When you were 16 did you know that employers use a college degree as a coarse filter when trying to get a manageable applicant pool? It would seem that your answer was most likely one of two. You were either ignorant of reality when making a huge decision, or you were the type to want to fight reality because it felt like injustice and you 'knew better'. Of course at 16 we all 'knew better' and if that's how it went down I'm sorry you didn't get better advice... but it's a personality trait that some folks don't grow out of, and if you've ever managed a team you know they aren't the ones you want to have around.
Anyway, this is not to make any sort of judgment on you personally, you have probably done more awesome things than most 24 year olds and may be nothing like what I described, but you asked: when an employer sees a resume without a degree that's a snap decision thought process they might go through.
The situation actually isn't that bad... most of the best jobs aren't "resume" jobs, they're "hey I know a guy" jobs. Networking is much more important than resume to getting a good job - especially at startups!
If you read this and it causes you even the slightest twinge of doubt as to whether you are a "real programmer", please remind yourself about things you read on the internet, forget you ever read this self-indulgent blog post, and go buy yourself an ice cream cone.
From a concept persepective, this type of site gets stickier the more upset people get. Which is a good thing, it can be a great place to explore differing opinions and think through your own beliefs, but you have to get people fired up... and Red Sox vs. Yankees is not going to do it. People disagree over which one is better, but there is nothing to talk about. Politics, religion, race, philosophy, Ruby vs. Python, basically everything that ought to make you uncomfortable as a webmaster... and it should, because if you're successful the debates will get ugly in a hurry. But you'll also get that cartoon where the guy doesn't want to go to bed because "someone is wrong on the internet". No one is going to stay up using your site because they've discovered someone prefers the Red Sox.
From a business perspective, in my opinion it's tight. Your CPM is going to be pretty low because you aren't that kind of niche. Probably a few cents. My gut says there isn't much opportunity for acquisition unless it truly takes off. RWW did a roundup I'm sure you saw (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/online_debate_sites.php) - you have direct competition from several sides. In my opinion you're competing with more than just those guys... the big poll sites are also indirect competetion, especially for your edge use case settling arguments. Poll Daddy may be your largest, least obvious competition. Data Portability is another... a lot of those types of conversations are happening in Friendfeed and Disqus now, and that trend will only gain momentum.
Routes to success... you have a built in attention base with bloggers - controversy is a major eyeball driver to their sites, and the "blog 2.0" trend - the concept that the blogger doesn't "own" the debate, they just contribute to it, could be leveraged - they will still be inclined to move the discussion over to wordpress, but less snarky about it. If you can find a way to give them what they're looking for (material to write about) you'll get some traction. Otherwise you can try to convince Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg to debate pink vs. white grapefruit on your site. Good luck :)
The differences between the two are not important for most web applications. Python has been in style since google app engine came out - especially on HN; before that Ruby was more fashionable. Your question is basically "Which hammer should I use to drive a nail - claw or ball pein?" Either would work fine.
I really need something like this, and I think they've nailed the UX... but it appears to use GoDaddy to do the whois. I don't have any personal experience but a quick google search will back me up when I assert they are notorious for not being trustworthy with your whois queries. A site like this that I felt like I could trust would be a daily destination for me.
Agree with baha about the title. Just to clarify "Should you know" ... if you're pursuing an MS in Computer Science? Sure. If you're building a web startup? Not so much.
Anyway, this is not to make any sort of judgment on you personally, you have probably done more awesome things than most 24 year olds and may be nothing like what I described, but you asked: when an employer sees a resume without a degree that's a snap decision thought process they might go through.
The situation actually isn't that bad... most of the best jobs aren't "resume" jobs, they're "hey I know a guy" jobs. Networking is much more important than resume to getting a good job - especially at startups!