Ask HN: Hacker Hobbies?

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 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.

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.

(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.)

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 love to cook. Something that I find most of us geeks are really bad at. Amazes me how many of my friends can't do simple things with a piece of meat and some veggies, but also how uneducated they are about food in general (The fault of the North American system, probably.)

When it comes to cooking, I do it daily. Love doing Italian and French Cuisine and just sometimes picking at random from one of my cook books. I find the entire process very relaxing and a nice removal after sitting on my ass for 8 hours doing code.

Apart from cooking I love gardening, growing herbs, etc. It goes very nicely with my cooking hobby so it works.

I find the best thing about gardening is how close you get to the rawness that is mother earth. It's another nice way to step back into reality after staring at the computer screen.

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.

Rock Climbing, Surfing and Traveling (to do the first two) have always had a higher priority for me than programming computers, which would rank as my 4th hobby that also happens to pay my rent.

I think the fact that most people classify those activities as "hobbies" says a lot about the lives we construct for ourselves: Spend 50 weeks per year doing something unpleasant so that you free up a couple weeks to do something you actually enjoy. If you enjoy your hobby as much as you say, why not find a way to devote at least half your time to it?

I play the didgeridoo. I picked up this hobby after my lung collapsed spontaneously, and the surgeon recommended that I learn to play a wind instrument. Since the medical bills came out to over $100,000 dollars (paid with cash money FTW), I didn't much feel like spending money on a really expensive instrument that I might not even like.

I also set aside an hour or two a day to read classic literature, or hard-to-read literature. My favorites are epic poems. Currently on page 53 of Finnegans Wake and I've been hearing rhythmic gibberish in my sleep. I'm reading Finnegans Wake so I can feel good about reading everything by Joyce, and I'm actually finding it really pleasurable.

There's more, but those two things are what I enjoy most.

Gardening. I give my self one computer-free-day each week in which I garden. Working with one's hands instead of one's head provides a much needed relief after a week of programming, designing, and hacking at software. During the winter, cooking and baking fill a similar, but not quite as satisfactory, experience.

The contrast from coding intrinsic to vegetable gardening is especially satisfying - one can sit back and watch the fruits of one's labor manifest themselves. When one codes, one knows that his inactivity results in nothing. Not so with gardening, aside from some maintenance, the initial work constitutes a self-fulfilling promise.

I'm really into metal casting. Got into a few years ago by bastardizing a kiln I found on craigslist. Have since moved on to building my own propane furnaces and rigging old microwaves to melt copper. I don't know that I'm actually any "good" at it, but I do enjoy it a lot. I like working with a material that you have to respect highly or it will burn a hole straight through you. And I have been able to cast some rudimentary parts(housings, pulllies) that have been used on other hackeresque projects.

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

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 :)

1. Watching cartoons. Seriously. I'll watch an hour or so of old cartoons before going to sleep to unwind my brain from programming.

2. Playing music. This is my creative outlet. I play several instruments, and using music theory to create music is a different sort of way to be analytical and creative at the same time. I've always thought of music as the most universal way for people to appreciate math in its purest form, even if they don't realize it.

3. Bowling and Golf. Both are "sports" in that they are competitive and involve physical activity, but they can both be done alone and on my own time. They are also both very physics-based games which satisfies my need for mental engagement; consequently this makes me "that guy" in group bowling outings that takes it a bit too seriously :)

I produce electronic music. These days production is all computer based, and tech knowledge gets you a long way. Also if you can learn tech skills you can probably also come to understand things like dynamics processing and frequency ranges well enough to get to the top of the game, in terms of production quality. Its one of the few things that I find to be a good mix of my creativity and tech aptitude (along with web design and games art).

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 :)

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.

Actually hacking is the hobby here. Job is different.

Cycling. All kinds and lots of. I even run this http://www.lfgss.com/ because what hacker wouldn't combine their activities.

I'm surprised home brewing (beer) isn't more common. I thoroughly enjoy making my own recipes as it is a sort of cross between the art of cooking and science of chemistry. My brews get better each time.

My friend and I started http://brewadvice.com (based on the Stack Exchange) platform. The community has been very helpful.

