The for dummies or Head First Series are good. I generally pick a technology, have a feel of it(meaning, just learn it on the surface by poking around it) then learn it in depth if i really need it. Most IMPORTANTLY, NOTHING, I REPEAT NOTHING BEATS PRACTICE.
1. Infrastructure - Even if you overcome Internet and Power outages remember that your users may need to overcome these too to use your product except they absolutely don't need any kind of infrastructure which i think is rarely the case
2. Niche focused - Remember hierarchy of needs. If you are running a startup in a country where 90% are at the bottom of the pyramid your solution has to be properly tailored to the few 10% or the many 90%.
It is doable even in Africa.
It is a good thing because the countries are DEVELOPING so there is hope.
I used to with a clipper, but because there was no real way to even out the cut it meant I'd cut off all the hair till my head shinned in the sun. My girlfriend didn't like the look so I stopped....:)
As hackers advance it is easy for them to lose sense of what is difficult, useful or plain stupid. I think this is because hackers usually set themselves on a quest to conquer ...xyz and once that is in sight all the hacking fun seems gone. Here is what I do:
1. I already know who would use my product before I build.
They are not asking, "Do I need that?" but they are asking "When do I get that?".
2. As I develop, I am more likely to leave things out than to add anything to it.
Always remember:
"Perfection is not the absence of what can be added but of what can be taken away"
Your comment just puts things in the right perspective. Once I came up with a solution that I was pitching to some folks. It was clearly better than what they had, BUT they didn't touch it. Lesson learned: Good product in the lab != Good product in market
What projects have you worked on during your freelancing? Is there some tool out there that you made? Have you fixed a bug somewhere? People usually don't just want to hear "I can do xyz" they want to see stuff. Remember Feross Aboukhadijeh who created youtube instant http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube_Instant , he was offered a job by youtube CEO not long after.