The Intel Edison is a DIY electronics board that we haven't talked a lot about here on Lifehacker, but is incredibly popular for internet of things projects. It's a little confusing at a glance, so Instructables user DangerousTim put together a beginner's guide that covers the basics of setting it up.
DangerousTim's guide walks you through the basic glossary, setup process, and everything else you need to get started making your own stuff. It doesn't delve further than that, but it's a good starting point if you're just trying to figure out the basics. Once you get through that, you can dig into all the other more advanced projects.
An Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Intel Edison | Instructables