Channel 9 Forums - Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:22:25 GMT

(Cross Posted from my blog.)

There's only one team for me at Microsoft and that of course is Developer & Platform Evangelism. It is called DPE inside Microsoft. Within DPE lives my group that creates both technology and the content that drives Channels 8, 9 and 10.

As a team we're on a mission to change how Microsoft does Evangelism and that is through the combination of social media and online community. We have a bunch of openings on our team. First there is an opening for a Channel 9 Evangelist that will report directly to me.

Technical Evangelist, Channel 9
Official HR Recruiting Link Coming Soon!

Come join the team that has changed the way Microsoft communicates with Developers. The Developer and Platform Evangelism Team is hiring a technical Evangelist to join the Channel 9 team. Channel 9 (http://channel9.msdn.com) was created three years ago as an experimental way to build a two way interaction between developers and Microsoft using video as its primary communication tool. Since then Channel 9 has grown in both traffic and content, it is viewed by millions of visitors per month and is one of the top video blogs on the planet. As a result of this growth we are looking for another unique individual who has the passion, the knowledge, and the skills to help us tell the Microsoft story online.

We are looking for a rare bird for a new kind of evangelism role at Microsoft. The ideal candidate will be well versed in the current wave of Microsoft developer technologies, industry trends, and competition. Experience in software development is required along with the ability to film and editing your own videos. You would be a member of a small team responsible for the care and feeding of this unique community.

A passion for software development along with a desire to tell the world the Microsoft story is critical.
Strong written communication skills will be important traits of a successful candidate. Roles and responsibilities change quickly so flexibility and fast decision making abilities are a must.

Next up, our development team has an opening, reporting to Duncan Mackenzie.

Software Design Engineer

The Developer and Platform Evangelism Team is hiring a software design engineer to join the team that builds and extends Channel 9, Channel 10 and more. Our sites build a two way interaction between our customers and Microsoft using video as the primary communication tool. In the past several years we have built several additional sites and our network has grown in both traffic and content, and as a result we are looking for an additional Software Design Engineer to join the team. We are looking for someone who lives and breathes HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX and ASP.NET. The ideal candidate will have skills in all those technologies combined with a passion for design and user experience.
Do you like to ship, takes chances and effect change? Do you want to build cool sites that use Silverlight and Atlas to deliver a great user experience? Then come join our group where you'll find a small dynamic team of folks and you'll swear you are part of startup.
Experience in HTML/CSS, ASP.NET and C# is required and experience with AJAX, SQL, Scrum and Test-Driven Development is highly desired. Experience with Silverlight and/or WPF is not required but it would be great to have.

Finally, Larry Larsen who leads the Channel 10 Team has an opening too.

Channel 10 - Technical Evangelist

Channel 10 is looking for a technology leader to be our newest on-air host. You should be an enterprising, professional host who is comfortable on camera and passionate about technology. You should be the type of person who consumes a tremendous amount of tech news. You should know the difference between 3G and 2.5G, Xbox 360 games and Live Arcade, UMPCs and MicroPCs.

You'll need to be able to keep a secret, because you'll see things you can't talk about. You'll need a passport because we might need to drop you just about anywhere. This is the job of a lifetime, to become part of the public face of Microsoft, speaking to millions of technology enthusiasts Worldwide, and shining a light on people who build Microsoft products and services and the people who use those in innovative ways.

You'll need to know how to edit video like a pro and be ready to hit the ground running. You need to be able to develop stories and work autonomously and efficiently.

An online video reel must be submitted with resume for consideration. If you’re unable to get a video online, this isn’t the right fit for you.

Long story, short:

If you want to join a team that loves to ship software, create cool/interesting content and talks to customers every day of the week, my team is the place to do that at Microsoft. To apply please visit the recruiting site (linked to in the titles above) and submit your resume. Please also send me a note (JeffSand at Microsoft dot com) letting me know you've done so.

We've got an amazing year ahead of us, with lots of fun surprises in store. If you are interested in being a part of that and think you've got the right stuff then apply today.

Thanks!
-Jeff

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

GoddersUK — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:22:25 GMT

Lloyd_Humph wrote:

Whoever the hell gets the job, may your first job to lock this thread IMMEDIATELY

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=9&PostID=184297#184297

It should be stickied as a permanent memorial to err....

ummm....

something!!

Last time I checked that thread had more page views than "What do you want to know about Vista?"

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Ian — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:56:39 GMT

OMG Had to edit that post, I'm such a ~~nerd~~ geek.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JonathonW — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:58:29 GMT

Interested in a summer intern?

I'm still a couple years away from needing a full-time job...

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:18:20 GMT

I'd apply, but I think my only use is to tell jokes, sit in the corner, throw paper at people (for it is teh funnay when people go craazy) or design websites. Which I doubt would be of any use.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:33:19 GMT

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

Interested in a summer intern?

I'm still a couple years away from needing a full-time job...

Sorry, no intern positions yet! Hopefully some day we'll get one though. I think it would be awesome if we had an intern role on our team.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:05:30 GMT

Pah I'd love it, but I'd never get the visa.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 21:23:48 GMT

blowdart wrote:

Pah I'd love it, but I'd never get the visa.

Not technical enough for the H-1B?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

bitdisaster — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 07:28:54 GMT

I would book a flight tomorrow, but ASP.NET is not my passion I like more business logic and algorithm. And of course a H1-B visa would be necessary for me to.

section31

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Sven Groot — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:36:01 GMT

jeffsand wrote:

You should know the difference between 3G and 2.5G

That's easy! 3G is 29.4m/s² while 2.5G is only 24.5m/s².

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:40:56 GMT

Sven Groot wrote:

jeffsand wrote:
You should know the difference between 3G and 2.5G

That's easy! 3G is 29.4m/s² while 2.5G is only 24.5m/s².

Or $5 per MB

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Massif — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 13:27:08 GMT

Sven Groot wrote:

jeffsand wrote:
You should know the difference between 3G and 2.5G

That's easy! 3G is 29.4m/s² while 2.5G is only 24.5m/s².

