 How did you get started in hacking/programming?
araneae: No real advice, but I can tell you exactly what I did with very little background (not that I'm any good at it.)1.  Took a biology class that involved using matlab.  Found the matlab part more fun than the biology.2. Went through this course on my own one week: http://www.cs.cornell.edu/courses/cs1130/2009fa/index.html
At the time, almost of the materials I needed to do the homework was online.  I'm not sure if that's still the case.3. Took a class in data structures and programming in java.  I've never worked so hard in my life.4. Profit! (Yeah... no :P) My current step 4 is downloading open source projects I want to do something to (mostly in python) and futzing with them.