From Milosz Sikora

I met Jake through Matt Charters back when I was looking for my last co-op placement in the fall of 2004. Jake was the lead for Matt's team at RIM and had mentioned that he was looking for a co-op. Matt suggested me, a fellow CSer and brand new bandmate.

The first time I met Jake, he was wearing an ensemble that looked to me like "designer hippie". That's the best I can describe it. I learned later that my first impression was half-correct (he was, in fact, NOT a hippie). If you think it's strange to spend half a blog post dedicated to the memory of a friend talking about clothes, you did not know Jake. :)

The interview itself turned out to be my favourite one of my co-op career. Instead of the usual crap about what you know, your strengths, weaknesses, etc., he merely looked at my resume said, "Well this looks good enough" and proceeded to give me two brain teasers.

Now I love love love brain teasers and managed to get both by the end, although there were a couple of moments where he seemed to be fine with me quitting. He was judging my "thinking skills" he said and not whether I could do them.

So I got the job at the end of the interview.

Over the next few years I had no trouble staying in touch especially after starting my full time job at RIM.

We still saw each other for lunch every two weeks or so and we'd always talk about computers (natch), cycling (his one true love), clothes (our mutual love), and rock stardom (I'm pretty sure Jake secretly wanted to be the singer in a rock band).

He was easily one of the smartest people I knew but he also had a charm that made that intelligence something you wanted to learn from and emulate instead of feeling alienated by it. He had this infectious enthusiasm that was as genuine towards your own goals and ideas as his own.

He was a rare breed and I'll miss him tons.

Milosz Sikora