I/O Hackers unite! Tackle injustice, hack life in Canada, save our planet.

OK, we know it's not like in the movies. No one types so fast their fingers sound like rain falling. You can't just pull an algorithm out of thin air.

But it is like this: giant companies have essentially seized control of every essential human need and they're busy escalating prices, pushing down wages, and gutting the quality of everything. Consider bankers. They did maybe 20 hours work total setting up your mortgage. And for that, they want a massive slice of your paycheck for the rest of your life? But all they're doing is running a computer program.

Then there's manufacturing. Most of what you buy is not that hard to make. The price is high, because the income extremist owners simply add $20 to the price tag. You can make it better faster. But you need help. A century ago, machines greatly improved productivity. Now it's computers. And computers running machines. CNC for example. It's now affordable and ideal for local community scale manufacturing and consumption. Which is exactly what we need to turn things around. Save the planet. Create work for yourself. Gain a secure sustainable life. Which is exactly what the bankers are not doing. You see how it works.

The problem most programmers have is that this is creative work requiring a long time to develop before possible sales. A program may be the product you sell, but for those who buy the program it's just a tool to do something else. Either save money (and time!) or use it to make something to sell, a product or a service. Add to that mix the high cost of living, or low wages coupled to insane rental or real estate prices, and it's a mix for disaster. You can work for years and get nowhere. Even if you've made something to sell, marketing and sales is a whole other venture.

Then there's this other problem. Finding people to work with. People who also have bills to pay. If you can't support yourself, how can you add another person to the mix? Especially when it's your project, not theirs. There's almost nowhere to post to connect with others to get projects done. Even entrepreneurship centers and groups keep entrepreneurs from connecting. Instead of letting people describe what they're working on in an introductory talk circle, they do this top-down "let us tell you because we know" thing. Everyone knows that if you take a group of students, lay out a problem and break students into groups, within an hour they can stand up and present solutions. But all those social media and job sites? They all make money coming between people seeking and offering help.

This Wiki, for example, is best done on it's own site with Wikimedia software. Or consider Venture Hours, Hours Bank, Education Hours, Help Hours and Paid Hours, all requiring additional programming, perhaps Java forms and databases. That basic accounting is key to insurance systems, banking and loans. But Venture Hours is exactly what you need to work with others on a startup that MAY one day pay off. It takes time to work out who does what. But typically, a bad deal upfront based on a fast forceful conversation becomes a major problem later. We have for example Microsoft. The entire company structure, decided after the first weeks work and the first client. Many people came in later with better ideas, which they got nothing for.

This Wiki aims to connect people directly. Sometimes you need help. Sometimes you are willing to help. Sometimes you need a team to get a venture going. Any business requires a lot of thought from many perspectives. That's what a team can do. Bring in those multiple perspectives and many talents. It's like this. One person has a rototiller. Another person has a truck. Separated, they're unemployed. Together, they have a summer lawn & garden business.

As a programmer, one thing you need is basis life support. While developing, you need to cut the cost of living. You may want to work with others. One solution to all that is an Invent Camp. You're pitching in with others to buy land bulk, for a purpose. There's other things you can do with land as well.

We also need an online voting system, one where people can vote on the issues. Read about the issue, then agree or disagree. Improve the issue. Bring the best ideas to the top. Deal with the most urgent issues in our lives first. Read, then check agree or disagree, perhaps on a scale of 1 to 5.. A smart form of democracy. Then, in a summary sentence, vote Yes or No. 

You know those are just a few examples. A century ago, during the industrial revolution, company owners grabbed everything for themselves, making life hell for everyone else. Now, it's computers. Computer systems make billions for a few, and are used to control everyone else to such an extent that wages are forced low and prices are forced high at a global scale. You have no say over anything that impacts your life and future. It's a bad scene, set to get worse. Nothing is being done about the major events that are collapsing our lives and the planet. We have to do something. I/O Hackers, we need your help!

Add your name here if you know how to do things and want to help others or find people to work with:

Add your name here if you need help and have skills and things to offer.      [If you need a team to build and sell something, you can also try over in Ventures.]