Coulton's stuff is great. And although this is one of my favorites, it's important to remember that you don't HAVE to be a code monkey if you're a software engineer. I think a lot of students are getting discouraged from the computer science field because they don't want to be pre-Matrix Neo or stuck in the daily grind from Office Space.

You definitely can end up in that situation but if you're smart and passionate, you won't. Being a developer in a startup is an example of that. If you love what you're working on and you're contributing to its potential, you're not going to be that monkey.

Or if there's nothing already out there where you can apply this passion, take the entrepreneurial route. That's likely why we're all here on this site to begin with. :)

This is really funny - think of all you are missing by not being a coder for a faceless corporation.