I was not commenting on whether a light beam would be any less difficult to find than a radio beam if it was not aimed right at us.

Instead I was pointiung out not to forget there are other methods that ETI could use to signal us. In many ways lasers would be superior to radio, as they could carry much more information, including video (where an image speaks a thousand words would probably be much more useful when it comes to two alien species trying to understand one another - and yes, let us assume they would know the visual range of our eyes, or even that we have such sense organs for the sake of argument).

Also, a laser light could outshine a star, if that is where such a signal were coming from. You also would not need the "magic frequencies" that radio seems to require, though several have been postulated.

I highly recommend once again that everyone read the Web site of Dr. Stuart A. Kingsley, who has amassed a great deal of data on Optical SETI and who was promoting it years before the "mainstream" SETI folks got on the bandwagon circa 1998.

http://www.coseti.org

I am also growing in favor of another "old" favored method of ETI communication, that of finding an alien probe in our Sol system. Though it may be here primarily just to monitor the native life forms and not to disturb them, there may come the time when it will contact us when that culture feels we are ready for contacting a higher society. Maybe 2001: A Space Odyssey was right on the money. Trying to find a probe in our celestial neighborhood would naturally be easier and have certain advantages over getting a signal from a society that may be hundreds and thousands of light years from us.

http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/S/SETV.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3618400.stm

http://www.astrosurf.com/lunascan/Setprobe.htm