where to get hammer?
Sorry if I keep on sounding like a noob.
Hammer is a part of the Source SDK, which can be downloaded through Steam via the Tools menu, if you have at least one Source game in your Steam account 
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Released here!
All maps for Portal (1/2) worth playing are mirrored here.
ever hear of google?
no offense to you if you're legit or n00b. but ANY time i hear that question i assume, or atleast think that, the person is using a pirated copy of portal.
This is not a newbie mapper site, thanks for that link though bizob.
Just trying to be helpful. I was a noob when I came here and still consider myself noob-ish but I don't recall getting yelled at so much. My first post had some questions that I should have been able to find answers for myself right here on this site. Maybe I asked more direct questions, I don't know. The 2 most important things I've learned about mapping is that you have to read a lot of stuff (sometimes twice) and you must pay close attention to the details.
You're just plain cool bizob. 
why hasn't this been locked yet?