Photography also :) glad to see some photogs on HN. I do mostly street photography - I find that it gets me engaged with people and forces me to be much more social than I'd otherwise be (I do stare at a screen all day for my day job...)
[edit] Also, working in an industrial kitchen. Nothing like getting your hands dirty that takes your mind off brainy matters like programming.
In the end IMHO the best hacker hobbies are the ones that are mentally nothing like hacking at all.
I'm also into street photography: running a photoblog where I post a photo every workday (http://journal.boblycat.org/cosmozoo). Still going strong since 2005 or so, and I concur it's a great compliment to screen-gazing.
I'm too busy these days (I only run to keep myself sane) but I used to design & build hi-fi gear. It's a lot of computer modeling and a fair amount of sawing / soldering.
Cooking is probably my favorite hobby, I love doing something with my hands and really feeling accomplished when I make a great meal.
This may sound childish, but I also really enjoy building and playing with LEGOs. I just have a few sets but I constantly rebuild them and I find it is an interesting thing to do while listening to music.
I think the best hobbies for hackers are the ones that will force you to go out. Walking, sports, astronomy, going to the beach, and so forth. We already use too many hours to stay at home hacking so it is better to counterbalance in some other way in the free time.
Totally agree. After a major coding session earlier today, I spent a couple of very enjoyable hours gardening. The complete contrast really works for me. Although I do sometimes listen to a tech podcast at the same time :-)
Which podcast? TWiT? I haven't found a more entertaining (and somewhat educational) podcast than that, including other non-tech-related ones. I'm probably very uninformed, though, so I'd like to hear which others might be worthwhile.
Jogging is something I do regularly, as well as inline skating. I also picked up paragliding this year and try to do it as often as possible, but it always depends on the weather.
I've done Lindy Hop for about 4 to 5 years now. I love it. It'll be no time when you'll be able to swing out to Shiny Stockings and Jumpin at the Woodside.
And if #1 helps #3 I can assume you're a Django Reinhardt fan.
Capoeira. It's a mix of Brazilian martial arts, music, culture, dance, and game, and one which requires physical training as well as the ability to think quickly and creatively on one's feet, and it teaches you how to truly control your body, something most people never learn to do.
Many people don't know much about it, but it's a beautiful sport. (Martial art, not dance. Common misconception is that it's non-contact - it's only non-contact if you move fast enough!) I particularly enjoy it because of the associated culture and traditions.
I used to do Capoeira too until I broke my wrist. My knees weren't too happy about it either.
Now I do climbing (no, it's not as hard on the wrists). As much as I enjoyed Capoeira, I have to say, that I enjoy the whole "me vs the wall" aspect - especially bouldering. I suppose it's because I'm an introvert. :)
I'd like to tout an increasingly rare hobby among younger people (non-retirees): Bridge, the card game. It has a rule structure and that hidden-information element that appeals to nerds, but it forces you to think critically and rationally instead of analytically (usually--opportunities for highly analytical plays pop up), and forces you to be able to relate with another person both at and away from the table, since it's played by pairs of 2. There's a reason it's Bill Gates' favorite game.
A lot of fascinating older people play the game, as well. I met a small business owner who was formerly the first computer salesman for a major mainframe company--IIRC it was Honeywell, but don't quote me on that. At least one famous international financier occasionally shows up to the bridge clubs in Chicago (unfortunately I've never ran into him).
The downside is it's hard to find a critical mass of bridge players in your age and "hang-out-ness" category.
I can back this up as being a true statement. He regularly plays bridge (and ping pong)on the Sunday following the Shareholders meeting. He does it out in public for people to watch. He is also a pretty strong advocate of the game.
Where I'm from (Saskatchewan, Canada) everyone plays Kaiser, a variant of Bridge. It's hugely popular here, but I guess it's only played by Ukrainians in Saskatchewan, and is completely unheard of outside the province. It's a little frightening when you play someone and they say, "ok, you have the Ace and I take the next 5 tricks."
I tried to use 'thinking analytically' to describe the calculation-evaluation cycle that is present in so many strategy games, especially chess-style games. I guess it wasn't a very good descriptor. Anyway, it's too late to edit it.
The typical chess mental game involves chains of calculations to visualize future positions, then evaluating those positions based on the potential of good or bad chains of moves. "Strategic" plays are based on the possibility of generating or preventing future tactical plays.
Bridge is more a game of inferences; out of the 26 or 39 cards you can't see (depending on the phase of play), the most important part of the game is guessing how those cards are distributed and planning for the contingencies that might arise (or the ones you need to arise). There are very few situations that involve long chains of calculations and possible positions; most of it is planning correctly, estimating probabilities (unless you're one of those talented people who can do the exact math in their heads), and good guesswork. Or at least that's how I play it...
