You Call Those Brainteasers?

Business 2.0 has an article here about how tech giants such as Google, eBay, Microsoft Amazon.com use open-ended problem-solving questions to find the best and brightest programmers, the ones who can "think on their feet." Here are some examples:

Why are manhole covers round? How many golf balls can fit inside a school bus? You have five pirates, ranked from 5 to 1 in descending order. The top pirate has the right to propose how 100 gold coins should be divided among them. But the others get to vote on his plan, and if fewer than half agree with him, he gets killed. How should he allocate the gold in order to maximize his share but live to enjoy it?

These are child's play, of course, questions merely designed as initial screening devices. Once Google and the others get serious about a candidate, they roll out the real brainteasers. Using my extensive contacts in the industry, I was able to obtain a sample list of these "make or break" questions:

1. I'm thinking of a number from one to infinity. What is that number's square root? 2. Finish this limerick: "There once was a Linux programmer from Nantucket"... 3. Bob and Mary live five miles apart in a suburban section of Denver. What color is Mary's house? 4. It's best to adopt a "wide stance": a) In a batter's box b) At the foul line c) While trapped on a mountaintop ledge d) In a men's room stall at an airport in Minneapolis-St. Paul 5. How can we obtain exclusive legal rights to the Sun? (Oh, sorry, that's a question they ask job candidates at Exxon-Mobil.) 6. Should minotaurs be allowed to vote? Cite legal precedent in your answer. 7. Qui?n es m?s macho, senor Bill Gates o senor Ricardo Montalban? Gates? O Montalbahhhhn? 8. If you could build a time machine, would you use it to: a) Right previous wrongs b) Gain pre-emptive revenge c) Engage in humorous frat-pledge pranks d) Return to a certain airport restroom in Minneapolis-St. Paul to adopt a "narrower stance"

Now those are what I call brainteasers. And if you can answer most of them, I guarantee you can write your own ticket in Silicon Valley. So study up.