>This sounds like a project on Wikibooks - more or less writing textbooks.
>Is there more to it than that?
Yes, there is. Firstly, it's on a rather specific theme - and a very wide
range of businesses. Just like an encyclopedia is a set of books, any
information could be packaged as such. But this is not meant as course
material for a school or university. It is meant as a set of work manuals.
As such, each manual must cover information in a consistent way. The same
set of headings, the same way of detailing information.
More importantly, every input that is required for a business is the product
of another business. So too with every output. These inputs and outputs
can be tracked to create a webwork showing the interaction of different
businesses (slightly different from just a set of textbooks). This also
allows for the tracking of required infrastructure and support.
So, if I want to start a grain mill, then there have to be farms nearby.
There also needs to be transport, harvesting, maintenance for the mill. If
there is no electricity, then that changes the type of mill I can operate.
And so on. It provides insight into limiting factors preventing targetted
industries from getting off the ground (inputs unavailable) while providing
the necessary info on how to get input industries up and running.
Just as helpful is that the outputs must have a market. No good producing
plastic bottles if no-one wants to use them.
This is very helpful for people looking for gaps in the market but who
aren't sure if it is worthwhile or what supply and demand is required.
Products have direct and indirect markets. For example: rubber washers are
used to make wheels in crafted wire cars; old wooden palattes (from the
logistics industry) are broken down to make prefabricated walls for houses.
Each topic can give novel ideas for inputs and outputs that may extend
products into new industries.
Each topic covers the necessary inputs, outputs - and how to get from the
one to the other.
In the long term it will become possible to develop a simple checklist to
ascertain what gaps exist for what opportunities (similar to the way
biologists have a species identification system: does it have this type of
leaf, go to pg 73, does it have these nodules? .... until you get to a
specific set of possibilities).
This project is distinct. Otherwise one could argue that wikibooks is just
another permutation of wikipedia.
Regards,
Gavin
I have set up three new Wikinews editions in accordance with community
support:
http://sv.wikinews.org/http://es.wikinews.org/http://fr.wikinews.org/
The page for requesting new editions is at:
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikinews/Start_a_new_edition
I'm not counting signatures without links to user pages on Meta or
elsewhere for now, both because there has been lots of anonymous voting,
and because I think a serious contributor could at least go to the
effort of creating a user page.
Let me know if there are any problems. The logo can be put into place by
uploading a file called Wiki.png.
The next editions likely to be created are Bulgarian and Chinese.
Regards,
Erik
Dear members of the foundaton,
I'm a user of Estonian (Võrok) and English Wikipedia (Võrolang) and a native speaker,
researcher and activist of the Võro language spoken in Estonia. Võro (native name Võro
or Võro kiil´) belongs to the Finnic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. It has about
70.000 speakers mostly in southern Estonia.
Language codes (not yet official) are Vro and Vr. See more about Võro in
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Võro and http://www.wi.ee/.
I and my friends would like to begin with Võro language Wikipedia. We can translate
Estonian language file to Võro (actually we have already started) and begin with
creation of new articles. Of course your objection may be that there are too few
speakers of Võro. Yes, but the speakers are quite active and computerized people and
the Võro language community needs an encyclopedia in their own language. I'm sure the
number of potential editors in Võro is not smaller than the Kashoub, Cornish, Gaelic,
Faroese or Saami's or many other small languages' one. I have discussed the idea of
Võro Wikipedia with Estonian Wikipedia developers: Andres, Ker, Klaus etc.
(http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikipeedia:Community_Portal#V.C3.B5rukeelne_Wi…).
They are supporting the idea and will help us. I hope you will support us too.
Best regards, Võrolang -- 80.235.61.143 11:33, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)
Yes. Many , many and many good ideas just went away because there were
no enough resources to carry them on, no matter in academic
,industrial or even personal areas. And some of them are really
beneficial to human beings.
Thus, It is really good to have a centralized place to put those
immature, discontinued ideas and let any others to refine them and
realize them. All of the participants must agree to contribute their
ideas and efforts to the general public.
However, you got the point: we need a practical license for this type
of intellectual property. Mostly it contradicts the current patent
laws. Just like free software contradicts copyright. We need a
"Stallman" in this area too,.
My basic assumption here is: To a better future of human being, we
need share many more than just knowledge. Knowledge is just rice and
flour. There are many more important things we need to spread and pass
down: such as wisdom and good ideas.
Simply to know something does not help us too much, we need to find
good ideas about how to use these knowledge and produce something
brand new. I'd like to be a person knowing a little and produce
something rather than a person knowing a lot but produce nothing.
Best regards.
