How to be a Hacker
-
Upload
fariqussalam-malik -
Category
Documents
-
view
38 -
download
2
description
Transcript of How to be a Hacker
How to be a Hacker
Hey everyone! Before you start reading this whole thing, I would like to mention a thing
or two. First off, I would like to let you know that although a lot of this book is
complete fact, a majority of it will be filled with opinions of my own. You aren’t
obligated to follow any of my beliefs or mindsets, so please don’t feel like I am forcing
anything upon you. Also, I will try to keep this eBook updated as much as I can, but as
fast as technology changes, that may not happen at the rate you would like. That being
said, I am extremely sorry if something you read here is out of date. If you do find any
errors, whether it is out of date, or a spelling/grammar error, please send me a private
message at HackForums. Additionally, any content that you request will most likely be
added to the eBook, so if you want to see anything new, PM me. You can do so by
clicking this link: PM ME! So, without further ado, let’s begin the eBook
Chapter 1 “Getting in the Zone“ ------------------------------------------------ Page 4
Chapter 2 “W.W.W.W.W” -------------------------------------------------------- Page 10
Chapter 3 “The List” ---------------------------------------------------------------- Page 18
Chapter 4 “Life Hacking & Occultism” ----------------------------------------- Page 32
Hey there! Thanks for taking interest in my eBook, and I sincerely hope that it helps
you. This chapter “Getting in the Zone” is all about the mindset of a hacker. It will be
concluding different ways of approaching this new (or maybe old) lifestyle. That’s right;
I did just say that hacking is a lifestyle. Now before I start rambling on about mumbo
jumbo that you might have never heard before (or maybe you have, who knows?), I
would like to say that this chapter is an optional read. Many people would rather get
right down to business, and I can respect that. However, for the people who wish to
get the full experience of this book, let’s begin.
The glass is half full, but at the same time, it’s half empty. Or is it 100% full? If a tree falls
in the forest and nobody is around, of course it makes a noise! Or maybe it doesn’t,
according to quantum physics. Not everyone can be a hacker, but at the same time,
anyone can do it! Have I lost you yet? The point that I’m trying to make here, is that
things can be interpreted completely differently depending on how you look at it. It’s
all about your mindset. For example, your mindset might have enabled you to believe
that this entire paragraph was worthless; however, I think it’s setting the mood
perfectly.
Now, before I go any further, I would like to elaborate on what I said in the last
paragraph. “Not everyone can be a hacker, but at the same time, anyone can do it!”
Those words may sound completely contradicting and useless. What I mean by this is,
unless you have the correct mindset, being a hacker will be nearly impossible. It has
been said that “we are born ignorant” however, we must break that ignorant state, and
emerge into a more intelligent one.
Now, you may be thinking, “What is the mindset of a hacker?” and that is an excellent
question. I think that there are multiple ways that hackers can think, both depending
on the type of hacker and the type of person. Here are a couple that we will be
discussing:
o The Genius Mindset o The Prankster Mindset o The Lazy Mindset o The Evil Mindset
There we have it, the big 4. There are variations of each of these, but for the most part,
each subcategory is relatively similar to its brethren. I think it is fair that I go a little bit
more in-depth into each one.
The Prankster Mindset
The prankster mindset is a fairly immature way to go about your life as a hacker. In fact,
it is possibly the exact opposite of the Genius Mindset. Pranksters really aren’t hackers,
but a couple things they do are used by hackers. The majority of people who are
“Prankster Hackers” are limited to batch programs or tools made by other people (also
known as a ‘skid’ or ‘script-kiddie’). Although it sounds like I’m looking down on them
now, I was actually one once myself. In fact, there was a point when I had absolutely no
intentions on learning anything more than the essentials to annihilating other people’s
computers. I could tell quite a few stories (and they are actually pretty entertaining),
but I’ll save that for another time. Feel free to PM me if you would like to hear them
though.
The Lazy Mindset
The Lazy Mindset, in a way, is similar to that of a prankster. Not in the sense that they
like to prank other people a lot, but in the sense that they don’t make an obvious
effort to learn new things. In fact, they also have traits that are opposite of the Genius
Mindset. The Lazies will use other people’s programs to do things, but a lot of the time
they won’t even do that. Lazy people will find themselves constantly getting distracted,
and doing other things away from the world of hacking, and can often recede in the
pursuit for knowledge.
The Evil Mindset
The Evil Mindset is actually pretty self-explanatory. It really just consists of people
wanting to do bad things to computers. This can be due to lack of morals along with a
number of other reasons, such as greed. The Evil Mindset is obviously a group of black
hats, with no valid reason for their path of destruction.
The Genius Mindset
Alright guys, I’ve saved the best for last: The Genius Mindset. This one is by far my
favorite, and it is the one I try to stick to myself. This specific mindset is all about
learning as much as you can. The whole point of it is to improve (and trust me, there
will always be room to improve). The Genius Mindset includes the people who stay up
late every night, reading the last couple pages in a manual, or the people who spend
hours on end writing code. These are the people who will end up being hacking
“Legends” someday.
So, you’re probably asking yourself how you can get in the Genius Mindset. Maybe you
aren’t, I’m sure there are a couple people reading this that think the Lazy Mindset
sounds pretty good. But, if you are one of the people who want to “Get in the Zone,”
then this part is for you.
Getting in the zone can be accomplished in a number of ways. For me, I try to build up
my mind to the best that it can be; the more I know the better. I try to constantly
improve, and it seems to work. There are also other forms of motivation that push me
forward. Usually, when I see videos of other people (better than me) hacking, it
inspires me to go after that, and seek after their knowledge. A good place to look for
videos like that would be the DefCon YouTube channel. A great video can be found
here. Some movies may also get you inspired, such as “Hackers” or “The Social
Network”. While movies often contain hacking scenes that are completely impossible,
the overall gist of it should get you in the zone.
