Learning Ruby + MooTools
jlees: Yes, of course you can grasp it! The tutorial stuff on Rails is really easy to follow - it's a complex process, but it's not intimidating if you get a good book. Out of everything in the space at the moment Ruby and Rails are probably your best bet, if you want to build a lean mean fighting app machine, especially if 37signals is your inspiration, as that's their platform. (They even wrote the book on it: https://gettingreal.37signals.com/)Of course, others will rabidly disagree. Do a bit of homework, flick through some books in a shop and see if you can follow along. Maybe others will recommend good web based tutorials but I always prefer paper.MooTools.. another buzzword.. don't get hung up on using that over the alternatives like prototype and script.aculo.us, but again, it's fairly easy to use (I haven't looked at the for-newbies tutorials though). I'd focus on the stuff under the hood first and worry about learning MooTools later.The learning curve won't be easy for a complete novice, but it will be masterable. Good luck!