Comment by mindcrime | Hacker News Reader

Comment by mindcrime | Hacker News Reader

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Also:

http://www.reddit.com/r/csbooks

http://www.reddit.com/r/mathbooks

http://www.reddit.com/r/eebooks

http://www.reddit.com/r/econbooks

http://www.reddit.com/r/physicsbooks

And not just books, but there is a tremendous amount of useful technical informaation, tutorials, articles, etc. on the web that are free. Heck, you could spend a lifetime just reading papers from Citeseer or ArXiv.org.

OP: it might help if you told us a little more about what you're interested in, what kind of projects you're working on, what kinds of things you want to work on, etc.

Also, regarding the money thing... at the risk of stating the obvious, have you approached your parents or other relatives about funding some of your ideas? I mean, a domain name + cheap VPS really doesn't cost a lot... maybe they'd front you what you need to get started, and if you make something that actually makes money, then so much the better. If not, it's still a valuable learning experience for a fairly small investment.

I tried to ask them but there's always so many blocks. I have to explain so much just to get them to do something. It's like an inefficient bureaucracy with lots of red tape. I can't really contact any of my relatives because they are in another country. I think they're hostile to the idea because my grades have been low (although they are improving) ever since we moved to a new state over winter. They are also worried about my vision...

Right now my main goal is to make money. In the long term I would want to have several websites set up and do some research in CS. I've only completed one web app, and it's a really simple one in Sinatra (it's a pastebin...). I plan to learn Rails, JS, and graphic design with Inkscape.

Thanks for the links!

I tried to ask them but there's always so many blocks. I have to explain so much just to get them to do something. It's like an inefficient bureaucracy with lots of red tape. I can't really contact any of my relatives because they are in another country. I think they're hostile to the idea because my grades have been low (although they are improving) ever since we moved to a new state over winter. They are also worried about my vision...

Understood. Another option would be to setup some sort of online "donation box" thing (like some open source projects do) and just put the word out "help a high-school kid get a VPS / domain / books" and see if you can raise a few dollars. I know I'd chip in a few bucks to such a cause myself.

And, as others have mentioned, a summer job is an option. But it doesn't necessarily have to be mowing lawns or whatever. You already have some coding skills, and apparently have a computer and a 'net connection... maybe you can find a scenario where somebody will pay you to build them a basic app or website or whatever. Unfortunately you probably can't use ODesk or anything due to your age, but you might be able to set up an "under the table" deal and get paid via Paypal or something. Hmm... not sure if you can have a PayPal account if you're < 18, but maybe your parents would be willing to help make that happen, if there's an age limit?

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