According to http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html:
“Contrary to popular myth, you don't have to be a nerd to be a hacker. It does help, however, and many hackers are in fact nerds. Being something of a social outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really important things, like thinking and hacking.
For this reason, many hackers have adopted the label geek as a badge of pride it’s a way of declaring their independence from normal social expectations (as well as a fondness for other things like science fiction and strategy games that often go with being a hacker). The term 'nerd' used to be used this way back in the 1990s, back when 'nerd' was a mild pejorative and 'geek' a rather harsher one; sometime after 2000 they switched places, at least in U.S. popular culture, and there is now even a significant geek-pride culture among people who aren't techies.
If you can manage to concentrate enough on hacking to be good at it and still have a life, that's fine. This is a lot easier today than it was when I was a newbie in the 1970s; mainstream culture is much friendlier to techno-nerds now. There are even growing numbers of people who realize that hackers are often high-quality lover and spouse material.
If you're attracted to hacking because you don't have a life, that's OK too at least you won't have trouble concentrating. Maybe you'll get a life later on.”
Before I go more in detail about this excerpt, I would like to mention how great the catb website is. In my journey to becoming a hacker, it has helped me a lot (especially the article I linked above).
Now, those can be some pretty intimidating words. I mean, you may have an amazing
social life, a million friends, and 17 girlfriends. Honestly, I don’t find that it really matters how social you are, but the author did make an extremely good argument. He
mentioned that if you throw away your social life, you have so much more room to
focus on learning, and you really have nothing to lose. I mean, if you detach yourself, why should anyone care if you spend your time on the computer. If you have real
friends in the first place, they shouldn’t care if you spend your time on the computer. Basically what I’m trying to say is, you don’t have to be a nerd to be a hacker, but in
some instances it may help. Another good thing to realize is that not all hacking is done on a computer. Hacking
itself simply means that you are modifying something from its original purpose in order
to improve it in some way. So, opening up your phone and hooking up a Bose speaker
to it would be considered a hack
The title of this chapter may seem completely ridiculous to you, and you may be stuck
clueless wondering what it could possibly mean. In fact, as I’m writing this, I’m
debating whether I should even tell you what it means.
Actually, you may have already guessed it; the title means:
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
So, in this chapter we will be looking at those 5 questions. It may be more of an F.A.Q.
really.
What is a Hacker?
Knowing what a hacker is, is obviously the first step to becoming one. If you ask any
regular person what a hacker is, they will most likely just tell you “someone that
messes up computers and gives you viruses”. They also think that it is just like in the
movies, where a hacker just pushes a couple buttons on a keyboard and they
instantly break into any system in the world that they want. If you think about it,
that is ridiculous, but the media is making look like something it's not.
Hacking, in its essence, just means: Modifying something to the user's benefit.
Yep, that's it. A lot of people will tell you that hacking is only done in
cyberspace, but electronics in general are a hub of hacking. A lot of people think
hacking is all bad, but that is also not the case.
There are 3 main types of hackers:
• Black Hat
◦ These are the bad guys; the ones that you hear about on the news. They
hack for personal gain, and destroy other people's computers and
networks for fun. This makes up a large portion of the hacking community,
because when people hear about hackers on the TV, they think it's cool
and so they try it. There are many other motives that may be the cause of
a black hat, such as greed or revenge.
• Gray Hat
◦ Gray Hat hackers are the people who fall in-between white hats and
black hats. They usually won't go out of their way to be bad, but may do
something illegal every now and then. Another difference between gray
hats and white hats is that white hat hackers get permission to pen-test
on a company or website and then they tell the owners about the
vulnerabilities, while gray hat hackers will do it without permission, and
possibly even release the exploit to the public.
• White Hat
◦ The good guys! White hats dedicate their time to securing the Internet and
making it a safe place for everyone. They are rivals with the black hats, and
try to patch up the exploits that they make. Good white hats have years of
experience in computer security, and can fix almost any computer problem.
A lot of people spend long periods of time just trying to decide what kind of hacker
they will be. I personally don't think it matters. I don't put any specific hat on myself,
because I feel that it is just a limitation. For example, if I was to say that I am going to
be a white hat, then I may be limiting myself to just do security related things. I would
rather choose to just hack how I want, and let other hackers decide what hat they
think I am.
What is Hacking?
So now that you know what a hacker is, you may be asking what is considered
“hacking”. That is not easily answered.
Many people come to the dark side of hacking because of lust. They seek
revenge. Or they want to show off. Hacking was never meant to be something
that people used for a malicious purpose, but it evolved into that.
Preforming a Denial of Service (DoS) attack is not considered hacking. Using
programs that other people have created is not considered hacking (with the
exception of an operating system/web browser/etc.). Copying a code that someone
else gives you is not hacking, unless you are modifying it yourself and know what
you are doing to it. If you are just following a tutorial that you found on the Internet
(with the exception of a
guide like this that tells you 'how to be a hacker', as opposed to 'how to hack') then you
are not really hacking. If you are using a common exploit, then you are not hacking,
but if you are developing a new exploit, you are.
There are multiple styles of hacking, and I basically covered them already, but
to say them in different terms, I would say that you can either:
• Hack for glory
• Hack for money
• Hack for revenge
• Hack for security
• Hack because you have to
Glory: You want everyone to know your name. A form of lust; Greed. You want to
destroy or build systems and you want everyone to be damn sure it was you that
did it.
Pros:
• You will be remembered for a long time
• You will have a taste of fame
• People may fear you
• People may love you
Cons:
• You will get caught
• A lot of people will dislike you
• The consequence can be worse than the benefits
• Prison... People get raped there.
Money: You are either a sort of cyber-bounty-hunter, or you are offering assistance
in exchange for money. This is taking your skills that you have worked hard to get
and trying to get some pay out of it. Usually illegal work is in play.
