The Dvorak layout. The high return? Using Emacs is less bad for the hands, I think, because Ctrl+X stretches the fingers apart instead of scrnching them up.

The Dvorak layout. The high return? Using Emacs is less bad for the hands, I think, because Ctrl+X stretches the fingers apart instead of scrnching them up. Also, the underscore key is in a very accessible location. I tried learning it in high school, failed, and eventually forced it upon myself in my freshman year by playing a video game while using it. The problem? It is low-return. Another? Learning Haskell would count, except I did it for fun, so there was no risk. I could say learning Perl has been very useful, but again, there was very little risk -- I was in high school and didn't have a computer I could use all the time, so I simply read the 3rd edition of Programming Perl straight through up to the reference section, and then reread the first 7 or 8 chapters. That taught me how regular expressions worked, that closures existed and how they worked, and other mundane stuff like foreach loops and pipes. Another? Maybe learning about math. I spent a lot of effort learning a little bit of math. When I think about the return I've gotten, well, I'm very comfortable with discrete math and quite good at estimating the performance of programs. The presence of some math-related things on my resume helped me land the phone screen for my first job out of college. The problem? It was low risk because I enjoyed it. Another? Golf. You could say it was my parents who took the risk because they paid for lessons and clubs, while I enjoyed every minute of learning how to play. The return? It's fun to play but really it's that I got my dad to start playing. He now enjoys it a lot more than I do and has made several friends through the game. My return? One time the son of a guy my dad played golf with several times hired me for a cool summer job dealing with optics measurement systems. The problem is that this is a lame example: no risk for me, and the return was kind of indirect. Another? Making sure to take the core CS classes while I got a math major. The reward? I was able to tack on a dual CS major with another semester (plus got some knowledge). The risk was 5 or 6 poorly taught CS classes. Another? Maybe Emacs counts. I couldn't convince myself to learn it and use it the first time, but eventually I managed to convert myself over to XEmacs from whatever awful thing I was using. However, it's not as much of a risk as Vim, which is known to cause brain damage. Another? Learning how to play the piano. I spent 12 years taking piano lessons. The return? When I had wrist problems as an adult programmer, I got a digital piano and started playing again, and the wrist problems went away for good.