[Tutor] [Long]General Questions

[Sukrit K Mehra]

Hi Pythoners,

I am new to programming and in need of some advice. 

Background:
I have a system adminstration background. I want to learn *programming*.
I just read "How to think like a computer scientist: Python".

Computer Science:
How do I go about learning the following, keeping in mind I have no exams to
pass, using python.
a Algorithms
b Data Structures

After these what else could be nearly as practically rewarding?

Engineering:
I want to be productive asap and I believe I need these python skills
- Threads
- Unix Sys Calls
- Reg Ex
- Network Programming
- Wxpython/ gtk-python
- CGI
- Web Clients 
- DataBase connectivity

What would a smallish project in which I could use most of these skills
(I thought of a mail client but it's boring and it's ... boring; I learn
faster when I am *NOT* writing programs that compute factorials of
numbers.)

Ulimate Goals:
- To learn to think in terms of OO/procedural paradigms as need be.
- Develop good *progamming* skill so as to pick up any resume building
language like Java, C, C++ Visual Basic, Php, whatever.

Projects:
I have been trying to learn programming in vain for a long time now. I
never get beneath the surface of it because I never find anything to do.
Can anyone recommend me to some project where I can apprentice? I should
head for sourceforge? That has never works! Finding a project isn't
easy, atleast it has been difficult for me. 

thanks for your time.