It's not that Wright, 40, isn't satisfied with his own existence. In fact, he's sitting pretty after selling more than 7 million Sim games -- and releasing his newest title, the Sims, in 14 countries this month. An elaborate Tamagotchi-style neighborhood that allows players to manipulate their virtual inhabitants any way they see fit, the Sims is a natural extension of Wright's ongoing fascination with architecture and city planning. Wright, who was born in Atlanta, has been working on the Sims on and off for seven years but says he has no intention of stopping now. He has a raft of wacky ideas that he plans to surreptitiously incorporate in the game through the Sims Web site over the next year.

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Everybody has heard of hacks into government or corporate Web sites but, fool that I was, I didn't even know my PC was susceptible. Looking back, I can't believe I hadn't paid more attention to all the media hoopla over viruses -- and I can't understand why my Internet service provider didn't offer better warnings about the potential vulnerabilities of cable modems. Now some guy I know nothing about has explored my hard drive and learned who-knows-what about me; I feel violated, angry, afraid. I can't believe I have no recourse, no way to find this guy, no way to keep him out of other people's computers. Instead, I'm left looking both ways before I download anything and slinking through once familiar sites with a frightening sense of apprehension.

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