Rice to the Occasion
I've got tons of cool MBRP stuff to write about, but Brother Konchog's been a wee bit under the weather. Well on the mend, don't fret (Ma), but without the sustained energy for the grueling work that is the crafting of language (don't laugh, I use four fingers to type -- that's twice as many calories burned as using two). In the meantime, the good folks at The Tricycle Blog have seen fit to direct my attention to a site that perfectly, nay, diabolically stimulates my addictive impulses. I mean as a total word geek, not to mention bleeding-heart, aspiring bodhisattva.
And what kind of monk would I be if I didn't try to coerce you into sharing in my addictions?
Get this -- some mad genius has set up a site where all you do is scowl at obscure English words and click what you feel is the correct definition among four possible choices. For each word you get correct, ten grains of rice are donated to the hungry through the United Nations World Food Program, underwritten by the advertisers whose logos appear under your ever-changing lexicon. Think that's a little stingy? Think again. They started it on October 7, on which day 830 grains were donated. Big deal, right? But it quickly went viral and yesterday alone 188,987,290 grains were donated (2000 of which were mine) -- over 50,000,000 more than the previous day -- for a five week total of 1,519,627,180 (note to the site creators -- it'd be kinda cool to know roughly how many grains of rice make up a kilo, say). One of the words that came up for me was "stupa." How great is that? Most of the words are seriously challenging; I flubbed maybe one out of five. I really loved filling up my graphic rice bowl. For instance, I learned that "eructate" means "to belch," and "caseous" means "cheese-like."
The site's called, appropriately, FreeRice. Go on over, feed the poor, and tell us how you did.
That was fun! I earned 3010 grains of rice. I have a feeling I'll be visiting frequently.
Posted by: Faith | November 13, 2007 at 11:15 AM
3100 grains of rice. letting other peope know...
Posted by: Tom Robertson | November 13, 2007 at 12:29 PM
Addictive AND for a good cause. Lethal combination.
'scuse me, I gotta go play more.
Posted by: Rachel H | November 13, 2007 at 01:03 PM
One of the advantages to being a health professional is that words like eructate and caseous are already part of your lexicon. I managed briefly last night to get to level 50.
Posted by: Mel | November 13, 2007 at 03:00 PM
I've been to FreeRice! I love word games, and the fact that this one is for a good cause makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time scowling at obscure words (excellent description). :)
That does it, I'm going back!
Posted by: jules | November 13, 2007 at 06:50 PM
Love the free rice vocab game. I'm viral marketing it on to friends. I'm just getting started at 390 grains and counting. This is fun!
Posted by: Zendette | November 14, 2007 at 05:32 AM
The viral nature of FreeRice is quite amazing! With wordies like you and your readers, much rice should be moved.
Posted by: Phil | November 14, 2007 at 01:22 PM
1000 grains added! Will now have to measure some rice to learn how many grains in a kilo.
Posted by: daisy | November 14, 2007 at 08:59 PM
Dang! I know how long it takes to get to 3000 grains, as late Saturday night that's what I was doing... I was SERIOUSLY proud of my level 48 but there's Mel up there, with her level 50! Shite.
Posted by: Janet | November 15, 2007 at 01:58 PM
If it makes you feel any better, Janet, I haven't been able to rise above level 48 either. Like I said, it's diabolical. One mistake and you descend a level, then it takes you two correct answers to climb back up. I'm pecking at it like I'm in some B.F. Skinner box. Someone's getting several bushels of rice based on my intellectual pridefulness!
Fwiw, you also happened to leave DODR's 2500th comment! What a bunch of Chatty Cathy's you all are.
Posted by: Konchog | November 15, 2007 at 09:16 PM
Thanks for turning me on to Free Rice! Tough to tear myself away. I thought I was doing well to get to Level 46, but you Level 50 guys are Awesome!
Posted by: Diana | November 16, 2007 at 12:43 PM
I feel so inadequate. I haven't gotten past level 44 :-(
Brother Konchog, do you have any idea how I can add the rice bowl to my Facebook profile? If you don't know, perhaps one of the other readers here can enlighten me.
Posted by: Zendette | November 19, 2007 at 06:49 AM
Hi Zendette -- Well, I'm gonna make you stomp your feet maybe, but today, briefly, I hit 50.
In the site's FAQ, they direct folks to a page with cool banner graphics to link to them. It's here.
Posted by: Konchog | November 19, 2007 at 07:17 AM
Thanks Konchog. The Free Rice people did a great job. I just can't figure out how to put it in Facebook as a "cause", so if any of your other readers have done so, perhaps they can post instructions (instructions for the non-technically inclined, please).
Posted by: Zendette | November 19, 2007 at 09:23 AM
1200. i work in foodservice, i'll have to look it up, lol.
and what kind of rice are we providing? there's so many different kinds. i'm sure long grain rice is a lot fewer per kilo than medium or short.
Posted by: minnie | November 21, 2007 at 11:29 PM
I've got 200 ESL college students playing for 10 minutes once a week - average weekly rice donation 200,000 grains.
Posted by: Peter Waters | November 28, 2007 at 02:04 AM