We’re so lucky today, in that if we have access to the internet (in the US) we have access to an enormous amount of learning materials. But it’s not just even learning materials, it’s also access to learning communities that makes the difference. Forums, Organizations that provide learning resources and communities, and even simply Wikipedia, there is such a large variety of options at our disposal.

I know I’ve talked about some now and again, but I thought I would mention the best resources I’ve found out there.

There are tons of forums out there for those interested in learning to program. So many of them are specified by programming language as well. Due to this I’m only going to be linking you to the ones I’m aware of, which are python and javascript oriented. I’m only listing a few, because these are the ones where I feel I can find information that I understand. They are also the ones I feel that I can post to without feeling totally ridiculous.

There are also tons of educational sites and reference resources. OCW (Open Courseware) via MIT is one of the best, however there are tons of other Open Courseware offerings out there from other universities, simply google OCW.

One resource that I’ve seen be rather helpful, but I think is under utilized by me, is Youtube. I’ve seen some howto videos, and I know for graphic artists there are tons of resources online there. People will walk you through using various (from what I’ve seen) open source and closed source graphics programs to create a variety of graphics and styles.

As always these resources, as awesome as they are, require you to be dedicated to your studies in order for learning to occur. Just like all things, you must do the work to reap the benefits (mostly).

I’ll be finishing up the Betwixt Icon creation this week, and afterwards I should be getting back to programming and other such projects. Also lots of camping coming up in my near future. A nice long weekend with my nephew, mom and Robey out Rafting and Camping up near Maupin, OR. Then a week after that Robey and I take off for our (starting to be) annual week long trip to Gordon Lake. No cell service, no people, just nature and us. If only we were better at fishing :)