Thanks to a pointer from Alan, I took another look at my 43Things account. It's a place where you can track stuff you'd like to do - like a shared wishlist. There are 2 other related sites. 43Places lets you track places you've been and/or would like to visit. 43People lets you track people you've met or would like to meet.
Sounds a bit lame on first blush. Why do that in a public place? What are they doing with the data? Amazon is an investor, so why would I feed my data into the corporate beast?
Well, because it is a very well done set of applications. I think it's only a first step, but it already lets you easily find other people who share interests. If I've indicated that I'm interested in meeting someone, I can see a list of other people who are also interested. Then, I can see what other people these folks are interested in meeting. Or have met. Kind of like friend-of-a-friend, but as a living thing. Connectivism, anyone?
I'm not sure if I'll keep the lists up to date on a daily basis, but if nothing else it's prompted me to think a little bit about what I want to do, where I want to go, and who I'd like to meet.
Here's a screenshot of the really cool/interesting 43Places view of my account:
