Open Source For Good
From WikiForGood
Open Source Government
Peer-to-Patent opens the patent examination process to public participation for the first time. Become part of this historic program. Help the USPTO find the information relevant to assessing the claims of pending patent applications. Become a community reviewer and improve the quality of patents.
Open Source Science
If You Have a Problem, Ask Everyone (July 22, 2008) This article in the Science Times section of the NY Times describes a "huge shift in popular culture from consuming to participating...It is sometimes called open-source science." The article focuses mostly on the example of a company called InnoCentive that "links organizations (seekers) with problems (challenges) to people all over the world (solvers) who win cash prizes for resolving them." For example, a guy who knew how to keep cement from setting by vibrating it, solved the problem of how to keep oil from freezing in tanks in Alaska, and won $20,000 from the Oil Spill Recovery Institute for his idea. Very cool stuff.
Visit BOINC or Grid.org to donate your unused computer power to scientific research projects that help to cure diseases, study climate change and more. It's free, and it helps!
Fold It Gamers have devoted countless years of collective brainpower to rescuing princesses or protecting the planet against alien invasions. This week researchers at the University of Washington will try to harness those finely honed skills to make medical discoveries, perhaps even finding a cure for HIV. A new game, named Foldit, turns protein folding into a competitive sport. Introductory levels teach the rules, which are the same laws of physics by which protein strands curl and twist into three-dimensional shapes -- key for biological mysteries ranging from Alzheimer's to vaccines. (From Science Daily)
Firefly Watch combines an annual summer evening ritual with scientific research. Join a network of volunteers; observe your own backyard; track your progress online and interact with fellow Citizen Scientists; help scientists map fireflies found in New England and beyond; no specific scientific training required; participating in Firefly Watch requires just a fraction of your time.
Galaxy Zoo The public has been invited to help astronomers classify galaxies into simple categories based on visual inspection of digital images. This task is critical to understanding how galaxies form and evolve over eons. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is taking images of a large portion of the sky and will eventually find a million galaxies. With such a large number of galaxies, astronomers can finally begin to understand how they form and evolve by comparing various populations to each other with large enough numbers to draw real conclusions about their origin. Thousands of people have already begun to help inspect galaxy images and to classify them. You can help too! It's easy and fun!
Computer Programs
Open Office The leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
GIMP is the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed piece of software for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It works on many operating systems and in many languages.
