WeSearch

The continuing saga of trying to find focus for this blog.

We've all seen the articles about the recent research. You know, the 5- and 10-year studies on the effects of walking into a bar with a priest, a Packer fan, and/or a Clinton. Unfortunately, by the time we read it, it is old news. There's no drama, no personal investment, no daily updates on the Today Show. It's like finding out the score to a baseball game before you watch it. It's just no fun.

I could try something different. Near real-time research information posted on the blog called Weblog research or "WeSearch." As all the data come in, I would post the results on the blog. Readers could keep score at home or try to solve or predict the results. Readers could comment on why a certain data set differed so much from other data sets. And it's always good to have a second (third, fourth, etc.) pair of eyes checking the math. Las Vegas could get involved--placing odds on results--but we'd need to make sure gamblers didn't fix any results. The final publication would be like the highlight video in the sports world--nostalgic as well as informative.

Pros:

New interest in science and the scientific method

Millions of eyes checking for errors before publication of study begins

I get royalties when the term WeSearch is used

Researchers (me) may start receiving insane celebrity salaries

Cons:

Internet publicity could bring influenced results

Anyone could write the published paper and steal my credit

Sensitive information published on the web could be labelled inappropriate

With many readers commenting, author lists could be a nightmare

And have a good day.