problem is, this only works for guys like Fred. How many hackers on here have thousands reading your blog, twitter, etc.?
a good example of that is outside.in i follow my neighborhood and found out this morning that a kid fell 13 stories in a bulding next to mine and lived
http://gothamist.com/2008/08/02/soot_saved_girl_in_180foot_f...
i don't normally read gothamist but because that story was geotagged by outside.in and i follow that tag, i read it
same is true with twitter/summize. they will allow users to follow keywords soon. so if you live in new paltz, you might choose to follow that word. and so if someone with one follower asks where to get a good cup of coffee in new paltz, they will likely get an answer
this is all about where things are headed, not where they are right now
Isn't "Ask HN: .." is the same thing?