FreeRice.com

I discovered this really cool website not too long ago called FreeRice.com. It's an innovative charity website that helps combat poverty and world hunger by having its viewers play a rather challenging vocabulary game. Sounds weird, huh? Well, this is how it works: for every definition you correctly match with the given word, the sponsors of the website donate 20 grains of rice to WFP (The U.N. World Food Program) who then distribute the rice to countries and people in desperate need of that food. It sounds too simple, right? But that's why it's so great and so far so effective in its implementation. All you do is play a simple vocabulary game for free, and in so doing you help feed starving people around the world. And not only that, the website simultaneously encourages learning and improves lexical skills too, which is neat. 

The website was launched in October of 2007 and so far has raised and donated over 37 billion grains of rice to help bring an end to world hunger. Here is some press coverage about the website:

"FreeRice.com is one of the most ingenious websites of 2007. In the best spirit of the Internet, it offers education, entertainment and a way to change the world - all for free." - The Los Angeles Times

"Feeling guilty about wasting time on computer solitaire? Join the growing guilt-free multitude at FreeRice.com, an online game with redeeming social value." - USA Today

"Web game provides rice for hungry...FreeRice went online in early October and has now raised 1 billion grains of rice [by November 9]." - BBC News

A Haiku and Some Love

Haiku:

A young, green leaf sails

Far beyond its Mother Tree.

And kisses the sea.

Another poem:

Silence

Is silence so cold?

She laughs. 

He laughs. 

They laugh.

But the laughter dies, 

And then the indelible grooves of their memories 

Spent together swallow every waking sound, 

As they gaze into different directions of the night,

Thinking alone

In silence.

She falls fast asleep next to him,

He exists next to her, while she 

Is in her sacred slumber.

His eyes can now take her all in

Under the shadow of the night. 

He places his thumb on her sleeping lips

And runs it gently across their smooth, curved nature,

So as not to wake her, 

When the room is full

Of silence.

The room bursts with newborn light.

She is found with eyes open.

He wraps his arms around her waist

And rests his ear just above her youthful breasts,

Just below her delicate neck,

Her chin slightly touching his head.

He listens carefully to her sunrise-breathing.

Everything else is left

In silence.

Is silence so cold?

A Nameless Poem

Can you sense the whispers I send you
During the silvery waters of the night,
When I am on the eve
Of sleep
And the moon is singing sonorously at my side?
Tell me, is it possible that the distance between our lips
Is only a lie -
That tender words can travel by the eyes of desire,
Where time's grip does not hold sway
The hushed streams of affections
I speak into the moon's liberal light?

I wonder: do they stir your thoughts
When you are deep in the jungles of sleep?
Do they cause your heart to clap and hammer
Like the hooves of a horse racing over open countryside?
Do your eyelashes begin to tingle with titillating tremors
For an unsung love?

Yet, I must say, it is only when the moon puts me to rest
And I slip
Into its gentle silvery light, where dreams are made,
That I behold the burdened rivers of my love
Emptying
Into your still and moonlit sea,
And see
That on the wings of desire, flying over a singing moon,
Your faint whispers reach my attentive ears
And my steady beating heart
Too.

Here comes the sun...

Check out this picture of the sun. I like it a lot. I think it's beautiful, breathtaking and ominous all at the same time. I found the picture on the Astronomy Picture of the Day's website - you can find the site located under my links if you feel inclined to take a peek. Also, if you want to see an interesting movie that in large part has to do with the sun, check out "Sunshine". Good movie. Kind of weird though.

Also, I have been working on a couple of poems lately, so you should be seeing a post sometime soon with a new poem or two in it.

love john

A Revolution in Online Gaming

Okay, so I know most of you think online video gaming is lame and not worth anyone's time or money. But I have to say that this new innovation in online gaming will change everything you once thought about video games in general. Trust me.

The World of World of Warcraft

The Girl That Silenced The U.N.

This is a pretty powerful and motivating speech, especially coming from a child. Despite the fact that it was given 16 years ago, it could not be more relevant and more important for the world today given the state that it is in. We ought to pay attention and listen to children and their cries more often.  

The Girl That Silenced the U.N.

On a much more trivial and sillier note, check out this article about some of the most recent bathroom designs. I know, it sounds dumb, but it's actually pretty cool and amusing. I wouldn't mind having some of these products myself, especially the toilet that rinses "your nether regions with soothing warm water, and then a blow dryer completes the task". If only these things didn't cost thousands. Oh well. Maybe I can just dream about them in my sleep. 

Bathrooms of the future