What's a good low profile job where I can hack at the same time?
myelin: Or, you could pick up a part time job doing what you're good at (hacking), earn as much money as a full time "mostly idle" type job, and use your actual free time for your projects.The jobs you mention can't pay much more than $1500/month, which is 30 hours at $50/hour (or much less if you bill higher).  One freelance project per month will fund your hacker lifestyle, and will probably look much better on your resumé later on in life.