I am looking at a big stack of resumes (don't get excited, it's not for a 
job any of you guys would want) and just for fun, I type in some of the 
names in Google.  Candidate number 1 has published an article or two 
(impressive) but candidate #2 and 3 have no hits on Google with any variant 
of their name I can think of.

Where have these guys been?   Have they been clinging to the bottom of a 
boat hull since the Internet was born?   Were they buried by an avalanche of 
disco clothing in 1989 and have just now emerged?   If I type in my own name 
in quotes I get 5,560 Google hits, my wife's registers 70+.  (no wonder I 
get so much Spam)

Just for a test, the prolific "James Newtons Massmind" gets 255 hits,  
"Wouter van Ooijen" scores 15,700. Not to single you guys out (there are too 
many  "Roman Black"s in the history books, adding noise to the Scientist and 
Philosopher Roman Black's 14,900 Google score) just to pick a few unusual 
names out of the PIClist crew for a test.

So one way to evaluate potential hires, along with publications, references, 
and so on, is to Google them.  The raw google hit score is instructive, 
albeit misleading. A hothead who participates in flame wars might have a 
phenomenal score. A guy with a cheesy website, who posts on Geneology boards 
and sends letters to the editor, like me, inflates the score. A guy with a 
common name like Jim Smith might score more than a person who merely posts 
intelligence. James Newton's 255 hits represent a zillion gigabytes of high 
quality content at piclist.com and years of diligent effort.  However, one 
can learn a lot about an applicants publications, professional affiliations, 
politics, ability to spell, demeanor, criminal record, and so on.  Hmmmm.  
Big Brother is Watching You, Mr. Applicant.


--Lawrence Lile

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