Al is talking about changes in weblog - such things as group blogs and specific blogs.  At the same time I have been thinking about similar possibilities and wondering if there is a way to bring weblogs back in to a community similar to that which existed in the BBS community. 

This caused a flashback to a conversation I had with an old friend, Dr. Linda Gilkeson as she mused about how often thought and discovery seems to develop along similar (sometimes identical) lines and different parts of the world.  She observed that often significant research discoveries were made at almost the identical time when neither party knew the other was working on the project.