Granted, it's a grey area. I would say, though, that cheap doesn't mean bad, and fast doesn't mean bad either. I went to Cal State Northridge, and Pierce college before that. It took me 12 years (working, family, etc) but the total cost was probably no more than $15,000. (Pierce is dirt-cheap, CSUN was 600-1200 per semester, and I did 12 semesters). $15K in some places pays for one semester!

I recommend against that. Some companies do check, and then they can fire you for cause, and you can kiss severance and unemployment benefits goodbye.

Put your resume online somewhere, make the page google-search-engine friendly (html5, validating, good structure, no fancy tables or javascript).

There are fewer restrictions there, because no page numbers, etc.

People scour the internet to find talent.

Be open to contract work, even 3 months contract, as these can turn into 6, 12, or full time.

My story: 2010 a recruiter found my resume through google search, called me for position, was 3 months contract, got extended 3 more, then 9 more, then full-time, and I've been full-time at the firm 15 months now.

Looking for a job is a full-time job, which includes research.

Also, if a degree is holding you back, get one online (as cheap as possible and as fast as possible). Showing on your resume that you are continuing your education toward a degree can positively influence the resume-filter guy in HR. (Put something like: Attending University XYZ, aiming for a B.S. in Information Systems.) Also, degree does not have to be absolutely related to your career; it's just needed for HR to check the box marked "4-year diploma".

Take any work you can get. You don't have to put it on your resume (there's no database of jobs people have had out there except in govt) if it's not related to your career.

To start your own business and if you don't have assets to protect, you just do work on invoice basis. File a schedule C when you do your taxes (turbotax etc, have that). Do report your income, and pay your taxes. It will be a hassle to find clients, but you can find them. Everybody has crappy computer systems that break. Establish trusted relationships with a few, and before you know it, by word of mouth, they will advertise for you. A word of warning: do not take on exploratory work. Do only what you have done in the past, successfully. It will be easier on everyone, and your reputation will be: gets the job done well and fast. Exploratory work should be considered part of your ongoing education. Any costs incurred there (books, computers, etc) can become a business cost and be deducted from your schedule C income.

I am not a lawyer, a tax professional, etc. Check local laws. etc.

Are we supposed to infer from post content that in some cases, Anonymous Cowards are women?

I don't really want humans making kill decisions either.

Can't use google drive from work.

I run servers for people who pay me money. I run debian stable exclusively and watch the cash roll in.

My grandmother's nickname as a child was Weezie (for Louise).

I personally play Dune 2, X-Com from those days.

My 7 year old loves to play Dune 2.

The advantage to me is that the game has no ads, nor does it connect to the internet.

A fedex letter sent to their legal department would probably have been looked at.

Perhaps the designers of the aircrafts envisioned a time in the future when the aircrafts might be fighting against each other... In which case you certainly would not want the pilots to be able to talk to each other without Command finding out.

Question: Why do you not need to indent Perl code?

Answer: You put all the code on one line. /me ducks.

It could also be a County-Funded P2P node, and forego any staffing beyond a few guys in IT.

I have a 7 year old child in school. The school has my cell phone number in case of emergency, so that I can go pick up the child. I am often away from my desk in meetings and other such things. I also would rather not use the company technology (phone, internet), since it may be monitored, in order to protect the privacy of my child.

I guess my answer would be that I would not work at such an employer.

Wouldn't evidence of Neanderthals completely invalidate the claims of Creationism?