I have self medicaded my short attention span on large processes at work by reading a HN article when I have trouble focusing and then getting back to work, it's like a splash of water on the face before stepping back into a complex problem.
I'd say 1/4 the time at work the linked article is blocked due to some corporate policy (blog, twitter links somewhere in the article, etc) so I'll read the comments to see if I want to come back when I'm at home and read the article. I derive a lot of value from the comments, even without the article. I'm usually very careful not to comment at all, however, if I haven't read the entire article.
I'd say 1/4 the time at work the linked article is blocked due to some corporate policy (blog, twitter links somewhere in the article, etc) so I'll read the comments to see if I want to come back when I'm at home and read the article. I derive a lot of value from the comments, even without the article. I'm usually very careful not to comment at all, however, if I haven't read the entire article.