posted
I've gotten as high as 47, and usually hover in the 43-44 range at this point. There have been several repetitive words, though, that I did not know at first and do know now - so that's bumped me up a bit.
I've probably accumulated anywhere inthe 8,000-10,000 range for grains.
Doing a little searching, it seems that 1000 grains is about 25 grams or so. So, I've managed to donate in the 200-250 grams range, or about a half pound.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I finally made it to 50! Way better than the 41 I was only able to get up to earlier today. Then I crashed, but oh well. Lot of guessing, and trying to determine word origins.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged |
It's pretty interesting - around the 39-40 mark, I know all the words, no thinking involved. It gets to 41, I don't know some and have to start thinking about them.
42, I'm very much thinking, and often guessing. Though some of the definitions are... approximate. Once I figured out the way their dictionary worked I got more right (muscat = grape? Not really. Not as a *definition*. I got it right, but I don't think it is actually right. At least the way they ask it.)
I obviously don't have the vocabulary of many hatrackers.
It's a great idea though.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by FlyingCow: On November 5th, the total for the website was 53,847,080 grains.
On November 6th, it was posted on hatrack.
On November 6th, the total for the website was 73,566,480.
Now, I don't think we accounted for 20 million grains all by ourselves, but...
For those interested, taking FC's number before of 1000 grains ~= 25 grams, 73,566,480 ~= 184 kG ~= 400 lbs. of rice.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
I think it's my eclectic reading tastes that are helping the most. All of those words for Regency-era clothing: thank you, romance novels!
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I just realized that FC's reported totals were only daily totals; i.e. the total for only Nov. 6 was 20,000,000 more than for Nov. 5. That's a bit more impressive, IMO.
Anyway, since it started on Oct. 7 the total donation from freerice.com is 856,444,020 grains of rice ~= 2141 kG ~= 4710 lbs. Never underestimate the power of the internet and boredom.
Posts: 2926 | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
That's probably about $1000 in donations total, maybe less. I can by rice for about $.70 a pound. Commodity prices (which is how the UN agency buys its food) is much less. Not sure how delivery costs factor in, but that $.70 a pound reflects delivery charges, too.
Still, it's pretty darn cool that they're generating this money almost effortlessly (on the margin, at least).
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Went to 48 but now am at 46. This is addictive! I did 3000 grains so far. I love this game! It's got lots of words I don't know.
I've been guessing really well, too, when I don't really know the word. Seems like several of them will be impossible choices so only one is left that just sounds like it.
Edit: Made it to 49 but can't seem to crack 50. I'm really addicted now. 6k grains and counting.
Edit: 8000 grains, level 50! I'm quitting for the night. This is fun.
But why are they donating rice and teaching us vocabulary words at the same time? Who is doing this and why? And is it for real? Will they really donate that much rice?
posted
The figure I'm getting in my googling is 10.71 cents per pound. So that's less than $500 total. Still, it's a pretty fun time waster.
Posts: 1810 | Registered: Jan 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks for the link, Zal. Although the site author said "The site doesn't appear to be officially affiliated with the UN at all", commenter 4 has a link to the UN's World Food Programme that says freerice.com is a way to donate to the UN.Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, I'm not endorsing the take from ReadWriteWeb. He could also be wrong about his perceptions of the business model. And even if the creator is taking more of a cut from the advertising than one might be comfortable with...
If spending time on the site is something you are doing in addition to whatever other charity activities you might engage in, then I don't see the harm. It's better than playing on Yahoo Games or whatever.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
I see no reason to call it a "scam" or imply that it's not "legit." It's a scam if no rice is being donated. It's not legit if no rice is being donated. (Or if the amounts claimed on the website are false, etc. etc. etc.) Other than that...
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Is 50 the highest it goes? I notice that when I get 3 in a row right at level 49 I advance to level 50. Then I've gotten as many as five (I think) right at level 50 without advancing. Has anyone figured out how it works yet exactly? Does it take 3 correct answers in a row to advance to the next level? It seems to demote me to the level below with every word I miss.
Right now I'm at 18,780 grains of rice and counting. I like this because it's a fun mindless thing to do and it builds vocabulary. The rice donations are over and above that. The ads aren't annoying so I have no objection generation ad revenue for someone by clicking the button. I do hope they give a substantial cut of their intake to aid in world hunger relief. But if it turns out to be only a small slice, I'll be disappointed but it's still a fun game.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I wish you would get more grains for harder words. That would make it even more addictive, though. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Tatiana: Is 50 the highest it goes? I notice that when I get 3 in a row right at level 49 I advance to level 50. Then I've gotten as many as five (I think) right at level 50 without advancing. Has anyone figured out how it works yet exactly? Does it take 3 correct answers in a row to advance to the next level? It seems to demote me to the level below with every word I miss.
