Possible Initiatives

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As this page shows there are lots of things that should be worked on. Creating a better form of government is one of the first problems that we need to start addressing. There are also many other problems that we need to look at.

The goal is to gradually create a society where people have the opportunity to make positive contributions to society, to help improve our conditions and solve our problems and be recognized or rewarded for their work. When people have a good ‘work’ history, they can then be trusted to play roles in new leadership systems that stress on accountability and transparency.

Javul has to start small first and prove that it can work on small scale. Initiatives chosen impact a lot of people or can demonstrate that Javul’s model of operation can be successful. The following initiatives are planned and money will be donated for these to help encourage participation. All proposed initiatives would follow the Javul.org business model when possible.

High-priority

There are two things that we need to start work on right away:

Other Initiatives

Besides issues like better government, crime reduction and global citizen curriculum, Javul can try to work on these initiatives. Some of them are important while others can be used to demonstrate the effectiveness of Javul. Here are examples of some other issues we can work on:

  • Global Citizens Alliance - start creating a team of people all over the globe working together to create a new system of leadership (not sure if this will be useful but lets keep this idea here for now)
  • Explore the idea of creating a business owned and operated by its employees and users. Try to start some businesses like this to check feasibility. Create rules for businesses like this (Javul certified)
  • Pick two existing open-source software projects and ask if a unit can be made for them on Javul. Options: Notepad++, Irfanview, Search Everything. For now, start with Notepad++. People are getting tired of Notepad++ asking to update itself every time it opens up (see Google search for for: notepad++ disable update check). The update feature needs to be silent and automatic like Chrome or otherwise we need to design a better and easier way to disable the updates for the main program and also for the plugins. The software needs to provide what people are looking for. We should not be seeing 500 results for people trying to fix something (the real number will be much higher since many people dont bother to report, or will use existing search results for a solution)
  • Pick an existing Android App and ask if a unit can be made for them (alarm clock).
  • Unit for creating an open-source Government. Discuss ideas on how to implement. Create implementation plan. Create a system that can work. Target small city mayors to see if anyone will be willing to test the new system. Start by creating objectives for having existing mayors use the system. Transition towards electing mayors who promise to abide by the system created by Javul. Create system where individuals can choose how their taxes are spent.
  • Unit for Global Health Care. Fixing issues in health care (see this reddit thread for suggestions). Creating a new insurance company, system for reliable healthcare with a reliable feedback system. Identify issues to resolve or road blocks. Goal: Provide excellent healthcare at lowest costs. Ask Dr. Timothy Wong for help. Pittsburgh doctor will see patients for just $35 -- with or without insurance - "If I have a 1% chance of changing the healthcare system for the better, it is a worthwhile endeavor"
  • Community-Owned Social Network: "Rather than one private corporation profiting from humanity's content & communication, what if those profits were collectively owned & governed? What if we had a say in the functioning of the algorithm that feeds us content, the enforcement of community guidelines & what those guidelines are in the first place, and what to do with bad actors? And what if this platform informed us of political projects across state lines, enabling us to learn best practices & support coordinated movements?" - source
  • Better Operating system: Free Linux based operating system that is user friendly, addresses issues with other open-source OS's and gives people what they want. We can also look for an existing fully open-source OS and see if we can help improve that OS. We need to look for an OS that has no legal/ownership constraints of any kind
  • Junk / Spam:
    • Junk Mail (reduce impact in environment and this also wastes people’s time). We need to create an alternate marketing system (if there’s any customers who see a value in discounts, offers, there should be a central place where they can find these offers). Most likely, partner with existing efforts to stop Junk Mail. Check the ‘Do Not Call’ project.
    • Anti-Spam: Create a system for dealing with spam of all kinds (email, text messages, spam profiles on social networking websites). Create standards. Create website/service where we can forward these messages. Create criminal justice systems in all countries to deal with spam e.g. significant penalties. Naturally it’s a complex problem with multiple problems so it needs an appropriate solution.
  • Preventable causes of death and diseases, such as
    • Safe Driving: Driving is one thing that people do on a daily basis that can put other people’s lives at risk. We need to create a better legal and technological system that ensures people drive in the best way they can and not make mistakes that can be prevented (distracted driving and disobeying rules). Driver Training (common courtesy and safe driving). Create a database of good driving habits (specific situations). Create a training program; driving simulators. This is important, people’s lives are at stake. We know self-driving cars will take a while to become common and until then this is a good thing to do. This is also teaching people to have respect for the general public and be mindful of their own actions not just in driving but in other situations too.
  • Product Design/Specs:
    • Smartphone Specs: Create software and hardware specifications for a Javul-certified phone/tablet ROM. Phone manufacturers that use that ROM will get their names published. Maximum recommendation will go the manufacturer who does the best job of following the requirements not just for HW/SW but also other things such as transparency, working out product issues and bugs.
    • Headphones design: Create design specifications and product requirements by doing an in-depth study of reviews of headphones on the net, identifying good and bad characteristics. Identify market segments to create different categories of headphones. Use Open-source design software. Coordinate with any manufacturing firm to create prototypes for testing for further improvement. Some example requirements: Light, comfortable, standardized/modular component design for easy repair, firmware-based customizable EQ with option buttons, battery-saving protocols for wireless headphones and many more.
    • Product/Service Sale website: Create one Product/Service buy/seller website which can work for a variety of things such as transportation, car repair, house hold jobs, buying/selling products. Service-based websites all involve a buyer and seller, and a service that is provided, type of service, feedback, appointment time, messaging, financial transactions. Certain types of services require certain data fields that are applicable for those services. Product-selling websites involve a seller/buy as well, feedback, product feedback, the ability to return a purchase etc. Currently service-based websites charge a lot of money e.g. 20% of the total earnings is taken from the provider. That is unfair, unwarranted and unjustified. Money needed to create the website and any IT services used for maintenance will be minimum and also it will be public knowledge. Any money needed can be financed by providers and sellers in a transparent, on-going as-needed basis.
