A couple of posters have cheerfully spoken of their wonder-kind hyperbolic speed improvements, followed by the disgusted comment "but the idiots following me couldn't understand what I did so they reverted to the old code".

Speed isn't everything, folks. If you write some pile of high-speed twisted code no mortal can understand, then you're just wasting time. Remember to code like the next guy is a whacked out axe murderer with your address and a desire to kill anyone who makes his life more difficult.