Pros:
• People will pay you for it
• You may actually get some decent practice to keep your skills sharp
Cons:
• Doing these illegal acts can get you in trouble
• The person hiring you may be undercover, and it could all be a trap
• There is always the risk of getting scammed
Revenge: Your girlfriend dumped you. Rage is filling your soul. What is the one
thing that she can't live without? Her Social Networking account? Let’s hack it. This
is an example of hacking for revenge. Although I personally don't believe in this
kind of revenge hacking, it is one of the most popular reasons.
Pros:
• You can savor the sweet taste of revenge and watch that person suffer
Cons:
• The person could report you to the police
• You could have had a decent friendship with that person, but you just ruined it
• They could get you back for it later
Security: This basically defines a white hat hacker. Security hacking is all about
finding exploits in your own system and then finding a way to patch them (This
method is called penetration testing). Your cause it to fight off black hats, and to
make the Internet/cyberspace a safe place for everyone.
Pros:
• There will be very little chance of you getting a virus
• You will learn a lot about security and computers in general
Cons:
• You might get bored
Because you have To: I am referring to an actual job. What? Didn't think that the
people that work for Google or Microsoft are hackers? You basically have to be a
form of a hacker to get into there.
Pros:
• You are hacking for a living, what more could you ask for
• You may get to see software that won't be released for months
• You might get free products, or at least a discount
Cons:
• Maybe you hate your job
• You could have a bad boss
• You might have a small paycheck
So how do you know if you are a hacker already? Well basically if another, well
respected, member of the hacking community considers you one, then you’re a
hacker. Hacking is not about degree, it is all based off of experience and
achievements. So if
you are a well-known, helpful member of the community, then you are probably a
hacker. “How do I help out?” you may ask. Well, in a number of ways:
• Teach new hacklings how to hack
• Test and debug new software
• Help develop programs
• Release open sourced software
• Give out free guides and tutorials
Those are the basic few that will get your status up. But don't limit yourself to those,
those are just the most common ways. Be creative. The more you can do for others
the better
As I see it, hacking is made up of a list; a list of things to learn. Instead of making up some fancy name for it, I’m going to call it “The List”. The list is basically every piece of hacking-related knowledge, compiled into, well, a list.
As a hacker, you look at the list, and choose which item listed you would like to
try. Then you master it. Every time you master a skill, you can check it off of the
list, and move on to a new skill. You have not mastered hacking until there is
nothing left on the list. Sadly though, that has never been done. The reason for
this is that the list is eternally growing.
Here I will show you a basic list, which is by no means, complete.
● Remote Administration Tools
● Keyloggers
● Encryption
● Decryption
● Proxies
● Socks
● Virtual Private Networks
● Virtual Private Servers
● Windows
● Linux
● Unix
● FreeBSD
● All of the programming languages
● Exploitation
● SQL Injection
● Cross Site Scripting
● Remote File Inclusion
● Local File Inclusion
● Program Cracking
● Website Design
● Computer Security
● Network Administration
● Social Engineering
I could go on, but for the sake of boredom, I’ll leave it at that.
Now, we have a nice little list set up here, and looking through it even that
would take a long time to master. Let’s be crazily optimistic and say that it only
took you 4 months to master each item on the list. Since there are 23 things, it
would be:
23 x 4 = 92 months 92 / 12 = 7 years and 6 months!
That is an insane amount of time.
With that said, I’ll leave you with a quote:
“In order to master anything, at least 10 years of practice must be put into it”
That doesn’t just mean that it is going to take you 10 years to be a hacker, but
think about how many skills you have to master! I will admit, some skills can be
mastered faster, but others will take that long. And it’s the combination of all of
these skills that make a successful hacker.
So you’re probably asking yourself, “How do I choose which item to pick first off
of the list?” It really depends on personal preference and what you want to do.
For example, if you simply want to create a successful website in the future, you
may want to learn about web site design, but if you want to do something a little
bit more malicious, you may want to learn how to use MetaSploit, and use/write
exploits.
There are plenty of good places to start off on the list, but a lot of people may not
know where to start. Over these next few pages I will try to cover some popular
list items that may be a possibility for you.
Html is a very basic web-based programming language. HTML stands for
HyperText Markup Language, and is the basic building block for most websites. It
is a great starting block for beginners, as it helps gain an understanding of both
the Internet, and programming. The HTML code for a website can be viewed by
right clicking anywhere on the page, and clicking “View Page source”
Pros:
● Will help you further you career as a web designer
● Helps you gain an understanding of the Internet
● Helps you to understand how websites are made
Cons:
● Can be more boring than going and hacking into someones computer
● If you never make a website, then you might not have as much use for knowing HTML
Some good tutorials can be found at http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp
RAT is an acronym which stands for Remote Administration Tool.
Wikipedia defines a RAT as:
A Remote Administration Tool (a RAT) is used to remotely connect and
manage a single or multiple computers with a variety of software tools, such
as:
● Screen/camera capture or image control
● File management (download/upload/execute/etc.)
● Shell control (from command prompt)
● Computer control (power off/on/log off if remote feature is supported)
● Registry management (query/add/delete/modify)
● Other software product-specific functions
Its primary function is for one computer operator to gain access to remote PCs.
One computer will run the "client" software application, while the other
computer(s) operate as the "host(s)".
RATs themselves are illegal, because they are used mostly for malicious
purposes, but there are actual legal RATs. The thing that makes some RATs legal
is permission. Legal Remote Administration Tools, such as TeamViewer, require
the other computer to accept the incoming connection. In addition, legal RATs
don’t have any malicious features built into them.
Pros:
● Can give you access to sensitive data, such as bank account info
● Will give temporary satisfaction
● Bragging rights if you have infected enough people
Cons:
● Can get in serious trouble if you are caught
Tutorials can be found throughout the web, but a RAT is a program, and
programs are ever- changing. Therefore, if I post a link to a guide, it may be
outdated by the time you are reading this.
