I wouldn’t really say I have a set “occupation”. I’ve done a lot of things to make money. When I was 16 or 17 I set out in business for myself, and made money however I could. Selling things. Doing software work. Whatever I could do. Could only land small projects back then, but I worked my way up.

One of my first jobs was at Burger King. That’s right after I turned 16. Then I did some software work. Later I became the network administrator for a large company, and I ran their entire network. I started working there part-time when I was in high school, but they hired me on as their head guy after I graduated. I did all sorts of things there. I ran cabling, did network security, repaired computer systems, purchased new equipment, and things like that. Then I left there and wrote software for all kinds of companies and businesses. I developed projects for schools, banks, financial planners, medical clinics, and other places.

I never went to college, and I never learned computer programming from anyone. I just bought a bunch of books and read them, and practiced on my own. Really, that’s the best way to learn it. I’ll warn you though, computer programming books are typically written by authors who couldn’t write if their lives depended on it. They’re terrible. They’re not always very good at explaining things.

When I taught myself programming, I bought a big pile of books on it. I got books on BASIC, C/C++, Windows programming (which back then was MFC in Visual Studio 6), and I also got books on OpenGL and 3D graphics programming, which was my primary interest at the time. Nowadays if you learn computer programming you’ll want to either learn 1) Delphi 2010, with its main language of Object Pascal, or 2) Microsoft .NET Framework, using Visual Studio .NET, or 3) if you learn 3D graphics stuff, you’ll need to learn OpenGL, DirectX, and C/C++ programming, and you’ll use Visual Studio as well. (You can download Visual Studio for free! Microsoft gives away various version of it.)

Delphi and Microsoft .NET are the main tools used when you develop business applications. Like database software. Software that runs businesses, keeps track of customer records, creates reports that can be printed out, and stuff like that.

OpenGL is a 3D graphics library used to make real-time 3D graphics. Create a 3D program, like a video game for instance, or a simulator. You use OpenGL to “draw” to the screen, DirectX to handle the audio, input from keyboards and joysticks, and network code. You might’ve noticed when playing games, or installing a new video card to your computer it will install the latest DirectX to your computer. Games require it.

When you read the books, don’t feel discouraged if you don’t understand it right away. It’s not that you’re too stupid to understand. Most of the time the author is just terrible, and the book is written poorly. Buy 4 or 5 books on every subject, and read them all. You’ll understand one section from one book, the other section from another, and so on. Eventually you’ll piece it together and “get it.”

I worked through the examples, and read the books. Tinkered around with everything. Eventually I got good, won a computer programming competition at the national level, and then employers hired me to do bigger projects. I was maybe 16 then? That got my foot in the door. After that I had bigger projects under my belt, and could land others by showing work I’d done for past clients.

If you take my route, and do not attend college, I’ll also warn you that life will be very difficult. My life has been very hard. There’s been lots of ups and downs, and never knowing what will happen. When you’re in business for yourself your income wildly fluctuates, and sometimes you don’t know when, if ever, you’ll make anymore money. You’ll work 12 hour days, and oftentimes for no pay at all. If you do the wrong moves, you can easily end up old and with nothing to show for it but just being completely stressed out and possibly neurotic.

Then when you’re burned out and depressed, nobody will care. In fact, they criticize you and make you feel bad about yourself. It’s sad too, because that’s the time someone needs to build you up. Find and make good friends who are there for you when you need them.

A very successful business man I knew would always say, “How many years did it take to become an overnight success?” That’s how the entrepreneur’s life is. You work your butt off, and keep working and working and working, and nothing happens. You make little to no money. You make no progress. You just spin wheels.

But finally, one day, you finally find the right product. You create a product that actually sells, and everything just falls into place. Then you make money — a LOT of money. You go from broke to fairly wealthy, all in one short go.

It was weird for me, starting a business. Just think if you went out tomorrow, knowing nothing, and tried to make a product and sell it to people. That’s the same boat I was in. How do I get them to buy my stuff. What should I make? How do I get people into my store? How do I market myself and my services? I had no idea! I slowly taught myself, and it wasn’t easy. I didn’t have any rich friends, or rich family members to prop me up. I crawled my way there.

That’s because finding the product to sell people is the real difficulty. It’s like getting all the planets to align in a straight row. You just sort of start off trying all kinds of stuff, swinging wildly into the air, hoping you can find some business that both fits you, and makes you money at the same time. It’ll take time to find that place.

You may work a year on a product, investing everything you have into it. You think, “Oh yeah. People will want this for sure.” You go to sell it and nobody cares, nor wants it. Back to square 1. Start over. Make something else. Do people want it? You wave it around, will someone buy? Not interested? Start over.

And when you’re young, your parents will be hasseling you. They’ll be telling you to go to college. To give up on this “business” stuff. They’ll tell you it’s never going to work. They may well throw you out of the house. It’s really really rough. Most of time, they won’t believe in your projects, or that you’ll ever succeed. And it’s possible that you may NEVER succeed. There’s no guarantees in business.

That’s not to say I blame anyone’s parents for warning their kids and being worried. It is something to be worried over. If it doesn’t work, you may well end up with nothing. It’s a risk you take.

I just watched a documentary on Colonel Sanders the other day. He was the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. That guy didn’t make any real money until he was OOOOLLLDDD. Late 60s. He went from one failed venture to the next. I think at one time or another he was selling car insurance, tires, and God knows what else. He kept jumping around to all kinds of things. It put tons of stress on his family and his wife. It was terrible for him.

You might not have any time to date girls. I never had any time at all for that sort of thing. Your life will be a lot different than most people’s. While people your age are going to prom, worrying about football games, and other school related stuff, you’re at home studying business, economics, and whatever technical information there is related to the business you’re starting.

