[joezydeco]

I initially meant the comment one way: that is, the person was probably spending more time cruising StackOverflow instead of paying attention to work tasks.

But you have a point. We all have small spaces in the course of a day where we're not actively engaged in real work (as I am right now). Once can spend it on Facebook, or one can be looking for things to keep the knives sharp.

[catshirt]

I post on HN and spend some time or IRC or similar discussing programming during "work hours" (though I have bizarre self-inflicted hours). It's actually become pretty crucial to my work flow; I am able to get some down time while still keeping the gears running. Short but somewhat-frequent lurking sessions keep me motivated and on track without burning me out.