I would just like to take the time to point out that we have a 3-digit User ID here... So by default he knows what he is talking about.
He remembers the 23 disk A-series of slackware.

Should have landed me in jail a couple of times, at least.

Well, I deal with that all the time. I am a perpetual outsider.

Generally there are several people like that every place I go. Plus those that resent me for my fees, independence, etc.

After a few days of being very passive and quiet, gathering information, helping where I can, I have usually identified those that are such roadblocks to success. I either confront them privately one on one, explaining my role as being there to help them accomplish the task, and not to demean or belittle anyone, or I have them moved to a role that will not obstruct success of the project. I have found through years of experience that while my technical knowledge is a key skill to bring to a job, it is usually my ability to identify and neutralize "people problems" that are ultimately what bring a project to success.

There have been several projects where the key person was the problem... The task there is to organize the support team such that they can tolerate and even facilitate the success of the problem person and therefore the entire project.

The important principle is to keep the overarching goal of the team in mind, and organize the team to accomplish that goal. Sometimes is means the arrogance has to go, and sometimes it means the arrogance has to be catered to.

Just be real about what it is you want to do, and find the best way to do it. You don't have to destroy a barrier, you just need to get past it. I do my damnedest to save someone from the hatchet but if after explaining how its going to be, they sometimes throw themselves upon the blade neck first. Usually that's someone who cannot come to grips with their unimportance.

Not at all... 'twas my mistake.

No, unfortunately by your own standards you are arrogant here. Its how you deliver the information. Patience and tolerance for ignorance go a long way towards people having respect for your knowledgebase.

I consult for a living. Having the knowledge is the relatively easy part. Being able to deliver it to the client in a way which will allow them to understand their ignorance, and the content of your information bolus, without making them feel stupid and inferior... That takes diplomacy, and compassion, and work. When you can interact with others on a subject which you are expert in and they are not, without making them feel inferior and imparting part of your knowledge to them at the same time, then you are a success.

more its an indication that one can learn what is necessary to accomplish a goal, interact with others (unlikely a sociopath), exhibit determination and patience, and learn somewhat independently.

A college degree signifies that you possess a basic group of skills that are found useful in most business. A specific degree indicates you can probably take a decent whack at accomplishing something in your field, and are prepared with the basic knowledge to learn how its really done out in the actual world.

It decreases the RISK to a company that they have made a bad hire, which is why its used as a criteria. Like it or not, by and large it works.

Come to Louisiana... its REFUNDABLE 50% here!

good EFF'ing luck with that.

You can only collapse one set of zeros, for precisely that reason. I don't remember if it is in the spec that it has to be the first set or not, as either way is unambiguous.

Came for this refrence, and was not disappointed.

Social security is also dependent on the taxpayers paying back all of the IOUs that have been written when government took money from the funds to pay for other projects. But that is often neglected when the government wants to funnel more of your money into large corporations. The government, the banks, and wall street all know that in order for the bubble to continue long enough to get rich, they have to keep feeding the monster. Social security is not the pyramid scheme here, the US version of capitalism is the pyramid scheme.

Amazing thing is I find it useful without those things.

I use it for :

an e-reader
game playing
surf the web
operate my home theater and many other home automation stuff
invoice clients when out and about (I send em a PDF invoice via email as a recpt for payment)
email
and a few other things.

I have to breakout the laptop when programming, a need to download a utility or driver update for a client, or I want to compose a long document I could do better with typing on a physical keyboard... and few other things.

I LOVE the long battery life

If you were in the USA, would the deaf boy have prayed for you?