Cheap CCD + Rad source from smoke detector == true RNG. If nothing else, some of the advanced physics or math classes in the district might be interested in the project.

Sounds like this list needs to be broken down into multiple sub-functions.

Web filtering, site access control, and total Internet denial are functions for a web proxy or other content filter. You should be able to find a linux-based web proxy that will do what you want in that department.

Scheduling usage hours, forcing logout, etc. is the sort of thing you can do with "policy" objects if you had a Windows Domain Controller. That's probably outside of your budget. But, generally, you need to be looking for client/workstation policy tools.

The computer health monitoring stuff might be part of the policy tools, but might not.

We seem to get a lot of these sorts of questions at /. -- and as someone who interviews and makes hiring decisions, let me tell you about the number one factor for making the call:

The Value Proposition

At the end of the day, what I'm doing is entering into an agreement where I give you money (and things that cost money, ie. benefits), and you give me your labor. Your skills and experience and a few other factors (ie. culture fit) alter your "productivity", or how much "labor" I get for my money. In other words, I am spending my money on you, and I want to make sure I get good "value" for that money.

As such, I really don't particularly care who you worked for in the past, unless it can be used as some predictor of future performance. I do care about the skills and experience you have picked up along the way, your personality, your thought-process, etc.

Occasionally, very occasionally, the "where you used to work" question does become relevant. If your last job was for a blood-relative, that is going to be a yellow-flag that needs further investigation and verification. That's probably the most common scenario where it comes into play.

Gee, thanks for giving that one away to everyone. :)

As for not knowing much C, if that is a requirement of the position you had better d*mned well tell me you're not that comfortable with the language early in the process.

Two things will get you immediately disqualified during an interview:
1) Lying to me (and getting caught, obviously)
2) Wasting my time, which usually happens due to #1

This is a fair comment. This screening technique would tend to be biased against individuals such as yourself.

At the same time, I would expect that for a job which requires C/C++ and assembly experience, you would review the relevant material before showing up at the interview.

I did have one person ask if I cared if they solved it in another language, because it was easier to solve there. I accepted that answer, so long as the person could tell me *why* it was easier.

As for the puzzles.... I could ask you about your code for solving "well known" problems, but that would show me your ability to recall past problems solved. While that's valuable, what I'm interested in is how you approach problems you've never seen before.

Electricians have to be licensed by a State agency which guarantees a minimum skill level. To get that licensing, they needed to pass a test. They also need to carry insurance, in case they screw up.

I can understand this feeling, but look at it from the other side: As an interviewer, I *need* to know if you're telling me the truth or not. Just the act of hiring you to fire you a week later consumes significant resources; I can't really afford to make a mistake.

Also, I've had people fail the test. And it was a really really simple test. I once asked someone to "write a C function that takes an integer as a parameter and returns the square of that integer". After 15 minutes of fumbling at the whiteboard, they had something that looked like a cross between Matlab and Pascal and completely failed to be anything close to correct, even if you ignored the syntax problems. That candidate claimed to have 20+ years of experience.

Generally, my interviews consist of 3 parts.

1. First, I ask you some questions about items on your resume. "What was XYZ project like?" "Did you like working with that CPU?" "How was the weather in FOO?" Here, I just want to get a feel for who you are, will you fit our culture, and a quick verification that you at least read the resume you handed to me.
2. Next, I ask you to solve some simple problems. Square an integer. Why is "#define foo(x) x*x" worse than "#define foo(x) (x)*(x)"? Sort an array. I won't give too many away here, but generally anyone who has actually worked in the field can get these correct. Again, this is just a screening tool.
3. Finally, we get to the open-ended portion. I hand you a whiteboard marker, and ask you a question which may (or may not) be impossible to solve. Brainteasers, some. Logic puzzles. I want to see you take a problem, take it apart, and put it back together. I warn the candidate (and it's true) that I don't care if they actually get a solution or not; most people don't. This is what really makes or breaks a hire.

Of course, if they can't pass the first two sections of the test, I don't bother with the third.

If you're concerned, ask them to carry a performance and fidelity (aka surety) bond.

It sounds like you are a contractor. So, your "clients" have to trust you, don't they? You could read their e-mail, calendar, etc... and if you developed an interest in one of their more famous clients, you could do just as much damage.

The question, then, is not one of "needing to trust Google". The question is, "Is Google more or less trustworthy than the current solution?" There is a fair argument that a large, multi-billion dollar company has a lot more to lose should things go sideways than a contractor. There is also a fair argument that they probably have 1000x more people with access to the data than an independent contractor.

This, of course, ignores any legal requirements like HIPAA, PCI DSS, etc. etc. But I think my point is still valid: If the client has already contracted out management and/or hosting of their data, they have already made the decision to trust an outsider. Going with Google or not is just a question of "which outsider do we trust"

You're probably just joking, but.... If you find that you are completely uninterested in every aspect of your job, then yes, you probably should think about a career change. Honestly, if you dislike your job that much, you'll probably be a much happier person if you find some other way to make a living.

Writer's block occurs when the stuff you're trying to write is SO BORING or otherwise uninteresting and unengaging that you, yourself don't even care about it. I've heard at least one writer say that writers block is a good thing, as it tells him when he needs to go in another direction. I would take the same approach to this situation. You've got this piece of code to write, but it's so uninteresting that you don't even care about it. The question then becomes, "Why?" Is it a feature that isn't really needed? Is it an ugly brute-force approach to a problem? Maybe it's just a piece of backend code that you don't really consider "sexy". Once you figure out why you're not interested, you can then address that problem and the coders block will fix itself.