A little help

[poet2dagger]

I stumbled onto this site and was about to register when my normal name was taken by an administrator...it isn't common and the numbers are random so I don't know how it happened. Then it said I had an existing account, so I got the password and got in.kinda strange. Anyway I wanted to know how you guys learned all the stuff you now? Book...people?

[benthehutt]

Google, IRC, Wikipedia, eBooks, Forums--and most of all, QUESTIONS.  

[Metgod]

Not to dismiss anything Ben said, because they're valid, but:

Wikipedia wasn't even around when most of us started (myself included). I never really read ebooks (not sure when that term was coined) but I definitely read normal books on computer networking, programming, etc. Text files are a definite one too.

I've said it before but, the real answer is:

Read and experiment over and over again.

Out of curiosity, what is your name that an admin had ?

[wilnix]

I DON'T know anything so I just read HFX forums for answers to life.

Wilnix

[Cobra]

Yeah Wilnix is our community "short plank"

I think the question has been answered .. I really just posted to call wilnix a plank ..

haha .. ya fuckin' plank!!

[benthehutt]

Ouch, I'm not as cool as metty, cause Wikipedia wasn't around and whatnot.  Oh well, I'll always suck I guess.  Too young to be cool.  

[Cobra]

I wouldn't use Wikipedia as a rule of thumb .. because it is a "wiki" it can be modified by the public. This means you are counting on the person typing the information to know what the fuck they are talking about. Now you are doing the same when you buy a book... but a wiki is not to be trusted.

Rule # 1

And yes .. Wikipedia was not around in my day either.. haha .. Ya dirty fuckin kids! .. haha

[benthehutt]

Bah, Wikipedia is awesome and for the most part--is incredibly accurate for what it is.  The most viewed pages are especially accurate.  The whole place is just crawling with college proffesors with nothing to do.  I wouldn't trust it more than, say, a book, but some of the crap on IRC is much more detrimental.

[Cobra]

Well to be honest i wouldn't suggest IRC to anyone. . .

Either way .. I don't give a shit .. you could get your information off the back of a cereal box or word of the day toilet paper for all i give a toss.

Enjoy your Wikipedia.. heh

[benthehutt]

Hooray!!  Wikipedia!!

[Uneek]

I still don't know anything...

[Cobra]

That's because you continuously suck your brains out through your arse and place it into the "Big Book of Mother Fuckin Knowledge" and then use it to go sledding in the middle of summer with your 2 imaginary friends .. Peter and Tom ..

Peter was a dick however Tom became very successful and created a little website called www.myspace.com ..

Weird the way myspace.com all came about because you knew nothing Uneek!

[wizwom]

Anyway I wanted to know how you guys learned all the stuff you now? Book...people?

Er, me, I watched PCs grow up from itty bitty baby single board computers, over 30 years ago.  I programmed on everything from a KIM-1 to an ES9000 mainframe.
I read manuals like nobody's business (everything from TI logic handbooks to desgin documents for the IBM VMS), took some college time, and spent a couple years designing printed circuit boards.
Oh, yeah, and I had my share of mistakes, too.  trying to do a Low level format, MFM style, on an early IDE drive comes to mind :-)

and these days, If I don't know, I google it, and it takes very little for the concepts to fall into place in my experience.  MPLS-VPN?  google... read... no problem!