Good idea

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Saw this on the news Tess and I are playing. Its a great idea.

http://freerice.com/

[Milo Christensen]

Saw this on the news Tess and I are playing. Its a great idea.

http://freerice.com/

Can't get to the web site.

But a quick google leads to multiple people asking a very good question:
Is FreeRice.com making $150k each day in profits? (http://www.thepcspy.com/read/is_freericecom_making_150k_each_day_in_profits)

More here (http://perigee.livejournal.com/414894.html?thread=1898414)

We don't know, it's not a registered charity. Send the UN a dollar or oppose ethanol from food and do something really worthwhile.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Can't get to the web site.

But a quick google leads to multiple people asking a very good question:
Is FreeRice.com making $150k each day in profits? (http://www.thepcspy.com/read/is_freericecom_making_150k_each_day_in_profits)

More here (http://perigee.livejournal.com/414894.html?thread=1898414)

We don't know, it's not a registered charity. Send the UN a dollar or oppose ethanol from food and do something really worthwhile.

From Milo's site


I'm going edge around this one carefully because what FreeRice is indeed a noble idea. Ending poverty and needless starvation around the world is something that should happen. The maths (and some conclusions) in this post are from the school of napkin-mathematics and should be treated as such. If you see any massive errors, wang me an email or pop in a comment and I'll correct it right away.

[Michael s/v Sannyasin]

More importantly, what language level did you get too? :-D

[Yeadon]

Looks like a Social Venture business model, versus that of a straight for profit like Wal-Mart, or non-profit model like your local musuem. Sort of something in the middle, where the first people paid are the charities, then the employees. This model is sort of a new, but rising way of doing business.

Better World Books (http://www.betterworld.com)is like that, too. They collect donated textbooks from college campuses and out of date books from libraries, then sell the used (plus some new books) online to make money for literacy programs in the US and around the world. They pay the charities, then they pay themselves.

Good idea, as long as you're out front in which model you are. Non-profits have a tough time attracting and retaining top-notch employees because, well, they don't make any money, while all-for-profit businesses tend to suck the souls of their employees, because money is what they are all about.

The third model is something in-between. No perfect answers here.

[Keith Wilson]

I heard the guy who runs it (there's only one guy) on the radio a couple of days ago. He's paying for the servers out of his own pocket, and the food is donated. He says he hopes eventually it will make enough of a surplus to pay for the server time. Nobody's making any money - unless he's lying through his teeth, which I doubt.

I got up to 50, but it was a struggle! Most of the time I stick at 47 or 48.