Cryptography is not so much a method of hacking, but it will definitely help you
along the way. Cryptography is basically the act of encrypting/decrypting
something (ex. a file) so that wandering eyes can’t see it. To explain encryption
and decryption a little bit more, refer to this picture:
A good tool to use to encrypt your computer is TrueCrypt.
To understand the different kinds of encryption methods, I recommend you
take the time to read:
This page
Website Hacking
Website hacking is, obviously, the art of hacking websites. This can be done in numerous ways:
● SQL Injection
● XSS
● RFI
● LFI
SQLi (Structured Query Language Injection)
SQL injection is a code injection technique that exploits a security
vulnerability occurring in the database layer of an application (like queries).
The vulnerability is present when user input is either incorrectly filtered for
string literal escape characters embedded in SQL statements or user input is
not strongly typed and thereby unexpectedly executed. It is an instance of a
more
general class of vulnerabilities that can occur whenever one programming
or scripting language is embedded inside another. SQL injection attacks are
also known as SQL insertion attacks.
Definition from http://en.wikipedia.org/
XSS (Cross Site Scripting)
Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a type of computer security vulnerability typically
found in web applications that enables attackers to inject client-side script
into web pages viewed by other users. A cross-site scripting vulnerability may
be used by attackers to bypass access controls such as the same origin policy.
Cross-site scripting carried out on websites accounted for roughly 80%
of all security vulnerabilities documented by Symantec as of 2007. Their
effect
may range from a petty nuisance to a significant security risk, depending
on the sensitivity of the data handled by the vulnerable site and the nature
of any security mitigation implemented by the site's owner.
Definition from
http://en.wikipedia.org/
RFI (Remote File Inclusion)
Remote File Inclusion (RFI) is a type of vulnerability most often found on websites. It allows
an attacker to include a remote file, usually through a script on the web
server. The vulnerability occurs due to the use of user-supplied input
without proper validation. This can lead to something as minimal as
outputting the contents of the file, but depending on the severity, to list a
few it can lead to:
● Code execution on the web server
● Code execution on the client-side such as JavaScript which can
lead to other attacks such as cross site scripting (XSS).
● Denial of Service (DoS)
● Data Theft/Manipulation
Definition from
http://en.wikipedia.org/
LFI (Local File Inclusion)
Local File Inclusion (also known as LFI) is the process of including files on a server
through the web browser. This vulnerability occurs when a page include is not properly sanitized, and allows directory traversal characters to be injected. A typical example of a PHP script vulnerable to LFI is as follows:
<?p hp
$file = $_GET['file']
;
if(isset($ file))
{
include("page s/$file");
} els e
{
include("inde x.php");
}
? >
Definition from http://hakipedia.com
/
Possible helpful links:
http://thehackerlounge.blogspot.com/2009/05/full-sql-injection-
tutorial-mysql.htmlhttp://ferruh.mavituna.com/sql-injection-
cheatsheet-oku/ http://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.asp
http://www.steve.org.uk/Security/XSS/Tutorial/
http://r00tsecurity.org/forums/topic/10405-xss-tutorial-from-bug-
to- vulnerability/
http://penetrationengineer.blogspot.com/2009/01/rfi- tutorial-
remote-file-inclusion.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PtZcYFsmGY
http://elitehackerz.net/hacking-tutorials/1017-local-file-inclusion- lfi-tutorial.html
As a web site dev (developer), it is also important to know how to defend your
site against these forms of attacks. For help on securing your site, refer to
these links:
http://web.appstorm.net/roundups/self-publishing/15-great-ways-to-
secure-your-website/
http://www.onlinesecurityauthority.com/thoughts-on-security/10-ways-to- secure-your-website-from-hackers/
Another programming start. Batch has been the starting point of a large amount
of hackers. Batch refers to the Windows command line (So do this if you are using
the Windows operating system). If you see things online that say “CMD hacks”
“Batch viruses” or “Notepad Hacks” then you are seeing people talk about batch.
Basically, it is used by opening a blank text document, and entering the script you
want, and saving it as a .bat file rather than a .txt. Windows implemented this so
that macros could be run on the system that would drastically reduce the time it
takes to complete a task, but many new hackers took advantage of this, and use it
in malicious ways.
Great sources for batch:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.ericphelps.com/batch/
http://www.google.com/
Life hacking is something that should be a part of every hackers life. In fact, I
daresay it should be a part of every person’s life, regardless of if they are a
hacker or not.
Life hacking is the act of making yourself a better person, making life easier,
and hacking things outside of the digital world. Personally, I spend more time
life hacking then computer hacking, as I feel it is even more important.
I can’t stress enough how important it is to find a good balance between
computers and real life, but with life hacking and other self-improvement
methods, it’s possible to enjoy it even more than the digital world, as I do.
So, first off, let’s get a good definition of life hacking (from Wikipedia, of
course):
“The term life hack refers to productivity tricks that programmers devise and employ to cut
through information overload and organize their data.”
With that in mind, you could think of it as learning ways to improve faster, be
more productive, and get more out of the time you have. If you think about
it, it directly impacts how much you can get out of computer hacking, and
how you can learn these things faster.
Since this chapter isn’t 100% about life hacking though, let’s take a look at
the definition of occultism:
“hidden and difficult to see”
“the study of the supernatural”
“The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus (clandestine, hidden, secret), referring to
‘knowledge of the hidden’.”
So, that might be a lot to take in. I had to use 3 different definitions, because
“Occult” is a difficult word to understand (especially in the sense that we will
be focusing on).
Now, we know the definitions of these words, but we don’t know how to
apply them, or really much about them, so let’s fix that.
First off, I think it is important to address one fatal matter that I should have
mentioned a long time ago. Part of being self-sufficient (and really part of
being a hacker) is being able to learn on your own. If your only method of
gaining knowledge is reading my eBook’s and tutorials, you’re going to have a
tough time getting anywhere. I have seen too many people fail in their
pursuit of knowledge because they only relied on others, rendering
themselves useless.
