I've been doing as much research as possible and I notice I hear a lot about racking. My question is, when you first open the box (for 3/4" t&g) are all the pieces the same length or do they vary? My next question it, are they any general rules on cutting the first pieces to get the staggered effect or is it random? I wasn't sure if it was similar to starting shingles except on the wood you would but 6, 12, 18 etc. Also, do you normally want to use pieces as long as you can? I see a lot of people starting at the wall and almost building a pyramid (again, similar to shingles)? I'm trying to gather all the info I can so I can do the best job possible.

You should start be reading many of the tutorials already available. Look here:

http://hardwoodflooringtalk.com/index.htm

Great, I will. Thanks for the link.