To most people in the technology community "hacker" is a dirty word. Say hacker and most people instantly think of bad guys spreading viruses or breaking into corporate systems and stealing data.

Of course this is completely wrong. In fact, hacker should be a term of respect. But even more importantly, you should be careful about badmouthing hackers. That's because there is <A HREF="http://etech.eweek.com/content/security/that_hacker_could_be_you.html?kc=EWKNLEND040408STR1">a very good chance that you yourself are a hacker.</A>