'Tinkering' is my goto phrase if I want to avoid the negative connotations of 'Hacker'. And I never call cyber-criminals 'hackers' since I don't want to taint t

'Tinkering' is my goto phrase if I want to avoid the negative connotations of 'Hacker'. And I never call cyber-criminals 'hackers' since I don't want to taint the word hacker or associate it with e-crime.