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We have huge, naïve ambitions to change the world. Like most start-ups, we'll probably be an abject failure.
Their website doesn't load: http://amherst-networks.com
I'm almost positive that this is a joke.
it costs $400 to post on 37signals... so if it's a joke, it's a $400 joke.
Unless it was a joke by 37signals to attract visitors to their job board.
why?

when you think about it, competent people usually think they suck and are very humble.

incompetent people are more likely to tell you how amazing they are and are so full of themselves. I think this job ad is brilliant way to attract real talent.

Well, for one because MIT doesn't hand out .edu domain emails for startups, especially anotherstartup@mit.edu.
The only interesting job posting in years. Whether it's a joke or not they are pretty accurate in a cynically funny way.
Dunno if it's intended as one, but this would probably work very nicely as a honeypot for recruiters that spam resumes to every job posting on the web.

Just auto-ignore anybody who also emails the address in that posting.

This might be a honeypot, but if they had been looking for a programmer I would have sent out my first resume in a fairly long time.

I would much rather see a job posting that says "We are looking for someone competent that can help solve our problems without getting lost in search of perfection." than one that says "We have HARD problems we seek LEET person to help solve them and CHANGE THE WORLD!!1!!11".

PS: Even if it is not a real job the fun of crafting a completely understated resume appeals to me.

I'll only apply if I can get equity instead of a salary
I shouldn't apply, since I tend to use semantic HTML markup.
what is the semantic of div?
Ah, I was referring to <strong> and <em> vs. <b> and <i>.
Were I a web designer, I'd be tempted by this job posting.

Is a bit of cynicism and humor really that awful? I thought the last paragraph gave a very clear idea of the sort of person they're looking for.

What's wrong with <b> vs. <B>?
Why is this being voted down? It's a reference to the OP, viz.

  We'd like somebody who writes <b> instead of <B>, but not
  someone who writes, say, <strong>.
(I guess I got them around the wrong way, should be what's wrong with <B> vs. <b>?)
In answer to your question: http://www.htmlbasictutor.ca/html-tag-attributes.htm

But in answer to your other question people only get one chance to vote and if they are on a phone with a touchscreen it sometimes registers as a down vote. The meta commentary on votes is uninteresting though so please avoid saying things like this. See the bottom for hn guidelines.

You know what? Designers and programmers need to get over their (our) smugness. This type of "oh god we're so smart and oh god you are sooo dumb" thing helps nobody.

Out of curiosity, how do I hire a designer? How much does it cost? Where do I go? Who do I ask?

Is there any question as to the source of ignorance when clients are coming to designers to do work? I don't think I've ever seen a post with something like "so you're a lonely python hacker holed up in the back of a coffee shop staring into a shell...your website has functionality but looks like it was designed by the openbsd foundation? You want to hire a designer to make it look as good on the outside as it does on the inside? HERE IS HOW!"

Why have I seen so many posts talking about how completely ignorant and stupid the general population is, but not a single one trying to help them overcome this ignorance?

Sincerely,

Somebody who has absolutely no idea how to hire a designer even if he had the money to do so.

I think designers pretty rarely would react badly to a programmer asking for help on a project even if he DIDN'T have the money to do so. Likely you'd get a polite "sorry I can't"

I think what this is reacting to is the huge amount of business hacks who treat designers the same way the treat "code monkeys."

We are on the same team, have a common enemy, etc., is what I mean.