I've done this for years. Problem is, only about one in 20 clerks actually check my ID anyway! I always make a point to thank them when they get it right.

The key to getting hired is to form relationships with headhunters. With most companies, they work directly with hiring managers and HR only gets involved once a candidate has been selected and then it's strictly administrative (perform background checks, handle paperwork etc).

Don't limit yourself to a single headhunter either. Reach out to several, send them your resume and have a few conversations with each one to explain to them the types of work you are interested in.

They'll contact you with a variety of job opportunities. Weed through them and then allow the headhunter to submit you to a few that you feel are particularly good fits. Just be careful and make sure you keep track of who is submitting you where, so there is no overlap. Also, be willing to do some work to customize your resume for each position. The headhunter will usually give you some general guidance on what the company is looking for, so you can massage your resume to highlight relevant experience.

Don't expect the headhunter to have any technical knowledge, these are salesman not IT types. Some headhunters specialize in specific industries and might have passing familiarity with technical terms but many are generalists and will basically do a keyword match on resumes with job reqs. Don't get frustrated when they pitch jobs to you that aren't a good fit, just identify them as such and provide feedback to help the headhunter properly re-filter the jobs.

Over the years you'll end up building a relationship with one or two good headhunters and they'll end up helping you find good candidates when you are in a hiring position, and also help you manage your career and find your next opportunity when you feel it's time for a change.

As a hiring manager, I can tell you that I almost never have the time to go dig through a prospective candidate's open source code. Not to mention, most of the time open repositories like that are blocked from my work network anyway, so I would have to further take the time to review it from my personal PC after-hours. Any non-trivial project is going to take hours of my time to get familiar enough with to actually make a meaningful assessment of your skill anyway. I am not going to devote that much time to an individual candidate. Keep in mind, I've got a pile of resumes all vying for the same position.

That said, I also tailor my interviewing to the candidate quite a bit. If I'm at a campus recruiting event interviewing college grads with no real-world experience, I'll give them some coding challenges and see how they do (they get to pick the language). If I'm interviewing someone who's been in the industry, I likely won't ask for a single line of code, but rather will spend the time discussing prior projects, thought processes and challenges overcome (ie: can the candidate speak, in detail, to their resume. Many can't, by the way).

To be fair, I'm sure that while their core produce / service is hosted on Linux, the desktop ecology (including supporting servers) is almost certainly Windows.

I know that at every major financial institution in the US it's the same way... There is a large Windows desktop / server platform maintained by a core 'desktop support' IT organization that simply exists to provide employees with desktops and associated tools. Then there is the massive Linux server platform used to actually run whatever services comprise the core business of the firm, (exchange connectivity, algorithmic trading engines, client connectivity, booking systems, compliance systems, etc). So even though the entire financial industry in the US runs on Linux, every single one of those banks, exchanges and hedge funds also has a sizable Windows desktop/server environment as well, strictly to support employee workstations and day-to-day communications, document generation, collaboration tools, etc.

This makes sense, actually. The systems that the company depends on to actually *make money* are Linux. The systems that the employees use to work with each other are Windows.

Flash card? Case? Power? HDMI and Ethernet cable? All of those items add up. Not using a remote saves you $30 on FLIRC, but I'm sure you've got at least $35 invested in the other items require to actually transform the Raspberry Pi into something more than inert circuitry.

Slow traffic, keep right.

If you are going slower than the rest of traffic and you aren't in the right-hand lane, you are in violation of traffic laws.

I hope you never ever change lanes without signalling, and never change lanes in an intersection (especially while turning).

Fact is, most speed limits aren't set for safety, but instead to maximize revenue for the local government. We the people have almost no say in this either. The speed limits aren't voted on, but simply decided by bureaucratic process with no transparency.

In fact, states were 'encouraged' to adopt a maximum speed limit of 65 by the Federal Government, which refused matching funds for highways if a state didn't lower the limit. Again, nothing to do with safety or actual road conditions, but simply a hidden tax on society that we have no say in.

The $35 Raspberry Pi is a myth, but a $100 Raspberry Pi based XBMC box is a reality and takes all of 10 minutes to set up. I have 5 of them and have completely cut the cord from Cable TV now.

Just grab a Canakit: http://smile.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Complete-Original-Preloaded/dp/B00DLUXD64/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1397080142&sr=8-3&keywords=canakit
and a FLIRC: http://smile.amazon.com/FLIRC-Dongle-Media-Centre-Raspberry/dp/B00BB0ETW8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397080187&sr=8-1&keywords=flirc

Install xbian: http://www.xbian.org/

Enjoy!

I thought it was an excellent interview with interesting and intelligent responses.

It's not just banking. Nearly every large company runs *nix (mostly Linux) on the server side. Yes, Windows dominates the desktop world, but the server space has long been *nix ruled and that isn't changing any time soon.

What I've found a little surprising is the upswing in Apple's usage as a mobile platform of choice. Nearly every vendor I deal with shows up with an Apple laptop rather than a PC these days. Many have switched to tablets (iPads almost exclusively).

Heck, I don't even have an actual Windows PC as a workstation anymore. I use a thin-client to connect to an 'HVD' (hosted virtual desktop) which is really just a VM running Win7. Not entirely sure, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it's actually hosted on a Linux server.

Every large financial institution in the country uses Linux on their servers.

Linux on the desktop? Mostly geeks. Linux on servers? Everywhere you look! Of course, that's also where the fun data that the NSA cares about also happens to be, on the servers...

Actually, while most people probably don't have a 'severe' gluten allergy, there is a theory that our bodies aren't particularly well adapted to process gluten in general. Given the millions of years of evolutionary development and the relatively short timeframe that we've been eating grains, it stands to reason that peanuts and gluten aren't particularly healthy for us.

Personally around 6 months ago I switched to a paleo diet and have noticed significant improvements in my health, including less gastric distress. I had been previously tested and confirmed to *not* have any allergies, but I can attest that going gluten free has still had very real quality of life health benefits.

It really depends on the industry you work in (no, IT is *not* an industry).

For example, the financial services industry is incredibly incestuous and there is an extensive network. Most people know several people at every other big shop on the street and it's extremely likely that when you are interviewing for a new role, there will be someone who knows someone at your prior company and will get an informal reference.

Staying on good terms with co-workers is essential in this industry as any reputation you get (especially bad) *will* get around and follow you till you switch industries.

You don't have to use iTunes to transfer music from your computer to the device, for any apple device including the iPhone 5.

Personally I use MediaMonkey and it is vastly superior to iTunes in every way.

Because there isn't a vary large overlap between 'space tourist' and 'author'?

There is a very valid reason for private citizens to possess automatic weapons. Read the second amendment:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

How can we be considered a 'well regulated militia', capable of ensuring the security of a free state, if we don't have access to the same weapons that those who seek to deny our freedoms have?

The whole point to the second amendment is to ensure that we the people can overthrow the government if enough of us agree it needs to be done. Just like we did back during the revolutionary war.