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Mystery Company Recruiting Talent With a Puzzle

Posted by kdawson on from the denver-maybe dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Google has previously used coding competitions to locate top talent. In a new twist on the idea, an anonymous tech company is posting a help-wanted ad that challenges developers to find out who the company is. A little digging and text mashing reveals a website containing a Web 2.0 puzzle that makes notpron look like child's play. So, fellow developers, who is this company, and, well, what is the significance of the date '01-18-08?'" Update: 12/12 20:20 GMT by KD : Replaced link to a removed Craigslist ad with a mirror.

10 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. You're always looking for ways to eliminate waste by FooAtWFU · · Score: 4, Funny

    5. You're always looking for ways to eliminate waste, at all levels of development.
    How ironic!
    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  2. l33t spe4k by frietbsd · · Score: 4, Funny

    eyAnOicgPT4gJycsICcgJyA9PiAnLScsICdzXG4nID0+ICdzLmNvbVxuJyB9 (3548, 4648)

    "eye and i......"

    my l33tspeak isnt what it used to be.

  3. Significance of the date "01/18/2008" by Sara+Chan · · Score: 5, Funny

    The significance of the date "01/18/2008" (the eleventh question) is that the company is American and does not use ISO date formats. The particular date is unambiguous, but in general that is not true with their format, e.g. "02/03/2008" could mean either February 3rd (for American readers) or March 2nd (for European readers). ISO is the global standard, and the format removes ambiguity: 2008-01-18. A small additional benefit is that it makes sorting trivial.

    If these people were really as committed to quality as they pretend to be, they would be promoting the ISO format, to facilitate less-ambiguous global communication.

  4. it decrypts to... by 2020steve · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Drink more Ovaltine"

  5. dear applicant 63B: by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    we would like to extend a job offer to you.

    by hitting upon the clever solution of submitting the puzzle to slashdot as a story subject and letting random slashdot commentors solve the puzzle for you, you have displayed a high level of ingenuity and cleverness. we therefore would like to hire you as the manager of the 3 other programmer applicants who slogged and plodded it out and solved the puzzle through brute mental force on their own. your salary will be 250% of theirs.

    congratulations again,
    anonymoustech inc.

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  6. Difficult test? Hardly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    f = function(d) {
        TDD.assertEquals = function () { return true }
    }

    ...I mean, come on guys, at least design your test to be a little resilient to people who grok JavaScript.
  7. Maybe... by msauve · · Score: 5, Funny

    but it's also my birthday. Do I get the job?

    --
    "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    1. Re:Maybe... by rhadc · · Score: 5, Funny

      far out. you're not even born yet.

    2. Re:Maybe... by QuickFox · · Score: 4, Funny

      He must be very, very new here.

      --
      Terrorists can't threaten a country's freedom and democracy. Only lawmakers and voters can do that.
  8. It decrypts to... by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 5, Funny

    Helmsville McDonald's Hiring Fry Cook Seeking highly motivated candidates. Inquire at drive-through.