Put Your Stuff To Work

Your Humble Blogger, sadly, can ride only one bicycle at a time. The others sit. Similarly, the spare bedroom in your house may be little more than a storage room. Can it be put to better use?

Maybe. Some Internet startups give you a way to put that spare room to use. And Superstorm Sandy has become a big test of how well these services work. NPR reports.

Questions...

•How has the Internet been used to help people and do charitable things?

•What are other things that people can give, rent or swap through online services?

•What do students own that they don't use all the time? Could they share or rent them?

•What are the problems with people sharing or renting their stuff?