Free resources to learn computer (electrical?) engineering? [closed]

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First, I just returned from DEFCON 18 and I am completely inspired to learn more about hardware. For example, how do I add LEDs to the badge? (http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/defcon-18-badge/) How do I learn how to read the schematic and understand what I can do with it?

I checked out some computer engineering books on Amazon, but they are all really expensive. I also realize they may not even be what I want. What are some free resources to learn how to modify hardware?

Also, as a side note, I am fairly开发者_如何转开发 well versed in software. I have also built computers and played around a bit with hardware at a higher level, but I want to dive into a deeper understanding.

Thanks!

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MIT has many of their classes free online. It's really an amazing resource (Physics with Prof. Walter Lewin is a work of art).

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Electrical engineering (or engineering of any kind) is usually a four-year program at an accredited university in this country. You take a lot of fundamentals in math, physics, etc. to get that deeper understanding you crave.

It doesn't lend itself to a "Learn Electrical Engineering in 21 Days" approach.

You might mean "I'd like to learn more about electronics". I think that might be a shorter path.

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Crash course on how to learn Electrical Engineering through Googling (items in chronological):

1. You should understand at least this theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchhoff%27s_circuit_laws LEARN ABOUT CURRENT AND VOLTAGE
2. You are most likely interested in digital things. In that case, you should purchase a microcontroller with a development board. A good choice for a beginner is an Arduino board.
3. To know about LEDs: Always use a resistor in series with an LED (100 - 330 Ohms) as they are "cookie monsters" with current and will burn themselves. Use 3-5 volts. They drop around .7 - 1.5V volts. They only allow charge to flow in one direction (current is moving charges).
4. Transistors:http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/trancirc.htm Also understand a bit about MOSFETs
5. Items 1,2, and 3 should be learned in parallel
6. You also want something called a breadboard. It will allow you to prototype circuits with ease.
7. Guide to package: Through hole packaging chips can usually be used on a breadboard. Anything else requires soldering
8. Op Amps are used in lots of analog circuits. Popular: LM324, LF356 (LF356 is a good beginner amp). You should learn about these.
9. If you are of the digital persuasion, then get an Altera DE2 FPGA board. FPGAs are chips which have reprogrammable logic. You can implement your own graphics card (I've seen it done), processor, and any other hardware you can think of. Altera tools are great. Xilinx tools suck but their raw silicon is better than Altera.
10. Advanced mode: Phasors, Laplace Transforms, Fourier Transforms

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Well one start could be googling for sites by hobbyists who build projects based on their microcontroller of choice (butterfly, arduino, propeller, motorola, arm, etc...), if you want to learn how to modify hardware.