I am a uC newbie and was not really sure how/where to start getting my feet wet. So, I recently picked up one of these kits...
http://www.adafruit.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=20
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A simple POV toy for beginners who are looking to learn how to solder, how to program microcontrollers, or make LED blinky toys. Because the programmer is built into the kit, one does not need a special "microcontroller programmer". This version can be used with PCs (Linux/Unix or Windows) and Macs (running MacOS X and with a USB/serial converter).
Of course, the same company also sells a DIY TB303 clone kit, but that's another topic. 8)
Anyway, I found the POV kit easy to get working and a nice, simple intro to (AVR) microcontrollers. So, I thought I'd pass it on... Also, on the instruction page there's a link to their forum where someone posted code for using the POV as a strobe guitar tuner... neato!
~ Charlie
the POV kit is also used to build the brain machine EEG-like brain rhythm inducing sound/light generator...
http://makezine.com/10/brainwave/
fun stuff...