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This won't be a short post, but it'll give you a summary of close to a year's worth of trying to teach people how to program. We know what works and what doesn't, and so far there's a lot of stuff out there that just doesn't work, based on our own experience and what our paying customers are telling us (they're mostly people who tried and gave up on Codecademy, Codeschool, Udacity, and Coursera).

Most computer users have a haunting fear that somehow malware will find a way to sneak onto their PCs  when they are not looking. The truth is that while this does sometimes happen, the most common types of malware rely on trickery to invade and infect your computer.

There is a growing consensus that the way children in schools are being taught information technology is in need of a radical overhaul. Here John Naughton explains the problem and offers a manifesto for revolutionary action

Home networks can be great or they can be a huge pain in the butt. Set aside some time this weekend to fix your annoying network issues, boost your Wi-Fi reception, and add some great new features. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

"From an algorithms perspective, this is a great time to be alive. Algorithms are just frolicking in the mountains of data that they can play with."

.NET Gadgeteer can be used in schools to help students make gadgets and learn C# programming along the way. These lesson plans give teachers all the material needed to run 8 1-hour sessions using .NET Gadgeteer. You will also need the hardware, details of which are given at http://netmf.com/gadgeteer.

"Let's say that you have children, and you would like to help them learn computer programming at a youngish age. As the father of four kids, I have tried to approach it from several different angles. What I would like to do here is collect some ideas for parents who are looking for different options."

"What these courses have in common, aside from the focus on Android development, is that they are all 100% free. You should be able to get yourself started off on developing your first app, and those who have some development experience will find advanced topics covered as well."

"No bug is too great when you've got someone to help you out. Cloud9 IDE now enables developers around the world to edit the same code and chat together in realtime. Your team and peers share in incredible productivity and higher quality code - no matter where they are. See what's new!"

"We've all used USB sticks to transport files between computers and back up our files, but there are other cool things you can do with a USB stick. You can use one to lock and unlock your computer - just like in the movies. You can also use a USB flash drive to quickly connect to a wireless network on all your PCs, increase your computer's performance, or even run a web server - directly from the USB stick itself."

"A plethora of cool open source tools is available out there, but not all of them are up to the mark. So today we have a list of 9 Must Have Open Source Apps For Web Developers. Check this list out and pick the ones that suit your needs the best."

Here are two tools that can be used for creating effective and engaging simulations.

The place of Computer Science in the National Curriculum for England In April 2011 ALT responded to the DFE consultation about revisions to the National Curriculum for England1. In recent weeks there has been plenty of discussion in the media and in Government about the place of Computer Science in the curriculum. We've consulted within ALT and more widely and have framed some views on this question, in the form of a response to three questions: * To get the next generation of comp scientists do we need CS in the NC?  * Where do we put CS?  * Should CS be only for those who are interested or for all?  

"Ever since I was a kid, being a programmer looked fun and exciting. But in the last decade, the novelty of the Internet has worn off, and it seems like we've just been spinning our wheels. With an increasingly uninteresting workload and stagnation in pay, a lot of folks have either left for other pastures or have thought about it. Well, in the last year or two, things have really changed. Here are 10 reasons why now is a great time to be a developer."

After eating something greasy to get rid of last night's Jello shot-induced hangover, many of you are probably in the middle of writing your New Year's resolutions. Well, here's a good one (especially considering that the tech sector seems to be the only bright spot in a sort of lackluster economy) … Learn to code.

The 2012 Scratch competition has launched, which encourages primary and secondary school students to get involved with computing and software development. Run by the Irish software engineering research centre Lero and supported by the Irish Computer Society, the competition helps students learn how software is built and how it works. It encourages them to be creative with the software and shows what opportunities are available in the technology sector.

Whether you're stuck inside and need to break out or you've found locked outside and need to get in, having the key or password is rarely your only option. Here are our top 10 favorite tricks for breaking into and out of nearly any locked down environment.

Deciding to become a software developer is a great initial step, congrats!  The job opportunities are growing quickly and in just about every industry that you can imagine.  The best part is that you do not necessarily have to go to a four year university to become a great software developer to lock down one of these jobs.  The web has all the resources you'll need to interact, learn, get support and finally find a job as a software developer.

We present results of a 45-participant laboratory study investigating the usability of tools to limit online behavioral advertising (OBA).We tested nine tools, including tools that block access to advertising websites, tools that set cookies indicating a user's preference to opt out of OBA, and privacy tools that are built directly into web browsers.

As I've just finished the interviewing/hiring process at Facebook, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the insights I gained, particularly for our many portfolio companies who are searching for talent.