aspirations and dreams of greatness...

I am somewhat of a newbie to computers in general. I have always grown up with computers, but my interest in their inner workings and other subjects has skyrocketed within the last year or so. One of my friends and I have completed an A+ computer repair class with flying colors, and have taught ourselves the basics of a few programming languages in our free time (BASIC, C, C++, JavaScript, HTML, Java). I wish to conitinue my education as much as possible and I am soon going to college for a degree in computer science. I eventually want to be an information security specialist so that I can help people with what I have learned and enjoy my work as I go.

As I look towards the future, I have a few questions, mainly for the more experienced members of AO. How can I become better? Should I study abroad, or focus my studies? What advice can you give me pertaining to these matters?

I want to learn as much as I can. I realize that all of this will take a lot of work, but I believe that it will be worth it. I am open to any advice or opinions that I can get...

OK Spekter1080 I will give you a little personal view?

Learn a bit about the hardware, the wiring, the networks, the WIFI................what I am getting at, is the physical side. That is always cool with users...........you might be $h1t hot on security, but if you have no idea why the beast won't boot, you have no street cred. my friend ;)

I would say a computer science degree is a good start if you want to have a very solid foundation of how computers work. Sounds like you have a head start on the degree. The first few classes may bore you since you already have some experience with some programming languages, but hang in there or test out.

My University actually has a security club, and also has had a few open lectures from people visiting the university about security. Those would be good things for you be a part of. I haven't been able to be a part of them because of my job :(. Oh well.

Another thing which I'm thinking about doing myself is finding webpages of courses at different universities. Usually on a course webpage it will show the textbook(s) they use for the course. In my experience so far at school, no matter how much it may seem like a professor is not going from the book, they usually are. I'm always so surprised when I actually look in the book and see pretty much the exact thing we talked about in class. So finding a school with a good security program, and either applying for their program or figuring out which textbooks they use through their course websites would be a good idea I think.

Finally, pretty much everything I've mentioned won't get you much of any real world experience, and that's probably the most important part. Setup a little testbed at your house and fool around. Or try and find some sort of job where you can get experience. That's probably where you will learn the most. But like I said, it sounds like you're off to a good start. Keep it up.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice

One more question, how do some of the member on AO get so many antipoints. Are they continuously monitoring tech news? What about the rest of us who don't have a job in security (yet...lol). Also, many times when I post, it is information that a lot of people probably already know...I don't want to reinvent the wheel, but how can I raise my status in this community? Any advice will be appreciated.

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One more question, how do some of the member on AO get so many antipoints. Are they continuously monitoring tech news

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Mostly by offering help to other members, offering insightful opinions and providing tips and tricks to other members etc

You usually get this information from previous experience....been there seen that scenerio

doesnt all have to do with monitoring security sites...

Really good jokes and some humor help too ;)

MLF

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Originally posted here by Spekter1080
One more question, how do some of the member on AO get so many antipoints. Are they continuously monitoring tech news? What about the rest of us who don't have a job in security (yet...lol). Also, many times when I post, it is information that a lot of people probably already know...I don't want to reinvent the wheel, but how can I raise my status in this community? Any advice will be appreciated.

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Right from the FAQ's mate:

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How do I earn AntiPoints?

Answer: If you post high quality and thoughtful messages, your fellow members will approve of your posts. By their approval you gain AntiPoints. If you post incorrect, misleading, harassing posts, or messages against the guidelines, members will disapprove and you will lose AntiPoints.

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You might want to read them.... ;)

Cheers:

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Originally posted here by DjM
Right from the FAQ's mate:



You might want to read them.... ;)

Cheers:

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thanks, Dj, but I have read them. I was looking mainly for examples; I probably should have specified, sorry. Thank you for the help though :)

Spekter: people are always going to be wary/skeptical of any noobs to their hood... So just pick the times when you think you can contribute and don't take put downs to heart.