Paul told me to come here. I do everything Paul says. I'm not sure why I'm not rich yet.

Nope, as I posted in another thread, trying to code all the time gets you a microsecond view, when you (most of the time) need a year-long view.

I have a hard enough time distracting myself from micro-optimization etc without trying to intentionally limit my goofing off.

Do you think you may be closer to success if you spend less time on YC News or Digg? Maybe use that time to clean up your messy code. Just a question.

Touche.

Anyway, very few people can spend literally all their time immersed in code and maintain their productivity. (I've heard that Bill Joy could, which may be why he invented an OS and made a billion dollars). For most of us, we're less productive if we try to code round the clock for days on end. This applies even to very wealthy people like Bill Gates (hobby: reading biographies of famous leaders) and Larry Ellison (hobby: yacht and fighter jet races).

news.YC is a better way to fill that downtime than, say, watching TV or playing WoW.

Besides, I've already spent all evening cleaning up my messy code, fixed like a dozen bugs, and am currently banging my head against what appears to be a bug in Web.py. A small break is called for.

I think there's something to be said for being informed and a bit well-rounded. Bill Joy may be one of the greatest C hackers of all time, but his NerdTV interview was one of the most boring things I've ever watched.

I think today it is vital for hackers to stay informed because the investors are also far more sophisticated and you need relevant information to help you get what you want. If all you want to do all day is write code, then unrelated news that doesn't expand your thinking is a waste of time. However, in that case you need a co-founder who does keep on top of everything and will represent your interests as strongly as you would have.

Besides that, I can't even count how many all-night debugging sessions were a product of the creeping IQ drop and would have taken all of 20 minutes the next day on normal sleep.

Where DO people like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Bill Joy hang out online? Surely they need to chill out some time, too?

While online discussions like YC news are a big waste of time, I find that they tend to inspire me a lot, too.

Both Bill Gates & Steve Jobs have said in interviews they read Engadget =)

What I wonder is if Bill Gates has read PG's Microsoft is Dead essay...

Any top Microsofties in da house...? (yah, right.. =)

ok. you are an exception.