

Google Is Searching For Beautiful Minds at MIT - code_devil
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/21/google-is-searching-for-beautiful-minds-but-so-far-no-m-i-t-students-have-broken-its-code/

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jpwagner
Maybe 5 years ago there was a billboard on the corner of Vassar and Mass Ave
that was "[the first 10-digit prime in consecutive digits of pi].com"

Obviously that piqued my interest. Once solved and visited, it was simply an
upload link for your resume for generic jobs at google.

So anti-climactic.

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alexgartrell
Recruiters are always pulling this "let's be edgy and relevant crap." It's two
extremes, Googlers with the "Prove that you're smart enough for us!" and
Microsoftees with the "You're sooooo smart, you should apply here!" (Actually,
"Hey, Genius!" Oddly enough, once you've put in your paperwork the hiring
processes are exactly the same.

This is the kind of crap that gets freshmen excited, but no one else is going
to stop doing real work.

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Mongoose
What is with TC constantly offering up its t-shirts as petty tributes? Who the
hell actually wants one?

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iamwil
Or maybe MIT students don't want to work at Google.

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asciilifeform
As far as I can see from the outside, Google is much like any other Java/Web
2.0 cube farm: miserable salt-mine drudgery - though with above-average pay,
plush armchairs, and free lunches.

Here is what one notable Google escapee had to say after doing his time:

 _"The interchangeable component model of software engineers seemed to work
reasonably well there. It's just not a business model in which I wish to be
involved, at least not on the component-provider side. So after a year at
Google I quit and returned to JPL."_

\- Erann Gat: "Lisping at JPL"

(<http://www.flownet.com/gat/jpl-lisp.html>)

If you have any creativity in you, being a fungible cog will _always_ suck.
Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

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biohacker42
Maybe the best at MIT don't feel like being the new kids at a club full of
Standford alumni.

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jgroch
TechCrunch assumes the answer is a phone number. But maybe you're on to
something. And the answer is something like "QUIT MIT JOIN STANFORD".

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larryfreeman
Here's the solution if you are interested:

"Congratulations Keep Seaching or call 617-639-0570 x10"

Here's the mapping of the solution:

0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

456789ABCDE2FGHIJKL0MNOP1QRS3TUVWXYZ

Here's how you solve it if you are interested:

1) Pick out CONGRATULATIONS

The mapping is pretty straight forward with some gaps in the letters and some
ambiguities.

2) Among the ambiguities are the letters J,O,B,S which map to 0,1,2,3

3) That resolves the ambiguities and the resulting map above is the logical
result.

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dschobel
You have to wonder whether the CS faculty at Stanford, MIT, et al are thrilled
or disappointed with the perception that they've become a pipeline for 9-5
coders (even if it is google).

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timcederman
617-274-8660

If that's the correct answer (which according to a TechCrunch commenter, with
working showed, it is), it's not Google. There's a voicemail system saying
something along the lines of "Congratulations on solving the second, harder
puzzle. Unfortunately, we're not Google, but leave your name and number - you
won't regret it."

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schemer
Looks like the banner is haning inside the athletic center/hockey rink, your
ad placement is all wrong. It's should be in 36-100 or something.

