Just discovered bit coins

[Velvethammer]

can anybody link me a thread to get started on all this.  All i have so far is the bitcoin wallet.  Im looking to get into pooled mining but have no idea how to get started.  I'm just a guy who hates bankers and the USD... Any help would be appreciated.

[deadlizard]

Check the wiki. https://bitcoin.it/
The bitcoin faucet is shut down at the moment http://freebitcoins.appspot.com/
so post an address and I'm sure someone here will send you a few coins to test it out

[Velvethammer]

Here is my address.

1KTsaiSPe5E9xtyHpVkfL3dQhmV9pMRGK9

I'm going through the wiki now thanks for the help.

[deadlizard]

Here is my address.

1KTsaiSPe5E9xtyHpVkfL3dQhmV9pMRGK9

I'm going through the wiki now thanks for the help.

Just sent you 0.05 BTC 

[zhalox]

I'm glad to see you here, I recently discovered Bitcoin as well!  If you want to get into serious mining, then I would suggest getting a nice AMD 5000 or 6000 series graphics card, and using bitcoinpool.com (highest-efficiency, no fees) for pooled mining.

[bitcoinharvester]

Three+ 5870 rig for mining helps on the power.

[[Tycho]]

can anybody link me a thread to get started on all this.  All i have so far is the bitcoin wallet.  Im looking to get into pooled mining but have no idea how to get started.  I'm just a guy who hates bankers and the USD... Any help would be appreciated.

If you want to start mining, you should get a suitable video card - ATI's 5xxx or 6xxx series. The best ones are 5870 and 5970.
With a 5870 card you'll generate 4+ BTC per day (~3.6 BTC per day after next difficulty step, tomorrow)
List of all cards: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Mining_hardware_comparison
Don't try to mine on your CPU, it's not profitable. nVidia cards are inferior, but if you have one with high hashrate it will be enough for first steps :)

Then you'll need to install ATI Stream SDK, 2.1-2.3 version, depends on your OS and miner.
Register at the pool - http://deepbit.net (the best one, with highest efficiency).
Download and run this miner - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3878.0
Feel free to ask for help :)