Welcome to SHAREDSOLUTIONS pbWiki !
. . . Because Every Problem Should Have A Solution
Introduction
Dear Visitor,
The concept behind the SharedSolutions wiki is based upon these observations:
During the course of our lifetimes, we are all faced with countless problems to solve. These are of many types, such as of a technical, phiolosophical, social and personal nature. They also vary in levels of significance and urgency.
Most of us, most of the time, set about the task of dealing with our problems in a private manner--usually by ourselves. Less often, we solicit the advice, knowledge and wisdom of a few, trusted others; family, friends and partners typically make up this list. Occasionally, we seek solutions via some kind of research: we may read a book or article on a topic germane to our issue at hand. Far more rarely, we have the opportunity to pick the mind of an expert or mentor.
But now, with the revolutionary tool of the internet, we can both expand our scope of research and improve the chances of finding a solution to our problems via communication with knowledgeable persons. Fantastically, these are people whom we most likely would never have even heard of, much less conversed with, save for the Internet.
Countless bulliten boards, news groups, clubs and special interest sites on every subject imaginable have sprung up, just within the last decade, and exploded to truly impressive numbers even more recently. Ironically, this phenomena has now created a new kind of problem--a glut of data which is increasingly difficult to sort through.
Yes, Google continues to be a fantastic remedy for helping us sift through the chaf to find the kernels of useful information, but there are still no truly efficient ways of matching one party's problem with another party's solution.
Wouldn't it be fabulous if there was a website that catalogued and categorized various visitors' problems and then allowed other visitors to search through that list and then offer potential solutions to the ones they had some insight or expertise about? I once brashly wrote an email to Bill Gates about this very idea over 8 years ago; as expected, I didn't get a reply, but I still think it's a wide-open idea, and it inspired me to initiate this wiki.
Recently, I found a site similar to the concept of this wiki already in existance, it's called
INNOCENTIVE, and can be reached at this link: http://www.innocentive.com
The way INNOCENTIVE seems to function is to match up highly technical problems, presently limited to those of a chemical, biological or pharmaceutical nature, with highly trained persons who may become their problem solvers. The angle INNOCENTIVE relies upon for its success is that those parties posting problems offer monetary rewards as incentive to scientists visiting the site (hence the name). And many of the payoffs are impressively large; in the tens of thousands of dollars, for instance.
But INNOCENTIVE seems to be a resource more for corporations to pick the brains of hundreds of scientists who are not on their payrolls. And, as mentioned, so far it limits the scope of the type of problems it deals with to just a few branches of science about highly technical and essoteric topics.
Therefore, I propose starting this wiki to create a site with the mission of establishing a clearinghouse of problems in search of solutions of a far broader spectrum.
If you would like to post a problem here in order to seek ideas and suggestions toward a solution, then please do so. Conversely, if you would like to offer a soltion to a problem already posted, we obviously welcome that as well.
Incidentally, this being a wiki, the way this wiki actully goes about its mission is also a problem in evolution, shaped by the changing forces of innovative ideas as they are developed by you, the participants.
Earnestly,
Les Garwood, founder 
SharedSolutions
8-15-05|
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