On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 12:00:45 +0000, Adam Moniz <envsci(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Share_your_ideas
>
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Share_your_ideas
>
> Hi,
>
> I was just about to make a new suggestion for a wikideas section then
> I found. This is exactly what I had in mind. I'd obviously be willing
> to put a little into it, I totally agree that one of the main peices
> of work is to modify the GPL to create an ideas licence rather than a
> software licence.
>
> I think wikideas is quite a catchy title and would suit this project.
>
> One of the main reasons I'd like such a project to exist is because I
> have many ideas I'd love to create wikis on in www.wikipedia.org but
> i'm not sure if they'd allow my wakcy theories to count as fact. I
> could even create a section on "Adam Moniz" :-P an autobiograhy that
> becomes a biography as more and more people who dislike me discover
> the page. :-)
>
> I believe wikideas is a very powerful proposition. This is because in
> order to contribute to the current academic system you have to be
> involved in research, but there appears to be many areas where
> individual thought on a mass scale could yield results, areas of
> philosophy and current affairs are good examples. It's difficult to
> explain why I think this would be the case. Good luck with this
> project and get in touch. :-)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Adam Moniz
>
--
Be good....
There is nothing mysterious about creating wealth. The right environment combined with the right people automatically results in lots of opportunities creating jobs and money.
The difficulty is that neither the policy makers, nor the entrepreneurs know how to communicate with each other or what each needs. In countries where the entire social order has broken down, neither group knows how to do anything at all.
Wikineur provides resources to each group:
a.. Policymakers: Macro- and micro-economic policies, key legal requirements and mechanisms to support enterprise creation. Tax policy. Project how-to's that successfully introduce the concepts of small business. Business support systems, mentorship and training guides. Financial support models.
b.. Entrepreneurs: Small business strategy, marketing programs, branding, financial systems, bookkeeping. Staff training, employment contracts and conduct. Specific industry guidelines and how to such as restaurants, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture, and so on.
The idea behind Wikineur is that it acts as a complete resource to set up a state from scratch with all the institutions required to support the economy. There is also information on how to run a business in general, as well as information on how to run any specific type of business.
Wikineur becomes a resource for policymakers to see what laws and institutions would assist with generating economic development; and for entrepreneurs to see what sort of businesses they could start, and how.
I have ten years experience at running economic development projects in South Africa. I clearly do not have knowledge of all the topics to be covered but have a fair idea of the broad framework required. This could become an excepionally powerful teaching tool in developing countries.
The complete project proposal and outline is available at: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikineur
Your support would be much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Gavin Chait
South Africa
Thank you for the feedback (both constructive and other). I have revised
the proposal, taking into consideration all current concerns. The basic
proposal now covers the following:
Most businesses are not world beating global giants. They are tiny corner
stores run by families who raise their kids, put them through school and
battle to cover their bonds and responsibilities. Starting a business may
not have been their first choice.
People who find themselves running their own business have few resources
they can call on and there is little generic information available to help.
These problems become even more overwhelming in developing countries where
infrastructure and educational support are lacking.
This project aims to address these shortcomings by providing generic
information on a range of business topics, both general and specific, to
support business and job creation.
I will continue to revise the proposal as I receive further feedback.
Please read the complete revised proposal at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikineur and read my curriculum vitae at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Whythawk
Again, I value all constructive feedback and thank you so much to those who
have taken the time to contact me.
Kind regards,
Gavin Chait
Trade Standard is a project proposal for:
(a) a public knowledge base for all information about goods, technology and
(way of) trade to stimulate international development,
(b) a public ethic standard and indicator to evaluate international trade
and industry and
(c) a public register to verify the ethic classification of goods,
technology and trade.
Although its high aim is Trade Standard an internet platform very equal to
Wikipedia. The only differences are: (1) focus on technical and ethical
subjects, (2) equal layouts for all articles, including a chapter for
"ethical, social and sustainable characteristics". And (3) the addition of
registers to list the ethical characteristics of chemicals, products etc.
Trade Standard is a project with high potential that (a) stimulates
international spread of free (technical) information, (b) connects
technology with ethics and (c) offers a solution to upgrade today's very
conservative, 'lowest standards'-oriented culture of international trade and
industry.
Please help me with this project, I am a designer of post-modern concepts
not an software specialist or insider in wiki procedures.
Read the whole project proposal at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trade_Standard
Best regards,
Erik Koopman
NL
Hi all
I wasn't sure who to ask about this so I just came to the top (I think?).
If you look at the bottom of the page:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Electronics
There is reference to
"Resources that are not yet covered by the Permission Form
1. Tony R. Kuphaldt's Lessons in Electric Circuits
(http://www.faqs.org/docs/electric/DC/index.html)"
I'll be honest and say that I would be super keen on someone getting
hold of this author and at least finding out if they could be convinced
to release their content. Is there anyone who does this on behalf of
Wiki* or is it just something that happens spontaneously sometimes?
