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Pre-teen bliss is usually defined by Friday-night roller rinkexcursions and sneaking into R-rated movies. But by his wonderyears, Chris Morrison, now 30, had the future at hisfingertips.

Spending his weekends with a borrowed school computer (that is,until his mom bought him an Apple), Morrison quickly declaredhacking a favorite pastime, along with programming and writingsoftware--all self-taught skills.

By 15, Morrison was getting paid for teaching clients how to usethe then-new technology. As for his should've-been junior year,he says, "[High school] wasn't the most exciting place tobe, so I ended up `sick' a lot." To continue working,Morrison opted for a home tutor and limited classes to one day aweek. Spoiled, he repeated the arrangement his senior year butdidn't graduate due to the lack of a few credits.