Dude! wrong G.

g (not the lower case) ~ 9.80665 m·s⁻² (depending where in the world you are.)

G (upper case) = 6.693 x 10^–11 m³ / (kg s²)

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

rjdohnert — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 04:19:58 GMT

Lets hold a contest. People submit a video giving the reason they would want to work on Channel 9 and what Channel 9 means to them and what they would do to help improve channel 9. Jeff and team view the videos and choose the best ones and conduct video interviews of the ones they pick. Then we (the C9 community) grade these videos on who we think the next top C9'er will be and Jeff and team make their decision. It cuts down on applications and HR hunting. To qualify applicants must have been a Channel 9 member and participator for at least a year. Make it like a web reality show.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 07:56:43 GMT

rjdohnert wrote:

Make it like a web reality show.

Could we dumb it down far enough?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

DarthVista — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:21:22 GMT

...

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

figuerres — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:15:28 GMT

rjdohnert wrote:

Lets hold a contest. People submit a video giving the reason they would want to work on Channel 9 and what Channel 9 means to them and what they would do to help improve channel 9. Jeff and team view the videos and choose the best ones and conduct video interviews of the ones they pick. Then we (the C9 community) grade these videos on who we think the next top C9'er will be and Jeff and team make their decision. It cuts down on applications and HR hunting. To qualify applicants must have been a Channel 9 member and participator for at least a year. Make it like a web reality show.

in a perfect world that would be fun...

but I bet that Legal and HR would have a huge fit over that idea...

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Christian Liensberger — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:04:20 GMT

Does huge hair qualify too?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Árni Gunnar Ragnarsson — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 14:59:37 GMT

littleguru wrote:

Does huge hair qualify too?

Better be huge than thinning ...

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Cornelius Ellsonpeter — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 15:04:42 GMT

figuerres wrote:

rjdohnert wrote:

Lets hold a contest. People submit a video giving the reason they would want to work on Channel 9 and what Channel 9 means to them and what they would do to help improve channel 9. Jeff and team view the videos and choose the best ones and conduct video interviews of the ones they pick. Then we (the C9 community) grade these videos on who we think the next top C9'er will be and Jeff and team make their decision. It cuts down on applications and HR hunting. To qualify applicants must have been a Channel 9 member and participator for at least a year. Make it like a web reality show.

in a perfect world that would be fun...

but I bet that Legal and HR would have a huge fit over that idea...

This is an excellent idea...but the problem is that the outcome really hinges on who is in charge of the hiring, and I don't think community input would be much of a factor, unfortunately. In fact, if Scoble was still involved, and was in charge of hiring, the community input would be completely irrelevant.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:54:42 GMT

rjdohnert wrote:

Lets hold a contest. People submit a video giving the reason they would want to work on Channel 9 and what Channel 9 means to them and what they would do to help improve channel 9. Jeff and team view the videos and choose the best ones and conduct video interviews of the ones they pick. Then we (the C9 community) grade these videos on who we think the next top C9'er will be and Jeff and team make their decision. It cuts down on applications and HR hunting. To qualify applicants must have been a Channel 9 member and participator for at least a year. Make it like a web reality show.

Having a contest in order to fill an open position is impossible, due to a number of legal complexities that are a reality of business.

Sorry.

In saying that, having folks create videos that show who they are, what they are capable of and sending them our way or posting them publicly is an awesome way to get noticed.

In fact this was how I found Larry (he leads the Channel 10 team) and it did help him get hired into the position. You can see his video here.

I obviously can't guarantee that making a video will get you hired or even an interview, but it definitely will not hurt your chances.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

pepper — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:39:50 GMT

Yeah, but have you EVER hired a long time Niner/REGULAR contributor onto your team?

Answer: NO.

So why post this here?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

pepper — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 22:42:03 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

pepper wrote:
Yeah, but have you EVER hired a long time Niner/REGULAR contributor onto your team?

Answer: NO.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.TheBorgCollective

I'm not talking about being hired by Microsoft (like PaoloM); I'm talking about being hired onto Channel 9. AND from OUTSIDE Microsoft.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:06:21 GMT

pepper wrote:

I'm not talking about being hired by Microsoft (like PaoloM); I'm talking about being hired onto Channel 9. AND from OUTSIDE Microsoft.

You are right. We've had one opening on the Channel 9 Content Team to replace Robert Scoble. We hired Rory Blyth to do that, he was already an employee of Microsoft, working in our United States Field Subsidiary. We did interview many candidates (both internal and external) and Rory was the best candidate.

Rory's role was the only opening we've had. Once again we have an opening again to replace Rory. This position might get filled by someone who already works at Microsoft, or ir could be by someone who does not. We want the best person for the job.

We have had many other openings on our team. We hired people to work on Channel 10 (3 people) all of who never worked for Microsoft before. We have a development team where we hired 4 people (3 outside and 1 inside). Beyond my team, in Platform Evangelism we have many, many hires who have never worked at Microsoft before. Many of the people create content for Channel 9.

I think if you look at our track record you'll find that we do hire a lot outside of the company for the positions.

This of course is how we ensure there is new thought, ideas and perspective.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

pepper — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:35:25 GMT

Nice spin! You're hired!

I see they've trained you well.[6]

First, young Jedi, agree with the offending poster.

Jeff wrote:

You are right.

Then, proceed to bury the rest of the post with a bunch of irrelevant examples, and top it off with the classic "This of course is how we ensure there is new thought, ideas and perspective" line.

Do you do corporate earnings presentations by any chance?

I think there are some great posters here. Worthy candidates, no doubt. Please don't tell you me you look down on the community here...say it ain't so...!

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 23:42:47 GMT

Thanks. I don't look down at the community here and I am sure there are many qualified folks here who could work on our team either on development or producing content.

They are all welcome to apply. I love the Channel 9 Community, sorry that you did not see it in my previous post.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Erik Porter — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:25:17 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

pepper wrote:
Yeah, but have you EVER hired a long time Niner/REGULAR contributor onto your team?

