OpenID

Well, I finally got around to sorting out my own OpenID ( paulwalk.net), following the excellent instructions provided by Simon Willison. As I find myself signing up for more and more remote services, nearly all of which ask me to create yet another user account, the potential value of a user-controlled, decentralised identity system becomes clearly apparent. Like many others, I have been interested by Yahoo Pipes, enough to create a Yahoo account for the purpose of trying it out. I estimate this is the third or forth Yahoo user-account I have created over the years.... sigh, if only I could use my OpenID! Apparently, Steve Gillmor has the same problem. I hope, as the year progresses, that I'll be able to use 'paulwalk.net' in a steadily increasing number of places - see The OpenID Directory and MyOpenID's directory for examples. Another good resource for all things OpenID is at OpenID Enabled.