[David Sifry, the founder of Technorati,] is that very rare thing, a geek who can use his right brain (social interaction) in addition to his left (computer code). On the left side, his geek credentials are impeccable. He has a degree in computer science and has been founding start-ups in Silicon Valley for a decade, dealing mostly with such nerdy obsessions as open-source software and radio-spectrum allocation. But rather than sporting a pocket protector and buck teeth, Mr. Sifry has hints of a beer gut. While getting that computer degree, he boasts that he was “on and off academic probation” because he “always partied.” After college, he somehow found himself as the only gaijin in a Mitsubishi Electric factory in Japan. His speech is amiable Californian, peppered with “fucking” this and “fucking” that, in the excited tone of those surfing the nearby beaches, rather than the internet.