Mary Hodder offers an open source algorithm for scoring blogs beyond authority:

We wanted to see these measures used in an algorithm that balanced the weight of each social gesture, put against large data sets to see whether the resulting score or characterization felt right against what we know about blogs as readers and writers. One thing to consider is that some data sets are made up of spidered data (including blogrolls), while others are made up of RSS feed information (some partial and some whole posts, but there are no blogrolls in RSS feeds) and some are a blend. So we would want to adjust the algorithm for different types of data sets.

So this is my first post think about making an open source algorithm...

The value of the Paris Index approach is three-fold:

1. Current indexes value blogs without involving blog readers (link ranks) or without involving blog writers (sub ranks). It's like a market where price is only set by sellers or buyers.
2. An open algorithm is akin to a standardized contract for commodity markets. Today the market for AdWords works gives the market owner the benefits of information arbitrage while buyers and sellers have little transparency into market clearing mechanisms.
3. An open algorithm is akin to an open standard, upon which new services can be built. If this algorithm gave significant weight to 2nd generation links, this could be the Cost Per Influence metric for Sell Side Advertising.

See Also: Seth Goldstein points to Michael Goldhaber's 11 Principles of the New Economy which directly relates to CPI. Stowe Boyd ruminates on the Paris Index. Shelly Powers on good and evil. danah on the biases of links. Calacanis does his thing. Adina Levin on ranks vs. clouds. There is probably more to see, but after disconnecting for two days I don't have anyway to sift through the 1,500 posts in my aggregator to tell what's worth attention.