I have a good friend who lives right down the road and is also Australian, works for Microsoft research

Assuming I could get a job there I probably would seriously consider moving. The getting something is the main issue for me sadly.

Remote work! Codementor, Toptal, Upwork, etc. A programming job in Panama pays like a few thousand a month at best.

I think I would be better off selling small things like books and training courses to be honest. Assuming I could get several hundred a month it would cover my expenses long enough till I could ramp that up.

Thanks =)

Getting flagged with "web dev" is like getting AIDs. Rofl.

Dude, yes. Bravo.

Totally! I'm going to do a post about reactive programming as well = )

Make it sink or swim. Force yourself to learn or perish...you'll learn.

To echo what others have said, having a problem you need to solve is paramount to succeeding. If you're just reading a programming book, being introduced to totally foreign concepts that you never put into practice, you won't get anywhere.

Based on your background (looks like design and electrical engineering), I think you'll do fine.

Some of my first projects were: - A directory (basically just listings on a map) - A customer survey - A todo manager - A wordpress plugin

All simple projects, but all things I was able to use. When you first start, sometimes you have to reinvent the wheel a bit just to get some practice (it's not like any of the aforementioned haven't been done a thousand times). What you're looking to develop are fundamental skills:

- How to design a relational database - How to design a non-relational database - How to query said database - How to work with strings (splitting, imploding, etc.) - How to work with arrays and loops - How to work with objects etc. etc. etc.

As you keep adding new tools to your arsenal, you'll wake up one day and be really surprised with what you know.

...And as a few others also said - stay humble. You can be proud of the things you create - but just look around every once in a while and find someone better than you. You won't have to look very hard.

I agree. It was pretty awesome to be in a paceline for the first time. Something I forgot to put in the blog post was that one guy told me..."You're not responsible for the guy in front of you. You can't do anything about what he does. You're responsible for the guy behind you."

And thanks for the link, btw = )

I think people will HAVE to work, for some very hard years, on achieving sustainability. Only then will we truly be on autopilot, and will humanity be able to focus its time on other things. Until then, all we're doing is tricking ourselves into thinking life will keep getting easier. Major conflict over resources is coming...

While it's true that we have a lot of work to do, conflict is unpleasant and expensive and people on the whole have a strong interest in avoiding it. Unfortunately, war mongers tend to spend other people's money, so they don't bear the costs; we need to stop supplying them and/or make them pay. If we can manage this, I think our adaptability and ability to cooperate can win out.