Via Judd Bagley from Overstock.com:

As you may know, I’ve spent the past few months as director of social media at Overstock.com creating something we’re calling Omuse, which is an open environment for people with similar interests to find one another and jointly “write the book” on the activities that most inspire them.

We’ve just entered an open beta phase and I want to give you the opportunity to get acquainted with Omuse and, if you wish, be among our earliest contributors. At this point, the question we most frequently hear is: “what should I write about?” The answer is simple: Imagine you won the lottery tomorrow and never had to work again. What activity would you immediately set about doing day after day? This is likely the activity that most inspires you, though the one most people around you – spouses included – don’t entirely “get.”

It may be the same thing you blog about, but not likely. It’s almost certainly not the thing you do for a living, but if it is, you’re very lucky. Whatever that thing is, that’s what we want your guide to be about. As a guide’s creator, you are in charge of it. You may build it alone or – as we would recommend – with the help of others who share your passion. You get to decide who joins your team and the direction you take together.

Omuse is built on a wiki platform, so we’re frequently asked what makes it different from Wikipedia, for example. I’ve arrived at two answers to that question:

1. Where Wikipedia forbids the inclusion of original research, we like to think of Omuse as being built exclusively on original research, recognizing that everybody is an expert at something, and it’s usually the thing they most enjoy doing.

2. Where Wikipedia endeavors to be like an encyclopedia, where one version of the “truth” must be consistent throughout, we’ve built Omuse to be more like a library, where alternate approaches to the same topic set side-by-side are not only acceptable, but a sign of our success.

We expect Omuse to become the foremost source of practical and applied knowledge online, and hope you’ll help us accomplish that goal by creating a guide and encouraging others to help with yours or create their own. To get started, go to Omuse, register (free), click the button reading “Create a Guide,” give your guide a title, and you’re on your way.

Well, at least they’re trying. I’d be much more inclined to help if they, say, helped me furnish this damn house.

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