Answer: NO.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.TheBorgCollective

I fixed the list. Adam and I both signed up in the first day or so that C9 launched. Our participation was minimal until we joined Microsoft, but we were both outside of Microsoft and joined the C9 team.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Ion Todirel — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:07:49 GMT

hehe, that list is killing me (version combobox too), would be great to work at Microsoft i think

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:17:09 GMT

Ion Todirel wrote:

hehe, that list is killing me (version combobox too), would be great to work at Microsoft i think

You reckon?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Ion Todirel — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 17:17:50 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

Ion Todirel wrote:
hehe, that list is killing me (version combobox too), would be great to work at Microsoft i think

You reckon?

i don't belive that, what weird guy did that video, i bet its a brits

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:46:21 GMT

Obviously the person who did that page is a *spit* VB developer.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Alemin_Krali — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:35:56 GMT

Alemin_Krali

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

raymond — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:38:32 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

Ion Todirel wrote:
hehe, that list is killing me (version combobox too), would be great to work at Microsoft i think

You reckon?

LOL

Your pleasure our pain!

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 17:22:57 GMT

Whoever the hell gets the job, may your first job to lock this thread IMMEDIATELY

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PageIndex=9&PostID=184297#184297

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Joseph Chambers — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 07:10:39 GMT

Interesting Stuff, but I still have a lot to learn & prove. Though I'm AIMING more toward SharePoint banding.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 04:20:20 GMT

pepper wrote:

Yeah, but have you EVER hired a long time Niner/REGULAR contributor onto your team?

Answer: NO.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/default.aspx/Channel9.TheBorgCollective

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

figuerres — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 16:48:49 GMT

jeffsand wrote:

(Cross Posted from my blog.)

There's only one team for me at Microsoft and that of course is Developer & Platform Evangelism. It is called DPE inside Microsoft. Within DPE lives my group that creates both technology and the content that drives Channels 8, 9 and 10.

As a team we're on a mission to change how Microsoft does Evangelism and that is through the combination of social media and online community. We have a bunch of openings on our team. First there is an opening for a Channel 9 Evangelist that will report directly to me.
Technical Evangelist, Channel 9
Official HR Recruiting Link Coming Soon!

Come join the team that has changed the way Microsoft communicates with Developers. The Developer and Platform Evangelism Team is hiring a technical Evangelist to join the Channel 9 team. Channel 9 (http://channel9.msdn.com) was created three years ago as an experimental way to build a two way interaction between developers and Microsoft using video as its primary communication tool. Since then Channel 9 has grown in both traffic and content, it is viewed by millions of visitors per month and is one of the top video blogs on the planet. As a result of this growth we are looking for another unique individual who has the passion, the knowledge, and the skills to help us tell the Microsoft story online.

We are looking for a rare bird for a new kind of evangelism role at Microsoft. The ideal candidate will be well versed in the current wave of Microsoft developer technologies, industry trends, and competition. Experience in software development is required along with the ability to film and editing your own videos. You would be a member of a small team responsible for the care and feeding of this unique community.

A passion for software development along with a desire to tell the world the Microsoft story is critical.
Strong written communication skills will be important traits of a successful candidate. Roles and responsibilities change quickly so flexibility and fast decision making abilities are a must.

Next up, our development team has an opening, reporting to Duncan Mackenzie.

Software Design Engineer

The Developer and Platform Evangelism Team is hiring a software design engineer to join the team that builds and extends Channel 9, Channel 10 and more. Our sites build a two way interaction between our customers and Microsoft using video as the primary communication tool. In the past several years we have built several additional sites and our network has grown in both traffic and content, and as a result we are looking for an additional Software Design Engineer to join the team. We are looking for someone who lives and breathes HTML, CSS, Javascript, AJAX and ASP.NET. The ideal candidate will have skills in all those technologies combined with a passion for design and user experience.
Do you like to ship, takes chances and effect change? Do you want to build cool sites that use Silverlight and Atlas to deliver a great user experience? Then come join our group where you'll find a small dynamic team of folks and you'll swear you are part of startup.
Experience in HTML/CSS, ASP.NET and C# is required and experience with AJAX, SQL, Scrum and Test-Driven Development is highly desired. Experience with Silverlight and/or WPF is not required but it would be great to have.

Finally, Larry Larsen who leads the Channel 10 Team has an opening too.

Channel 10 - Technical Evangelist

Channel 10 is looking for a technology leader to be our newest on-air host. You should be an enterprising, professional host who is comfortable on camera and passionate about technology. You should be the type of person who consumes a tremendous amount of tech news. You should know the difference between 3G and 2.5G, Xbox 360 games and Live Arcade, UMPCs and MicroPCs.

You'll need to be able to keep a secret, because you'll see things you can't talk about. You'll need a passport because we might need to drop you just about anywhere. This is the job of a lifetime, to become part of the public face of Microsoft, speaking to millions of technology enthusiasts Worldwide, and shining a light on people who build Microsoft products and services and the people who use those in innovative ways.

You'll need to know how to edit video like a pro and be ready to hit the ground running. You need to be able to develop stories and work autonomously and efficiently.

An online video reel must be submitted with resume for consideration. If you’re unable to get a video online, this isn’t the right fit for you.

Long story, short:

If you want to join a team that loves to ship software, create cool/interesting content and talks to customers every day of the week, my team is the place to do that at Microsoft. To apply please visit the recruiting site (linked to in the titles above) and submit your resume. Please also send me a note (JeffSand at Microsoft dot com) letting me know you've done so.

We've got an amazing year ahead of us, with lots of fun surprises in store. If you are interested in being a part of that and think you've got the right stuff then apply today.
Thanks!
-Jeff

so who was hired? or is this still in-process ??

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Ian — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:41:42 GMT

figuerres wrote:

so who was hired? or is this still in-process ??

Not suggesting for a second that I had a chance but I bottled it in the end ...

