Starting an Education in IT?

AriaStar asks: "It's overwhelming to start trying to learn all the different technologies needed to go into programming. It seems that every type of technology assumes knowledge of a different one, which in turn requires knowledge of another, until it's gone full circle. I am interested in everything from Unix to AJAX to Perl. Things like HTML, Javascript, and SQL are like English, but then again, they're basic. Where is the best place to start? What is a good path for someone who learns quickly and easily, but who is simply too overwhelmed, to take?"

Where to start

[Marcion]

man ls

After that just follow your nose and interests.

Errata

[Anonymous Coward]

The last sentence, " You may have great ideas, but if you cannot them to your English-speaking peers, then you are no better than a pseudo-technologist. ", should read, "You may have great ideas, but if you cannot explain them to your English-speaking peers, then you are no better than a pseudo-technologist."

Re:DIY

[Catbeller]

1. Be born to the right parents.
2. Go to right schools.
3. Use lifeling contacts of parents and school to get swell jobs.
4. Make friends at job contacts got you, move up to management.
5. Become an executive.
6. At every stage, blame others for being limited and uneducated.

Re:Where to start

[Nataku564]

The full diagram wasn't shown. If you were to pull a bit more out, there would be a circle enclosing all it, with a line pointing to Perl.