    • Product Design (pilot): Pick a product for creation of a Unit on Javul. Gold certified product. Start with design, requirements. Make everything open-source (design, software). Contact any company to create the product. Options: Router, Phone, computer mouse.
    • Prepare rules/definitions for Javul certified products and services (fully open-source, owned by the public etc). If not, then a gold, silver etc cert.
  • Improvement of Online Commerce: Online commerce websites currently have many issues.
    • Search and Categorization improvement: Many online commerce websites do not have effective ways for people to search through the available products. If there are a large number of products for sale, categorization of the product has to be present in great detail so people can find a specific product. Due to the large number of products on some websites (App stores, amazon.com e.g.), the community can be asked to assist in the product categorization. People want to search products with specific features and characteristics which are unique to every product category. Our aim is to create a set of standards and methodologies that people develop and approve and companies can implement them.
    • Certain websites are available where the general public can list items for sale. These websites lack many features. Detailed customization and search issues are present on these websites as well. Good selling practices should be enforced (accurate item description, preventing misuse and spam). Feedback and a seller/buyer history would be available. On some websites people have to keep posting ads to keep their ads on top. Our website would not need that.
      Javul aims to develop a new website which people can use for selling their items.
    • Fake Reviews: Solve this problem: 100 different types of lithium-ion based car battery jump starters on Amazon, with lots of 5-star obviously fake reviews that have been generated in off-shore fake review farms. Real people are creating fake testimonials and reviews (see (Youtube) Fake video testimonials: Inside the world of fake reviews (CBC Marketplace)). People just want one working product. That is all they want. They want reviews that can be trusted. Create a set of standards for a product, assign a single company to make them, monitor the quality for compliance, and generate authentic reviews. Solve the Issue of Fake Review farms. Here is an example of how a genuine owner of a free product suffered due to bad reviews from a competing company. There are a number of possible solutions.
    • Low-fee payment processor: Payment processes take a large amount of fees e.g. 3%, without telling us where the money is going and why so much money needs to be charged for electronic transactions that happen automatically in a short amount of time. PayPal's new refund policy has sellers up in arms
    • Standardized searching: It is exhausting having to search 50 stores for the same kind of product (e.g. furniture). All online stores and places of sale should offer a universal API that serves standardized objects such as price, pictures, categories, colors, other features as applicable to the type of product. There could be one central search tool. Google tries to provide an automated Shopping tool that does this but (1) This is Google trying its best attempt to get the information from the website. They're not forced to serve information in a standardized way. (2) Some stores are better than others at categorizing information and enabling granular feature-specific search. These search features should be available for all products. For example its not possible using Google shopping to find furniture with specific features. Google only provides general features such as price, location etc. There also needs to be a way to make sellers provide the information that customers are looking for and make this as convenient for the customer as possible. Sellers are here to serve customers and it should be impossible for sellers to take a back-seat while customers are confused and stressed because there's not information about the product.
  • Good Deeds app: Manage the execution and rewards-processing for tasks that people and organizations do which benefit others.
  • Unity Book: Hotels and dorm rooms all over the world often have religious books donated by organizations. Create book that contains unifying and good teachings/quotes from all schools of thought (religious and irreligious), include quotes from philosophers/humanists or other people also. Goal is to be able to donate these books for free.
  • Women's Rights: There are a lot of locations in the world where women's rights lag behind those of men. Women are our mothers. Women's rights and equality are critical for a successful and healthy society. Women's rights, sexual harassment of any kind and assault must be dealt with.
  • Identify other websites which provide utility but can be made better than current websites and provide a lot of features without nickle and dimming consumers e.g. Dating websites.
  • Create Universal checkout, order processing and payment processing systems so people don’t have to enter checkout information for every website.
  • Create a Crowd-sourced scholarship program for students who have shown exceptional and positive contributions to society. Initially it could just be a single $500/year scholarship.
  • Create a crowd-sourced auto-mechanics service run and managed by customers and mechanics that provides honest diagnostics and repair. For example a few mechanics can get together and open a shop in the area after the investment required has been funded by customers and mechanics.
  • Create guidelines, standards, systems for publicly funded projects and initiatives for example, if we’re asking for money, ‘funds needed’ at the moment should be easily visible right next to the donation button. Funding state (green, yellow, red), hours worked by volunteers and their compensation status. Funds info (donated, needed) should be available for both periodic and lifetime. The goal is to make it easy for donators to know the status of the project e.g. if the Periodic donation meter is 10% and the donation status is Red, a potential donor is more motivated to create an impact on that meter. Also show e.g. that $5/month will create an impact of 10% so we know how easy or hard it is to make a change. Further study Publicly funded projects and how to have optimal fund flow. Also create a system where donators are provided benefits to increase motivations to donate.
  • Open-source language learning software, where it’s easy for any native speakers to contribute and also participate in a marketplace. Design how the product will work for both learners and contributors.
  • Online Debating Tool: People often disagree strongly on certain topics. This divides and often harms society. Usually one side is correct with facts, research and rational thought on their side and while they may not be completely correct, they’re still more or less correct overall. The other side is very persistent and sometimes it holds society back from progress. We need to create a system that helps both sides/groups but we know that the right side always wins eventually. It may take a long time for opinions to change e.g. generations. The goal is help the right side win faster e.g. by creating online tools to compile, present, maintain their data, to present in a clear way the arguments that have been dealt with before, perhaps an online debating tools that is maintained by the group and efforts to educated the masses. Other Tools such as Objectives and Tasks are already provided to each Unit to assist with future projects that can further their goals. Every group will have their own tools so both groups can work on their own without interruption from the other group. Examine this issue deeply and see what tools can be created. There are many examples of polarizing topics in society. Maybe make these additional tools to be part of existing tools available for all Units (e.g. wiki, chat, forum ...)