Sent Jeff an email within a few minutes of seeing the cross post on Channel9, started planning my video 'sell' (I was going to interview one my colleagues who specialises in Microsoft development). Had a chat with my wife about it (she has just started a new role herself so timing not great).
So why did I bottle out?
Well generally I am a great believer in keeping options open and by rights I should have applied just to see what happens. But in the end a few factors disuaded me, chief of which is probably knowing myself well enough to know that in spite of my enthusiasm I am not one of those guys with 'hidden' evangelist traits. Also, I 'secretly' filmed myself asking myself some questions* and wasn't impressed with what I saw. Lasty of all for the most part I pretty much love my role as a solutions architect/developer/geek and if it ain''t broke ...

Any other niners care to share their story?

* Don't forget that a little wierdness is a part of being a geek.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 22:14:01 GMT

Ian wrote:

Any other niners care to share their story?

I casually enquired about the "Student Technical Evangelist" thing, Jeff was interested in me, but ultimately turned me down for reason twofold:

I didn't meet the visa requirements
He didn't want me to end my current education

Besides, it's not as though I can't get into MS another way then join Jeff's team internally

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Herbie Smith — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 09:28:55 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

Besides, it's not as though I can't get into MS another way then join Jeff's team internally

I doubt Microsoft would hire me; like Blowdart, I'm probably not technical enough. I've spent too much time actually getting the job done and not enough time keeping up with all the new stuff.

I'm almost certain Joel Spolksy wouldn't hire me in a month of Sundays ...

So I've saved myself the embarrassment of applying.

Herbie

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 10:32:44 GMT

Dr Herbie wrote:

I doubt Microsoft would hire me; like Blowdart, I'm probably not technical enough.

Is that ever going to be forgotten?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Minh — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:30:30 GMT

Ian wrote:

Any other niners care to share their story?

* Don't forget that a little wierdness is a part of being a geek.

They say you must plan for sucess, so I'm formulating a plan of breaking into MS. It's a bit involved, but I think doable:

* Idetify the group that I want to be in.
* Get to know the person in-charge of hiring
* Find a hooker that can play dead
* Locate a sleazy photographer

Get ready Redmond, here I come.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 08:01:09 GMT

Minh wrote:

Ian wrote:

Any other niners care to share their story?

* Don't forget that a little wierdness is a part of being a geek.

They say you must plan for sucess, so I'm formulating a plan of breaking into MS. It's a bit involved, but I think doable:

* Idetify the group that I want to be in.
* Get to know the person in-charge of hiring
* Find a hooker that can play dead
* Locate a sleazy photographer

Get ready Redmond, here I come.

I like it.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

phreaks — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:15:22 GMT

There's always MCS.

http://www.microsoft.com/services/microsoftservices/default.mspx

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:46:57 GMT

Is the SDE position still open?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:13:55 GMT

Yes -- all positions are still currently open.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 19:26:58 GMT

jeffsand wrote:

Yes -- all positions are still currently open.

Looks like I may be in Redmond next month for a couple of days; I shall put product in my hair and attempt to look hip and trendy like Rory *grin*

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rossj — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:28:22 GMT

jeffsand wrote:

Yes -- all positions are still currently open.

US only?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Massif — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:06:04 GMT

Rossj wrote:

jeffsand wrote:
Yes -- all positions are still currently open.

US only?

Well, if you can stand the commute...

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rossj — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:07:04 GMT

Massif wrote:

Rossj wrote:

jeffsand wrote:
Yes -- all positions are still currently open.

US only?

Well, if you can stand the commute...

Can't be any worse than the one I do now - I spend enough time on the M6 that I probably could.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

mendell — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:58:00 GMT

I am perfect for the job. Let me just read a bit more about Chanel 9/microsoft bio. Thanks. Will contact you soon. Michelle

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rory — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 01:26:53 GMT

pepper wrote:

Yeah, but have you EVER hired a long time Niner/REGULAR contributor onto your team?

Answer: NO.

Answer: YES.

I was aware of 9 from back when it had launched, but I wasn't a regular visitor or contributor.

I did a handful of Windows Mobile screencasts for 9, but they had little relevance to the kind of work you'd have to do for one of the interviewer positions.

I had been doing public speaking, and had done a bit of video work for other teams, but not for 9.

Plus, if you think Jeff won't hire from the outside, then somebody here has the opportunity to definitively turn your "NO" answer around. Remove Jeff's post, and it'll be much harder to accomplish the goal.

It's like saying that you can't take off, and that you'll never be able to - after you've ordered someone to tear out the runway.

Bit of a "duh" there, methinks.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Tensor — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:06:15 GMT

Rory, I have a lot of respect for you, so please dotn take this the wrong way, but part of your CV was "allready works for microsoft" and also "reasonabley famous blogger".

Just like BethG. Did we forget that bit? It seems no-one ever talks about it....

The last two people who joined C9 have done so to be the front people and have had as high profile parts of there cv (1) work for MS (2) well known in the blogosphere. Any real confidence that third wont be the same. Mini for c9?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

evildictaitor — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:35:56 GMT

Tensor wrote:

Rory, I have a lot of respect for you, so please dotn take this the wrong way, but part of your CV was "allready works for microsoft" and also "reasonabley famous blogger".

Just like BethG. Did we forget that bit? It seems no-one ever talks about it....

The last two people who joined C9 have done so to be the front people and have had as high profile parts of there cv (1) work for MS (2) well known in the blogosphere. Any real confidence that third wont be the same. Mini for c9?

Bah for you and using the past as a way of predicting the future.

Just because the last few people were internal from MS, doesn't mean that the next one has to be. Here's me raising my glass to the next person to join C9. Might s/he be a direct result of this thread, so that this conversation can end.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:24:00 GMT

Tensor wrote:

Rory, I have a lot of respect for you, so please dotn take this the wrong way, but part of your CV was "allready works for microsoft" and also "reasonabley famous blogger".

