There's got to be a better title for this page. Basically, it's a whine. I got a phone call from a recruiter the other day. And the conversation went something like this : "And you'll get a chance to work with , who's world-famous for her work in distributed systems." : "Oh really ? I've never heard of her. Could you give me some references." : "Well, I don't have any. But she's highly respected." '''scream.''' I've had this conversation too many times. In our industry, home of absurd puffery and inflated claims, I no longer care who claims to be world renowned and who is well-known for something but sorry I don't know the specifics. Give me thoughts. Concisely phrased, well-reasoned, actual-by-god thoughts. It's not that I'm skeptical, mind you, but simply that I need some filtering mechanism. -- WilliamGrosso ------ I love it! I've had the same experience. Another (related) one is listening to keynote speakers at conferences: : (1st attendee) "So what qualifies this guy to talk about this subject?" : (2nd attendee) "Well, he managed a big project that used it" : (1st attendee) "So does he know anything about it?" : (2nd attendee) "Probably not..." -- KyleBrown