The term "hacking" still has some negative connotations, rather like "tagging."
But plenty of people who are turned onto technology are determined to rehabilitate the term.
Case in point: the National Day of Civic Hacking, set to take place this weekend (May 31-June 1).
"Civic Hacking?"
It's not a typo, and here's an example: in Redding, a small group will assemble to re-write the Wikipedia entry on the city, to rebut the recent listing as the third-most miserable city in America.