D3RetLa wrote:

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Why make the same mistakes as so many others when you have their experience to learn from.

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I think this is a really good way to put it, thank you. Now - I would like this topic thread to be a good place for newcomers to this forum and the net in general to pick up expected behaviors.

Here is a quote from Internet Guidelines and Culture which I suggest Everyone read before posting...

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The Internet is rapidly developing its own unique culture formed by a diverse group of people of various religions, nationalities, genders and experiences. The Internet, commonly referred to as "Cyberspace", is a worldwide melting pot of opinions and ideas. The people using the resources on the Internet have been known to call themselves "netizens" (network citizens) which qualifies them into a whole different social and cultural evolution of a new community of people. They are adventurers on an electronic frontier, where their individual voice can change and shape the future of electronic communications as we know it. Terms used frequently in exploring and discovering Cyberspace are "mining", "surfing" and "driving the information superhighway". The Internet is a place where worldwide information and communication is constantly expanding and evolving. Just as with any culture, there are customs that provide guidelines and cohesiveness to the people involved.

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I will try to post a FAQ for this forum here later.

Ciao

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mekhet
Exploiting the devil for the greater good.
http://www.mightychuck.com

[This message has been edited by mekhet (edited 10-13-2001).]

Questions that begin with "How do I ..." can often times be answered by existing FAQs. Before making a post, try to read some sources and see if your question has already been answered.

From the ALT.2600 Users Guide
(Yes, I realize this isn't alt.2600, but the users guide is a good one, and applies universally to tech talks)

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As a general rule to use when posting a question, state what other methods you have used to locate the information you are seeking. alt.2600 readers pride themselves on being hackers. A hackers seeks out information by every available means. If the newsgroup readers feel that you are asking the question without having done sufficient research, you WILL be flamed.

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In any case, here is a good (if a bit dated) source of information: The Hacker FAQ

An excerpt from it (to make the paranoid, more - and the naive, aware):

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30. What is Tempest?

Tempest stands for Transient Electromagnetic Pulse Surveillance Technology.

Computers and other electronic equipment release interference to their surrounding environment. You may observe this by placing two video monitors close together. The pictures will behave erratically until you space them apart.
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mekhet
Exploiting the devil for the greater good.
http://www.mightychuck.com

Yea sounds good meybe you could have a search engiene for the ubb meybe add a couple features don't know if it is possible to do this or meybe to hard and require to much time to make but hey it is still an idea Burning board has one although i do know that this is not burning board but perhaps you could look in to making that feature avalible like you have for the archives But it could be on the bottom of each page but if not for some reason screw it well i'm off bye.

Look up and to the right of any page you are on.

See that little word up there? Starts with S and ends in earch.

It's very useful.

What makes a hacker?

This question (with some variety) has been asked countless times. This is a very good short answer which I am reproducing here since it seems relevant to this thread.

Spiffy McBang wrote:

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I may not know much, but I know this- to know how to hack, you need to understand computers, from the ground up if possible. There is no single starting point. Read anything you can, and if you see a term you don't recognize, research it. Do this with everything you find on the web, books, whatever. Everything will begin to fall into place. Promise.

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(note: I have put in bold the part I think is the essence of the answer)

Here are some more useful (and informative) sites to check out.

Attrition - good collection of texts and general attitude.

Rootshell - one of many exploit search engines.

&TOTSE - yes, there are some text files here too

Security Focus - a good general security site

And many more...