Can I Feel the Bumps on Your Head?

If I see another list of software engineer interviewing strategies enumerated online, I am not sure what I am going to do. Some of the beliefs and theories people embrace strike me as phrenology for interviewers.

When I'm in a position of looking for people, I try to find for people who are intelligent, creative, responsible, effective, experienced... the usual suspects...

Although they appear to be tell-tale indicators to some employers, I do not see "has a blog" or "has a web page" or "contributes to open source" as great indicators of talent.

Recalling the most talented people with whom I've worked leads quickly to the realization that most of them would strike out with these three questions.

In my opinion, these alleged indicators are better demonstrations of confirmation bias and self-selection than anything else.