If ever there were an analog to our 13 years of experience, it appears in this NYT article entitled, "Who’s on Line? Even the Referees Don’t Know."  The article outlines the transformation of a local high school team known for academic excellence by superb thinking.   Here's a quote from the article, about the new "A-11 Offense". 

To its proponents, the A-11 represents the logical and inevitable evolution of a game that is becoming faster and more spread out at all levels... And, coaches say, it reduces injury because it involves glancing blows more than smash-mouth collisions.

In the spirit of the imminent discovery of Higgs boson during the powering-up of the Large Hadron Collider in CERN tomorrow, I thought I would use this opportunity to speak of the physics of social networking.

I heard yesterday from a dear friend something I've heard all too often--"I'm not doing Facebook or any of those social networking things on purpose.  I don't want my life open for all to see."  Of course, I was corresponding with this friend because they had joined Plaxo, but that’s not the point.  For companies and individuals, social networking is a very simple, very strong force if they remember two things: profile and privacy.

This isn’t a geeky post; this is a post to be sure that marketers aren’t reacting to myths.  The fact is that you control what is in your profile, and any social networking tool worth a damn allows you to control your privacy as well.  And that’s the beauty of it.  While the model, like Scott McNealy, predicts that there will be no privacy (“Get over it!”), the reality is that you can control your coming out as you get more comfortable.

Companies have many privacy and profile tools at their disposal, so not taking advantage of the Strong Force of Social Networks is equivalent of setting your privacy to “no one”.  But isn’t that putting your head in the sand?

Here's what the AP reported today about cell phones:

With Americans cutting the cord to their land lines, 2007 is likely to be the first calendar year in which U.S. households spend more on cell phone services, industry and government officials say. The most recent government data show that households spent $524, on average, on cell phone bills in 2006, compared with $542 for residential and pay-phone services.

What makes this interesting is that cell phones are little computers, and with the massive light being shone upon them by Microsoft, Apple and Google, we can expect some very interesting changes.

Will cell phones replace laptop computers? Not anytime soon. However, one need only look at advertising trends and spending to see that Madison Ave. already sees the opportunity. Then, start looking at what HP is doing with its IPAQ brand and you’ll see little computers and phones integrated with online services such as navigation [disclaimer: we are working one the IPAQ navigation site], and the combinatorics bring you to a conclusion.

No, it’s not a new version of Star Trek, it’s really an article in the Wall Street Journal (fee required, but not for long!). I’ve been saying lately that in 20 years, we will not have a President of the United States because of the incriminating photos that were on MySpace and Facebook. Well, here’s some interesting support for this hypothesis:

WSJ: Are millennial M.B.A.s also proving demanding for career-service offices and corporate recruiters?