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+Chances are, if you use a lot of social networks, you've run across the term OpenID. It's become de rigueur for new social websites to offer the ability to sign in with OpenID instead of creating yet another username and password. 
+
+But just what is this OpenID and how do you go about using it?
+
+OpenID was designed to be a free, decentralized identity system -- in other words a bit like a driver's license for the web. 
+
+Instead of dozens of usernames and passwords spread out over all the web, OpenID is a single username with just one password. When you want to login to a site you simple provide it with your OpenID and the website connects to your OpenID account.
+
+Not only does OpenID create a single username you can take wherever you go on the web, it also makes it easy to set up new accounts, offering to import e-mail and other personal data, as well as set limits on what information each website has access to.
+
+If you're thinking that sounds a lot like Facebook Connect -- which also allows you to sign in to other sites, using your Facebook credentials -- you're right. The difference is the OpenID isn't controlled by any one company (which may or may not be around in five years).
+
+== Getting Started with OpenID ==
+
+The first step in using OpenID is to set up an account with one of the many providers on the web. The good news is that you most likely already have an OpenID enabled account. If you have an account with Google, Yahoo, AOL, LiveJournal, Blogger, Flickr, MySpace or any of the other [http://openid.net/get-an-openid/ common, big name OpenID providers] then you already have OpenID.
+
+All you need to do is look for the various "sign in with your Yahoo account" or "sign in with your Google Account" buttons around the web. Whenever you see that, simply sign in with your account credentials and you'll be redirected to your Google or Yahoo account and you can authorize the new site to access your username, e-mail and other data.
+
+== Rolling your own ==
+
+But wait, isn't relying on Google, Yahoo or any of those other companies pretty much the same as using Facebook Connect? Well, technically no, but for most users in practice the answer is yes. Although you can leave Google or Yahoo and set up a new OpenID elsewhere (which you can't do with Facebook Connect) doing so isn't as easy as it should be.
+
+So, if you prefer to have your OpenID separate from any of the companies listed above, then you can set up your free own account through services like [https://www.myopenid.com/ MyOpenID] or [ClaimID], which are both dedicated (and free) OpenID providers.
+
+Whichever service you choose you'll get a unique URL (something like myusername.myopenid.com) that you can use around the web.
+
+== Using OpenID ==
+
+Here's where OpenID falls apart slightly -- the sign in experience varies from site to site. To pick one example let's look at how you could sign in to comment on a blog. The first thing you need to do is learn to look for the OpenID logo.
+
+[open id logo pic here]
+
+Wherever you see that logo you can simply enter the URL you got from your OpenID provider (whether it's your own or a URL from LiveJournal, Flickr and others).
+
+Enter that URL, sign into your OpenID account and approve the site in question to access as much of your data as you'd like -- that's all there is to it.
+
+After you approve the site you'll land back at the blog you started on, but now you'll be signed in and can comment using your new web identity.
+
+== Security Questions Answered ==
+
+Is OpenID secure? Yes. But of course OpenID is no more or less secure than the traditional multitude of usernames and passwords you're using now. Protect your OpenID username and password as you would any other secret info.
+
+Isn't OpenID like putting all my eggs in one basket, i.e. if some gains access to my OpenID account they'll have access to all my social network accounts? That's true, but if the same intruder gains access to your e-mail account (which isn't hard to do once they've cracked your social network account) they can reset all your user names and passwords anyway. As with any username and password, you should always protect your OpenID credentials.
+
+== Conclusion ==
+
+OpenID isn't perfect, but it's become widespread and once you get the hang of it you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
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