Sharing is the joint use of a resource. In its narrow sense, it refers to joint or alternating use of an inherently finite good, such as a common pasture or a timeshared residence. In a broader sense, it can also include the free granting of use rights to a good that is capable of being treated as a nonrival good, such as information. Still more loosely, "sharing" can actually mean giving something as an outright gift: for example, to "share" ones food really means to give some of it as a gift.

Sharing figures prominently in gift economies, but also can play a significant role in market economies, for example in car sharing.

The issue of handling shared resources figures prominently in computer science: for example time-sharing is an approach to interactive computing in which a single computer is used to provide apparently simultaneous interactive general-purpose computing to multiple users by sharing processor time.

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NPR Topics: Politics & Society

Patent Judgments Questioned in Appointment Flap
Sat, 10 May 2008 10:38:00 -0400
As many as two-thirds of United States patent-law judges may have have been appointed in a way that violates the Constitution.
Phliadelphia Police Suffer Loss, Scrutiny
Sat, 10 May 2008 10:37:00 -0400
Police in Philadelphia are having an especially tough week. First, one of their officers was fatally shot while responding to an armed robbery. Then, in an unrelated incident, three other officers were caught on videotape beating three suspects.
Week in Review: Obama Surges Forward
Sat, 10 May 2008 10:26:00 -0400
This week presidential hopeful Barack Obama made significant progress in his bid to be the Democratic nominee. Also this week, President Bush promised to veto a farm bill and a housing aid bill.

The Talk of the Town

Word Feast
Lauren Collins Mon, 05 May 2008 04:00:00 -0000
When Christopher Russell, a captain at Gramercy Tavern for many years, went to work at Union Square Café, where he is now the general manager, he decided to import a few traditions. (Both restaurants are owned by Danny Meyer.) He banished wordy descriptions from the wine list and switched from . . .
The Open Secret of Success
James Surowiecki Mon, 05 May 2008 04:00:00 -0000
In the current atmosphere of economic tumult, the announcement that Toyota sold a hundred and sixty thousand more cars than General Motors in the first three months of this year might seem like a minor news item. But it may very well signal the end of one of the most . . .
No Endgame
Elizabeth Kolbert Mon, 05 May 2008 04:00:00 -0000
Presidential-primary races tend to proceed along self-reflexive lines. The candidate who is ahead--or who is perceived to be--receives more press coverage. He collects more contributions and endorsements, and these generate still more media attention, which brings in more money, more votes, and so on. Meanwhile, his . . .

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