getting started

Author: James Halliday

getting_started.markdown

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+# getting started
+
+Welcome to Cyber Wizard Institute!
+
+Most days, we will have presentations covering important programming
+fundamentals. However, the bulk of the time is dedicated to open hacking and
+learning, with facilitators hovering around to help when you get stuck or if you
+have questions.
+
+We are all learners and teachers, so it's good to talk to other students, team
+up, ask each other questions, and share!
+
+We will have time at the end of each day for anyone who has anything to share to
+get up and share something they've learned.
+
+# project ideas
+
+To get the most out of Cyber Wizard Institute, it helps to have some concrete
+project ideas. If you can't think of anything, here are some ideas to get you
+started:
+
+* personal blog
+* a web-based 2d game
+* automating mundane tasks
+* twitter or IRC bot to generate silly text
+* interactive art
+* generating music with algorithms
+* visualizations and info-graphics
+* virtual reality
+* image manipulation
+
+If you need help about where to start with any of these ideas, ask a mentor for
+guidance!
+
+# homework
+
+To get some programming practice, we recommend
+[nodeschool](http://nodeschool.io/).
+
+However, don't feel as if you need to get through all the nodeschool levels or
+do them in order. If you get stuck for too long on a lesson, just skip it and
+move on.
+
+It's good to have a concrete real-world project or two to supplement nodeschool.
+
+# configuring your system
+
+To get the most out of Cyber Wizard Institute, you will need a computer running
+Mac OSX or Linux. If your computer runs Windows, we can help you install Linux.
+
+## system package manager
+
+If you are on Mac OSX, you will need to install
+[xcode](https://www.apple.com/xcode/), then you can install 
+[homebrew](http://brew.sh/).
+
+If you are on linux, you will most likely already have a package manager
+installed. You're already done!
+
+## system software
+
+During the course, we are going to make heavy use of:
+
+* git
+* node.js
+* npm
+
+In debian or ubuntu you can do:
+
+```
+$ sudo apt-get install git nodejs npm build-essential
+$ sudo ln -s `which nodejs` /usr/share/local/bin
+```
+
+On Mac OSX you can do:
+
+```
+$ brew install git nodejs
+```
+
+For different lectures and projects you will need to install more software to
+follow along, but these should get you in a good state for the rest of the
+lessons.