1) I like to think of myself as a hacker, because as tnecniv says, in many ways it's really an attitude. 2) I don't self-describe as a hacker in public however

1) I like to think of myself as a hacker, because as tnecniv says, in many ways it's really an attitude. 2) I don't self-describe as a hacker in public however, because as znpy says, it's a title that other people ought to give you first before you call yourself that. 3) I especially don't self-describe as a hacker when non-techies are around, because they'll just think I'm calling myself a cracker (not the effect you want ;-) )