in reply to Interview with a Programmer
"Of course I know what use strict is DAMMIT! What, am I an idiot?!?"
Don't worry so much about insulting their ego, but if they get set off by simple questions, "Do you really want to work with them?"
Working with people is more than knowing your stuff, it's about working with people. Many companies have questions just to see how the interviewee responds to insulting questions.
My latest interview had some questions on a rather broad area and they also sent a screening test over to me. According to them, I got a good percentage correct, though some of the answers were open to interpretation. The face to face interview had a few technical questions, but there were more that tested my tolerance or what my procedures would be. I seem to have done OK since I start next tuesday.
Update: I should of phrased better. I don't like the obviously insulting questions any better. I had one interview where I had up front said I didn't know the specifics of Solaris for Intel having just dealt with Sparc based. I was then harrassed with questions that only dealt with Intel. Annoying.
However, if you get insulted if a question is simple, then you might have a problem.