LOL

This is why he's a "reasonably famous blogger"

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rory — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 03:20:23 GMT

Tensor wrote:

Rory, I have a lot of respect for you, so please dotn take this the wrong way, but part of your CV was "allready works for microsoft" and also "reasonabley famous blogger".
Just like BethG. Did we forget that bit? It seems no-one ever talks about it....

The last two people who joined C9 have done so to be the front people and have had as high profile parts of there cv (1) work for MS (2) well known in the blogosphere. Any real confidence that third wont be the same. Mini for c9?

Well, let's think about this.

How do you determine if someone is the right choice for something like Channel 9? There are so many more factors than going for a coding job or other similar straight-up tech jobs.

I'm going to focus on devs here because my guess is that the majority of the people who'd apply for this position are devs. I know niners come from all over the place and from many different backgrounds, but I think dev is a safe bet to describe many, if not most of the visitors.

So, when you're a dev, you're hyperfocused on this one duty. You sit at a computer, you type, and you think, and you ponder, and you read, and you pull at your hair, and you spend your time in IDEs, forums, usenet, and working with other dev resources.

When you're deep into coding, and when you have the unrealistic deadlines that clueless managers put on their teams, you don't have a lot of time for anything else.

If you want the kind of experience that will put you to the top of the list for something like 9, then you need a range of skills you just aren't going to get from coding all day.

All in all, I did a terrible job on 9, but that goes back to an overwhelming set of personal problems. I couldn't focus. However, I was absolutely qualified for the job.

Your duty isn't to be a tech expert or a Supreme Master Coder Person. While it can be a benefit, it can also get in your way.

Let's just pretend for a moment that my head was in the job when I was up in Redmond, and that I was producing content at the rate I should have been. These are the skills I would have had to apply in full to succeed at 9:

1. Comfort with knowing that thousands of people are going to watch you fail from time to time. This one is extremely difficult, or at least it was for me. We're all insecure, and geeks are some of the most critical people you'll ever find. They're uptight, pedantic, and, for some reason, angry. When you have all these people telling you that you're a moron, it eats away at you. I'm not rock solid, but I had made enough mistakes through my years of public speaking and (when I was still really into tech) high profile blogging (measured in part by having been in the Technorati 500 until I started writing about how depressed I was all the time). If you don't know what it's like to get angry comments, hate mail, posts in which other industry people talk about how useless you are, then you're not ready for 9.

2. Comfort with public speaking. I spent over two years doing speaking engagements. 60% of my life from mid-2004 through late 2006 were spent on the road, going from town to town, state to state, and sometimes to other countries to give talks. The majority of those talks went for four hours with a couple short breaks. You have to keep on talking the entire time.

I started off in user groups. The first few talks I gave were horrible. I froze, stared off into space, forgot what I was saying, made mistakes that left the crowd nailing me with corrections and digging questions. My self-confidence took a few punches, and I felt terrible after those talks.

I moved on to .Net Rocks where, for the first few episodes, I hardly spoke. The download numbers at the time (I don't know if they've changed) were ridiculous. When I arrived, we were getting tens of thousands of downloads each month. Over the next six months, as .Net Rocks was featured in a few widely circulated publications, our numbers went up to 200,000 downloads per month.

Think about that. Every one of your blundering errors being captured and available for download by anyone in the world. It's a lot of pressure.

Then I moved out to the east coast to work with Carl on the show. When I arrived, the first thing I did was give a talk at an MS conference. I had gone three days without sleep (packing/transit/etc.), and I blew it. Completely blew it. I watched Carl in the back of the room - he was the one who got me the job, and he had gone from beaming to looking terrified. It took him the entire drive home to restore some of my self-respect.

Then he got me a talk in Boston. I didn't screw up as badly. In fact, the talk went pretty well. By that point, I had given, maybe, a dozen talks, most of which *sucked*.

In Portland, Chris Sells and Chris Tavares were watching my talks and then doing post-mortems with me to tell me everything I did wrong. Sells always said that I had natural talent for speaking, and that I'd be fantastic when I got it down.

There I was, then, failing talk after talk - and this is after the best speaker I've ever met (Sells) told me that I was a natural. If I was failing as a natural, then this job must have been much harder than I expected.

Over the next few months, I got my job with the MSDN Events team where I had to learn four hours of content and demos (it's much more than it sounds like) for each quarter, plus miscellaneous content thrown in for user groups and conferences I had to do. I had to keep up with the info, the pace, and, during that process, learn how to stop sucking.

A year passed, and I was finally able to speak with great confidence, but it took *tons* of experience to get there.

Working for Channel 9 is a lot like working as a public speaker, except that, now, you have to improvise everything.

I used to look through my videos and see how many people had viewed them, and it scared me a bit each time. This is after I had become a great speaker (that's the customers talking - I had about as close to a perfect rating as you can get for customer satisfaction).

So, ask yourself if you could go out, right now, without prep, and give a talk knowing that thousands of people are going to see every mistake in your effort.

If you don't think you could do it, or take the battering should you choose to do it despite not having experience, then you're going to have a rough start at 9. You're going to have to endure the abuse of people who seem to expect perfection, even though they can't even deliver their condemnations spelled correctly.

It's harsh.

Without that training, or without having the confidence that you can keep on keeping on despite the humiliation, you're going to have a hard time at 9.

Plus, we all have good days and bad, and with a job like 9 or being a public speaker, you don't get to back off when you're having a bad day. You still have to go out and fake it when you don't feel it. You walk away with an empty feeling. Again, it's rough.

It's vital, then, that you *know* what you're getting into, and that you have *some* experience doing something similar.

3. You need personality. You can be reserved, you can be obnoxious, you can have fun, or you can be serious, but you have to distinguish yourself with style. You can have the skills down in a technical sense, but you have to have that whatever-it-is that makes people remember you, and even possibly like you. You're an evangelist - if you don't have charisma, you won't make an impact. Sad, but true. If your delivery is flat, and if it sounds like you're talking from a teleprompter, you won't last long.

