I also have the second edition and can't praise it enough. I have a computer science degree but never really applied it to actual development as I am a business analyst in my professional life. This book bridged the gap and I quickly became proficient enough in Rails to develop a side project.
Great idea. I don't usually watch Dragons Den but one of the few episodes I watched had this exact thing and they said they were already partnering with Sony and that their tags were in the box of every Sony laptop (I think).
I had never really created anything before and wanted to learn Rails.
Built it and have been paying $10/mo in hosting for the last two years. I use it and have around 30 active users (couple hundred non-active). So I kind of keep it going just because I realize that the 30 people who use it have invested a lot of time entering scores and stuff.
My monetization strategy was to get traffic and rely on Google ads.
I wouldn't consider this as an example of having lost money. You built something with the intent of acquiring knowledge (Rails). It's also something that you use. I would say that it's a success based on your original goals for the project.
One thing to be aware of with that series is that the pace and.. quality take a serious dip around books 6 to 9. If you find yourself getting bored or bogged down at that point, it's worth skimming, reading synopses, whatever, to keep with it, then pick it back up around book 10. Or just be aware that it gets better again. (Although the first few books were still the strongest IMO, except for possibly some of the Sanderson stuff. Here's a guide: http://jasonrpeters.com/2012/12/11/the-complete-guide-to-rer...
Get through book 3 before you give up. The dip in 6-9 isnt great but its not awful. The series builds slowly, if you really arent into it by book 3, when most of the story lines have really accelerated, then you can decide
Hopefully they will open it up to Canada in the process. They left it open by mistake I think for a few days a while ago but now it won't let you Add a Canadian number.
