A friend just pointed me to FreeRice.com, a site that promises to send ten grains of rice to end world hunger every time that you answer a vocabulary question correctly.
From the site’s FAQ section:
If FreeRice has the rice to give, why not give it all away right now?
FreeRice is not sitting on a pile of rice―you are earning it 10 grains at a time. Here is how it works. When you play the game, advertisements appear on the bottom of your screen. The money generated by these advertisements is then used to buy the rice. So by playing, you generate the money that pays for the rice donated to hungry people.
I’m really not sure how I feel about this. Although I love vocabulary building, it seems a little ridiculous. Why don’t the advertisers just donate the money directly to the UN’s World Food Programme? My head’s going to explode if I try to figure this out.
What do you think? Is this a good idea or not? Let me know. Here’s a little incentive for you - for every insightful comment that you make, I’ll send five Trimspa pills to one of America’s fattest cities.
Here’s an interesting little tidbit—UPS works very hard to ensure that their drivers avoid making left-hand turns. Apparently it saves them gas money because it cuts down on unnecessary idling.
So if you spot a UPS truck sitting a light, waiting for a chance to turn left, just know that the driver is either (a) an amateur or (b) living on the edge and sticking it to the man. Or both.
Recently stumbled upon this massive Indian bodybuilder who goes by the name of “Romeo” (Hint: He’s the jacked dude on the left). I’ll let him speak for himself:
I’ve been training as a bodybuilder for the last two years and by now I think I must be the strongest dwarf in the world.
Tremendous quote. More pictures and a story about this lilliputian Hulk here.
I know, I know. The fact that Wake brings in one decent artist a year to perform during Springfest seems pretty exciting. But this announcement from Brown University is a startling reminder of how lame we really are. Brown has a friggin concert series lined up for their Spring Weekend including performances by M.I.A., Lupe Fiasco, Girl Talk, Umphrey’s McGee, and indie-sensation Vampire Weekend. That. is. absurd. All of those artists are great. I saw Girl Talk live earlier this year and can report that it was one of the craziest (read: best) shows that I’ve ever been to. Oh well, keep your fingers crossed. If we’re lucky, we’ll get Jason Mraz.
So you’re sitting there in a movie theater, minding your own business, and suddenly you get stabbed in the chest. No, it’s not the plot of a sweet new Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style slasher flick, it actually happened. CBSNews reports that on Sunday night, two moviegoers in California were stabbed after sitting through about 45 minutes of The Signal, some bush-league horror film. According to local police, the victims were sitting in separate sections of the theater and did not know each other. The perpetrator is still at large. CBS adds:
Police believe the attacker may be the same individual who had been kicked out of the theater that same day—an intoxicated man who was very disruptive during a movie.
Both suspects were hospitalized after the incident. Thankfully, doctors say they’ll survive.
How scary is that? Something tells me these people won’t be seeing another horror movie any time soon. At least not without adequate protection. Click here to read the rest of the story.
My mother always told me that there are two things that you don’t talk about at commencement—politics and religion. I’ve spent countless hours of my precious time working toward my degree here and this is how they repay me? How about they have Maya Angelou come speak instead? Maybe then I’d actually believe that she’s an employee of this university. Zing. Or Arnold Palmer. I’ve always wanted to hear about how he invented the half-and-half. I was planning on donating whatever Pit Meals I have left over after this semester to the Hatch, but he can kiss that sweet ARAMARK-bling goodbye. Rant over… for now.
A middle school in New Jersey gave 2 days of detention to 29 of its students this past week because they all decided to pay for their lunch in pennies (on the same day). According to CBS‘ masterful calculations, lunch ladies at the school had to deal with a staggering 5,800 pennies last Thursday. Harrowing. The students claim that they did it in order to protest the length of their lunch. Administrators say something along the lines of: “Your money is no good here.” Regardless, it looks like pennies are on the way out, just as I suspected. Read more about this elaborate protest here.
After some brief googling, I came upon this fascinating article. It turns out that Dr. Robert Whaples, a professor of economics here at Wake, has been arguing for the elimination of the penny for years. Talk about being ahead of your time. Kudos, Whaples. In fact, I propose that the Treasury issue a new $1 coin in your honor: The “Whaple.” Has a nice ring to it, non? I’ve even worked out the design (see above), so there’s no reason this baby shouldn’t be in circulation by the end of the month.
P.S. You may be wondering why the “Whaple” mock-up says “2002” on it. The answer is simple. I’ve been perfecting the design for over six years. I’d like to think that it shows.
Some Swiss gun manufacturer decided that it would be sweet to make a functional revolver that weighs in at only .7 oz. It’s tiny, but it packs a punch.
Jonathan Spencer, consultant forensic scientist and firearms expert, said that although the gun, which fires bullets at a speed of 399 feet a second, was tiny, it could still prove fatal and in the eyes of the law was as dangerous as a machine gun.
More on the deadliest keychain fob ever over at the DailyMail.
Take a minute to visit this site. It’ll take a few seconds to load, but it’s worth it. It’s basically a digital imaging project with a incredibly realistic face that follows your cursor around the screen with its eyes. It’s especially creepy when you put the cursor right in the middle of the page, so beware. [Geekologie]
Lizzie over at the fabulous “Campus Wire” blog just posted about the phallic abomination that was erected on the Mag Quad last week. Who came up with the idea for this thing, Jason Mraz? It’s for… posting fliers? Really?
No word yet on whether students will begin referring to it as the “Manchester Penis.” Oh wait, they already have.
How do you feel about this strange structure? Do you find it aesthetically pleasing? Useful? Arousing? Let me know.
Planet Earth’s got nothin’ on this ridiculous Spanish video. It shows a huge golden eagle destroying a mountain goat in a 1-on-1 battle. Make sure to wait until the 5:00 mark (or skip right to it). You will not be disappointed. I still can’t tell if its real, but the sick chase music (note the ever-hilarious bassoon) and the close-up shots of the two contenders building up to the fracas are not to be missed. Thanks, Neatorama, for reminding us why they’re called “birds of prey.”
Also, if anyone speaks Spanish, please fill me in on what the narrator’s saying. I’m sure that it’s priceless.
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Here’s an interesting little tidbit—