Therefore, try wholly to learn on your own, given the resources available to
you, and don’t try to take the easy way out (expecting others to tell you
everything they know).
It may sound ridiculous, but there is one hub of information that I get most of
my life hacking knowledge from. In fact, I’m almost certain you’ve heard of
this site. You may have used it before, and you may use it currently, I’m not
sure.
Alright, I’ll tell you. This all-knowing, wonderful website, is called…. …. … … …
… … … StumbleUpon. Now, it’s true, a lot of people just use StumbleUpon for
games, humor, and sometimes music, but when used properly, it can be a
VERY valuable resource for finding new
information.
First off, you’ll need an account, to save
preferences, etc. You can sign up here.
You’ll get a screen that looks something
like this:
As you can see, the sign up form is very
minimal, and it won’t take very long at all.
You can sign up with Facebook if you want,
but I personally opt not to. You can be
legitimate with your birthday, or for the
sake of being anonymous (of course,
always be thinking about making it hard
for people to Dox you), you could use a
fake birthday. I usually put my really
month and day, with a different year, such
as 1990.
Once you get signed up (and verify by email), you can view your dashboard.
So, with just this dashboard, you can do quite a bit with your account.
Clicking the arrow by your name in the top right gives you 4 options, but the
one you will probably want to use is the “Settings” option.
Clicking on the settings menu will automatically take you to the profile
customization page; you can fill that out or leave it blank. Again, due to
anonymity reasons, I opt to leave it blank. However, just as an idea, you could
put fake information on it, leading doxers astray as they try to find
information about you. Fake information is the hardest thing to deal with
while trying to compile a dox.
Obviously, the picture tab just allows you to add a profile picture.
Connected accounts lets you connect with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
Google. That won’t matter much though.
Password is obviously where you go to change your account password.
Privacy settings should be on maximum, unless you want your information
public.
Notifications are optional, but I like them all off, so I’m not bothered or
spammed.
Stumbles and Labs are optional, and you can change the settings on those as
you see fit.
So, you have your settings out of the way, and you might have thought that
all of that was pointless, but I want to make sure that you’re following me,
and get the full experience out of this, as it’s a very important site.
So, now let’s get to the important part: Interests. Interests determine what
site’s you’ll see while stumbling. Over the period of time that I have used the
site, I have found, what I believe to be, the best compilation of interests for
our purpose.
Interests
Bizzare/Oddities**
o Can actually have a lot of useful information, and it extends your
knowledge and experience in general
Computers**
o While you’re mainly using this site for life hacking, you could still
find a lot of computer/hacking related information, so why not do
that, too?
Key
* = ==== Optional
** ===== More important
*** ====== Completely necessary, very important interest
Computer Security**
o Having a secure computer is always important, and should be
learned no matter what your focus is
Ethics**
o Maybe you’ve been wrong this whole time, maybe you need to
rethink your life. I’m not sure, but ethics is a good one for self-
improvement for sure.
FireFox*
o The unofficial “hacker browser”. There’s always more to learn
about it for being more efficient online
Gadgets*
o If you’re a hardware type of guy, or just like cool gizmos, this one
is a keeper
Hacking**
o This is pretty self-explanatory
Humanitarianism**
o Learning to think about others and be selfless, it’s a good quality
to have, and good to look into
Internet*
o While this may include a lot of internet culture in general, you
can also learn about its functions and what makes it tick.
Internet Tools*
o Helpful for being more productive, and finding new tools
Logic***
o This one is huge, and very helpful for exercising your mind, and
finding new truths that you didn’t before realize.
Psychology***
o More learning about the mind and how it works, and overall brain
enhancement. Very important interest
Self Improvement***
o This one is self explanatory, and should definitely be on your list
Software**
o Finding new tools and programs is always useful, and should be
on your list as well
Technology*
o For finding out more about the technological world, the latest
inventions, etc.
Along with these, I also have a few more, which aren’t necessary, but are
situational to me personally. My additional interests include:
Celtic Music
o Because I enjoy foreign music
Classical Music
Computer Graphics
o I find this interest to produce some fun, interesting results
Ethnic music
o Because I enjoy foreign music
Folk Music
Exotic Pets
o Because why the hell not?
Guitar
o Because I play guitar, and enjoy learning more about it
House Music
o I enjoy listening to this music while doing digital work
Humor
o It’s good to get a break from all of the heavy thinking sometimes,
and get a good joke in
Lingerie
o It’s a nice break from the heavy thinking, and gives you a reward
for going through all the thought-provoking pages
Music
Music Theory
Music Composition
Photography
o Another good interest to exercise the right half of your brain
Songwriting
Techno
Trance
Video Games
In total, I have a bit over 30 interests. However, you may find it necessary to
have more or less depending on your personality.
When you’ve added the interests from the list above that you like, go to the
“add interests” section, and set your search filter to “All” (As imaged above),
and read through the list. There are 512 interests total, as of this issue of the
eBook, and there are bound to be a couple that apply to you, that you will find
interesting.
Now, this site sounds great and everything, but there is one major setback:
addiction. It’s very easy to get addicted to this site, and become unproductive.
However, you have to remember your goals, and continue to improve
yourself. If you find yourself adding a large amount of interests that seem off
topic, and unproductive, you may want to consider removing them, and
sticking with ones that will help you get things done.
With all of that in mind, all you have left to do is begin stumbling. Hit the
Orange button on the bar at the top of the page to go to the next page. If you
find something that you would like to come back to later, hit the “I Like it”
button, or add it to a list, then you can browse the list/likes later.
After reading all of that, you should know enough about StumbleUpon to do
the rest on your own, so let’s continue to the next part.
Remembering Sites
In order to remember interesting sites or articles that I find, I use a great
website called PearlTrees. Pearltrees is a great way to organize links, music,
and notes into a web that you can navigate through, so you’ll never forget
something you find on the internet again.
