College courses are obviously very helpful, but I hear all the time about great programmers that just "taught themselves," and I wonder how the hell they did it. Online tutorials are nice - online support, even better - but learning with nothing but online resources is difficult to say the least, and I don't know anybody that's experienced enough to help me learn. Even if I did, they probably wouldn't have the time for it.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Becoming an application/game designer is something I've wanted to achieve for a long, long time, even if I never use it for a career, and it does mean alot to me. However, I'm constantly thwarted by lack of motivation, or perhaps confidence. Though I've found some good tutorials online, sometimes I feel it just isn't enough to really get me somewhere, and my limited knowledge of computers (and any other technology) in general is hardly reassuring. I'm constantly getting the feeling that maybe it isn't "in me."

Well, guess that's it. I just don't want to join the legions of aspiring techies that just gave up.