If I want to send a private message, I'd use Signal since the cellphone company has logs of your text messages. I really like that there's an option to delete your messages after a certain amount of time. Though I only use it over WiFi.
There's also Tor, which I use in combination with an obscure e-mail service that allows you to create accounts and login over Tor.
If you want to encrypt the actual email message, then I use GPG, but it isn't always practical.
>Well, I was 25 when I started learning how to code. The big motivator for me was the birth of my first child, and I was sick of minimum wage labor jobs.
I don't have kids, but I certainly can relate. My family immigrated to the states from the Caribbean, making me a first generation American. They aren't well off and even though we aren't that close, I'd like to be in the position where I can assist them and their kids if they ever need help. I feel that the best way to do this is to pursue this path that I've chosen.
> I spent about two years working at it in the evening hours before I was able to land my first real job.
That's impressive. Thanks for the inspiration.
I know that nothing in life comes easy and that basically you (sometimes) get what you put in. I was uncertain yesterday, but I think today I'm ready to take the first step towards this crazy dream of mine.
Thanks for the insightful comment. I feel that a dose of realism is always helpful, especially when it comes to something as important as a career.
You're right that I don't know much about development and that I might not like it.
I grew up on the internet, from the days of AOL chatrooms during the 90s to various other websites and message boards. I learned how to repair computers as a teenager because of the internet and my interest computers. Now I can function as an (entry level) I.T. Technician. I focused a lot on maintaining hardware, software and Operating Systems, but never looked into creating software until pretty recently.
But what really got me interested was what Edward Snowden did. Because of his sacrifice I started to get interested in cryptography and open source software. I moved away from Windows to Debian just to experiment, and it turns out that Debian is actually pretty cool.
I believe in the utility of the internet and computers. To me, it just feels like the right step to take and even though I may regret my decision in the future, I'll still give it a shot and try to accomplish something. Besides, it'll be nice to challenge myself with a new hobby :)
I'll check out the book and course recommendations. I'm probably using math as an excuse to continue procrastinating because I'm afraid of failure, so I won't let that deter me. And I'll definitely consider going back to school once I start working again.
>I don't know what it was but it probably wasn't coding.
You're right, I wasn't coding.
I waste a lot of time on the internet not being productive, so I'll change this. I signed up for a codecademy account recently, so I'll challenge myself by doing some exercises there daily.
>So now you have to ask yourself, what are you willing to give up?
I think I'm finally ready to give up all of my distractions. I'm getting sick of not making any progress.
Agreed with it basically being lots of hard work, and that you have to be very motivated.
I'm currently 29, working as a Software Developer, and also started late. Got my MSc in Oceanography, had some basic programming experience (built basic websites for beer money, some light scientific programming), but not much. Decided I liked the analytics more than the rest of science, and got a job at a SaaS company as a Data Analyst. Really started falling in love with programming quickly there, and did the following:
- took online courses like crazy (often waking up early to get some in before work, and more on evenings/weekends when possible)
- always took on the most technical tasks at work, where I'd get to write as much Python/R/SQL as possible
- started a coding club at work, great for group learning and motivation
After ~2 years of this I had gotten myself to a point where I could legitimately work as a Software Developer, and got a new job as one (at the same company). Stayed in my area of expertise, data science/analytics, but as a developer instead of an analyst.
I wouldn't suggest codeacademy, though. Maybe it's changed since I tried it, but my experience was that they introduced you to a bunch of syntax, but left out most of the fundamentals of how computer science and how to structure programs. I'd much more strongly suggest taking more involved courses. Some of my favourites include (note - bias towards Python, Scala and SQL courses, as that's what I happen to use a lot of):
My personal feeling is that things like codeacademy get you superficial knowledge, like learning to use tools, when what you really want is deeper knowledge about how to build houses, regardless of the tools.
There's also Tor, which I use in combination with an obscure e-mail service that allows you to create accounts and login over Tor.
If you want to encrypt the actual email message, then I use GPG, but it isn't always practical.