The above image shows a sample pearl tree (mine). The highlighted circles
with an image in them are links directly to websites. The ones with a face
indicate another PearlTree is insides of them. In other words, I’m simply
nesting other sites within those, based on subject. I do this to have some
form of organization within my tree, and make it more navigable.
A lot of people dislike PearlTrees, but I personally think it saves a lot of time,
and helps you get to sites more efficiently. You can try it yourself, and see if
you like it. I’m not going to spend much time talking about it though, because
it’s not nearly as important as StumbleUpon or other topics.
You can get the PearlTrees addon for FireFox here.
You can get the PearlTrees addon for Chrome here.
Meditating, or simply knowing how to meditate, is a very important skill,
even if you don’t use it as often as you should. Meditation brings about a
peace in your life, and a nearly unparalleled relaxation, that it is definitely
worth looking into. Not convinced, before going into the topic more
thoroughly, I want to make clear how many benefits meditation actually has.
Physiological benefits:
It lowers oxygen consumption.
It decreases respiratory rate.
It increases blood flow and slows the heart rate.
Increases exercise tolerance.
Leads to a deeper level of physical relaxation.
Reduces anxiety attacks by lowering the levels of blood lactate.
Decreases muscle tension
Helps in chronic diseases like allergies, arthritis etc.
Helps in post-operative healing.
Enhances the immune system.
Reduces activity of viruses and emotional distress
Helps with weight loss
Drop in cholesterol levels, lowers risk of cardiovascular disease.
Improved flow of air to the lungs resulting in easier breathing.
Prevented, slowed or controlled pain of chronic diseases
Cure headaches & migraines
Greater Orderliness of Brain Functioning
Less energy wasted
More inclined to sports, activities
Significant relief from asthma
Improved performance in athletic events
Relaxes your nervous system
Produce lasting beneficial changes in brain electrical activity
Psychological benefits:
Builds self-confidence
Increases serotonin level, influences mood and behavior
Resolve phobias & fears
Helps control own thoughts
Helps with focus & concentration
Increase creativity
Increased brain wave coherence
Improved learning ability and memory
Increased emotional stability
Improved relationships
Easier to remove bad habits
Increased Productivity
Improved relations at home & at work
Able to see the larger picture in a given situation
Increased ability to solve complex problems
Purifies your character
Develop will power
React more quickly and more effectively to a stressful event.
Higher intelligence growth rate
Decrease in potential mental illness
Better, more sociable behavior
Need less sleep to recover from sleep deprivation
Require less time to fall asleep, helps cure insomnia
Decrease in restless thinking
Decreased tendency to worry
Increases listening skills and empathy
Helps make more accurate judgments
Greater tolerance
Grows a stable, more balanced personality
Develops emotional maturity
These benefits are from a blog called ineedmotivation. More benefits can be
found there.
Now, that’s quite a few positive sides to meditation, right? Now, the question
is, “Why would anyone NOT want to meditate after reading all of that?”
The answer is simple, and it’s a sad truth – Laziness. People think they’re too
busy to take 10 minutes out of their day for something that will help
drastically in the long run.
So, how can you become a meditator, and improve your life by an enormous
amount? There are 7 basic steps to this:
1. Sit erect, engaged yet relaxed, as if you’re listening to your best friend
2. Allow your eyes to close
3. Take a long, deep inhale, hold it for a moment, and then let it go
4. Allow your breath it settle down to its own natural flow
5. Bring your attention to where you feel your breath the most. This spot
could be your diaphragm, your chest, or under your nostrils, there is no
wrong spot.
6. Watch your breath from this spot for your next 5 breaths
7. Open your eyes
That’s it. You’re a meditator. Of course, this is a very short example and
meditating for 5-10 breaths total won’t do a ton for your, but it gives you a
basis to work from. What if you increased it to 100 breaths?
If you followed along with those steps, you’ll realize that it was a very
pleasant, relaxing experience. Couldn’t you do that for just 10 minutes per
day? Especially knowing the benefits, I don’t see why you couldn’t.
Try going to this site or use another timer, and set the time for 8 minutes.
Relax, and do the same thing as before, but just wait for the time to run out.
Don’t think about the time though, in fact, don’t think about anything. That’s
the tough part. The only thing you should be doing is focusing on your breath.
Your brain will naturally starting thinking about things, anything, but anything
can be dangerous. The moment that you are aware that you are thinking
about anything, instantly stop, and continue focusing on your breath. This will
happen quite a few times throughout your meditation, but the more you do it,
the better you will get at it.
Try it right now.
Do it.
Stop reading.
Meditate.
I highly recommend you invest in the book 8 Minute Meditation. It will change
your life, and make you a much better meditator.
There are a couple more methods I want to discuss before moving on. You
may try them, you may enjoy them, and you may use them in the future. Best
case scenario, you will develop your own methods from them.
Self-Hypnosis
Go to a quiet room and sit in any comfortable chair, couch, or bed. Make sure
this is a place where you won’t be disturbed for at least half an hour. Although
some people prefer to lie down, you are more susceptible to sleep than when
sitting up. Whether you sit or lie, ensure you do not cross your legs or any part
of your body. You may be in this position for a while and this could end up being
uncomfortable.
Close your eyes and work to rid your mind of any feelings of fear, stress, or
anxiety (Just like when meditating, don’t think about anything at this point,
clear your mind)
Recognize the tension in your body. Beginning with your toes, imagine the
tension slowly falling away from your body and vanishing. Imagine it freeing
each body part one at a time starting with your toes and working its way up
your body. Visualize each part of your body becoming lighter and lighter as the
tension is removed. Relax your toes, then your feet. Continue with your calves,
thighs, hips, stomach and so on, until you've relaxed each portion, including
your face and head. Using imagery techniques of something you find comforting
or soothing, such as water (feel the water rushing over your feet and ankles,
cleansing them of tension) can be effective as well.