I play airsoft. It's not a cheap hobby, but it's good exercise in good company. I'm involved with the running of the society (I'll be president next academic year), which has taught me organisational skills; and hanging out with the other players was half the socialising I did last year, so it's probably helped to keep me sane.

I am a rock climber and have met or seen at least half dozen people on HN who also climb. Can't say enough nice things about it, gorgeous hobby.

edit: I was also curious about this, and created a similar thread a while ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=862139

I practice yoga. I find doing a physical activity helps my body to relax and take my mind off things.

Initially I had the impression it was a 'light' activity which mainly women practice, but after taking a couple of Ashtanga sessions I was floored :-) I recommend you give it a try.

Recording and writing music. I just recently upgraded from Garageband to Logic Pro and recently bought Reason. You can listen to my modest efforts at http://www.myspace.com/zendevice.

Photography (http://divya.ca) and Motorcycling

In the summer during the day, I play beach volleyball a few times a week at Milwaukee's Bradford Beach. Great workout, great fun, and something completely different to hone and perfect.

At night, and in the winter, I play videogames: Quake Live is a great game to play for 10-30 minute sessions. League of Legends, and now Bloodline Champions is fun to play with a few friends.

Keeping bees. Playing viol (that baroque instrument) and guitar. But I like to "follow my nose", so the answer might be different next year (did someone mention metal casting in this thread? hmmm...)

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.

I enjoy gardening, i just got a my first square foot garden, i enjoy geeking out over automating it's watering, and optimizing conditions. I cannot stop comparing the task to that of building a website...nurture it slowly and it will grow ^_^

Not only is it a relaxing/rewarding hobby it encourages me to eat better and helps save me money on my groceries!

I love to cook and I'm puzzled why more Hackers don't. To me, cooking is the anti-thesis of coding. Both are about the deeply satisfying act of creation but one is abstract, permanent and virtual. The other is visceral, messy and temporary. This yin-yang balance appeals to me immensely and both are major parts of my life.

I've gone backpacking eight times this year despite the rather rough weather back in February when I started.

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.

Boating in general. In particular, I love wakeboarding, and I have a stand-up jet ski. The stand-up is my favorite. An 800cc, 80hp engine producing 700lbs of thrust in a <400lb fueled vehicle is pretty intense. There is nothing like going 50mph standing an inch off the water.

I try to focus my non-computer hobbies to things outside:

-any board sport (surfing, snowboarding, wakeboarding)

-high altitude hiking/mountaineering

-outdoor photography http://picasaweb.google.com/michael.atwood/PublicPhotos#

-weight lifting/power lifting

-basketball

I relieve coding stress by drawing on my tablet at http://brokensign.org

I do daily drawings, but sometimes I make two or three depending on the time available and circumstances. Does that count as afk? :)

Latin. It's satisfying mental exercise, and there's no pressure to learn quickly, because it has no practical applications (except for general brain sharpening). And the structure of the language is almost custom made for a hacker.

Rugby, hiking, beer (it's a hobby, right?) and hanging out with good friends.

Some things I want to take up include; boxing, photography and diving. (Even though I can't swim, and all animals in the water freak me out.)

Photography and weightlifting. Back in the old days when I had a full set of lenses, I could combine the two. Now that I've bought a digital point-and-shoot, I have to go to the gym.

Volunteer Firefighting. It's a great way to get involved with a close knit group of people, a solid motivation to stay fit, and an extremely fun and rewarding experience.

I'm surprised there aren't more parkour practitioners here. I find it is one of the most physically demanding things a person can do, it is almost entirely free, and it requires both extreme focus and tons of creativity. Of course, the downsides are that you have to be in amazing shape (or work your way up to it) and that it does tend to result in small injuries, but I would say no more than a martial art.

Definitely a great way to get out, move around, and stay focused.

Does writing blog posts making fun of people who get crypto wrong count as a hobby? ;-)

I'm also a classical violinist and play in a local (amateur but quite good) symphony orchestra.

I love Go something fierce. There's something mathematically pure about it; a good game feels like two people trying to solve a single intricate mathematical puzzle, with the result reflecting who came closer to perfect understanding.