I have tried to contact Tony Kuphaldt but he's never responded to any of
my emails. Has anyone else ever actually discussed releasing his content
with him?
Thanks,
Mark
--
--
Mark Horner
Jabber/AIM/Yahoo: marknewlyn
Co-author:
http://www.nongnu.org/fhssthttp://savannah.gnu.org/projects/fhsst
"Life is but a seg-fault away ...
Life received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x42074d40 in calloc () from /lib/i686/liblife.so.6"
Regarding the queries sent through.
I have spent the past ten years working in economic development in South
Africa. My organisation (Business Beat) has been quite successful off a
very low base.
I think the queries have made an assumption regarding both wealth and the
idea of a state. In countries throughout Africa (and developing countries
elsewhere) poverty is endemic. Most of this is as a result of war,
dictatorships are kleptocracies. Anyone who knew how to do anything has
left the country. In places like Liberia, Mozambique, etc the only people
who run businesses are foreigners who come in and set up shop. No-one knows
how to farm. The government basically runs as a proxy of the IMF.
In South Africa we have 40% unemployment.
All across the world creating an "ideal" environment for entrepreneurs has
become vitally important. WTO conferences, GEM report ... lots of research
and information. What is emerging as a standard set of criteria. Tax
harmonisation being one of them.
I'm not suggesting that we give specific advice on how to fill in your
income tax return. But, there are ways in which taxation can be made
simpler. I have spent a year on a panel set up by the South African
government to simplify taxation for small business (I'm the nominal
entrepreneur on the team). We studied 15 countries systems across both the
developed and developing world - while the specific numbers (i.e. tax rates)
may be different, there is surprising conformity in the way good systems
work, and where bad systems break down.
However, even if you have doubts about introducing recommendations on
policy, I believe that a resource that informs people as to how specific
types of businesses work would be extremely helpful. The resource will not
be able to tell you how to become Bill Gates. 99.9% of businesses are
"lifestyle" businesses - places run by families doing mundane things like
laundromats, diners, stationery shops, and so on. More importantly, the
simplest businesses are the most important in states where everything is
broken.
A friend of mine is currently working with the UN in Liberia. There is
nothing. No roads. No electricity. No running water. No sanitation. All
that is left are a few bombed out buildings. A resource that says - this is
how you farm, this is how you dig irrigation, etc - and most importantly -
this is how it all fits in a business context so you don't have to wait for
international donor aid (which is probably all going to tsunami victims
right now).
As for everyone's "shock" at my claim that wealth is easy. Four years ago I
developed a project to demonstrate just how easy it is to earn a living. I
called it The Thousand Rand Challenge. R 1 000 :: $ 200. We invited people
to send us business ideas that would cost only $ 200 to start. We selected
the best ideas and candidates, helped them develop their business plans,
provided them with the money, and got them started. On average, over the
past four years of running this event, people turn $ 600 per month by the
end of the fourth month. That may not sound like much, but going from
nothing to an income that (in a poor country) allows you to feed your
family, send the kids to school and live in a proper house (instead of a
plastic and cardboard shack) is outstanding.
The Western Cape government likes the idea so much that we are currently
preparing to launch a project that would create 1 000 businesses based on
this model. None of these businesses would excite you: painting, building,
welding, cookies, fried fish. Nothing world beating. It doesn't have to
be.
I'm suggesting setting up a how-to manual. It doesn't have to be
prescriptive. There is no suggestion of setting up monopolies (no
anti-trust problems).
As for me and why I feel I can do this (but need help simply because it
would take me forever to do this on my own): I have developed training and
methodology used widely in South Africa for teaching entrepreneurship and
supporting new businesses. I am happy to make this publicly available. I
have chatted to other industry professionals who are willing to put up
generic plans for different types of businesses. We'll make it part of
future Thousand Rand Challenges.
I work on paid consulting work about 5 hours per week and earn $ 100 000 per
year. That may not sound like much in the US, but it's quite a lot here.
The rest of the time I work on economic development in nearby shanty towns,
or go kayaking or climbing the mountain.
Poverty is horrifying. It is raining today and down the road from me half a
million people are living inside plastic and cardboard single room shacks.
I have assisted over 1 000 businesses to start in the past ten years,
creating 15 000 jobs. But, to even touch poverty in this country, we have
to find employment for over 6 million people. No matter how hard I work, I
cannot put together enough information or disseminate it quickly enough. As
for governments, our president doesn't even believe that AIDS exists.
Only something like Wikineur could put a dent in the problem in our
lifetimes.
Really, it won't be hard. We just have to start.
Gavin