You got it. Three to advance, one to demote, and 50's the highest. I don't think they expected Hatrack vocabulary levels.
I average around 39. This is such a great procrastination tool. I do need to get working though.
Posts: 1056 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I still only very rarely end up in the 47-48 range, I seem to keep falling back into the 45-46 range.
It's gotten to the point that I've done so many 45-46 words that I have their answeres almost memorized. So, I breeze up to 47, then fall back into 46, then breeze up again.
Ironically, I now have a harder time with levels 42-43, since I've seen so few of those words. Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:The program keeps track of how many people get each word right or wrong, and then adjusts each word’s difficulty level accordingly. So the words at the easiest levels are the ones that people most often get right. The words at the hardest levels are the ones that people most often get wrong. As more and more people have played the game, these levels have become increasingly more accurate.
It would be interesting to run the program only on the Hatrack subset. I probably wouldn't be able to crack 40.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
FlyingCow, that's my experience too, down to the number ranges. I've only made it to 48 ~3 or 4 times. Now that I have learned more of the 44-46 level words, I hope to get higher.
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
I hope they keep adding more good words. I wonder how the words are selected. It's fun to learn new words, and these are some good ones.
We used to play a game where you just read through the dictionary until you find an interesting word that you think the other person might not know, then ask it. Each word asked is written down with its definition, and at the end of the game, you go back and ask again to see how many you remembered.
With that game, though, you had to read a whole page of the dictionary usually to find one good word that wasn't so obscure and unusable that it wouldn't be of any interest, and that was arcane enough that it was likely to be new to the players (my family). It was quite hard to find good words. A whole lot of the dictionary is obscure botanical terms, or zoological, or terms from some other specialty that wouldn't be solidly useful in normal conversation.
These, however, mostly are. I wonder how they came up with the words and definitions. Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
The highest I've made it so far is 45. My question is: How many grains of rice are in an average bowl of rice? I'm trying to wrap my head around how much food I've actually donated by getting 1000 grains or so.
posted
Enigmatic, I think 1000 grains would make a good sized bowl of rice. That's from picturing what 10 grains looks like in my rice bowl, and multiplying that times 10 and then times 10 again.
If I use 25g, though, and compare with a 16 oz bag of rice, it doesn't end up as much. It comes to only .88 oz. I'd say for a good size bowl you need to start with about 2 oz dry rice.
Is the 1000 grains = 25 grams a good conversion factor? Where did that come from?
I found this number: 20 g (ca. 600 grains) from an agricultural paper on rice grain size. That gives 33 g per 1000 grains, which is like 1/3 more. That seems like a better guesstimate to me. So I think 1000 grains about 1.2 ounces dry which ought to make one bowlful. Not a huge bowl, but a decent sized bowl.
posted
Now I know all the words at level 50. There are a few words I don't know scattered through the other levels, though. But it's not fun anymore. I hope they add more words soon. I can't be the only one.
I have done 40,000 grains so far, but unless they add some words soon, I probably won't do much more.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm so glad that it turns out that it caps at 50. I thought it capped, like, at 100 and I was just hammering myself against a vocab ceiling.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I went straight to level 44 without a mistake, and then started getting about 1 mistake every 15 words or so. But I take no credit for it. I read Stephen R. Donaldson books, and their vocabulary list sounds like it's extracted from the Covenant books.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Lisa, I learned a lot of words from the Thomas Covenant books! That was one of the things I liked the most about them, how many cool new words I learned. I started underlining any words I didn't know in my paperbacks and making a mark on the edge of the book so I could find them again later and look them up when I was at the computer.
Coruscated was one I remember from there. What are some of the others you saw on freerice? That's the only one I can think of.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
Has anyone gotten higher than Shigosei's 50? I've been competing with some friends and I'm curious how high the levels go.
Though my current record is still 47 and I'm finding it extremely hard to even get that high again, so it probably doesn't matter.
Posts: 3420 | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
50 is definitely the highest level. I got to the point that I stayed on 50 almost continuously, so that it became quite tedious. I would love to see them add some higher levels on it, and many new words.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
