Blogs: the bat-signal for nerds
Yesterday I wrote a post highlighting a soon to be released service for getting measurements from photos. A few hours later I was delighted to discover that one of the companies founders had left a comment, confirming what I’d written. I was then able to e-mail him and find out some additional information about their product.
This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. About a month ago, I posted a comment to a slashdot post about a 3D photo organizing tool called photosynth (which is frinkin’ awesome by the way). A few hours later, one of the engineers who worked on the software responded to my comment, addressing a concern I had.
More recently, I wrote this post in response to something I’d read on Ezra Klein’s blog. A few days later I was absolutely giddy to find my post quoted in a followup (this was, after all, the first time my blog was quoted on another blog, the true mark of blogging success).
The point is this: if you have a question or comment regarding some tech-savvy person’s creation, there’s no need to contact them directly. Simply place your question anywhere on the internet, then wait. Within hours the gallant individual responsible will spot your web-based beacon and respond to your query.
I too have been inspired to join the ranks of these nobel individuals. I just created a technorati profile and signed up for google alerts. If you link to this blog anywhere on the internet, technorati will let me know. If you so much as type “eerac” on a webpage somewhere, google alerts will tell me. After I find out, I will immediately travel to that webpage, read what you have written, and when I do…I guess I’ll probably type something about computers, or maybe robots.