Cookies, or drugs? (wikipedia.org)

No publicity is bad publicity: Silk Road, the illicit online marketplace that came to light after Gawker's Adrian Chen announced you could buy any drug imaginable there with Bitcoins, has been booming after increased awareness due to a rash of alarmist press coverage.

Drugs! Anonymous currencies! Hackers! Our children! But gradually Silk Road, and to a lesser degree Bitcoin, faded from the stage, largely because most people couldn't understand how to use them. Silk Road can only be accessed using the anonymous network Tor, and you should probably know a thing or two about encryption before you buy anything. 

But as we learn via a few Bitcoining Betabeat readers, Silk Road is doing really well—well enough to expand its anonymous team. "Silk Road is currently hiring a database expert and a customer support team member," writes one readers. "On top of the ordinary 'describe your background and expertise' and 'why do you want to join us' questions, they're asking for the applicant's drug of choice."

The ad, at http://silkroadvb5piz3r.onion/index.php/silkroad/careers:

"Silk Road is hiring! Want to work on the cutting edge of online  anonymity and security? Want to contribute to an ever growing community? Do you want to be a part of this Revolution? If you think you have what it takes, please apply to one of the positions below."

Betabeat was swamped yesterday, so we tried to get Mr. Chen to do a follow-up. "I was last on SR like two weeks ago, and it definitely was booming," he said on Gchat. "The interface was much improved." But the blogger must have been too busy with epic features to look into Silk Road: Careers. So, drug-addled unemployed database experts and customer support team members, consider this a public service announcement. Let us know if you hear anything about compensation.