&#62; "assertive, self-promoting, and self-confident."<p>true, but slightly more balanced than self-aggrandizing jerks. i hope people of both genders shoot for what you said rather than what shirky said. it's self-aggrandizing arrogant (mean, self-centered) jerks that are impossible to work with and quite frankly turned me off from programming for a long while.<p>think of what "hacker" used to mean and then think of what it means now. there's a way to have positive energetic confidence that doesn't demean others, and in fact helps others.