Yes, you're right. However the headline uses "hacker" in a restricted, negative sense. I always keep in mind the broader sense of the word, and there are plenty of times when I've seen people use it appropriately when referring to "Black Hats" or "crackers." A bigger problem is websites like Slashdot, whom many in the mainstream press would take as representative of nerds like us, using it in the strict sense. Most of all though it was annoying, and disappointing, to see what I thought was an interesting headline, and learn it's just another article about something I don't really care about.

You're suggesting I just change my mind? You haven't been reading what I wrote. I've made a judgment about it and I don't have to defend it to you, nor take it as a sign of my abilities. I don't like it --- and I don't have to like it --- and I know there are other places where people agree with me. I've got enough dissent in my life; it's just getting old.

I just expect more from Slashdot; I expect Slashdot editors not to give in to "the public" you speak of. I'm getting pretty tired of Slashdot, so I'll just take my reading elsewhere.

I really wish Slashdot headlines would stop using "Hacker" in the sense of "computer-oriented criminal." I clicked on this thinking it would be an interesting story about new hardware developments. It's just another boring story about what might be a problem for law enforcement. Who cares?

I mean really, sure the kids will learn about all this fancy electrical engineering and maybe one day they will figure out how to provide clean drinking water, build good hospitals and all that, but what's really important is shoving these kids into cubicals in Mumbai so they can code spambots. When are people going to learn that idealism is great but what really matters is greed and making money NOW. Not to mention, what kids really want is games: can you play Grand Theft Auto on one of these cheap laptops? That's what the kids want.

It's not plagiarism if the author encourages you to pass off the stuff as your own. It's not theft if you pay somebody for something and then call it yours, right Slashdot?

Nor is it plagiarism to reuse your own work in a different academic contribution.

And do you have children kikito?

This is how they should spend the money: a vasectomy for dad, therapy for the kid in twenty years, college fund, and a parenting coach.