1) It was difficult to balance productive and social. As soon as the room hit a critical number and no one was talking, all assumed that this was the status quo and that talking was inappropriate. They almost needed a quiet area and a social area to clearly separate the two.
2) Proximity to more established startups (lived in upstair offices), who were happy to chat through technologies on the off chance meetings.
I believe websockets are still very much alive and popular (at least I hope so, I'm using them!).
I actually use socket.io http://socket.io/ , which not only makes websockets easy to use (accommodating a few different frameworks, I use node), but provides support for old browsers by selecting a real-time transport that works, be it flash, ajax polling etc.
I took on a similar shift last year, with a similar drive to cement my grasp of a few languages. Depending on your location, I cant recommend highly enough looking for a hotdesking site if there is one nearby. This will not only break up the monotony of your house, and provide a clear "work/play" separation, but will stick you in with like minded people / freelancers who may be further along the process. This "productive socialising" hits two birds with one stone, accelerating your learning and keeping you sane!
1) It was difficult to balance productive and social. As soon as the room hit a critical number and no one was talking, all assumed that this was the status quo and that talking was inappropriate. They almost needed a quiet area and a social area to clearly separate the two.
2) Proximity to more established startups (lived in upstair offices), who were happy to chat through technologies on the off chance meetings.