A couple of ideas: 1) You could join a project mailing list or two. Say Ruby on Rails, or Mongrel (even though - yeah Mongrel isn't a framework). Talk to them,

A couple of ideas: 1) You could join a project mailing list or two. Say Ruby on Rails, or Mongrel (even though - yeah Mongrel isn't a framework). Talk to them, make friends, and then get those people into IM. That way you a) have people to talk to when you're stuck on code b) have people on hand to bounce ideas off c) get to know cool people - top notch people who work on these projects for fun, period. 2) IRC. Always a good place to hang out at when taking a break. (It's like Twitter, but for geeks!) Again, the plan is to meet people and make friends long enough to get them into IM. No shortcuts here! 3) Ask around on stackoverflow. Make friends with the people you meet. 4) Start a blog. I think one of the commenters here said that even if nobody reads it, you still get to think about the problem by writing it out, which is always a good thing. But more importantly - having a blog is having an online presence. (Having a blog with interesting unsolved problems makes for an interesting online presence. It also makes it easier to get to know people when you're chatting with them ("Hi, I'm x, here's my blog!") or ("Hi I'm x, I'm dealing with this icky problem, I talked about the issue on my blog; here's the link!"). Whenever someone comments - respond immediately. You'll have community - and relationships - say with other Ruby bloggers - soon enough.