But if you do go to college, where would I recommend getting a programming degree? I guess that depends on what kind of computer software you’d like to write. Personally, the best software that I enjoy writing are 3D graphics simulators. For one, they’re very very complicated. It requires extensive knowledge in complex mathematics. You have to do vector calculus, analytic geometry, linear algebra, intense physics, not to mention complex algorithms to make sure it all runs fast. But that’s what makes it fun. Secondly, the end product is exciting and fun to watch.

Say you write simulators for training pilots. It’s just awesome. It ties so many fields and disciplines together, and the work is challenging and fulfilling. Or gaming engines are cool to make too. You don’t have to be smart to play games, but you do to make one from scratch!

Other types of software, I think, are less exciting. Say some sort of business application for banks. It has some data entry screens to capture customer information, does some mathematical routines to calculate risks and check their background, blah blah. Nothing’s challenging though. Writing that sort of software becomes rote, and you feel like your brain is idle. You’re just sort of coasting, collecting the big checks. It pays really well, but ugh. Challenge me! Even worse, if you end up at some boring company, they cram you in a cubical. *shivers*

The best school I know of to write 3D graphics engines for gaming is Digipen university. It’s a school made by Nintendo, and people who graduate there get sucked up by the big gaming companies, and they end up making cool games like Half-Life 2, work at id Software with John Carmack, or other cool things. Or if they themselves like you, Nintendo sucks you up and you make games with them! If you do well there, getting hired on by a great company is almost guaranteed.

I like DigiPen because they’re hands on. Their professors actually write games themselves. You won’t be learning abstract crap you’ll never use. Just go to digipen.edu and look at their projects. They make games. That’s what they do for school. Their project is make a game. Work with other students there and make games. Starting with 2D games, then move onto 3D. They teach you all the math, tools, and skills.

But who’s to say though man. There are tons of awesome fields to get into. Physics is one of them. Oh my God is Physics awesome. Just start reading astronomy textbooks, cosmology, and quantum mechanics. It’ll sound like science fiction, but it’ll actually be real! You’ll see them design out plans for literal time machines! They know how to build those things in theory, but it would require getting several collapsed neutron stars to be placed side by side, lined up in a cylinder, and spinning all at just the right speeds. When you study Einstein’s stuff, you’ll be like… Whaaaattttt?

I’ve been studying tons of Physics lately. It’s amazing. Right now I have one software project which is going, but my current plan has been to attend a university near where I live and work on Physics research. I’m trying to build up contacts with researchers in various fields, and check out what they’re all doing. I want hear about their research, and see what all I can get involved in. I know some scientists, but not near enough.

I was reading about a scientist the other day in Discover magazine. He’s integrating nano-technology into DNA. The goal is to be able to make “programmable” life. You rapidly change a life form’s DNA and see the changes. Test all sorts of things. You can write code and make it do weird things. It’s freaking amazing. And it’s going on right now. Guys are doing it. And believe it or not, these guys are really accessible. That’s because unlike celebrities, these guys aren’t flooded with emails from people. Only smart people know about them, and most people aren’t smart, and don’t even know who they are. So they’ll email you back. They’ll talk with you. They’ll let you visit, if you have the funds to get there at least. Most of them are very friendly. And if you know your stuff, they’ll let you work with them!

Another awesome field is neuroscience. That stuff’s crazy too. Learning how your brain works. I’ll write up an entry on that stuff soon, and you can see how weird all that gets. You’ll begin to wonder what it even means to be alive. The brain is really really weird. Like a complex computer, with different sections performing various functions.

I have a hard time deciding what to do sometimes. There’s so much awesome stuff out there. I also love economics. Studying money. Money is a strange thing.

The best way to know what you like is just to start doing stuff. Get your feet wet. See what you like. Find someone who is passionate about each subject, and let them introduce you to it. (If you can find them). A lot of subjects can be really interesting, as long as the person you’re talking to really is passionate about it. That “life” and “passion” for their work will show and will come off on you too.

Learning math, science, and computer programming can be useful no matter what you do really. If you study Physics for instance, you may use your 3D graphics skills to make simulators. You can put various equations and information into the computer and plot it all in 3D. You can simulate experiments and watch what would happen. That’s what I use my 3D programming skills for these days. I programmed some of Einsteins crap into my computer and watched how space-time warps in 3D. It’s pretty sweet!

Another time I was wondering about radio and radar waves. I programmed a simulator for it, and could view the waves, using Maxwell’s equations. I thought, “What do these equations really look like?” Watching it all was cool.

Like Richard Feynman gives an example in his Physics lecture set, where he takes several radio towers and puts them in a line. Based on how he pulsates the signals, he can blast the waves in certain directions. That way you can save energy. If you need to blast a signal across the ocean, you can direct it where you want it, instead of blasting it all over, and wasting electricity.

I made a simulator where I could place towers anywhere I chose, and then would configure the phasing. Then I’d watch the waves. It was awesome. Other kids in school would have to just work out the equations, and it’s just be a rather program on the blackboard. But with your programming skills, you can make a simulator and view it all in 3D!

Shouldn’t they have a dishwasher that does this crap? Sounds like it would be $350 well spent.

“That’s when I sit back down, cool off, and say, “No Pat Robertson, you’re not worth it. I’m going to sit here, and not argue with your stupidity.”

But aren’t some people definitely worth it?

“One time I threw this kid through the wall at church. LOL.”

LOL – sounds awesome when phrased like that.

“I couldn’t imagine say dating a Mormon.”

Remove the second “m” and that about sums them up.

“I don’t know if some people would call all this sort of stuff “love” or not.”

Yeah, this post was all over the place