Rick Robinson

When pilots talk about things getting busy in the cockpit, they mean something very specific: clanging alerts, paralyzing uncertainty and the ground getting closer.

Until a few years ago, most people thought of hackers as bright but maladjusted teenagers who mainly broke into networks for the fun of it. But now that hacking has gone big time, you're more likely to associate hacking with organized crime groups or "state actors."

Fashion designers and pop-culture mavens live by trendspotting; they pick up on what people are talking about, and distill it into styles and stories they care about.