I just noticed this in my feed reader.
Rob Richards, PHP Contributor, XML Guru and Sing-Sign-On Pioneer was laid off (not due to performance, but the whole IT dept was let go), and is looking for work. In a climate where everyone is looking for developers, not work, there've got to be some good opportunities out there for him.
The catch is that he lives in Maine, and doesn't want to leave.
We at php|archictect are very distributed, and we all telecommute (well, most of us), and I've worked with Rob on some conference stuff (and I think writing, too) in the past, so I can say first-hand that if you need a solid PHP guy who can run circles around the best XML guy in your company, you should give Rob a call.
I'm looking at YOU, OmniTI and Schematic.
And hey, if you're NOT in a management position looking to hire someone like Rob (sadly, I'm not, otherwise I'd jump on it), and you happen to be in his neighborhood, look him up and buy him a Chivas. (-:
Good luck to Rob
Lol :) Very desperate! I hope ol' Rob finds some work soon.