So sick of seeing these from hiring managers. No longer content with junior, mid level, and senior as requirements for coding positions, HR staffs feel the need to add these ridiculous monikers as requirements for potential candidates. We don’t do that when we look for people, because we care about the people that work for us.

For one, it’s totally generic, those titles are sooo 2005. It was a fade, it’s over. Putting them in your postings makes your company look stale and unoriginal. But more than that they’re very aggressive and inflexible, as in “we only hire people who THINK they’re awesome”; it makes your company sound like it’s full of jerks who’ve got nothing left to learn from anyone. Why would anyone want to work there?

Real requirements programmers understand. They either know how to do something, or they don’t and code samples will tell you much more about them, than self professed titles, or even a university degree. The fact that many of the absolute best programmers in world would flat out refuse to be called a ‘Guru’, and that several are also self taught should tell you something.

Which reminds me, this also applies to companies putting “top-tier university” as a requirement. What does that mean? Only American Ivy League grads need apply? Does SF State count? No? Then I guess you can’t hire Douglas Crockford to do your JS job. Haven’t heard of the University of Tsukuba? Then you can cross off Yukihiro Matsumoto for that Ruby project.

All said, if your company’s doing this, realize that you are cutting out whole swaths of people on totally meaningless requirements. Perhaps worse though, is that the people you do attract, are more likely to lack any humility.

I realize that HR puts these silly things in their posts to weed out lesser candidates quickly. But seriously, it’s just plain lazy, there are better ways to do that and still show you’re ‘hip’ without sounding elitist. You’re trying to establish what will end up being a long term relationship with someone, at least give candidates the impression that you have a positive work environment.

Besides, someone who graduated Summa Cum Laude from MIT, with a PhD in comp. sci., doesn’t automatically gravitate towards positions like these. I’m sure, just like anyone else, they’de rather be recognized for their personal accomplishments, than just for the school they attended or some arbitrary title. In short, they’re just as likely to have the same negative impression of companies “Seeking Javascript Ninja from Top-Tier University” as we do.

Our work in now on Béhance! Check it out at http://www.behance.net/rb-d and give us a couple of likes!

All of a sudden PHP mail stopped working for me. At first I thought it was a problem with postfix, and after a bit of Googling, I was knee deep in making all kinds of config mods. Turns out it’s much simpler (for me anyway). Port 25 is blocked by my ISP now, and even though everything else I send is over port 587 or 465, SMTP for scripts isn’t.

All you have to do is launch the ‘Server’ from applications. Click on Mail in the left nav, switch on ‘Mail Server’ (if it isn’t already), enable ‘Relay  outgoing mail through ISP’ and for the ‘Outgoing Mail Relay:’  change it to whatever you use for mail making sure to add 587 for your port like so (and yes, [] required) , then ‘OK’:

Website for Go Max Go Foods LLC, makers of delicious vegan candy bars. Go Max Go Foods is located in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Logo design for Mercado, financial company located in San Francisco, California.

Always fun reading Google news and seeing one of our stock images come up. In this case, at VentureBeat.com:

Since 1963 Craphic Design USA has been the news magazine for graphic designers and other creative professionals. Their October issue is dedicated to graphic design professionals that take green principles and projects seriously. “When asked what drives the decision to “go green” with regard to a project or campaign, the designers’ personal beliefs are a leading factor along with the nature of the client’s brand. As you will see, personal passion plays an important role in how these firms succeed as providers of sustainable design; it informs the way they frame the design challenge, structure the design solution, educate and persuade the client, organize their businesses, attract new clients; and integrate their jobs with their lives. Tania Kac of Designarchy states: “As designers, it is important to understand the connections between our creations and the world around us, and to extend our eco-friendly lifestyle principles and values to the workplace.” Conclude partners Alex Kobylk and Natasha Kramskaya of RB design + interactive: “Green thinking is incorporated into every part of our lives.”

Read the entire article about us on GD’s website and in GD magazine in selected bookstores.

They’ve been circling the city for the last couple of days, getting ready for their show this weekend in SF. The little girl on the rooftop across the street jumped for joy when they flew by in diamond formation directly overhead… U.S. Navy pilots kick ass. :)

Stationery items for Girard Gibbs LLP, a national litigation firm with offices in San Francisco and New York.

Logo design for Urban Group, leading retail and investment property experts located in San Francisco, California. The symbol, which uses characters ‘U’ and ‘G’, suggests building structures.

Veer Royale is a collection of the sweetest images they’ve got. Veer’s photo editors have hand-picked a select group of photos, illustrations, and vectors that are highly stylized, well-crafted, and have strong aesthetic appeal — in other words, the best of the best. One of our photos made it into this exclusive collection.

Website for Geyer Lamb, an environmental communications agency located in Santa Barbara, California.