Learning Hardware as a Software Geek?

digitalvengeance asks: "I'm a long-time software geek with very little experience on the hardware side. I've configured servers and built various desktops for friends and family, but I'd like to move to the next level. I assume I need to purchase a breadboard to begin tinkering, but is there a particular kit I will find more useful than others? What books, sites, or other resources can the hardware geeks recommend for a software geek wanting to learn the basics of electronics and hardware?"

Comments

Dabble not with the hardware side

[WolfWithoutAClause]

Quicker is it. Surer. Faster. But soul consume it could.

Knew once I a software engineer that dabbled in the hardware, and destroyed him did it.

"How do I know the difference between hardware and software, it's all digital isn't it?"

When alone and peace at are you, clear it will be. Or you could always ask a systems engineer.

Everything you need to know about hardware :

[Glonoinha]

Sound card on IRQ5, because nobody has two parallel printers.
COM 1 and 3 on IRQ4,
COM 2 and 4 on IRQ3. Don't ask me why.
Orange and White, Orange, Green and White, Blue, Blue and White, Green, Brown and White, Brown. (Sing to the tune Mary Had A Little Lamb.) When the times comes, you will know why that is important (hint: network cabling.)
The IDE hard drive closest to the motherboard on the cable is the slave, the one on the far end of the cable (or the only drive on the cable, if there is only one) is the master. Bitchslap anybody who says otherwise.
The red line on the cable goes towards the power connector or towards the front of the case.
Black wires together when putting the cable from the power supply to the motherboard.
ARCnet isn't picky, you can use two coathangers (metal) to transmit signal as long as they don't touch.
On the Intel vs. AMD - I don't care, just pick one and stick with it.
nVidia video card are better simply because they all use the same drivers so upgrading doesn't require anything more than swapping the old card for the new one.
It used to be cheaper to build your own, but that isn't the case anymore.
Anybody that adds lights to the inside of the case, or a see-through panel or neon or anything like that is a pathetic loser and isn't worth your attention.
Pay special attention when wiring the power supply to the switch on your new case. The wires aren't keyed and you can cause a wicked short if you don't get it right.
Twist two wires together, use the iron to get the wires really hot, put the soldier on the hot wires. If the wires aren't hot enough to melt the solder then heat the wires hotter, don't use the iron to melt the solder.
Don't eat the solder, not even a little.
Static electricity kills hardware. Wear a grounding strap, spray the carpet with fabric softener.
Enable the encryption on your wireless point.
You can tell if a 9v battery has power by touching it to your tongue. Don't try this with anything plugged into the wall.
Exotic cooling and overclocking are like hooker sex. Expensive, and you don't really get anything you wouldn't get anyways if you were patient and waited a few months, except maybe a fried PC / PeePee.
If you have to choose between $200 worth of processor upgrade or $200 worth of additional memory, go with the memory.
If you can't tell the difference between two systems / components / configurations without a stopwatch, they are equally fast. A 4.3% advantage isn't really faster. 300%, now THAT's faster.