Words Against Hunger

Looking for a way to procrastinate at work that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

Freerice.com is simply addictive. The premise: Answer a vocabulary word correctly, and 10 grains of rice are donated to stop world hunger.

Freerice.com starts off by giving you words at different levels of difficulty (along with four possible definitions) and then, based on how well you do, assigns you an approximate vocabulary level (maximum level: 50). When you get a word wrong, you move down a level. When you get three words in a row right, you move up a level. Meanwhile, a counter on the right-hand side of the screen keeps track of how many grains of rice you have earned to stop world hunger.

But where does all the rice come from? Three banner ads appear on the lower portion of the screen, and the ad revenue generated by page views go directly toward buying rice to be distributed by the United Nations World Food Program.

Freerice.com, which began on October 7, represents a new way of using the web as an engine for philanthropy --not merely a tool for soliciting donations, or matching donors with causes, but actually generating cash for charitable use. It's like a wind farm for lost productive time at the office.

As of November 14, the site has donated 1.7 billion grains of rice (around 59,000 pounds).

And if you think this vocabulary test will be a cinch, think again. The site has a custom database with thousands of words of varying difficulty, from everyday vocabulary words to arcane terms derived from Gaelic.

The program even adjusts each word's difficulty level according to how many people get it right or wrong, which mean the levels become increasingly accurate as time goes on.

Freerice.com says it's "rare" for people to reach above 48, and even mildly competitive users may feel a maniacal urge to gain bragging rights as the office's top scorer.

Liz Gunnison