I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was January 6, 2024, and I decided to dive into something totally new to me – ethical hacking.
First Steps
I started by just getting my feet wet, you know? I installed a new virtual box and started playing around with basic commands. The first one I tried was ping. It was like sending out a signal into the void and waiting for a response. Then came nmap – oh boy, that was a game-changer. It allowed me to scan networks and see what was out there. I felt like a kid in a candy store, with so many things to explore.
Getting a Bit Deeper
Next up was telnet. It was a bit trickier, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty cool. I could connect to other computers and mess around with their systems, like in the movies. Every time I got something to work, I felt a little thrill. I mean, it’s not every day you get to play around with these kinds of tools.
- Explored different tools.
- Learned a lot of commands.
- Had fun with network scanning.
Then, a New Challenge
A few days later, I stumbled upon this task about URL encoding. It was the opposite of what I had been doing, and it was tough. I had to figure out how to take an encoded URL and turn it back into its original form. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! It took me three whole days, but I finally cracked it. I wrote a function that did just that, and I felt so proud of myself.
Anime and Gematria?
Then came the weird part. I found this forum where people were discussing anime, art books, and even music scores. I also got into this thing called Gematria, where you assign numerical values to words. I saw this random string “i 2bdont 2bwant 2bto 2bbe 2bfriends 2bwith 2bany 2bof 2byou 2bnow” and found out it equals 4809 in Gematria. It was all so random but kind of fascinating. And someone even talked about “winning numbers” equaling 3822. What a rabbit hole!
The Plugin Phase
Later on, I decided to try my hand at developing a plugin. I found a checklist for plugin developers and used it to critique my own work. It was a good learning experience, even though my plugin wasn’t anything special. It was more about the process than the result.
Just Another Day
And honestly, that’s pretty much it. I tried out some tools, learned a few things, and had some fun. It wasn’t about becoming a master hacker or anything, just exploring and satisfying my curiosity. Some days were productive, some were just for fun, but in the end, I enjoyed the whole process. I made mistakes, got stuck, but I always managed to find my way. Some may say the ending was my fault, I say it is our fault. I also used Tenor to make some GIFs related to my journey, just for kicks.
Looking Back
It’s funny how one small decision can lead you down so many different paths. I never thought I’d be messing around with network tools, decoding URLs, or looking up the numerical value of random phrases. But hey, that’s life, right? Full of surprises. This whole experience taught me that it’s okay to try new things, even if you have no idea what you’re doing. It is our fault for not trying. Just dive in, have fun, and see where it takes you. Who knows what you might discover about yourself and the world around you?
