               §+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++§
              ]|[        [-=- SOLDIERX.COM Presents -=-]      ]|[
+++++++++++++++§+++_________________________________________+++§+++++++++++++++
 \\////////////////        NEOPHYTE'S GUIDE TO LEARNING     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//
  \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\_________________________________________/////////////////
   \\:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: by ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::://
    \\xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx§-=-][- RaT -][-=-§xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx//
     \\:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: of ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::://
      \\                SOLDIERX.COM, BLACKCODE.COM, LoTD              //
       \\                        October, 2000                        //
        \\          NOBODY CAN STOP INFORMATION INSEMINATION         //
         §=+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++=§
                   [ Author's E-mail - rat@soldierx.com ]
    **********************************************************************
    |  The author hereby grants permission to reproduce, redistribute,   |
    |  or include this file in your file section, electronic or print    |
    |  newletter, or any other form of transmission that you choose, as  |
    |  long as it is kept intact and whole, with no ommissions, delet-   |
    |  ions, or changes.  (C)2000 SOLDIERX.COM - http://www.soldierx.com |
    |      E-mail -webmaster@soldierx.com, Call Center-765/495-2207      |
    **********************************************************************
  [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]
  NEOPHYTE'S GUIDE TO LEARNING
  by: RaT
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                INTRODUCTION:
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  After receiving about 50 e-mails a day all asking the same question - "Teach
  me how to hack" I decided that there was a need for some kind of road map for
  'Neophytes' or 'Newbies' to learn.  That's where the idea for this txt came
  from.  After searching the net and remembering how I learned - I got some ideas.
  This is my compilation of these ideas.  I hope that all of you can use this
  guide to learn.  The purpose of this guide isn't to teach you how to 'hack',
  it is to teach you how to learn for yourself and where to get started.  I think
  that most neophytes nowadays seem to want to be taught everything.  All of
  the neophytes out there need to know that all of us guys (and gals) with
  experience DO have lives and stuff to do!  We're not teachers and most of us
  don't have time to mentor even one person - let alone the hundreds that ask
  for it!  I learn new stuff everyday.  I don't ask people - I use my ways of
  learning (which is what this guide is about) to learn!  As I write this txt
  I'm learning how to edit my kernel so that my touchpad will work in linux on
  my laptop.  I learned this by searching through archives and news posts.  I
  eventually found the way that the pc_keyb.c handles mouse movement and what
  I need to edit.  I'm doing that now :-)
  I didn't annoy anybody or e-mail anybody to learn that.  I simply navigated
  through the millions of web-pages and found what I needed.  Hopefully all of
  you can do the same thing after reading this txt.

  Happy hacking

  -RaT
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        LESSON 1 - FINDING & READING
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  The first step is to READ!  Read everything you can find.  The key to finding
  is NOT asking people!  Simply decide what you want to learn and search for
  it.  I just go to GOOGLE (http://www.google.com) and search for what I want
  to learn about.  Tons of documents will pop show up.  Amazing isn't it? LOL.
  Instead of wasting all of that time saying "Where Can I Learn?" - Just search
  yourself!  Most of us have learned in our own weird ways and don't know what
  site to point you to other than our own.  You need to read up on anything
  that you want to learn.  I don't see a faster way.  Message boards are also
  a good source of learning.  A good message board with experienced users will
  often yield fast and good results.  I usually stick to searching though.  I
  like to do most of my learning solo.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        LESSON 2 - HANDS ON EXPERIENCE
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  After you learn something you should test it.  See if you learned from your
  reading by doing whatever you just learned about.  If it has to do with
  hacking, you should generally do it on a wargames server where it's legal.
  Don't know where any wargames are?  - http://www.pulltheplug.com
  That's my favorite wargames server.  They have tons of computers and it's
  legal to hack them.  Just don't do a rm -rf if you do get root.  If you don't
  know what that means, rm is the command to remove a file in unix. -r tells
  it to remove the contents of directories and -f tells it to do it with
  force (meaning it doesn't ask you yes or no).  After I read something, I
  always like to test it out.  This lets me know that I've learned it and can
  successfully do whatever I just read about.  It always gives me a good feeling
  of accomplishment to know that I just learned something myself.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        LESSON 3 - IF YOU MUST ASK...
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  If you must ask somebody, PLEASE (I cannot stress this enough) do it
  intelligently!  I would advise reading up on something, and only asking
  somebody as a last resort.  Don't be surprised if you get flamed - many of
  us get annoyed by the questions.  Use correct grammar and avoid using numbers
  in place of letters (ie. d00d 1m 50 31337).  I get so many letters have don't
  have punctuation or grammar.  They look like they were written by an 8 year
  old.  I generally just delete these without replying because I can't even make
  out what half of them are saying.  It gives the reader a feeling that you're
  EXTREMELY unintelligent.  Asking people on message boards and IRC can yield
  good results sometimes.  I usually stay away from IRC (other than our own room)
  just because I've never liked all of the irc lamers that harrass me.  Our
  message board was made for asking questions, so feel free to post there
  (http://www.soldierx.com/wwwboard).  Like I said earlier, I would avoid
  asking people at all costs.  It's not right to waste people's time on something
  that you could have found by searching.
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     HINTS FROM RaT ON LEARNING HACKING
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  If you're serious about actually learning about hacking and security I would
  advise that you learn the items that I am about to list.  Learning this stuff
  takes alot of time and effort.  Hacking isn't downloading a script or a program
  and kicking somebody offline or getting into their system.  That's just lame
  behavior that is frowned upon by the hacker community.  Hacking is a quest
  for knowledge...  I think it's a never-ending quest.
  Here are the things you should begin to study:
               -A Programming Langauge (Preferrably C, Perl, and C++)
               -Unix (Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc.)
               -TCP/IP
               -Networking
  While that might not look like much from here, it is!  Generally I would advise
  you to install a Unix type OS (Like Linux) on your PC and learning C.  While
  Learning C you can read up on TCP/IP and Networking.  If you have the resources,
  setting up a LAN and testing security between machines is always good for learning.
  Hope this helps somebody!  Look for my next txt file on Ethics!

  -RaT
  PRESIDENT OF SOLDIERX.COM
  [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]


