Computer/Online Jobs

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Are there skills that wouldn't be too hard to learn that could get some sort of income, even if it's $5k a year? Like learning computer software/language and building websites or writing codes for things?

I figure if I put my mind to it I can do it, I just don't know what would be worth learning. For the rest of my life I imagine any work I do will be on the internet if any, and I sure don't want to go to those sites where you do surveys for .02 cents

I've looked at this area. I knew it was a race to the bottom, but I didn't realize how low the bottom was until I looked closely. I think you'd make more collecting scraps out of people's recycle bins than most online jobs. I do not see how anyone could make enough money to pay for the Internet connection they'd need to do the work. The pay is just peanuts. I quickly gave up on this area. There is just too much supply and not enough demand. The only people who hire online are people who want to do a hardcore lowball. And the specific skills you have don't seem to matter. For any area of expertise, there is more supply than demand, so the offers will be lowball.

A lot of online job listings are scams. This site ain't free, but it screens out the scams http://www.flexjobs.com/

Odesk dot com

You can see how many jobs each company has hired for and how much they've paid out. I've applied to a few. You bid on the jobs. From phone support to transcriptions to blog writing/forum posting. You aren't required to verify yourself (meaning, with paperwork) if you don't want to but it'll make you more attractive. Some of the interviews take place on Skype or via the phone. There's jobs that require little skill all the way to jobs requiring a degree and expertise. It's 100% free for employees like Monster. I'm not affiliated with them, just found the site recently looking to find jobs where I can telecommute.

Yes, you can do freelance work over the internet using sites like vWorker, eLance, oDesk, etc. http://freelancingguide.net/ is a good read (though not a particularly good-looking site). I can say from personal experience that it's not easy to get started, but it's possible. Don't be tempted to compete on price with the people in third world countries. You cannot - unless you happen to live in one yourself, of course. Compete on quality instead. As for specific skills, I think that depends largely on what interests you, because that's what you will be motivated to learn and become good at.

I know several folks who do professional web-design and work from home, and others who telecommute in some way with a computer-based job. they have formal degrees in information science or computer science, though. this is actually my goal, I'm a computer-science student now.

I think Iphone and Ipad application programming is popular now. Whether or not it will take long to learn depends on your knowledge and experience.