I had something similar to this. In the 4th hour of the interview, they asked me write a function that takes two params. A string and an integer. Find the largest product of n repeating numbers in the string. I went completely blank. I don't know if I can't code with a pen and paper. i don't know if I was exhausted and couldn't think straight. But I could not write that function to save my life. With the help of the interviewer I got there, but why I couldn't write a nested loop was beyond me. Pretty sad.

God Bless America.

What does the Stack Exchange owner paying $129 a month have anything to do with people participating in a site? I've heard you and Joel make this argument before on the podcasts and it still makes no sense. If Stackoverflow rewarded people with money instead of reputation, and knowledge then yes, your argument holds water. Right now it seems like you're forcing your ideals into your argument.