As a follow-up to my last post about an article on CodeProject, I should point out that I do live by Scott Hanselman's Rule# 0x3eA

Scott's Rule of Programming - Rule# 0x3eA
Just because code is on the Internet doesn't mean you should cut and paste it into your production system.  Do you chew gum you find on the street?  Give code you find on the 'NET the same amount of attention you'd give advice scrawled on a public bathroom wall.

That being said, there is a lot of good code out there you can learn from. But use it as just that, something to learn from. Never take code you find online and paste it right into a  production system. Use it to learn from. Understand what it does and how it does it. Also look at the overall impact it has on performance. Just because something works does not mean it is the best way to go about something. I tend to use cool code I find online as a stepping stone for me to make something even greater. I love to analyze code and build on the idea in my own projects.