At this point in time, I would suggest joining the Apple Mac/iOS community. A macbook + iPod touch + developer subscription will get you access to a great commu

At this point in time, I would suggest joining the Apple Mac/iOS community. A macbook + iPod touch + developer subscription will get you access to a great community, loads of iTunes U videos about CS and programming from Stanford and other great schools. The community is pretty great compared to others. You have a system where you can learn all aspects of contemporary software development, from scripting languages, to web sites, to handheld/mobile development, GPU development, systems administration, and so forth. You will also be developing a particular skill set that is highly in demand for employers, and one in which you can start immediately making money on your own selling apps. The unix and scripting language skills are also transferable to most other UNIX jobs, if you need to find work. I've not always been a Mac/iOS dev, but this is now the advice I give to newbies, including my own brother.