As others have expressed, I felt a bit shady about doing this task, but was curious as to the kind of responses I might receive. So I shrugged off those pesky moral qualms and posted away:

Reverse Engineer

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Reply to: job-266850337@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-01-22, 6:11PM MST


Equivalenz, a daughter corporation of Paragoogle Integrated Technologies, LLC, seeks creative individuals to join our team.

Positions at EquivalenZ are unlimited. Provide us with a resume and a job description of what is best suited for you.


Mission Statement:

The EquivalenZ project seeks to fulfill the originating fantasies of Virtual Reality. It is a utopic structure which frees the user from gender, race and body. The user, while being freed from the body, is simultaneously returned to it, suddenly able to engage in acts of sex, combat and commerce without fear of reprimand or repercussion.
The fantasy of equivalence is the endgame of virtual reality - a modeling so precise that virtual and real are indistinguishable.
EquivalenZ is that state of seamless equivalence.
To achieve this state we work backwards. True virtual reality cannot be achieved with faster processors and better video cards. The only way to make it exact is to start with the virtual and model the real on it: to model the real on the virtual...

Location: Virtual Denver
Compensation: Negotiable
Telecommuting is ok.
This is a part-time job.
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Posting ID: 266850337

Oddly enough, I only received four responses:

I am interested in the listing posted on Craig’s List. Can you please provide me with more information regarding the opportunity? I am curious as to what your company does, as well as rate of pay, hours, and location.

Thank you for your time,

J. H.

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Dear Sir or Madam,

I’m looking for an opportunity in network administration. I have a solid knowledge of networking among other computer skills and am looking for a company that will facilitate my growth in the networking realm. Your company sounds very interesting and exciting and I believe with the technology you use, you could use a hard working, fast learning, motivated, honest, and devoted network admin.

Thank you,

C.K.

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I am very interested in your posting on craigslist.

I am a very creative, passionate designer who lives on technology, enjoys design/build projects and staying busy. I have a strong R&D, design, web engineering and consulting background.

I have such a strong background in large to small design projects that I can tailor a cadre of skills to get complex projects completed on time and budget.

What are some of the immediate needs of your company and how may I help?

Thank you

P.
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Greetings.

I would like to contribute to the EquivalenZ project in a technical
and creative respect. My specialty is distributed network
architecture, which is fundamental to virtual worlds. The time I can
imbue this project depends on several factors, mainly payment schemes
as I am currently plagued by this enigma called "rent". I'd still
like to chip in a few hours a week if no pay is available.

Cheers,
N

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Of these four candidates only two initially provided a resume. Of the remaining two, one sent back a resume at my request, but has been unreachable for an interview and the other has not yet replied.

The last candidate looks to be the most promising however - witness highlights from his resume:

II. Mission:

To understand the impact of technology to the fullest extent possible ...

III. Summary Of Qualifications:

Design Methodologies: Agile Development, Classic Waterfall Cycle

Development Tools: gcc, GNU Make, cvs, subversion, valgrind, gdb, pdb, flex/bison, swig, strace, ethereal, glade.

V. Professional Highlights:

Evil Geniuses For A Better Tomorrow - Software Engineer

VII. Interests:

evolutionary theory, bicycle maintainence, the social/technological
interface, audio processing systems, hiking, experimental film/music,
coffee.
___________________

Not to mention, he's willing to work for free!

I've been trying to contact him for a phone interview with no luck as yet. Will post results once I make contact.

___________________

Just spoke with N - what a nice guy! I really tried hard to conduct a professional interview, but I just starting feeling guiltier and guiltier as the conversation progressed. Finally, I spilled all - I'm afraid I may have come across as an unconventional game player recruiter. But, he did seem interested in the concept of SF0, and who knows, he just may check us out. I hope so, because I think he'd be a great addition to EquivalenZ. He's hired!