It's very refreshing to play a game that works out those areas of the mind, which are so important, but for which there are few direct workouts. The best play is usually clear post-mortem, and hands change every 7 or 8 minutes, so you get a lot of quick, direct feedback.
The second most important part of bridge is communicating with your partner based on the limited language of putting cards down on a table, and the reason it's not the first most important part is because communicating correctly depends on inferring correctly, planning, and understanding partner's plans.
Climber here too. It's one of the few things I've done where it can grab 100% of my focus and attention. I can't think of anything else I've done that I can do without distraction or my mind wondering.
Is rock climbing something you can do alone? (Indoors rock climbing or something similar, at least? I guess outdoors climbing by yourself would be pretty dangerous =P.) It's something I've wanted to get into, but I prefer solo activities.
Indoor bouldering is the loner's form of climbing. Outdoor is feasible too, but even with the small falls I worry about someone being totally alone. Bouldering does tend to be a little more intimidating and requires more upper-body strength, but just take your time and you'll get the hang of it.
Outdoor bouldering is just climbing small rocks. Find a small rock somewhere and scramble up it. It is as dangerous as you want it to be. If you are concerned about the danger, bring a pad and let people know where you are.
I first got into climbing by scrambling around boulders on the Sonoma coast, mainly by myself. I had so much fun. When I found out that it was an actual sport that other people did, I was hooked.
I go climbing with a coworker before work 2-3x a week. The problems in climbing seem similar to the problems in programming, so it's a good physical and mental wake-up for the day.
A ton of other programmers I know climb as well (we had an engineering offsite at Planet Granite in SF a few months ago), and I also see a ton of Googlers and other software people at Mission Cliffs on a regular basis.
Flying (halfway through pilot training), scuba diving, travel, reading, and I hope to take up sailing later this year. I tend to enjoy things that combine multiple skills and disciplines into one activity. For example, becoming a pilot requires proficiency in a variety of technical areas such as navigation, weather, and aircraft operating procedures, but it also requires learning airmanship and the art of flying the plane by feel. We spent several hours this week doing takeoffs and landings with the entire instrument panel covered with a towel, to get used to flying the plane with only your sensory input to guide you. Enough rambling though :)
I really enjoyed flying when I used to fly. After ~35 hours, I ended up soloing twice and then had to stop. (Initially due to a long stretch of poor weather, then a re-evaluation of my financial situation :))
i loved flying and hope to go back to doing some at some point. i have about 150 hours, flew some fun high performance and complex aircraft. just too expensive to keep up...
I initially started in 2007 and took a 2.5 year break for financial reasons. We'll see how it turns out this time...maybe I'll end up flying ultralights or something :)
One of my favorite things to do is to go out and travel. Leave the computer at home for the weekend or a week and go visit somewhere new. Spend some time with friends and loved ones. As a side hobby, I've really been into taking pictures because I want a photo journal of all of those experiences and I want them to be as good as possible.
Some great resources for traveling are Spirit Airlines and Travelzoo.com. With Spirit you can pay something like 40 dollars a year and they will send you deals every few days in the mail with flights as low as $9 (plus tax). Travel Zoo sends amazing deals weekly.
In addition to that I love cycling, wakeboarding, cooking, and lots more but they mostly all involve getting out of the house and away from a computer.
Ultimate Frisbee. It's real good exercise (which hackers need), and there's something peaceful about throwing a frisbee. Plus "reading" the disc (figuring out where it's going to land) is interesting because a disc has a few more degrees of freedom than a ball.
Plus it really takes the edge off my competitive urge which hurts more than helps when I'm programming. It gives me a reason to stay healthy and work out, a large social group both in my city and spread across the whole country, and I found my wife playing ultimate :)
MMA. In my experience the technical sophistication and methodical nature of submission setups appeals to people who are abstract thinkers. Many people need to get over the bar brawler reputation though :) Don't worry, most practitioners are a lot smarter than the typical Tapout fan :)
I agree. I only do BJJ anymore, since really I'm too old to get punched in the face now :) I look at BJJ as a kinda of physical chess match. Every move has a counter and so on, with the question being can you execute it given how physically and mentally tired you might be at that moment.
That's a cool site, thanks. As an aside I didn't know Overeem was fighting this weekend - he /toyed/ with Rogers, I'm thinking he's going to give Fedor a run for his money. Still rooting for Fedor :)
lifting weights. it's not only a hobby, but a balance and medicine.
"When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing
it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it
wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It
tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to
resemble. That which you work against w...ill always work against you." - Henry Rollins
Agreed. And Henry Rollins has some great quotes about lifting. Here's another:
"The Iron never lies to you ... The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hndred pounds is always two hundred pounds."
Cycling. Indeed, I'm having some regrets about beeing at a Startup Weekend and having missed the live coverage of what has proved to be one of the more epic stages at the Giro d'Italia in recent years... sigh.
I like to ride, too, but have been sick an awful lot this year, due to our daughter being in nursery school and picking up a nasty array of diseases.
