[browndog]

I would look for the ability to think i.e., quickly and logically breaking a problem into its components and get to the essentials. Ask good questions along the way, and come up with a solution to the problem. Do this in an area outside their expertise.

Anyone who passes that test with flying colors and is interested and engaged while doing it has a first-rate mind. The rest is detail -- do they know this language? if not, do they want to learn it? can they work with other people? do other people want to work with them?

Valuing "passion" (in the 20-something hacker crowd) or a university degree (large software companies too numerous to name) over the ability to think clearly in the abstract are both unfortunately too common. It seems to me that either is more a tool for recognizing "people like us" than to actually identify a good programmer.