How do i learn electronics : a lost newbie version !

[docesam]

as a total newbie i am lost !!

current situation :
i know what things like resistor,capacitor,voltage,current ..etc just basic stuff. i started by reading the book : Electronics For Dummies 2009 edition (Amazon.com: Electronics For Dummies (9780470286975): Cathleen Shamieh, Gordon McComb: Books).
i have got some basic stuff : breadboard ,solder ,a whole bunch of resistors ,capacitors ,pots ... ets , magnifying lens ,multimeter, screwdrivers and a power supply ... you got the idea.

what i am aiming to become:
i wish i become an electronic geek. being able to design and make some useful stuff . for example i wish i can force my air conditioner to turn on one hour before i arrive home from work (yup , in summer we got 50+ degree Celsius outside ),i wish i could make a remote control to turn on /off the main lights of my room. i wish i could make some robots ... you got the idea.

the question :
i am sure the book i refereed to above is a very good starting point. the question now is what next ?
i got the book : The Art of Electronics (Amazon.com: The Art of Electronics (9780521370950): Paul Horowitz, Winfield Hill: Books) and many people swear by it but i can't damn understand anything from that book(yet).

so please help !! i am basically lost!! what resources i should consider ? paying for books is not an issue.

thank you in advance

 

[Sergio16463]

In your place I would take the following step: microcontrollers.

Nowadays there are a lot of useful and fun projects regarding arduinos and picaxes, both of which are fun to program and use in a number of applications. Or you can go in a more classical way and program directly PICs, 8051s, and other similar ICs in assembler or C.

With some electronics know-how, and some experience with micros, it is possible to build some pretty awesome stuff, from robotics to telecommunications and many other subjects.

Good luck!

 

[chuckey]

Buying books is tricky until you have some knowledge of the subject. I learn't by reading every electronics books in several libraries when I was about 12-14 years old. I think your saviour is the net, just google some thing like "timer circuits" or "receiver circuits" and after wading through a lot of stuff like chip catalogues , you will find constructional articles with explanations of how they work. I could give you some book titles but they are 50 years out of date. You could look in secondhand book shops, flea markets, church jumble sales etc. I hope you succeed!!
Frank

 

[docesam]

In your place I would take the following step: microcontrollers.

microcontrollers or PLC ?