191 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 332 ms ] thread[edit] Also, working in an industrial kitchen. Nothing like getting your hands dirty that takes your mind off brainy matters like programming.
In the end IMHO the best hacker hobbies are the ones that are mentally nothing like hacking at all.
I'm also into street photography: running a photoblog where I post a photo every workday (http://journal.boblycat.org/cosmozoo). Still going strong since 2005 or so, and I concur it's a great compliment to screen-gazing.
Nice pictures :) I wish I could keep up a shoot rate of one a day... Nothing kills the creative eye quite like code all day ;)
This may sound childish, but I also really enjoy building and playing with LEGOs. I just have a few sets but I constantly rebuild them and I find it is an interesting thing to do while listening to music.
Techzing
Mixergy
Radiolab
Floss Weekly
Stack Overflow (no recent podcasts from Joel and Jeff however)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_Hop
It's great to have a hobby that involves a lack of analytical thought, just your immediate surroundings and some physical effort to expend.
Keeps me sane when I live and work downtown, and type at a keyboard in front of three screens day-in day-out.
And if #1 helps #3 I can assume you're a Django Reinhardt fan.
Many people don't know much about it, but it's a beautiful sport. (Martial art, not dance. Common misconception is that it's non-contact - it's only non-contact if you move fast enough!) I particularly enjoy it because of the associated culture and traditions.
(In case anyone's interested, here are some videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8xxgFpK-NM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51q1VB_dDik Feel free to email me if you have questions.)
Now I do climbing (no, it's not as hard on the wrists). As much as I enjoyed Capoeira, I have to say, that I enjoy the whole "me vs the wall" aspect - especially bouldering. I suppose it's because I'm an introvert. :)
Bouldering is unique because while some people do it alone, others consider it the most social form of climbing.
A lot of fascinating older people play the game, as well. I met a small business owner who was formerly the first computer salesman for a major mainframe company--IIRC it was Honeywell, but don't quote me on that. At least one famous international financier occasionally shows up to the bridge clubs in Chicago (unfortunately I've never ran into him).
The downside is it's hard to find a critical mass of bridge players in your age and "hang-out-ness" category.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/opinion/27osberg.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Gitelman
It's certainly much more interesting then poker though!
The typical chess mental game involves chains of calculations to visualize future positions, then evaluating those positions based on the potential of good or bad chains of moves. "Strategic" plays are based on the possibility of generating or preventing future tactical plays.
Bridge is more a game of inferences; out of the 26 or 39 cards you can't see (depending on the phase of play), the most important part of the game is guessing how those cards are distributed and planning for the contingencies that might arise (or the ones you need to arise). There are very few situations that involve long chains of calculations and possible positions; most of it is planning correctly, estimating probabilities (unless you're one of those talented people who can do the exact math in their heads), and good guesswork. Or at least that's how I play it...
It's very refreshing to play a game that works out those areas of the mind, which are so important, but for which there are few direct workouts. The best play is usually clear post-mortem, and hands change every 7 or 8 minutes, so you get a lot of quick, direct feedback.
The second most important part of bridge is communicating with your partner based on the limited language of putting cards down on a table, and the reason it's not the first most important part is because communicating correctly depends on inferring correctly, planning, and understanding partner's plans.
edit: I was also curious about this, and created a similar thread a while ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862139
I first got into climbing by scrambling around boulders on the Sonoma coast, mainly by myself. I had so much fun. When I found out that it was an actual sport that other people did, I was hooked.
A ton of other programmers I know climb as well (we had an engineering offsite at Planet Granite in SF a few months ago), and I also see a ton of Googlers and other software people at Mission Cliffs on a regular basis.
I used to go to Planet Granite in both SF and Sunnyvale and I got to meet a number of startup guys.
I usually do bouldering since I have no regular belay partner.
Some great resources for traveling are Spirit Airlines and Travelzoo.com. With Spirit you can pay something like 40 dollars a year and they will send you deals every few days in the mail with flights as low as $9 (plus tax). Travel Zoo sends amazing deals weekly.
In addition to that I love cycling, wakeboarding, cooking, and lots more but they mostly all involve getting out of the house and away from a computer.
/club ultimate player
In addition to training, I also run a little news aggregator for it (built it for myself). Here: http://mmabuzzsaw.com/
"When the Iron doesn’t want to come off the mat, it’s the kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went through the ceiling, it wouldn’t teach you anything. That’s the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that the material you work with is that which you will come to resemble. That which you work against w...ill always work against you." - Henry Rollins
"The Iron never lies to you ... The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hndred pounds is always two hundred pounds."
just to round it out with videos of the other weapons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXQkdFQ6Upc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJGG8gR7mlI
I like to ride, too, but have been sick an awful lot this year, due to our daughter being in nursery school and picking up a nasty array of diseases.