A list of what is rattling around in my brain

So many topics that are near and dear to my heart seem to all at once be bubbling up out there in blog-land. I have no (real) excuse as to why I have not weighed in sooner, other than the usual balance life, work, backlogged etc. Of course, that means I am falling prey to the 'too many thoughts too little time' excuse.

So, in an effort to heed my own advice and get the unfinished thoughts out there . Here are some highlights of what has been rolling around in my brain - unfinished and raw:

1. The Social Graph - Great ideas, great project, smart guys, but PLEASE can't we just use PLAIN ENGLISH! We are gonna end up with the RSS fiasco again!! Not RSS vs XML but what the heck is RSS? I posted this to the social graph list a while ago and happy see that Dave and Dave are on top of it.

I am neither a formal student of social theory or applied math, but I am often a translator from geek to English and I look at things from the individual users point of view. Is Graphing the Network really what we are talking about here? What is the action? Opening up and sharing data? mapping and charting? Why cant we just say mapping social networks? or The Social Network Map? I don't mean to nitpick on language but heck language matters in communicating new ideas. Alex over at ReadWriteWeb has a great overview post.

1. Social Network Portability - Yup - carry me stuff with me everywhere - control data - bits and bytes - yummy. Right there with Brian on this one!! And the uninitiated get it instantly..;)

2. Project VRM - getting more psyched by the minute. Turning CRM on its head.

3. All this Social talk - what is REALLY going on here - the links between VRM, Social Network portability, graphing the social network, owning your data etc etc.

4. Network weaving <Valdis=">Valdis</a>" is="is" one="one" smart="smart" prescient="prescient" guy="guy">, how we weave through the world. My opinion is that ya gotta learn to weave if ya wanna succeed in the future.

Think of weaving as the human behavior (both off-line and online) that is driving the current focus on graphing, charting, mapping and making portable all this Social stuff.

1. Weaving and the "strength of weak ties' conundrum

2. Geeks and (gulp) marketers converge - now or never. It is a very interesting time to live at the intersection of company and customer. Feeling like at last my view of the world may be taking root. Some bridges are starting to be built. Evidence in FM media's recent conference and the launch of the The Conversation Group (I am an enthusiastic adviser). However, I am fearful that many are gonna take the short-cut route and once again geeks and brands/marketers will sit on opposite ends of the spectrum.

3. She's Geeky - chicks, geeks all in one room - pretty smart & sexy!! Sign up now!

4. Next week London for Future of Web Apps - what an awesome group!! I foresee drinking and debating into the wee hours.

There you have it - the Cliff Notes version of what is rattling around in my brain. I plan to expound more in the coming week. But in the meantime, I leave you with this Monday morning moment of Zen. Thanks for your patience.