Like Role, I've been a computer hobbiest for years. I finally broke down and got a degree in software engineering and a masters in information secuirty. I did my early learning on my own by working with various OSes and hardware. If you get a chance, build a PC or upgrade an existing. You will learn alot. And learn from your mistakes. I broke more computers than I actually fixed early on. I have learned and developed and still find more to learn and more to know. Welcome to a world where the instant you learn something, it is out of date.

And like don said, ask questions. In my short time on this forum, I have found many of the members to be a wealth of knowledge and more than willing to share. Good luck.

Locomotive, the best thing you can do is to buy some books about hacking, how-to and tutorials from the net are good, but to really develop some skills you'll have to read some books which are intended for IT professionals. My recommendation would be Hacking Exposed, as a introduction, and Grey Hat Hacking for some more in depth exploitation. And perhaps TCP/IP Illustrated, but I havn't read it so can't recommend it. And good luck to you.

Oh, and remeber, this is only my opinion not the word of a überhacker.