What's not to love, really? Binary math, simple axiomatic formal system, seriously deep complexity. It's no coincidence that Conway's early fundamental work on cellular automata was done on a Go board with Go stones.

Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (no-gi), surfing and classical/figurative painting. I used to be a street performer and avid skateboarder when I was a teenager.

I've begun to learn playing go. It's kind of hard to find people willing to play though.

I skateboard. The only reason I'm a computer programmer is because I got hurt really bad when I was 18 and had to find something else to do.

My main two: 1) working out. Normally something outside: running around Red Rocks, jogging and looking at the mountains, playing ultimate frisbee, etc 2) board games. Puerto Rico, Race for the Galaxy, Dominion, Hansa Teutonica... not Settlers of Catan, which seems to be just recently getting popular and is too luck-based for my liking.

Music (unfortunately, listening to it, not playing - at this time). Photography (common hacker hobby, very relaxing yet has a technical component to it). Cars/driving/potentially amateur racing (you don't need a fancy car for this, in fact it's likely not a good idea to use an expensive/luxury car).

Reading (in the sense of fiction literature). History, philosophy, political science (really another form of reading). Travel. Exercise.

Often times it helps to hack on things that _seemingly_ aren't related to your work (even if you like your work). I've spent good chunk of today writing my own graph library: for learning and scratching a personal itch; if I wanted a real one I'd use Boost (best imo), JGraphT or JUNG. Chances are, however, that it may come in handy e.g., I'll need to find the shortest path in an ad-hoc graph, but the scope I'll have at hand wouldn't justify adding additional dependencies.

It's only fair to list my own I guess: renewable energy and restoring old cars (yes, terribly inconsistent!), music.

Paragliding. It's pretty tactical, and there's a lot of information to assimilate about weather, clouds, thermals, etc. Snowboarding, cycling, hiking, guitar, piano/keyboards. Music composition is the closest thing to programming that I've found, in terms of intellectual absorption.

Photography, oil painting, pastels, watercolors, guitar, piano, singing, and lots of others.

Variety is the spice of life.

Kendo. Its quite expensive and more of a sport than a martial art but keeps me fit and gives me an excuse to go to Japan every so often.

Video for the curious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XRZF7IqakI

Not always AFK, but I like Technical writing, including gathering easy-to-understand data (taking photographs, screen shots, etc).

Photography, bicycling, listening to and playing music, wrenching on anything mechanical (currently putting a clutch in a 1990 Miata). That includes fixing electronics, too. Although I commute by bicycle and ride most places that I need to go to, I dearly enjoy driving for the sake of driving, autocrossing, etc.

I design fantasy vehicles in my head, and all the elaborate user interface bits that go along with them. Sometimes, I doodle parts of things down on paper, but most of my ideas are in my head.

I don't play computer games, but in real life, I like Chess, pool, scrabble, Monopoly and bowling.

Kayaking and mountain biking, nothing extreme, just a way to be closer to nature and admire it in all its grandeur.

My dream would be kayaking the glaciers at banff national park, alberta canada. That turquoise lake is just a feast to the eyes, and the soul.

Reading all this makes me realize that I need to find myself a good hobby...

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'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.

Sports - absolutely cannot live without. Enjoy it as much as my work.

Anything goes: soccer, volleyball, squash, or rarely some water sports. I follow a lot of sports too.

Krav Maga and lambada (on separate nights of the week) so I get a good balance between acting like I'm tough and feeling all loved up

Just after Christmas I started taking Salsa Dancing lessons, and have since expanded into Tango, Cha-Cha, and Merengue. Hell of a lot of fun, and I've met some interesting people as a result.

That and the usual; cooking, reading (fantasy and science fiction,) social gaming with friends, running, cycling, and (when I get round to learning how) swimming.

Diving, traveling, photography, and flying airplanes

Those are the expensive ones.

Karaoke, reading, diving, exercising, and writing are the cheaper ones

Writing, drawing. Used to draw comics too.

Chess. In many ways, chess is very similar to programming. It is a beautiful mix of art & science. It requires constant learning, studying and practice to get better. It allows you to solve puzzles and identify patterns. It has been around for many centuries and yet people still find new strategies.