Think about it like this... there are people who are natural musicians. They understand that, even if you aren't all that great with the instrument, it's the music that matters. However you feel about them, The Velvet Undergound is a great example. Their timing was atrocious, they apparently didn't know how to tune their instruments, Lou Reed didn't sing - he spoke in melodies, and it sounded like each person in the band was playing a different song.

But, they *had something*. It wasn't technical skill - it was personality, charisma, creativity.

Now think about a Velvet Underground cover band. If you go out to YouTube and watch various cover bands - not just for the Velvets, but for any other band they're trying to emulate - you'll often see technical skill, ranging from almost none to having well developed precision, but not *one* of them can duplicate that feeling. They play all the notes, they sing all the parts, but it's all uninspired.

You can't fake true personality, charisma, or creativity. You'll copy your heroes as best as you can, but it'll never be enough.

Regardless of technical proficiency, most people just can't play guitar. A great musician doesn't have to know anything about scales, this mode, that mode... BB King can't even play chords. He just doesn't do it. Nor can he play while singing. In those respects, he is, compared to the guitar gearhead playing perfectly in his garage, severly limited. But that gearhead will *never* be able to play like BB King.

Or, if music isn't your thing, think chess.

Bobby Fischer didn't always win. Kasparov was a machine almost nobody could take down (I say "was" because Kramnik has taken his place).

Regardless of his disgusting politics, at his height, Bobby Fischer was, in my opinion, the best chess player we've ever seen. He worked within the limitations of chess and took it from being an intellectual craft and added art to the picture (there are many *possible* games of chess that can be played, but the overwhelming majority won't be since the means by which you win a chess game aren't represented by those other possible sequences - the winning maneuvers are, relatively speaking, very few).

When you walk through a Bobby Fischer game, you see genius - he didn't just play well - he played with enormous creativity. He took risks based on the (reasonable) expectation that his opponents wouldn't see the atypical thinking behind much of what he did. At its highest level, chess is memorized openings, well traveled middle games, and move counting in the end game. A great chess player can see a loss well ahead of time just by recognizing a position and knowing where it will lead, and assuming that his opponent won't make any mistakes (also reasonable at the highest level).

Fischer played his games slightly askew. He sucker punched people. He knew where to hit, where they wouldn't see it coming. He'd draw his opponents in, present a clean, theory-driven pattern, and then break it. Sometimes he destroyed the other guy, and sometimes he lost - but, regardless, his games are a joy.

Kasparov... here's a guy with serious precision. He has it all down - he plays by the book. But to play the way he does is safe. He's well studied in every position worh anything that anyone's ever seen (that's been recorded, anyway). Based on theory and being able to recall those games, he'll win. Period. But his games are *dull*.

People tend to prefer the winning team. Front runners. It's the same conceit of thinking that, because your proficiency with your musical instrument is just about perfect, you're on top of the pile.

But you're not.

If I have to choose between watching Fischer lose and watching Kasparov win, I'll take Fischer every time. He's the one with personality, style, and profound creativity.

When it comes to public speakers, or hosts for 9, then, do you want to watch a Bobby Fischer or a Kasparov?

If you want that Kasparov-like linear perfection, then go read a white paper. Watch the average tech tutorial. Get bored.

If you want to watch someone think out of bounds like Fischer, then natural talent, personality, creativity, etc., are where you'll find it.

So, if you want to work for 9, then you have to be honest with yourself - do you have that natural ability to do well on 9, or do you *want* to have that natural ability?

Again, this isn't a tech job. It's not just what you say - it's how you say it.

You can't be an effective evangelist without, once you've worked out most of your flaws, being able to walk in a room and work it like you own it.

Back to music - when I was younger, I played in quite a few bands around town. In each band, there was a post-session whining event where the guys I was working with moaned about how we were *soooo* much better than [x band on MTV or radio]. We had our skills down, blah blah blah - they *never* figured out that one of the factors that pushes a band to the top is the stuff you can't fake. Nobody cares how well you play except for a few intellectual snobs. Much more important is how you do it.

If these examples aren't enough, let's talk about fashion versus style.

Fashion is looking in a store setup, seeing an outfit, and thinking, "That outfit looks good on that mannequin."

Style is looking in that same store setup and thinking, "That outfit would look good on *me*."

In the former, you're pretty much being told what to like - someone else thought it up, and you're ready to wear the other person's idea regardless of how well it actually stuits you.

In the latter, you *know* that the outfit belongs on you. What the designer thinks is immaterial. You don't care about the label or how much it costs. You'll wear it three years from now, even when fashion has left your outfit years in its wake.

Most bands play with the same instruments - but some play by rote what other people have written, while others might *learn* from the real musicians, but they know what's theirs.

4. If you've got the style down, you still need technical skills. If you plan on editing your videos (and this isn't a requirement for 9, though I always wanted to - it's just that the general feeling is counter to editing), then you need to be able to work the software *and* do it with feeling.

You need to know the software well enough that you can take what's in your head and turn it into something real.

Unfortunately, I didn't do this much - didn't feel like it would have been welcome - and it took too much time.

In retrospect, I think it would have been far more worthwhile to have put together a couple great, quirky videos each week than try to put out interview after interview with the same old straight-up delivery - a trim at the beginning, a trim at the end, render, post.

I don't mean to sound like Mr. Negativitypants, but if you aren't coming to 9 ready *and* prepared to leave each video with your own mark, taking your interviews away from what has become formula, then you shouldn't bother applying. Not because you wouldn't get the job, but because you wouldn't add anything to 9.

This was my weakest area. I had tons of ideas, but didn't implement them. My biggest regret is that I didn't make any big changes. Other than putting myself in the videos to make them more dynamic (I'm just not into watching one person talk for twenty minutes to an hour - I want to see interaction), I didn't do much. Near the end, I played with things a little - mostly with Adam Kinney's exit interview. It was fun, but a bit late.

Things like that. You need creativity and you need to be able to think outside the formula 9 has been running on. And it's not enough to think differently - if it's contrived, it won't work. You have to have the kind of ideas that *don't* come from thinking. The ideas you need are the ones that arrive from the back of your head, seemingly without any intervention from your awareness.