Take slow, deep breaths. When you exhale, see the tension and negativity
leaving in a dark cloud. As you inhale, see the air returning as a bright force
filled with life and energy.
Imagine you are at the top of a flight of 10 stairs which at the fifth step start to
submerge into water. Picture every detail of this scene from the top to the
bottom. Tell yourself that you are going to descend the stairs, counting each
step down, starting at 10. Picture each number in your mind. Imagine that each
number you count is further down and one step closer to the bottom. After
each number, you will feel yourself drifting further and further into deep
relaxation. As you take each step, imagine the feel of the step under your feet.
Once you are at the fifth step imagine and truly feel the refreshing coolness of
the water and tell yourself that you are stepping into an oasis of purity and
cleanliness. As you begin to descend the last five steps, start to feel the water
getting higher and higher up your body. You should now start to feel somewhat
numb and your heart will start to race a bit, but notice it and let any qualms
about the situation just drift away into the water.
At this point at the bottom of the water you shouldn't really feel anything, just a
floating sensation. You may even feel like you're spinning. Once you have
achieved this state you should proceed to address your problems and decide
upon what it is you want from where you are. (Note: if you do not feel as stated
above, try again, slower with a will to grasp what is happening.) Now start to
narrate what you are doing, speak in the present and future tense quietly to
yourself, or as if you are reading it from a page. Start to picture three boxes
under the water that you have to swim to get to. Once you have found the
boxes open them slowly one at a time and narrate to yourself what is
happening when you open the box. For example 'As I open the box I feel a
radiant light engulf me, I feel it becoming a part of me, this light is my new
found confidence that I can never lose as it is now a part of me' and then
proceed on to the next box. You should avoid using statements with negative
connotation such as "I don't want to be tired and irritable." Instead, say, "I am
becoming calm and relaxed." Examples of positive statements "I am strong and
slender," "I am successful and positive," and, if you have pain, "My back is
beginning to feel wonderful.”
Repeat your statement(s) to yourself as many times as you wish. 2 or 3 times
should be enough
Once you are satisfied with what you have done and embraced, swim back to
the stairs and feel with each step you take the water becoming lower and lower
until you have once again reached that fifth step. Once you are out of the water
and are on the sixth step you may start to feel heavy or as if there is a weight on
your chest. Merely wait on the step until this passes, constantly repeating your
aforementioned statements. Once it passes continue up the stairs visualizing
each step by its number, feeling the steps underneath you, will yourself to carry
on up the stairs.
Once you have ascended, give yourself a few moments before opening your
eyes. You may want to visualize yourself opening a door to the outside world,
do this slowly and imagine the light that pours in through the door way, this
should make your eyes open. Take your time getting up. Then out loud tell
yourself "Wide awake, Wide awake" or something maybe that your mother
used to say when she woke you up in the morning as a child. This will put your
mind back in the conscious state.
The above is taken from WikiHow and was edited slightly. It is a great method
of improvement, and hypnosis that you should give a try if you have time.
Another article I found showed a simple method of improving at anything. I
thought it would be beneficial to describe this as well.
First, picture yourself with a goal in mind – the thing you want to improve in.
For the sake of the example, I’ll choose shooting free-throws in basketball.
Close your eyes, picture yourself in first person view. Then, slowly shift the view
of yourself to above and behind you, until you can fully see yourself sitting (or
standing) there. Picture it as if you were watching yourself on a movie screen.
Then, watch yourself go through the motions of what you need to be improving
at. Go through every detail. Go through it over and over until you get it right.
A study was done where a group of basketball players used this method, and
their free-throw shot success rate improved by ~23% on average.
Now it’s time for the section of this chapter that I’m sure a lot of people have
been waiting for – Occultism. You already know the definition of occultism, so I
don’t feel the need to redefine it for you. Instead, let’s just delve in to a few of
the methods of occultism. This section will probably be updated in the future,
so if you get a new version, make sure to check back here.
Lucid Dreaming
Lucid dreaming is something that many people want to do, but don’t for some
reason they never learn how. Why? A few reasons.
1. The illusion that there is a lack of time
2. An unwillingness to put forth an effort
3. Fear
What was that? Fear? Yes, fear. Once people look into Lucid dreaming, they
realize there is a huge risk to it.
So, let’s continue, and learn about the risks later.
Lucid Dreaming is a great concept, but achieving it can be difficult, time
consuming, and frustrating. Patience and self-control are the most important
things when attempting this.
There are 2 main methods for reaching the lucid state, a quick method, and a
safe method. These are called:
WILDs
MILDs
These stand for: Wake Induced Lucid Dreams and Mnemonic Induction of Lucid
Dreams
We will mainly be focusing on the WILDs method here, because it is much
faster, and the method that most people choose to use. I will, however, provide
a short summary of the MILDs method though.
Before we go any further, I would like to note, I am not the best at Lucid
Dreaming, and I am not an expert. I have done it before, I have some
experience, and I have done a lot of research on it. However, that does not
mean that all the information here will be perfect. Over time, I will update this
section, as my personal knowledge grows, and you may have increased success
with the updated versions.
Let’s continue.
We’re going to begin with the MILDs method. There are a couple of things you
have to do in order to achieve success in this method, and can be a bit of work.
First, you have to be able to recall your dreams. That is a skill that many people
don’t have. Most dreams are completely forgotten within 10 minutes of waking.
The best way to recall your dreams is to write them down in a dream journal. As
soon as you wake up in the morning, pick up your journal, and immediately
start writing as much as you can remember in it. Every little detail should be
included, you can include pictures, colors, specifics, anything. Title it, and make
note of the date. The next day, you should continue on the next page.
If you can’t recall your dreams, they are probably not very vivid, and even if you
have a lucid dream, you won’t be able to remember it. That’s a problem.
Have you ever seen the 2005 movie “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl”?
That movie is completely about the MILDs method. Even though the movie
itself it terrible (scoring a 3.4/10 average on imdb), the concept is exactly what
we’re going for with this method.
