[olefoo]

I have the same reaction to many of the items maxklein posts. And he has said in the past that he engineers his postings for the effect on the audience...

That said I know more than a few people who use rent-a-coder or odesk as a way to motivate themselves when learning a new language or toolkit.

[hga]

That's a brilliant concept: nothing teaches you something like a real project, getting paid, even a pittance, helps all the more, and you can put it on your resume honestly.