Halp

Okay, here's the thing. I want to get started with programming, but before that, I want to learn as much as I can about hardware/other shit. What would I read/look at to learn this? Also looking into reverse-engineering and system penetration/hacking. I'm not in any rush, I just want a new hobby.

inb4 SICP, Haskell, hax my anus, etc.

Any suggestions?

Regarding reverse engineering, get a copy of IDA Pro and start poking around the executables on your system.

Some good first exercises if you're using Windows XP:

1. Make ssstars.scr faster by finding out which piece of code causes the delay between screen updates, and eliminating it.

2. Without cheating and looking at how he did it, replicate the work of http://www.lvllord.de/ on your TCPIP.SYS, to remove the outbound connection rate limit.

3. Reverse the exact algorithm for the Paint program's spray-can tool. Without cheating and checking online, figure out the keyboard shortcut to increase the diameter of the tool far past its usual proportions.

4. Determine the details of the network protocols used by the Internet Games in [m]C:\Program Files\MSN Gaming Zone\Windows[/m]