Second step: reality checks. Sure, knowing all of your dreams in cool, but what
is it going to do for you besides providing a cool though/memory? Well, it gives
a hint of falsehood. When you recognize a dream while you’re in it, you start to
question whether you’re awake or not. This is the correct thing to do. During
the day, constantly ask yourself “Am I dreaming?” until it becomes a habit.
Eventually, you will do the same thing in your dreams, sparking the realization
that you are, in fact, dreaming. The realization that you’re dreaming initializes
the lucid dream, and you have become successful.
An example of reality checks can be seen in the movie “Inception”
Now that you know a little bit about the MILDs method, let’s move on to the
WILDs method.
This method is something that can be accomplished on your first night, if done
properly (and with a bit of luck).
The idea behind WILDs, is that your body falls asleep, but your mind remains
awake. This is a very interesting concept.
To begin, you’re going to want to be in the correct environment. A very quiet or
silent area, where you won’t be disturbed will be the ideal location. Turn off the
lights, and get the area as dark as possible, set up everything as if you were
going to bed. Lie down, put a blanket on you if you want, get in a position that is
comfortable (this is important). Lie on your back, facing straight up. Do not
cross your legs. Put your hands somewhere that won’t bother you, such as on
your stomach, or at your sides.
This is all very important, because you will not be moving at all. Complete
stillness is important, so you have to be in a position in which you will not be
tempted to move or reposition for a long time.
You’ll want to get into a meditative state. I would recommend performing at
least a weeks’ worth of daily meditation before attempting this.
While lying down, empty your mind completely. Relax yourself starting at your
toes, and work the relaxation slowly up the rest of your body until you are fully
relaxed.
With your mind empty, stare into the blackness of your eyelids. If thoughts
appear, observe them, don’t interact with them, and then send them on their
way. Don’t let your mind go astray.
Additionally, to help with your meditative state, you can (optionally) listen to
some binaural beats made directly for lucid dreaming. (Later in the chapter I will
cover more on binaural beats)
You can get a good free one on YouTube here. You could also buy a professional
version here. If you can’t find success with those, you can experiment with
others, and try to find a good working one. However, remember that these are
optional, and lucid dreaming can be accomplished without them.
You’ll want to start taking deep breaths. 3 second inhales, and 3 second exhales
are ideal, but don’t spend brain power counting each breath. This is a very
popular method of relaxation. When smokers light a cigarette, they assume that
the unreal relaxation they are experiencing is because of the drug, when, in
reality, most of it comes from the long deep breaths they are taking. That’s
right, we’re breathing like smokers to accomplish lucid dreaming.
Now, after a while, your body will feel weightless, and go numb. In fact, you
would have trouble moving if you tried. You’ll feel like you’re on a cloud, and
your mind will start drifting off onto the dream world. Let it.
In between being awake and asleep, is the hypnagogic state. Think of this as a
time for your body to check if you’re really asleep, and for your mind to conjure
up a dream world.
While you’re in this state, you will see flashy patterns and colors and objects
take over your vision of the darkness. Continue in this state until it passes after
a couple minutes, and the newly created dream world is apparent. Don’t let
yourself fall asleep though, and don’t open your eyes.
Now I mentioned earlier that there were some risks. This is the point where a
risk may occur. Let me explain what has happened so far first.
Sleeping on your back with long deep breaths invokes sleep paralysis. Sleep
paralysis is completely necessary to achieve lucid dreaming using this method,
and is only temporary. In fact, 1 in 3 people experience sleep paralysis anyways
(including myself), so why not make use of it, and lucid dream?
However, if you open your eyes in the hypnagogic state, there is a chance of
something bad happening. This terrible thing has not personally happened to
me, but many people have experienced it, and they never attempt lucid
dreaming again. I do feel it is important for you to be aware of this though,
because finding it out on your own would be much worse.
First, you would open your eyes, and see everything around you just like
normal. However, you will be in a paralysis state still, so you won’t be able to
move much, if at all. The bad part about this, is the state of mind you were just
in invokes hallucinations. Not good ones. The most fearful thoughts hidden in
the depths of your mind can and will appear before you as if they were
completely real. You won’t know if they are hallucinations. You may not even be
able to comprehend that you had something that scary in your mind to begin
with. After a couple of minutes though, it will fade, and you will be able to
move.
Now, like I said before, I have been fortunate enough to have never
experienced this. In fact, I’m not even sure if it’s 100% accurate, because I’ve
only heard stories of others. It is not something that I would worry about
coming into the world of lucid dreaming, so don’t be afraid, and don’t back
down now.
Secondly, as a warning: When you’re in your meditative state, and you move on
to the hypnagogic, make sure you continue to not move. The body tries to
check if you are still awake, and you will experience itches and urges throughout
your body. Keep still and ignore them, as they are only temporary. This is where
will power alone is the key to your success.
If you make it through all of that, you have accomplished your final goal: Lucid
Dreaming. You can do whatever you want now. You can fly. You can run at the
speed of light. You can be a super hero. You can be an Earth Bender. Anything
you can imagine, you can do in your dream. Everything is vivid, and will seem
real. It is a wonderful feeling; a feeling stronger than your fears.
Congratulations, you’re a lucid dreamer.
More will be added to this chapter in the future. Occultism is a very fun and
unique practice that I am always trying to involve myself in. Therefore, as I
encounter new things, I will add them here. If you have any suggestions for
things to add to this chapter, please suggest them over email or PM.
This guide will be updated as often as I possibly can
If you have anything you would like to see added to this eBook, please
tell me. The more people I have request something, the more likely I am
to add it.
I apologize if there are any formatting errors throughout the guide. This
isn’t the finished version, so it definitely isn’t perfect. If you do find
errors, feel free to report them to me.
If you see this being posted anywhere else besides HackForums,
please report it to me, unless they are giving credit to me.
Thank you for reading my eBook! Please wait patiently while I type up my next version.