1. They must program on the interview -- I don't care which language, but I want to see something.
2. I want to see evidence that they have set and met long-term goals -- ones that take perseverance -- not just ones that are what they are paid to do for work, but something that augments that (or even something unrelated). So, leading and completing a big work project is not what I am looking for, exactly, because you don't have a choice to do or finish them, and there are rewards all along the way (your paycheck)
3. Along those lines -- self-improvement -- learns about new tech, languages, etc. Tries to build things on their own.
4. Community involvement -- could be twitter, a blog, going to dev groups or even stuff totally unrelated to tech (volunteering, etc) -- if not, it's nice if they have broader interests (music, art, etc). There are a lot of user-generated content outlets out there (StackOverflow, CodeProject, GitHub, FooCamps etc. -- do they contribute to any of them)
5. Some evidence that they read our company's website, the blogs of our employees, twitter feeds, etc. I can't understand why people don't prepare for interviews -- but I take it to mean that they don't prepare for anything.
6. Must be able to write -- I want a nice cover letter that is a convincing argument for why I should hire them.
7. Some evidence that they care about their work and are self-critical
8. They must be experts in something -- I don't care what it is, but whatever it is that they are doing, they must know it deeply. If they have been web-programmers for 5 years, I should be able to ask any question I want to about HTTP life-cycle, JavaScript debugging, etc. They can't have total blanks on the core stuff they are supposed to know.
9. For very entry-level, I teach them something simple in one context, and then later ask questions where they need to apply that knowledge.
10. They must explain things to me that I don't know, and I have to be able to understand it.
11. I'm looking for go-getters -- so, I like people that reach out to me (I am easy to find) -- that follow up after interviews -- do more than what is expected in the interview process.

that means working code that I can run, and access to all of it. Probably the best thing is a running website and a github repository. If the software is hard to run, then a video walkthrough or screenshots are acceptable substitutes.

1. Use of the code requires attribution
2. You can't put GPL code in the App Store
3. I can still grant BSD licenses on a case by case basis, and perhaps only on portions. To do so requires the developer to get in touch with me
4. Likewise, I can still choose to sell or give away commercial licenses, if I am contacted.

Photos capture information that you cannot get via written notes. Taking pictures of an object or a document can provide more insight that simple notes.

Dr. Lydia Zepeda and David Deal of the University of Wisconsin–Madison enlisted 43 subjects to photograph all of their meals or snacks prior to eating. Unlike food diaries, which require time-consuming entries often written long after eating, the photographs acted as an instantaneous intervention and forced people to consider their choices before the damage was done. In the words of one participant: “I was less likely to have a jumbo bag of M&Ms. It curbed my choices. It didn’t alter them completely, but who wants to take a photo of a jumbo bag of M&Ms?”

The researchers concluded that photographs are more effective than written food diaries. This is saying something, as prior studies had confirmed that subjects who use food diaries lose three times as much weight as those who don’t.

What you are seeing here is the game being played around you. Clueless people look at random tactics. They jump on the fad diet, the shiny budgeting software, the fanciest productivity tool. Smart people see behind it and realize any individual tactic is just a random tactic — but the SYSTEM of testing different approaches is profoundly important.

• CrossFit -- It’s cheaper than a personal trainer, but not cheap. The payment is automated, so it motivates me to go, and the results have been amazing. Like a personal trainer, the workout regimen is also automated -- just show up and do what they tell you.
• Food Journaling with consequences --
  
  At my CrossFit box, I joined a club where we have to food journal or get punished with hard exercises. We also agreed to eat well, but journaling is the part that makes me stick to it, because we have to show our journal at the meeting. Sometimes I just pre-write the whole day in the morning, and just follow it -- then my eating is automated -- I can’t snack, because I didn’t write it down. Also, the meeting is automated, and the members hold me to my commitments.
• (total self promotion) My iPhone app, Habits -- It helps me remember to do some simple things like call my mom more regularly. I also use TraxItAll to track progress towards my goals. Finally, idonethis.com automatically sends me an email each day to ask me what I got done -- I now have a nice calendar where I can see each day’s accomplishments.
• Putting planning activities on my calendar -- I made it a 2012 goal to spend time on the last weekend of each month to plan out the next. I put these dates in my calendar as if they are meetings, so I don’t schedule anything else.