I enjoy home improvement. I head over to Home Depot most Saturdays. My daughters (8 & 10) go with me and we talk about the various interesting things we pass in the store. After we get home, they often like to help out with my home improvement projects, which makes it even more enjoyable.

The variety here is awesome, and I agree that outdoor or physical activities are usually better for you...

...but yeah, I just play video games, watch movies, read books, and code side projects. A former roommate gave me a bunch of his old PS2 games, mostly JRPGs, and they need to get played one of these days.

Guitar, studying japanese, and recently started lindy hop. #2 and #3 are complementary, and #1 helps #3.

Croquet. When played properly/competitively it's very different to the casual backyard game. To play well requires a nice mix of physical skill with complex tactics and decision-making. A disproportionate number of serious players are scientists/engineers/mathematicians/etc.

Basketball. Recently purchased a rower and started rowing after I broke my foot playing basketball.

Rock climbing, hiking, fencing, longboarding. All of these require intense in-the-moment focus, but they aren't overly stressful.

On the non-sports side: Clarinet, learning sax, going to shows, dancing, writing music, cooking, sitting in trees and reading.

fishing, hunting, hiking, biking and making beer.

Hiking: I have explored over 100 remote Indian ruin sites in the mountains of Central Arizona.

Cooking: definitely a favorite way to decouple from my work day.

Music: I gave up on the guitar after 40 years but I now enjoy the Didgeridoo and Native American flute.

I read a lot of books on foreign policy, war and politics. I also do a lot of boxing. I believe in being challenged intellectually and physically. Also, I love human competition in terms of doing it and the history of it.

I do triathlons and marathons to get me outside and to challenge me to continuously improve my performance & health. You can geek out a good bit with all of the equipment and data that can be captured while training.

Used to do jujitsu, now I mostly play soccer as my physical outlet .. Also regularly play some chess to keep my skills honed, and sometimes play some (mostly soccer) video games when I just want to unwind

Geocaching. Something about finding a hidden container given just the coordinates seems to appeal to a lot of hackers. Plus, it gets you out in nature.

Ham radio. I like doing contests, running counties from chicago to the west.

Radio is not always AFK, as everyone uses keyboards these days.

1. work on the car 2. track the car(mostly auto-x since the track is like 5 hours away) 3. started getting into sambo(russian martial arts)

Salsa dancing, snowboarding, walks, martial arts, backpacking, hikes, scrambling, rock climbing, see a play or cultural event, read, etc...

Crossfit.

Playing tennis/paddle, writing, reading. I've a growing interest for astronomy so it's the next thing to incorporate in my life.

Landscape photography. Motosphotos.com Home rennovation.

Physical and artistic hobbies just to get away from analytical thinking.

Recording in a live-electronics duo, gigging out with said duo, cycling, and raising my daughter full-time :)

Wine making and also wine tasting.Cooking as well and I also plays various musical instruments.

I play jazz guitar and bike (though not as often as I like). That's about it I suppose.

I'd love to do rock climbing, but I'm overweight (100 kg) so it's not for me...

Recording music, reading sf/f and classics, parenting, and Team Fortress 2.

Piano

I have a rock band and I do mountain bike too. Outside hobbies rule.

Parkour. Just make sure you have decent health insurance.

My hobbies are running for fitness and fishing for calm.

listening & playing some music (not seriously) painting (usually abstract art) going to the beach (is that a hobby? I just like the sea too much)

Reading (of course), Go, cycling, recreational math.

Take over the world!

Also make infographics for the fun of it.

Skiing. Running. Juggling. Playing piano.

Watching anime, sleeping, and reading HN.

mountain biking - flying through the woods on narrow 'singletrack' trail is a great way to clear the mind

Taekwondo , Table Tennis and Tennis.

Piano, guitar

Starcraft ;)

fencing.

lindy hop

Bowling and writing music.

Organizing guided tours

lock picking, model making, cycling

photography, wargaming and BEER!

sailing and fishing around NYC

I spend all of my time chasing women around. Unfortunately, this isn't really relaxing.

Ham radio