-----------------------

I think that's enough of that. If you (whoever's reading) still don't understand why Jeff should be super picky about who he hires, then, and I hate to say this, you aren't going to be a good fit. Someone from the team might contradict me on this point, but I had the job long enough that feel confident in this. There's so much more to it than what's listed in the job posting, but most of it you can't put into words that would make sense in a posting.

Your argument is that I already worked for MS and that I was a "reasonably famous blogger."

What you're implying here is a combination of nepotism and having a cheap in.

However, your reasons don't work in favor of an unfair, or disproportionate advantage - they describe in part *exactly* why I was suitable for the job. I got my public speaking work and my blog popularity *because* I had the skills and raw talent necessary for the position.

It's like the creationist argument that, because all the variables of this universe are perfect for supporting life when, if just one law were changed, there would be no life. They argue that this is proof that a god created the universe specifically for life; that having all the variables in the right places is an argument for design.

I find that argument astonishing - the leap from "We're here" to "God created this universe" makes a point, but misses the bigger point altogether.

The simple alternative - the one that doesn't involve the complexity of a "higher" being, the existence of which is a huge assumption - is that, the only reason we're able to recognize that this universe is perfectly configured to support life is that the universe *is* perfectly configured to support life - were it any different, we wouldn't be here to ask the question. The universe doesn't have to have been created by a god to explain its perfection for supporting our kind of life - the fact that we're here indicates that, how many other universes wouldn't support us, our existence shows we aren't in one of them.

Taking this back to my fitness for the 9 position, I didn't get where I have because someone else configured my life or gave me preferential treatment - I got to where I am because I was already that person.

Being someone else - someone who doesn't have the qualities I've listed - would have been to be someone who wasn't born - configured - for the job.

I made it because the variables in the Roryverse were right to get me bubbled up through the blogs, the speaking job, the other media work, and so on. My suitability for the 9 job didn't come from my "reasonably famous blogger" or my already having worked for Microsoft.

I became a "reasonably famous blogger" with a job at MS because I was naturally set up for it. As I've said, were I different, the Roryverse wouldn't have been configured to support life in the positions I've gotten.

Someone who isn't right for the job is in one of the other universes where things are fundamentally unfit for sustaining a particular phenomenon.

The universe pops into existence with the parameters set right to support life.

I popped into existence with the parameters to do what I do.

It's those parameters that put me here - not the other way around.

I realize this isn't especially clear, but I wanted to present my thoughts in enough ways that one of them might resonate.

And, to take this away from my being the right match for the job, I'm going to point out that the Roryverse wasn't properly configured to support life as an underwater welder, or a banker, or a lawyer, or a president, or a barista. Many other people are naturally suited for those jobs. I'm not one of them.

We all have our natural talents.

If you don't work for 9, it might just be that the You-o-verse isn't configured for the job.

I'm going now. My fingers are just about broken from typing.

Hopefully this'll stop the nepotism arguments.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

LaBomba — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:39:35 GMT

Longest post in C9 history

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rory — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 11:10:39 GMT

LaBomba wrote:

Longest post in C9 history

Quite possibly

I do come around and read posts here from time to time, and this on in particular has...

Not pissed me off, exactly - not disappointed me - just...

Obviously I don't know how to say it in a sentence, which is probably why I wrote the small book.

What gets me is the attitude that, because someone else had this job before, nobody else possibly can now.

Does that even make sense? Not really, but when you strip away the details, that's the argument.

Instead of people saying, "I can't do this because it's obvious I wouldn't get hired, " I want them to understand why they *really* wouldn't get hired.

It's the same argument over and over and over and over... and over.

If the people who think it's all about nepotism and secret handshakes take the time to read this, then they might see that there's much more to the job that simply knowing Someone.

It sucks to call Jeff out to suggest that he's not going to hire anyone who isn't already Some Big Blogger or Whatever - when Jeff came here and posted *specifically* to notify the community that he wants people to step up.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 02:15:34 GMT

I gave the SDE position a shot a month ago but never heard back. /shrug

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

dahat — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 19:28:51 GMT

JChung2006 wrote:

I gave the SDE position a shot a month ago but never heard back. /shrug

A shot in what way? You should have gotten some response out of them... even if it was "thanks, you are now in the system."

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Adam Kinney — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:33:30 GMT

I think dahat should apply. We could use some more life-size 9 guy costumes around here.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:25:46 GMT

AdamKinney wrote:

I think dahat should apply. We could use some more life-size 9 guy costumes around here.

I understand he's in talks with joining the WHS team. The work he's done on the platform is pretty impressive.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

blowdart — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:57:22 GMT

I did think about it you know, but it's obvious from the 2 existing appearances in videos, and another 2 in the pipeline that Charles just has a man crush on me.

It would be awkward

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

LaBomba — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 06:46:57 GMT

Maybe that's why Rory left?

Charles had a man crush on him?? :O

Edit: You can't forget the fact you're non-technical my absent minded friend.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 01:30:54 GMT

dahat wrote:

JChung2006 wrote:
I gave the SDE position a shot a month ago but never heard back. /shrug

A shot in what way? You should have gotten some response out of them... even if it was "thanks, you are now in the system."

I submitted my resume back in November but did not hear back at all. I think the Careers site might have something to do with that since my profile shows me submitted to the same position twice. Anyways, it's all good as I have joined Microsoft in a different but quite similar capacity.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

pepper — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 02:59:58 GMT

Rory wrote:

Plus, if you think Jeff won't hire from the outside, then somebody here has the opportunity to definitively turn your "NO" answer around. Remove Jeff's post, and it'll be much harder to accomplish the goal.

I've heard the interview process involves robes, candles and secret handshakes.

I'll pass, thanks.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

evildictaitor — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:51:57 GMT

pepper wrote:

Rory wrote:
Plus, if you think Jeff won't hire from the outside, then somebody here has the opportunity to definitively turn your "NO" answer around. Remove Jeff's post, and it'll be much harder to accomplish the goal.