  • App for Food Menus with pictures. Its 2018. I should not be expected to spend money on food and not know what it looks like. We need pictures of the item, price and reviews - all in a single app that can be used in all restaurants. Community driven so people submit all the information which is flagged for issues if needed and people receive rewards for contributions (e.g. 10% discount on the next meal in that restaurant after a number of contribution points).
  • House Swap: The aim would be to enable a housing system that allows people to swap their houses so they can live closer to work and not commute so much. Again, software would be involved and a new model of home ownership would have to be created. House Swap will also cause a reduction of traffic on the roads.
  • Internet routers: A common complaint is that a few users can consume a lot of bandwidth and affect other users to have slow or no service. Create standards for internet routers that provide reliable service to multiple people connected at the same time. This product will serve as an example of the high-quality product development that Javul can do.
  • Basic Phone Apps: Javul will attempt to develop a few phone apps that are regularly used by people. This will demonstrate how successful the Javul business model can be. Anything can be made such as an alarm clock app or a messaging app. The source code of the app will be public and anyone will be able to contribute to its development. The app will have its own Unit on Javul so issues and tasks will be managed using the task management system. This same app will also help develop a standard for alarm clock apps i.e. what are the key features of such an app and how to test it. This standard can be used by anyone else to improve their own phone apps.
  • Dating Website: (1) Almost all dating websites charge a lot of money e.g. $30/month. It really doesnt cost that much on a per user basis to justify charging this amount. (2) The websites also don't provide the features we need or nickle and dime us out of using desired features. (3) Often people are looking for specific attributes in their potential partner and there are large groups of people who would be strongly interested in connecting with others sharing the same attributes. Make it possible to create this granularity and have it user defined (tags and categories). These could go through an approval process before they are made available to all users of the site. (4) Ask for community feedback. (5) Target to a global audience.
  • Environment:
    • Recycling and Reduction of Pollution: Pollution, junkyards and landfills are a great concern. We have to create a society that actively works to minimize waste and increase recyclability. New products standards have to be created. Everything that can be done to maximize recycling must be done. This is a very difficult initiative but it has to start somewhere. We have to look at regions/countries that have a high recycling rate and we have to duplicate what they are doing.
    • Vehicular Traffic Reduction: Reduction of traffic on the road has multiple benefits like, reducing safety risk for humans and reduction of pollution. Self-driving cars are being developed and self-driving delivery vehicles could be involved too. A lot of fuel, time and energy is spent by people driving from and to a location, just to transport a certain item. That item could be food, other items bought in a shop, another human being (in which case this becomes Ride sharing) or any other item that needs to be delivered from one place to another. An 'Optimized Transport Service' could help a lot. Software/website and partnerships between existing item source providers could be created. For example food producers can participate. The aim would be to provide a system that can be used internationally. A few food transport services exist but they are not popular. Software would coordinate delivery orders and driving routes.
      High-quality ride sharing software should be created that makes it easy for people to drive to places together. All of this gives us the two benefits mentioned (reducing safety risk to humans and reducing pollution). Some existing ‘taxi’ companies exist that have become popular recently but the driver who does most of the work has to give a significant portion of their earnings. Javul’s transport company on the other hand will have a transparent financial system with no rich executives or CEOs.
    • Sustainability of Earth’s resources: This also needs to be looked at. Currently everyone is just using the Earth’s resources as if there is an unlimited supply. This has to work together with the recycling issue.
  • Fake Caller IDs: Scammers and people who harass others often fake their caller IDs. We need a way to track caller ID's and punish people who misuse this feature.
  • Protection against bad Landlords and Property managers: We want to create a system that protects Tenant rights. We need to punish landlords for tolerating bad tenants who affect others by bad/hostile behavior.
  • Better enforcement of Noise Violations: We need solutions for people who cause noise violations such as playing loud music or riding on vehicles that have had their exhausts intentionally modified to be more loud. Noise violations need to include all sources of noise that a certain person is responsible for.
  • Healthcare:
    • Bad Health Care: How to increase the quality of health care
    • Improving Mental Health: Study people with low and high self-esteem, good and bad mental health. Closely examine all kinds of situations under which they perform differently. Understand and document the mechanisms and create exercises that anyone can do to improve their mental health.
      One quality of a strong character is to be able to do the right thing under stressful circumstances where there are several variables at play for example, peer pressure, impact of our actions on others and ourselves, what we gain or lose from doing the right thing. An example is blocking a traffic intersection where the road is already blocked. That means the person doesn't have much to gain by blocking the intersection and they create a lot of damage by blocking other cars. We do know that people with integrity and a strong character have less chances of doing the wrong thing under stress and blocking the intersection. We need to study what makes a strong person and incorporate that training into the Global Citizen Curriculum.
      Being authentic and true to ourselves and others is very important. Sometimes people have a bad start in life due to poor parenting or environment and this skill is diminished. This is a difficult problem to fix but it can be fixed by hard work, commitment and practice. Exercises can be developed to train and educate people about authenticity, how to monitor one’s own behavior and make themselves more authentic.
    • Health and Diet: There are multiple motives for us here: High cost of dealing with health issues, combating the Sugar industry's deceptive efforts to mislead the public (focus on reducing sugar consummations, soda/drink alternatives) and helping people live healthier lives. See how we can replicate some of Japan's diet here (drinks and food). Video: Why is it so Easy to be Thin in Japan?.
    • Combat Smoking: Most smokers want to quit. Smoking is very destructive for society in terms of health costs and also pollution. Human lungs are designed to breath in clean air. Help people quit, detect when someone starts smoking so we can intervene. We need creative and effective solutions.
  • Other Products: Create units for Windows 10 and Youtube where people can discuss issues and suggest solutions
  • Misc:
    • AnswerQuestions: People can ask questions which can get upvoted and the target person would answer them. This is just like AskReddit but it would be an ongoing thing with other features (e.g. prevent repeat questions or link them to previously answered questions). This would be the primary tool to use when people are wanting to get answers from someone. Questions could be sorted into custom categories.

