completely new to all this

[kainthefallen]

help me i dont understand any of this i have a program and i need help choosing an effective hardware to go with it and help setting it up to it. i have a btcguild account. id like to have it be a group or in a pool cause im new and starting out so if anyone can help me with any of this cause im confused as hell i dont know what i need or what i am supposed to do and ive already met some @$$holes on here who dont understand that im new to all this. so if anyone who is nice and a wiz at this please help me i need it.

[DannyHamilton]

You'll probably get more useful help in the Mining Sub-forum:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=14.0

Depending on what you need assistance with, you may find one of these sub-forums to be even more helpful:

Mining Support:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=40.0

Mining Hardware:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=76.0

Mining Software:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=42.0

Mining Pools:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=41.0

Please note that if you are mining as a hobby to learn more about the process and are willing to lose money in the process, then you are on the right path.

If you are planning on mining as a source of income, then you are going to need access to cheap resources relative to the competition.  That generally means that at least one (and preferably all three of the following will need to be cheaper for you than for the average miner:

• Electricity
• Cooling
• ASIC Mining hardware

[xiionqz]

what is Mining Pools?
a place to mine btc?

[Amph]

what is Mining Pools?
a place to mine btc?

a server where many miners connect and work together to resolve the block, then they split the reward based on their hashpower, p2pool instead is a decentralized pool, sadly it has not taken off well

[RodeoX]

As mentioned above, mining is not at the hobby level anymore. You could learn about bitcoin by mining, but the odds of finding a block with a home computer are truly astronomical. A good place to start learning is the white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto. You can see a link to it just below, where it says "the gospel according to Satoshi". All the bitcoin talk you see here is about the ideas in that paper.  

I would also recommend learning how this system works before obtaining bitcoins. There are different kinds of wallets with various risks and advantages. And unlike most monetary systems, you are the bank. There is no bitcoin Inc. or authority to help you. You want to make sure in such an environment that you alone have control over your coins.  

cheers

[Gultahin]

Well if you are really just getting in btc right now, even before you go onto mining (hardware buying) i reccomend you giving a look over btc (cryptocurrency) in general to understand what you will be putting your money into. Personally i really like the amateur documentary The rise and fall of btc, you can find it over youtube for full, it may seems  long but it's really worth for newcomer, it relates the first days of the boom but still pretty acurate.