Wikimedia is not a wiki hosting service. try:
... yes I looked at the wiki home page, and I realize now that it would be
improper to link a specific subject off of
wikipedia.org.
That being said - I still think there is a big hole that could be
filled in the wikimedia foundation, whilst providing good public service.
And that is in the area of free-form research.
The thing I had in mind was a place where freeform discussion is done on
energy - or other policy - issues, which is copyleft and meant to ultimately
produce multiple books (which may or may not as have an ongoing online presence).
Its also not really an encyclopedia - example subject(s) might be:
graph - oil use since 1900
the solar energy constant - space versus earth
the perils of energy forecasting
the efficiency of photosynthesis in C3 and C4 plants
photovoltaics versus solar towers
percentage of clean coal installations
EROEIs of various fuels
oil versus hydrogen as an energy carrier
Energy feed costs of different types of domesticates
the shortcomings of windmills
ie - the topics might relate multiple subjects together and talk about
them in tandem as opposed to being talked about separately. And each
is meant to be a research project, they are not meant to be viewed as
text in a book.
As far as I'm concerned, this type of activity is just as basic - and just
as needed as a free encyclopedia or dictionary, because it brings people
of multiple disciplines together on scientific issues. And IMO it belongs
front and center - I truly believe that the right interdisciplinary
research projects could change the world. For example, just look at
Vaclav Smil's 'Biospheres' or 'Energies'. If everyone in the world
truly understood what he had to say, we would be a lot better off.
Anyways, I'm not sure what I would call this type of sister project:
wiki research? wiki policy? wiki interdiscipline?
Ed
(ps - is the foundation-l list the right place to talk about this stuff?
If so, I'll post there.)
----
context
ok, here goes.. (I'll keep it brief)
context
I'm pretty dismayed about the energy situation out
there, and in particular,
how popular literature has distorted the energy picture out there, for either
economic or political agendas.
Hence, I'm trying to create a 'comprehensive energy picture' that is as
free as agendas as possible. The idea is to get the 'big ideas and numbers'
and put them in a format that makes it easy for the average educated
reader to understand. Then, to distribute them as *wide* as possible -
the goal is to make it a focal point for people's discussion, and cover
energy issues from all perspectives.
I've talked to a hell of a lot of energy analysts in various disciplines, and
have come to the conclusion that the best way to do this would be via wiki.
The project would consist of two parts:
1) an open, public wiki that is in the form of hierarchical discussion pages
which sort out basic facts and principles.
2) paper publication(s) based on the first wiki, also in wiki form (I'm in the
process of writing a wiki based on the media wiki schema which provides
services like pagination, typesetting and index support).
The second one(s) would be endorsed, supported, and if
possible edited by
as recognizable names as possibly can be found - hopefully due to the large
public reach of wiki, this would be someone or someones *very* recognizable.
Anything to make the public at large listen.