It's probably because you scare them. Here are people who have spent several years in school to gain a certificate that shows they know how to program. You may never be a competition to them in the job market but the knowledge that someone spent close to 12 weeks (not even a semester) and was able to land a basic job programming is probably rubbing their sense of entitlement the wrong way. Me personally, I have a M.S. in Computer Science but I work with a group of people, who, with sheer will and hard work, are in much better programming situation than I am. Not everybody gets to, or needs to, write a compiler or an operating system. Most of the applications are crud applications. Just because you are not of Linus Torvald's caliber doesn't mean that you are not a programmer.

Don't be too surprised or confused. There are a lot of very bright people here, but remember that being bright in one area doesn't necessarily mean they'd be bright in other areas, or nice, or humble. I guess someone who spent n years working at their craft and feels that he earned the title "programmer" might get offended when some young punk says he learned how to program in 12 days. I don't feel that way but I can understand why someone else might. I think if you had said something like "How I learned enough about programming to get a job doing it in 12 weeks", they might have been more encouraging (though it would have sucked as a title!). I think it was the title more than anything else that put them off.

And don't be too disappointed. I think the majority of the people here aren't nasty. They might have said some not so nice things in a moment of pique for the above reason, but the nice thing about HN is that most of us do try to be objective and helpful. Don't be surprised if in another thread, the very same people who dissed you here praise you, help you or openly agree with you. I usually don't even notice usernames when replying or voting on posts.

Lastly, congratulations on taking a very big step on the same path most of us here are on. The path is long and difficult at times, but infinitely rewarding. Welcome to the club.