The purpose of this tutorial is to not only load variables from a text file into your Flash movie, but also be able to edit and update those variables from that same movie or from a secure administrative area where only you have access.  The only required knowledge for this tutorial is a basic understanding of using actionscript in Flash and access to a server that allows you to run cgi scripts.  Other then that it's just changing a couple variables, cut and pasting, and uploading 2 files.  The basic concept behind this tutorial will make it possible for you to add any number of new interactive features to your website with just a few changes in the code. Here is the online example so you can follow along:  http://www.flash-db.com/PerlTut/PerlWriteVarsToText.html