Today marks one step closer to my first 1Ghs mining power earned almost primarily from donating my cpu to the Stanford university for cancer research :> sounds good I know, it has served me well as my go to response to the donation hounds I see at the local shopping mall.
I am using a web serving called Eobot to trade crypto into mining contracts but have also heard alot about Genesis mining recently.. I do think that mining contracts are obviously a better investment upon having my foot in the crypto-door but I also plan to continue contributing to Cure Coin and their studious studies!
I have been enjoying the idea I am contributing to research and I have plans to document ongoing expansions to my mining projects, so to be able to get into crypt-mining without a huge investment in hardware is great for a beginner. 
Good on you man!
nice
cheers