Pipes

I just came across an article -- it was featured on the del.icio.us homepage -- called "Replace Facebook Using Open Social Tools" from Wired. Being inclined towards open source, I had to investigate. It outlines a whole world of social networking tools that aren't dependent on a single site/vendor/interface. And it introduced me to "pipes," a new tool launched by Yahoo last February that looks very powerful. I haven't figured it out so I'm looking for some help if anyone else has gotten anywhere.