Geek dream job by ALASTAIR SUTHERLAND Fed up with the working conditions at your crummy job? Or maybe you've been axed from your crummy job and are seeking a more suitable place of employment? If you know anything about software development, you should send your CV over to Zero-Knowledge Systems (ZKS). They're the Montreal company who are presently working on Freedom, the "privacy technology" that, if all goes according to plan, will guarantee that people can surf the Net and send e-mail with complete anonymity. Owned by the Hill Brothers (Austin and Hamnett, the former owners of Total Net), ZKS has sent out a casting call: they're looking to hire around 60 new people by the end of the summer. Two-thirds in programming, the rest in marketing, customer service, finance, sales and so on. It's the geek dream job. Not only do you get to work on a killer app that could potentially revolutionize the Net--or at least keep it true to its original anarchic code--but you get perks. According to ZKS's "People Department," led by "Peacenik" Rita and "Ringleader" Eric, working for the company means you can come and go as you please, wear what you want, listen to the music of your choice via MP3 and happily sip free espresso and soft drinks. If you're tensing up at crunch time, the company will bring in a masseuse; if you're starting to smell after putting in extra-long hours, there are showers. If you're really starting to smell, they'll have your laundry done. This Friday night the Hills have rented a cinema and the entire staff will get a private showing of the new Austin Powers movie. And though the salaries may be lower than in Silicon Valley (and there's no overtime pay), there's still the possibility of a bigtime payoff--every employee has stock options and is therefore a mini-owner. If Freedom goes through the roof and Zero-Knowledge becomes a multi-BILLION dollar company, as the Hill's envision in their more optimistic moments, well, that's a lot of brand new Mtl millionaires. True, the rosy approach is a bit reminiscent of the glory days of Behaviour, the Montreal-based company who hired a bunch of talented people to work in a progressive, cubicle-free environment and develop "New Media." Alas, Behaviour's Web-related projects failed to attract money--new, old or otherwise--and close to 40 people were laid off amidst reports of furious politicking and rampant paranoia (mind you, the latest word in geek circles is that the streamlined Behaviour is now working on something very cool--a "lifestyle" project that may even--gasp--be lucrative). Anyway, if Zero Knowledge does take off, it's good news for everyone: not only are there some great local job opportunities, but the Freedom software represents an important ideology. A few months ago, ZKS got in a publicity-garnering fight with the massive Intel Corp, when Chief Scientist/Head Cypherpunk Ian Goldberg, 26, proved that the evil telltale serial number in computers--which Intel Corp claimed could be turned off--could in fact be turned back on again. Not only that, but Goldberg has also reportedly discovered that Intel's newest proposed fix, which turns off the serial number in the computer's Basic Input/Output system (BIOS), is also not secure. Although he has yet to reveal his findings in a "public exploit," it still has left Intel scrambling to protect user's privacy. And there's another positive side to Freedom--if ZKS does set the Net world a spinning, maybe other Montreal firms will realize that in order to maintain a hive of creative activity, it's important to keep the worker drones happy. You never know. Planet stock hype: In other Net news, Planet 411 is apparently ready to launch its Montreal Web site in a few weeks. Planet 411 is a local company who want to take on the Yellow Pages (and newspapers) and offer city directories, with guides to restaurants, merchants, entertainment and even some news stories. To me this instantly recalls Sidewalk, the Microsoft vehicle that lumbered into town amidst a ton of hype and then hightailed it virtually overnight. But if you want to hop aboard, now's the time: Planet 411 may not yet have much content (some would say hope), but they've got lotsa stock for sale. Cheap. Media comments? circus@cam.org