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Morpheus: Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

HACKER (Originally, someone who makes furniture with an Ax.) n. 1. A person who enjoys learning the details of programming systems and how to stretch their capabilities, as opposed to most users who prefer to learn only the minimum necessary. 2. One who programs enthusiastically, or who enjoys programming rather than just theorizing about programming. 3. A person capable of appreciating hack value (q.v.). 4. A person who is good at programming quickly. Not everything a hacker produces is a hack. 5. An expert at a particular program, or one who frequently does work using it or on it . . . . 6. A malicious or inquisitive meddler who tries to discover information by poking around.

Obviously, only the last, and least used, definition even remotely approaches the term "varmint." Unfortunately, many hackers, when approached by law enforcement officers, will readily admit to being hackers when questioned about it. Don't make that mistake, varmints.

A computer programmer's attempt to help a colleague enter a system when a password has been lost or forgotten, debugging a copyright software program, or testing a system's security are examples for which a benign form of hacking is both required and considered acceptable. Nonetheless, this deceptive definition was successful, for it convinced Judge Nicholas Bua that the prosecutor's definition was the most common, would be unlikely to confuse a jury, and was not prejudicial (See Memorandum Order in CuD 1.16).

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy

Editorial Reviews from Amazon.com:

Steven Levy's classic book explains why the misuse of the word "hackers" to describe computer criminals does a terrible disservice to many important shapers of the digital revolution. Levy follows members of an MIT model railroad club--a group of brilliant budding electrical engineers and computer innovators--from the late 1950s to the mid-1980s. These eccentric characters used the term "hack" to describe a clever way of improving the electronic system that ran their massive railroad. And as they started designing clever ways to improve computer systems, "hack" moved over with them. These maverick characters were often fanatics who did not always restrict themselves to the letter of the law and who devoted themselves to what became known as "The Hacker Ethic." The book traces the history of hackers, from finagling access to clunky computer-card-punching machines to uncovering the inner secrets of what would become the Internet. This story of brilliant, eccentric, flawed, and often funny people devoted to their dream of a better world will appeal to a wide audience.

If hyperspace navigators get paid by the hour, then what is the pay-scale in a place where time has no meaning?

(FROM THE US NAVAL OBSERVATORY)