Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2017 May 28

= May 28 =

Self-taught hacker
Which are the best & free online resources to learn hacking for very beginners?-- Jos   eph   10:56, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I've had the widely recommended Hack This Site bookmarked for a while, though I've still not gotten around to it yet. Ethical Hacking (which is not free but a good indication getting good enough that it becomes worthwhile to pay for a certification) assumes that you've also trained for CompTIA certifications or have comparable experience. Ian.thomson (talk) 11:36, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * It depends what you mean by hacking. If you mean code hacking, then probably Stack Overflow and Perl Monks. If you mean finding and exploiting security mis-features, then I would suggest reading the back-numbers of 2600, subscribing to the Common Vulnerability mailing list, from CERT IIRC, and finding a free online copy of Practical Unix and Internet Security, if such a thing exists.
 * All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 16:59, 28 May 2017 (UTC).


 * I've never checked out Hack This Site before, though I believe I've heard of it (it sounded familiar, at least. Maybe because I read Steal This Book years ago). I just ran through all the basic challenges and the first two realistic challenges, and I have to say that it does seem like a decent training ground. Good link. However, I'm not at all a hacker or infosec pro in any way (poor networking skills, little knowledge of vulnerabilities and hacking tools, etc), so while it seems pretty awesome to me, I think the opinion of someone who actually does do some white hatting for a living would be much more valuable. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants   Tell me all about it.  21:10, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * See also the answers to the very similar question a couple of weeks ago: Hacking.- gadfium 23:13, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * I've always looked at hacking as getting around limitations in technology. Sometimes these are legitimate: for example, the standard ID/password login. But most of what I do everyday is circumventing a design limitation someone just didn't think about: for example, I recently exported a pipe-delimited file from Excel by reconfiguring the Microsoft currency options to use a pipe as the delimiter, rather than the comma. To me, most of hacking has fallen into this category, which while not quite as sexy as what you see on NCIS, is imminently more practical for the average computer user. OldTimeNESter (talk) 07:06, 29 May 2017 (UTC)


 * offered a great link: The truth is (which hasn't been mentioned thus far mostly because we just went over it) that hacking is a complex, difficult activity that requires a lot of knowledge. If someone wants to truly become a hacker, my advice is to get lots of education in networking, programming, computer security, white hack hacking, and then networking again (because the tech has changed since you first got educated in it). Then start doing the "how to be a hacker" stuff. It will probably be trivially easy at that point, but once you get to the advanced stuff, at least then you'll have a chance. If you just start out as a script kiddie who hasn't been programming and building computers since grade school... Well, don't expect to be the next weev or anything. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants   Tell me all about it.  22:53, 29 May 2017 (UTC)

Screen video capture
I have been looking for some free software to do this, preferably without a watermark. OBS refuses to load, Tiny Track insists on me registering. Ideally I would be able to record in OGG, but that is not 100% essential. Otherwise I will be using my phone to record of-screen!

All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 17:01, 28 May 2017 (UTC).


 * It would be helpful to know what OS you're using. HenryFlower 19:07, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * For these purposes some flavour of Windows. (7, Vista or 10) All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:25, 29 May 2017 (UTC).


 * Tiny Track, eh? The exotic pet dealer or the GPS tracker? --Guy Macon (talk) 19:29, 28 May 2017 (UTC)


 * OBS is very widely used and highly regarded: if it's not working for you, that's a specific problem that is surely fixable. It'd persevere with it, and ask for help at the OBS forum. Or you could try VLC media player, which will stream from a screen capture to a file - . -- Finlay McWalter··–·Talk 21:46, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Ah that's useful, VLC to the rescue! Someone also mentioned Xsplit to me.  All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:25, 29 May 2017 (UTC).

Hello, so sorry I have attempted to change my user name but I only remember part of it because it was such a intense entry if it is a entry.
Hello, so sorry I have attempted to change my user name but I only remember part of it because it was such a intense entry if it is a entry.

I will be delighted if you could help me on this.

I will make sure that I will keep logged in until you could get back to me please.

best — Preceding unsigned comment added by 1121HIH1121 (talk • contribs) 20:49, 28 May 2017 (UTC)
 * This page shows a list of newly created users. If you remember approximately when you created the new user then you can try to do a text search for the part of the username that you do remember. Scala Cats (talk) 21:34, 28 May 2017 (UTC)


 * If I understand you correctly you want to know what the username for this account is? If so it's 1121HIH1121. You should be able to see this at the top left on the desktop version of wikipedia while logged in. Additional ways you can see your username while logged in: If you click on "Preferences", in the User Profile tab (which is default), you should see it says "Username: 1121HIH1121". In addition, if you click on talk at the top it will take you to your talk page which should have your username in the title (User talk:1121HIH1121). Likewise if you click on Contributions, you should see it's "For 1121HIH1121". About changing your username, see Changing username. Do note that as far as I know, it's not actually generally necessary to know your current username to request a change. For example Changing username/Simple doesn't require it. You simply have to be logged in while making the request and your username will be automatically added where needed if you follow the instructions. (If you are not logged in you need to log in so in that case you will need to know it.) However also note that if you have very few edits, which your contributions list says is the case, you're generally encouraged to simply register a new name and stop using the old account. You're free to link to the old account for transperancy however with as few edits as you have now, no one is likely to care if you don't.  Nil Einne (talk) 13:21, 29 May 2017 (UTC)