If you use CoderPad, and the C (or C++) compilers in particular, you might want to be aware of a compile-time option they use that could affect how your programs run.  The gcc compiler is invoked with the -fsanitize=address argument, which can cause heap buffer overflow problems with programs that would otherwise run properly without it, such as ( Read more... )

I'm back, for now.  (I have been posting to FB, LinkedIn, Quora, and Medium.)

Recently, while reading Quora, I happened upon a post suggesting books to use for learning CS (and other related topics) on one's own.  The author, the late Prof. Anany Levitin, has written two books on algorithms (one cowritten with his wife).  From looking at some ( Read more... )

I had an onsite interview at Ciena a couple of weeks ago for a Senior Systems Test position.  Long story short - I didn't get the job.  I think they were looking for a person with more experience automating the user experience of routers, whereas most of my experience was automating router operations.

Anyway, one good thing came of this.  As I was ( Read more... )

I took a test from 7-9am this morning from ProtonMail, a secure email provider based in Geneva, Switzerland, that has an office in SF.  The test was sent to me by email, and I had two hours to complete it.  ProtonMail required me to take the test during their business hours, so I either had to be up at dawn to take it or stay up really late.   ( Read more... )

I had an interview loop yesterday at the IBM Silicon Valley Lab facility with several people from the Cloud Network Services group.  Four engineers plus the engineering manager interviewed me.  I thought my overall performance was so-so -- I could have done worse, but could have done better.  Some of the programming questions I was asked were ( Read more... )

I had an interview with Netsia last Friday afternoon for a Senior Network Operations Engineer position.  I wasn't offered the position, but I don't feel discouraged.  One of the people interviewing me felt that I would be a good candidate for contract software development work, and that they would consider me if they have any.  I felt pretty good ( Read more... )

I just wanted to briefy mention that I have had a few phone interviews over the past few months that I've felt better about, even though I didn't make it to the next round in any of them.  I have changed my interviewing strategy somewhat.  I am maintaining my focus on IETF working group activities and some other things (such as ranking methods).   ( Read more... )

I had a phone screen with a Facebook recruiter earlier today for a position in their network engineering group. They have many interesting projects to support their network infrastructure including datacenter architecture, connectivity, and automation. The screen had two parts - one in which the recruiter asked me some general questions about ( Read more... )

I was extremely annoyed after spending an hour applying for a Broadcom job. They switched to a new "talent management" provider, so I had to resubmit my resume. Their process of extracting items from a resume is one of the poorest I've used, so I had to correct quite a bit of information. There were several other problems. Perhaps this ( Read more... )

Earlier today, I applied for a network development engineer position at Dell. Taleo handles their applications. Part of the application process involves acknowledging having read a Notice of Convictions document. However, at the time I applied for the position, I could not access the document, because I could not obtain an IP address for the ( Read more... )