My old boss Ian Murdock has an interesting take on Google's Orkut: he says it's the beginnings of Microsoft Passport, but done right, from the bottom-up rather than the reverse.

Very insightful, and likely true. Clever folks, the Google people. I must admit I'm completely sold on Orkut, and have found all kinds of folks to list as friends in it. It's a very useful tool that way and, as Ian says, a great way to be able to look up useful information on friends and business associates--information they're willing to let you look up on them, I mean.

By the way, Ian is travelling extensively in Europe, and is looking up to hook up with any fans of Debian Linux....