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Starting an Education in IT?
AriaStar asks: "It's overwhelming to start trying to learn all the different technologies needed to go into programming. It seems that every type of technology assumes knowledge of a different one, which in turn requires knowledge of another, until it's gone full circle. I am interested in everything from Unix to AJAX to Perl. Things like HTML, Javascript, and SQL are like English, but then again, they're basic. Where is the best place to start? What is a good path for someone who learns quickly and easily, but who is simply too overwhelmed, to take?"
There's a lot to look into, but whatever you learn, take the time to figure out what's actually happening under the hood, especially if you use RAD tools. There are two groups of people: those that know how it works underneath, and those that don't. Those that do can output much more wonderful things. Certifications are a good way to make yourself get under the hood and truly understand.
Personally, nowadays I'm giving people PHP as their first language. Well, first PROGRAMMING language. HTML is fairly easy and simple to understand, so giving them basic assignments of doing text output (like number generators for example) in PHP is a nice begining.
Part of the reason I prefer to give people PHP, is because quite a few web servers support it now. Another reason, is because you don't need a compiler. The next would be the simplicity of string manipulation. And from there, you can get people into basic file handling and other things of that nature which will carry over nicely to other languages.
I went to college for psychology and criminal justice. Since I was paying my own way, I went around looking for jobs. I tinkered in PCs before and was willing to learn anything, so I applied for and got accepted to a job with our ResNet (Residence Hall Network) department. All I knew at that point was installing Windows, some network stuff, and other odds and ends with computers.
We had a small team, probably 14 students in total and had a non-techie but very nice and open supervisor. We were given specific areas to work in given our strengths but there was absolutely no problem with teaming up to learn something new.
When one of the students left, leaving a half-finished VB project, I decided to try and tackle it. Working closely with my friend Sean, we worked out what was done and what needed to be done. Any resources I needed were supplied by other staff members or my gracious supervisor. In the end, I learned a whole new programming language (albeit, not the one that many Slashdot geeks are friends with). I worked with our web dev guy to try and learn PHP and Perl (I failed miserably) and worked with another guy to learn about imaging. I talked with the university's network admin about how routing worked, Novell stuff, whatever.
In the end I picked up so much that I decided to pursue a career in IT. Now I am a helpdesk manager, I love my job, and I try and emulate my old supervisor as much as possible. I learn a lot from my students (my latest challenge is ASP) and I try and teach them what I know in return.
Just like the OSS community I feel bound to take what I've been given and pass it on to others. I'm not certain what your particular situation is, but I think surrounding yourself with people who know the technology, languages, or protocols goes a long way to staking out your own learning experince.
Don't be afraid to hit the local library either. They usually have the latest books (for some reason the latest PHP/MySQL book is always available!) Ask a lot of questions, and don't be afraid to set up a sandbox and just play. Last bit of advice: Don't get frustrated. I can recall many times when I was against a wall with some weird configuration problem or what have you only to find the solution after using Google or taking a walk.
Good luck!
"This food is problematic."
Consider "real" engineering (mechanical, civil, even electrical). Many old-timers in these professions are retiring/have retired. Based on input from my discussion group, there are not enough people getting into this field to replace the out-goers.
With the current generation's "pre-installed" computer knowledge, we need more people to get into the traditional engineering disciplines. It's hard and you might not be in an office every day, but this is going to be a booming area soon.
If you have highly-developed computer/programming skills already, all the better.