One hint, some analytical models used in physics are very useful in finance. I have a friend doing his physics masters degree in analytical finance. It seems very promising for him.
At the age of 8, I was enlisted in a programming school (thanks mom!), learning how to move the LOGO turtle around the screen. At the age of 12, I was programming a game while my colleagues were moving turtles around :)
I would keep doing what I already do. I care deeply for the organization I work for, and I have many friends there. But I would engage only in what seems fun and meaningful, and avoid all things that I don't care about. Hey, I seems so fun I would do it for free :)
I see. Guitar is something that requires patience, for sure. Someone can play well enough to entertain drunk friends with one year of half-assed practice. To play on a stage, it's way more time of serious practice. It'll hurt, sometimes it'll take days to see improvements. Rehearse and constant practice are the key factors to thrive. If you're lacking patience, get a tutor. He will help you build momentum.
The same 'process' is valid for other moments you may be lacking patience. Get a friend you trust or a psychologist (they help well-adjusted people too), tell them about your projects, and every time you're losing patience, call them and tell them, and listen to them. They should reassure your progress, and help you get back on track.
You seem to have a lot of stuff figured out. You stayed out of trouble. You have a hardcore work ethic. But if you're in doubt, you can always work less and do something else. And if that doesn't work, go do another thing. At one moment, you'll figure out what do you want to do.
Have you ever tried to play guitar?
What this can possibly mean? Because C is everywhere. It is in the code that runs the VM of your favorite language. It is in most compilers. It provides basic system services. Why should we have a plan to migrate from something that is everywhere?
Sometimes I use shirt and tie to go to work for fun. In a building full of t-shirt and jeans guys, it's easy to stand out like that. And sometimes I want to (or need to) stand out. And doesn't matter what I wear, I'm still doing my job (making stuff). I think looks really don't matter, but it goes both ways.
Speculation. And a bad idea. Facebook is good in social "notworking", and competing with Google in Google's territory is not a good idea.
Since we're in the field of speculation, I predict a huge loss of money.
I'm sad to see the old pinnacles of opensource agonizing. Worries me what will happen to the code inside one of these hosts if they go out of business.
I was about to suggest you to "Learn You A Haskell For Great Good" :) Way too complicated. Listen to the other guys that don't suggest Haskell. If you then discover your calling in programming, go back and learn Haskell at your own peril.
Also try to stay away from LISP in your first lessons, and its ugliest kid, emacs. Use a simpler text editor that won't twist your fingers. gedit would be my suggestion.
"44 percent of people who regularly check their horoscope also floss regularly; in general, only 28 percent of people floss regularly."
So being a moron actually serves for something. At least their teeth looks better, and they are less prone to cavities. But still, they believe in astrology.
Indeed. It's better to discover if your product fits the market before trying to do the extra 80% of the hard work. If it fits, you have data to confirm, and you can go to a money raising round with solid information. If it doesn't fit, you can get out of something that doesn't matter quickly.
If you can, you should always push quickly and iterate, looking for scalability later. That is fine for products/parts of products you can easily update or replace at low cost (e.g. software), but not for those you can't replace that easily and cheaply (e.g. hardware.)
Actually, ideas don't matter, execution matter. If you're not executing, but only giving ideas away, be aware, someone will put the idea on execution and you'll never get cited on the app.