That skill is actually very useful if you are researching/developing format string vulnerability exploits.

There was a presentation I saw where a guy was able to extract a private RSA key from memory of a novell login screen by using typing in machine code using alt key combos in the username or password text field, exploiting a format string vulnerability.

This is the video of that presentation for the interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv0adeL4x1U