I've been working at the same place for 6.5 years and I wanted to move to my hometown 7 hours away. My boss offered me to telecommute (greatest boss ever) instead of accepting my resignation without doing anything. As a bonus, he matched the salary I was offered at that other job I had interviewed for. I'm really looking forward to it, but part if me is a bit worried about human contact.

I have to disagree on that one. I did exactly just that 3.5 years ago in Quebec City (Canada) and it didn't work out. I had all personalized resumes for each place, I dressed nice, and gave out probably 30+ resumes. I didn't get a single phone call.

I also sent my resume via email at places that had offers posted on their website (or some other job-hunting website). I was called twice for interviews. I'm still working for the second company.

During my second interview, I mentionned to the interviewer (who is now my boss) that I had dropped my resume there a few weeks before (there were no open jobs at that moment). When I saw the job on the internet, I sent back my resume. He said he wasn't aware of that and he didn't have my first resume anymore (he probably threw it away).

I came to the conclusion that the best way to search for IT jobs was by either:
1. visiting companies and asking to speak for the person responsible for hiring.
2. hunting the web and applying directly for specific jobs.

But that's just my personal experience.