I've heard the interview process involves robes, candles and secret handshakes.

I'll pass, thanks.

Well, the robes are the "smart-casual" wear, the secret handshake is a firm but not violent one, but candles are banned by HSE because they are a fire hazard.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Rossj — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:31:28 GMT

JChung2006 wrote:

Anyways, it's all good as I have joined Microsoft in a different but quite similar capacity.

Hey congrats - whatcha working on?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 00:17:34 GMT

Rossj wrote:

JChung2006 wrote:
 Anyways, it's all good as I have joined Microsoft in a different but quite similar capacity.

Hey congrats - whatcha working on?

Thanks! I'm working as a contractor on the MSCOM (microsoft.com) Portal Platform team. I'm (dare I say it?) "super" excited about working here!

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

parinav kumar — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:28:38 GMT

Helloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I am Sumit.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

RodAtWork — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 20:53:52 GMT

Where are these positions located?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:28:40 GMT

RodAtWork wrote:

Where are these positions located?

Redmond, WA, I assume

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

evildictaitor — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 22:37:31 GMT

blehbleh wrote:

I HATE sticky threads!

Personally I find it hard to get that emotionally worked up over something so trivial.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Tommy Carlier — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 06:45:38 GMT

I hate it when people constantly post messages in a bold font. Bold is meant to emphasize some words, not to write your entire post (and ALL your posts) in.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

RoyalSchrubber — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:51:47 GMT

blehbleh wrote:

evildictaitor wrote:

blehbleh wrote:
I HATE sticky threads!

Personally I find it hard to get that emotionally worked up over something so trivial.

It's very simple. Something trivial to someone, might be huge for someone else. It's not a huge deal for me thought but I still HATE sticky threads!

hehe, I like them, I remember when they've removed two of them and first page felt sooo empty.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

GoddersUK — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 22:51:29 GMT

RoyalSchrubber wrote:

hehe, I like them, I remember when they've removed two of them and first page felt sooo empty.

++ and if there are no stickies then it feels like the second or third page.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Jeff Sandquist — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:56:21 GMT

Quick update, two out of three positions are filled.

Long time Niner (User ID 41) and Microsoft Employee, Dan Fernandez has filled the Channel 9 position.

Max Zuckerman, has joined the forces behind Channel 8.

We now have one final position open, which is the development role reporting to Duncan. Feel free to drop me a note via the site (nice little contact link to the left on my avatar) if you are interested in applying.

Thanks

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

haegens — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:33:09 GMT

I'm interested in joining.. I'll do a little more research on the microsoft / Ch.9 collaboration. You can read more about me here:
La Casa De Puros

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Lloyd Humphreys — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:36:41 GMT

haegens wrote:

I'm interested in joining.. I'll do a little more research on the microsoft / Ch.9 collaboration. You can read more about me here:
La Casa De Puros

They're getting cleverer

SPAAAAAAAAM

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 07:36:53 GMT

Hmm, aren't Cuban cigars illegal in the US?

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Dorian Muthig — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:22:32 GMT

JChung2006 wrote:

Hmm, aren't Cuban cigars illegal in the US?

Eh, really? Because it's Cuba? :O

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:35:06 GMT

JChung2006 wrote:

Hmm, aren't Cuban cigars illegal in the US?

Apparently not.

"Land of the Free" indeed.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

evildictaitor — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 16:52:01 GMT

W3bbo wrote:

JChung2006 wrote:
Hmm, aren't Cuban cigars illegal in the US?

Apparently not.

"Land of the Free" indeed.

Bah. Double negatives. "Apparently not" legal, rather than "Apparently not" illegal. i.e. Cuban cigars are illegal.

Also, last time I went to the States I got questioned for a full hour on what kind of evil terrorism I was planning after my recent visit to the Sudan. I was not amused to say the least. *grumble stupid america grumble grumble*.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

W3bbo — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:05:20 GMT

evildictaitor wrote:

Bah. Double negatives. "Apparently not" legal, rather than "Apparently not" illegal. i.e. Cuban cigars are illegal.

Sorry, I speed-read JChung's post as "aren't Cuban cigars legal in the US?"

In other news, I've noticed something. Whenever the United States have good PR, they're known as the "USA", when they've got bad PR they're always refered to as the "US".

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

JChung2006 — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 01:58:57 GMT

evildictaitor wrote:

Bah. Double negatives.

"Are Cuban cigars legal?" and "aren't Cuban cigars illegal?" have slightly different semantics, similar to how "if (obj) { }" and "if (!!obj) { }" mean something different in JavaScript.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

evildictaitor — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:54:13 GMT

JChung2006 wrote:

evildictaitor wrote:
Bah. Double negatives.

"Are Cuban cigars legal?" and "aren't Cuban cigars illegal?" have slightly different semantics, similar to how "if (obj) { }" and "if (!!obj) { }" mean something different in JavaScript.

Are you sure? The law in the States sets out things which are explicitly illegal, rather than things which are legal in the States - the only exception being the constitution, which sets out constitution rights, rather than "things which are legal".

Consequently, something is legal if (and only if) it is not illegal, and something is illegal if (and only if) it is expressly forbidden by some law, or US-signed treaty or if it invades someone else's constitutional rights.

Unless, of course, you're merely refering to the gramatical structure, in which case you're right. "Arn't cuban cigars illegal?" implies an assertion that cuban cigars are illegal, and seeks for confirmation of the fact. "Are cuban cigars legal?" implies a direct question, asserting no statement at all.

Coffeehouse - Come Work on Our Team

Mark Wisecarver — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 17:32:27 GMT

Concerning U.S. Citizens:
Cuban Cigars Are Illegal at Home and Abroad

Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515, (Revised September 30, 2004) are administered and enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Criminal penalties for violation of the Regulations can go as high as $1 million for corporations, and $250,000 for individuals plus up to 10 years in prison. In addition, civil penalties of up to $65,000 per violation can be imposed by OFAC.

This originated in February of 1962, and is, sadly, still in effect.