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.)
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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.