A wiki is usually designed around a single site with a single goal. Data is stored in a specific location (e.g. wikipedia's database) and users interact with the somewhat simple tools that are provided by that wiki. Despite these simple tools, complex social guidelines seem to emerge in most successful wikis. This implies that next generation wikis might not need complex tool support. This could be an interesting project if we were allowed to explore the implications of this idea. For instance, the entire web could be considered a wiki as we can easily build simple tools that allow interaction with any web-page. To be concrete I think it would be really cool to build a Firefox plugin that allows users to edit any web-page they are visiting at any point in time. If I disagree with a news article on CNN, for instance, I should be able to "edit" that content and then have that overlay with anyone else that wants to see my edits to that specific web page. With simple tools, the entire web could be a wiki and, if the tools an interface allow it, a social contract could evolve for this "wiki" much as one has with wikipedia. This would be a relatively involved project, but a prototype would certainly be feasible by the end of the semester.

The thing that I found particularly interesting about this project is that it tries to find ways to make the voices of the minority. Truely creative ideas are many times in the minority when they are first concieved and I think it would be very interesting to finda way to make them more easily noticed. I am a little unsure about what the word "develop" means in this project. Does this mean that the project would consist of writing actual code or is it more of a research and design project? I have very little experience with developing wikis but I have been a part of testing out new wiki SW. My senior class was given to try out a wiki site called Brainkeeper and so I have some ideas about what I liked and what I did not like.

I have been kicking around the idea of a wiki which is not just an editable page, but an editable book. What if we treated a textbook the same way as a wiki page? Students and teachers can revise the book along the way, adding supplemental information which couldn't be added and archived in a paper textbook. If a student found a really cool youtube video of nuclear fission they could easily add/link to it from the appropriate spot in the wikibook. If there is a typo a student could fix it. If a grad student wants to add a chapter, it would be an easy way to get your name published. It would be great if students could ask relevant question right at the relevant paragraph, and have that question turn into a mini forum where other students and professors could answer. This would turn the wikibook into not only an editable book but a way for people to communicate about what they are reading.

I really enjoy the thought of open source software, platforms and portals. I've been thinking about taking the idea of the wiki ( a place that everyone can contribute) and projecting it onto a larger scale. A country, for example, can have a unified wiki where information about the best tourist spots, what funding farmers need, how many children are in need of doctors and much more. A wiki that has a couple main sections (education, health, politics, ...) and under each one subgroups of ideas, challenges, needs, and funding. This will allow countries to work faster. An analogy could be - humans walked now they have cars and then they had planes. This could be the same for how countries function, they can now grow in a much faster way (from cars to planes). This wiki can enable people from around the country to understand the problems of their land and collaborate to solve them. A handcraft owner doesn't need to wait for someone to pass by their store to make a living, they can sell it on the wiki (like Craig's list). There are so many possibilities to discover through this wiki.