This is pretty much the concept behind FreeRice, an online initiative taken by UN World Food Program. The way it works is simple, you go to www.freerice.com, play the simple wordgame there, and for every word you get right, 20 grains of rice are donated to UN WFP.

WFP is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger. Operations aim to:

Save lives in refugee crises and other emergencies

Improve nutrition and quality of life of world’s most vulnerable people at critical times in their lives

Enable development by (a) helping people build assets that benefit them directly; (b) promoting the self-reliance of poor people and communities

So if you are reading this, please visit www.freerice.com. While you build up your vocabulary, a lesser priviliged individual might get a meal.

Its that time of the year again. The time when 22 mean and fast machines line up in a row, waiting for the five sets of lights to go red. Yes, it is Formula 1 time again.

The last season was nothing short of spectacular. The simmering rivalry between rookie Lewis Hamilton & his champion team-mate Fernando Alonso was the talk of most of the season, until F1 was engulfed in the ugliest controversy the sport has seen in years. The spying scandal saw McLaren stripped of all its constructor’s title points, and short of $100 million. The drivers’ championship did go down to the wire, with Hamilton & Alonso losing the championship by just one point to Ferrari’s Raikonnen.

But 2008 is going to be a totally different season, with major changes in rules. (more…)

As the countdown begins for another Women’s Day, I have a few thoughts that are bouncing around in my head. So here I go.

The buzzword that is heard around these days is women empowerment. For women to be empowered, independent & free of any form of oppression is essential for a positive evolution of the society. The blame for women not being any of these has traditionally been dumped on the males. The Indian society has long had a patriarchal setup, which had gone unquestioned for centuries. Even laws like the Hindu Marriage Act, and the Hindu Undivided Family Act had been biased for several years in the favor of men. Now this is all changed. CBSE has made the Mother’s name an entry with equal importance as the Father’s name, a women has equal power, and can demand her fair share in family property or her husband’s property.

The number of educated women in the country has gone up. More and more women are taking up higher education, and becoming doctors, engineers, lawyers et al. The Times of India in its buildup to Women’s Day writes, “Its a women’s world!!”

Is it?
(more…)

I have the following message coming up when I log in to my flickr account:

Hey ashchopra! About your photos…

You’ve run into one of the limits of a free account. Your free account will only display the most recent 200 photos you’ve uploaded. All of your photos beyond 200 will remain hidden from view until you either delete newer photos, or upgrade to a Pro account.

None of your photos have been deleted, and if you upgrade, they’ll all come back unharmed.

So basically, if I ever want to see all my snaps, I better pay Yahoo $25…hmm….sounds like one of those extortion calls we hear so much of in the movies. Shame on you Yahoo. If you are so short of cash, maybe you should have let Microsoft buy you out!!

Bad bad yahoo…!!!!! No $25 for you!!!