek game developers have donated their time and effort to create a videogame for international human rights group, Amnesty International. The game is part of the group's ongoing campaign to raise international awareness about human rights violations and push for the global ban of the death penalty.

Phaedra Boinodiris, serious games program manager at IBM, writes a guest editorial on Forbes exploring the way that games can be used to energize and enhance other things besides research projects. The point of her editorial is that researchers have been helped greatly by games created to solve problems that take advantage of "collective intelligence," and global participation.

The New York Academy of Sciences' Science and the City will host a special game-related event on November 9 called "The Anthropology of Online Worlds." Anthropologist Thomas Malaby and game designer Lee Guzofski will discuss how humanity shapes virtual worlds. Thomas M. Malaby is from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee and Lee T. Guzofski is from MMO maker G2G Enterprises.

The whole idea behind this special event is to dissect how humanity shapes virtual worlds through relationships, functional economies, complex societies, and rich cultures.

In an exclusive interview with Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity Education Speaker Series, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor urged educators in the United States to do their part to enliven civics education and engage students in the democratic process.

"You have to study [civics] and be taught how our system of government works," Justice O’Connor said. "And you have to be shown how each individual can be part of it and can make things work.”

The United States Army is testing a new PC strategy game that teaches captains who are being deployed to Afghanistan how to think like local village elders do. The game is called CultureShock: Afghanistan and is being tested at the U.S. Army Engineer School via the captains’ career course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The purpose of the game, according to its creators is to teach cultural awareness and to show officers what drives the decision making process of local leaders whom U.S. forces will have to encounter and communicate with.

NASA has released an interactive educational video game today called NetworKing that its Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) network operates. The release of the video game coincides with the close of World Space Week, Oct. 4-10. Developed by the Information Technology Office at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California, its developers say that NetworKing gives players an insider's perspective into how astronauts, mission controllers and scientists communicate during space missions.

GDC Online parent company UBM TechWeb Game Network debuts a browser-based game commissioned by Web Wise Kids (WWK), a non-profit organization that promotes and fosters the discussion of child safety online. The free title is called Passing The Ball and is created by indie game creator Gregory Weir (The Majesty Of Colors). It's an action game that follows a parent and their child as they learn an important lesson about working together.

Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a motion-controlled game that helps children with cancer cope with their illness by promoting good mental health and physical fitness. The game, which was developed by chemistry professor Grzegorz Bulaj, is called PE Interactive (PE stands for "patient empowerment").

It looks like Nexon has taken a user survey that found that 75 percent of its users that get married in the MMO MapleStory end up getting divorced. The company announced plans to add new content to supplement the wedding system in the game's next major update - which will also add a class rebalance, party quests, and a new Monster Park.

New research efforts at MIT explore how games handle gay, bisexual and transgender characters and storylines... badly. Inspired by the lack of serious LGBT characters in mainstream video games, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab has developed a game called “A Closed World,” which hopes to answer straightforward questions such as "How can video games present LGBT content and what are the challenges that a development team faces when trying to include content about someone different from the perceived norm?"

Even with the distraction of a foulmouthed twelve-year-old cursing in your ear, you’ve still got game.  But how well would you hold up against streaming video of a topless porn star?

Adult performers Alana Evans and Misti Dawn have launched PwnedByGirls, a new website that will allow eager gamers to play video games with them or just kick back and watch them mop the floor with competitors who just can’t seem to focus.

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has teamed up with the Verizon Foundation to celebrate Constitution Day by launching a national contest for middle schools students. The goal of the contest is ultimately to teach youngsters about the importance of our country's most important document and about the important role of civics in modern society.

A new game engine technology designed to teach children in the United Kingdom the basics of game design was built using the UNITY game engine. The design makes it easy for young people to learn some fundamentals about game design while at the same time removing the technical barriers - such as programming - that might keep beginners away. The technology is endorsed by BAFTA, EA, NESTA and Abertay University.

Meet "Letitia," an NPC in Deus Ex: Human Revolution that writer Evan Narcisse calls the "The worst thing about Deus Ex: Human Revolution" in an article over at Techland. Narcisse's point is that this particular character represents the worst possible stereotype of a black person. At first you might think that he is overreacting until you watch the video of Letitia interacting with the main character... We encourage you to watch it and draw your own conclusions.

Organizers of the Gamification Summit announced this morning that they have finalized the agenda and speaker program for the September 15-16 conference occurring in New York City. That agenda includes keynotes, featured talks, design intensives, panels, and workshops that (they hope) teach and inform attendees on the subject. GSummit promises to bring together experts from advertising, healthcare, education, government, media, e-commerce, startups and academia to share knowledge and improve engagement with consumers and employees by using gamification techniques.

Silicon Sisters Interactive CEO and co-founder Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch believes that the games industry does not know how to create games that satisfy female customers. Gershkovitch co-founded the Vancouver-based studio last year in an attempt to address the gulf between the rapidly growing number of female gamers on smartphones and social networks, and the lack of products that they want to play.

PR CON, a multiplayer LAN gaming event to raise funds for the charity Help for Heroes, will be held at Rivermead Leisure Complex in Reading, England September 17th and 18th. The event is being put on by the creators of the popular Battlefield 2 multiplayer modification, Project Reality. Several of the mod's members of the team have military backgrounds in the armed services, so raising much-needed funds for the Help for Heroes charity is important to them.

Gamification expert Gabe Zichermann will showcase his second book, Gamification By Design, at The Gamification Summit September 15-16 in New York City. The new release, which launched on Amazon.com today, will be on sale during the Summit. Zichermann will also host a concentrated design session filled with "revelations and profound insights" learned from his work with the world’s biggest brands, hottest startups and a range of non-profits.

When you read about games and education, you think about kids using games as learning tools, but Kognito Interactive's At Risk for High School Educators is an educational game aimed at preventing suicide amongst high school teens - and it is meant for teachers.

The AbleGamers Foundation and Evil Controllers will unveil the Adroit Switchblade, the first in a series of controllers for gamers with disabilities, during the PAX Prime panel "Gamers Doing Good, How Video Games Change People's Lives."

The panel will feature three charities, who will detail ways that video games can improve the quality of life for those who are depressed, hospitalized or severely disabled, or find themselves homesick while deployed in a warzone.

A new book called "Video Gamers" by British Sociologist Garry Crawford hits book stores (both virtual and brick-and-mortar) this week. The book was published earlier this month by Routledge (London & New York) and is priced at £25.99.

An interesting article in IT News, a site dedicated to IT professionals, explains why being a team leader in an MMORPG or online game such as World of Warcraft or Battlefield is a good training tool for anyone that wants a leadership role in the field. The article highlights the kind of player that is either familiar with a given mission or map, and what skills they might exhibit.

Takeshi Miyaji, the director of the original Grandia RPG, recently died, according to a statement sent out by G-Mode, as reported by Andriasang. Takeshi Miyaji was a co-founder and the CEO of G-Mode, a mobile games developer from Japan. In the early days of his career, he worked on such classic titles as Silpheed and Lunar: The Silver Star. Later he worked at Game Arts alongside his brother, Yoichi Miyaji, who remains at the company as its president and CEO.