Virtual identities

I can't resist sharing part of an email I got today from a friend who has found it very easy to keep up with my activities by doing web searches:

You crack me up with your searchable database of self.
...
I am wondering where Rebecca MacKinnon ends and your
digital history/consciousness/self/soul begins.

Hmm....

And now a new tool, Grokker, can make a picture out of a Yahoo search of my digital history. I'm not sure how useful it is if I want to find information on a subject quickly, but it's fun to play around with when procrastinating, plugging in the names of various people I know and seeing what kind of picture comes up...