Fame

Everybody wants their fifteen minutes of fame—except perhaps those "black hat" hackers who prefer to let their dastardly deeds speak for themselves. Take them off the list, and you've still got people churning out YouTube videos, hoping one will go viral and lead to a reality show gig. And let's not forget Mike on Dirty Jobs, who has shoveled enough varieties of poop and goop to mint him as a certifiable urban legend.

However, if you think you'll become famous as a computer repair tech, you're barking up the wrong tree. You might get an "Attaboy!" (and a cashable check) from your client if you rescue the company's accidentally-trashed payroll data from cyber-oblivion. You might also get some kudos if you fix a stubborn networking problem that's already stumped two previous computer techs.

On the other hand, you might get unceremoniously shoved out the door if you uncover a business' sloppy system maintenance program. Let's not even imagine the consequences if you discover electronic evidence of illegal, unethical business practices.

Of course, infamy is the flip side of fame. You might be nominated to the "Infamy Hall of Shame" if you accidentally wipe a client's entire hard drive instead of hitting the "Back-up" key. You'd definitely be infamous if you sent the CEO's mistress' photo to the entire employee email list (by accident, of course). Better count on a call from the company lawyer on that one.

Your devious little mind can probably dream up plenty more opportunities for infamy, so why should we do all the work for you? We'll check the urban legend blogs for the next installments.