Conclusion

The purpose of the above possible initiatives is just to give an idea of what can be done and how a platform like Javul.org can help people work together. There are countless possibilities. We want to create a few successful initiatives that prove that Javul can make a difference. All the problems listed above are complex and have to be broken down into smaller components. To make all of the above possible and for any initiatives to be successful, certain key components are critical:

  • Issue reporting: Provide a simple and easy interface that anyone can use to report issues in a specific area.
  • Communication (forum and other means).
  • Let the best ideas have more visibility
  • Task Management (editing, completion, evaluation)
  • Compensation (financial or other benefits)
  • Feedback should be available for judging quality and reliability of work
  • Uniquely designed software/websites for every situation. The Javul Information Technology Group can help.

All of the above are planned functionalities that the Javul.org website aims to provide. The websites and software developed for any of these initiatives will be open-source and there will be full transparency for all operations and financial transactions. There will be no highly-paid executives or CEO’s amassing wealth at the cost of the efforts of people who perform the core work. The initiatives will effectively be owned by the people and the main aim will be end-user/customer satisfaction. Decisions can be

Ideally every business should be based on the Javul model. We can create a few businesses to prove how successful they can be and to show how much people favor these business models more than the traditional business models.

With so many things that need to be done, there will have to be some priorities in the very start of the project. These will be Javul’s own unit so we can provide better tools to all units and also the US government Unit, which will aim to create a new system of government.

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