Commoner’s Quarterly, July 2006

The juicy news from Grass Commons is that we’ve just launched Hooze.org beta. Have a look around. (Note, only invited users may edit content. You can request a password at info@grasscommons.org)

WagN

Hooze is the first public site based on our open source WagN software, which is aimed at helping communities of users organize information. In the office we’re already using WagN for keeping track of contacts, minutes, todo lists, bugs, and goals. And for writing this newsletter, naturally. We’re biased, of course, but it’s been great to see how well WagN adapts to these tasks.

The WagN is so adaptable because it’s built out of some of the most flexible collaborative tools on the web: wikis and tagging. Wikis organically grow information, while tags organically sort it. By fusing the two deeply (all tags have wikis, all wikis can be tagged), the WagN lets you sort and resort information organically, without having to develop elaborate structures beforehand. Oh, just go play with it, you’ll see what we mean.

Hooze.org

Speaking of organics, the point of all of this is to find a way to help people “mean what they pay” by learning and sharing about the broad impacts of our shopping choices in fun and convenient ways. That’s the idea behind Hooze.

Hooze.org makes use of “wagging” to cover any and all topics of interest to consumers. It’s great for distilling the ocean of information out there into glassfuls that meet consumers’ needs. For example, current Hooze tags that have been applied to companies include “charity”, “political ties”, “companies owned”, “shady connections”, “environment”, “tidbits”, and “animal rights.” Of course, we think they haven’t been applied to enough companies — help us out! Pick some companies you know a thing or two about, and share what you know.

As it matures, Hooze is intended to become the centerpiece of a host of consumer education tools, some of which we’ve mentioned in previous newsletters (browser plug-ins so you can get hooze info directly from e-commerce sites, cellphone barscanners so you can get hooze info in shopping aisles, etc.). And since wagging acts much more like a database than a normal wiki, Hooze data can be richly integrated with data from other sources. Anyone familiar with our designs for the NICK will recognize how important this first step is.

Hooze Local?

Grand future plans notwithstanding, Hooze’s impact starts now. So we’re going local.

Grass Commons interns have been using early versions of Hooze to compile research about local food producers in Eugene, Oregon. In collaboration with local nonprofits, we’ll be distributing wallet-sized “Hooze Local” info-cards through area merchants and restaurants in recycled mason jars decorated by local students. Shoppers can then spot food from local sources at local grocery stores using their handy cards (printed locally on local paper, of course).

By linking together a series of these buy-local campaigns, we can begin to address a major barrier in socially responsive shopping: most of the data out there covers only large, publicly traded corporations. Hooze Local is part of a bootstrapping strategy that we think will eventually help us cover companies big and small.

Get Involved!

We hope you’ll have a go at exploring Hooze.org and contributing a few factoids or observations. This is an early launch of brand new technology, and we’re very excited about having our friends and colleagues try it out and sending us feedback. We also need much more content for welcoming and encouraging new users, not to mention recruitment. Feel free to use the “Invite” link on the site to invite friends to join.

If you’re interested in using the WagN software for purposes unrelated to consumer issues, you can write us to request an invitation to WagN.org, a separate website devoted to all things WagN.

To create a sustainable economy we must create a sustainable endeavor ourselves, so we’re working to procure the funding to insure our efforts realize their full potential. Now that our WagN software is taking shape, we hope to start working more with other organizations who could make use of our software, our data, or our strategies. We’d be very grateful for any connections to or ideas about collaborators.

Several of you gave generously after our last newsletter; we can’t thank you enough. Every gift was significant, both symbolically and in practical terms.

We hope seeing Hooze.org will inspire others to send a tax-deductible donation to Grass Commons in support of our ongoing efforts to enrich the way people think and feel about their roles in the world.

If you can give and would be proud to contribute to our work, please click on the “Make a Donation” button on the right side of the page.

Fond thanks to you all,

Ethan McCutchen and Lewis Hoffman, Grass Commons founders