Paul Graham Just read the Great Hackers by Paul Graham. Wat he says does have a certain appeal, I would like to add a few things about the hackers I have known. [no one famous, but just ppl with extra-ordinary skills with a computer.]

1) They usually do not have a fixed opinion on less important things, but if you express an opinion on any to one of them be sure that you will be provided with an alternative opinion that is the exact opposite, or even beyond what you are suggesting.

2) They do not have a fixed daily rhythm -- Some hackers I have known have a 25-26 hr day. They leave at 2 am today and come back at 10, next day,then that day they leave at 4 and come back at 12 the day after, and at some point it switches back.

3) Most have a sense of beauty in code. They can recognize instantly when a program segment is beautiful, not merely powerful.

4) You can judge them by the number of lines they write to accomplish some thing. (the number of "lines" will be absolutely minimal. and usually the functions that they write stays in one screen. ).  ¶ 6:47 PM