Well there were no specs or instructions with this. It was 6 bags of 10 LEDs each and 60 resistors all of the same value.
Since they were all the same value I assumed all the LEDs ran at the same voltage.

Might explain why my yellow LED lit up orange.

I just got a 6 x 10 each pack of colored clear LEDs from CLEDs and was wanting to test them for color and brightness.

I loaded the blink sketch and tied GND and Pin 13 to the power rails on my breadboard. I stuck in a red LED and it flashed on and off and was very bright.  I then also stuck in a blue LED but it remained off. I pulled the red LED and the blue one started blinking. I put the red one back in and the blue one stayed off.

Did I reach some sort of cut-off point where the blue LED just refused to start because not enough current?

Those Windows RT tablets are really limited in a lot of respects when it comes to software.
There may be a way, but it may require drivers to be written and compiled using the Windows RT development kit.

Which bootloader is on them? You might have to try as Duemilanove or Uno to get them to program.

Also try another POT, if not, try different value resistors.  Some pots are "dirty" and give some jumpy values.  A resistor in place could eliminate the possibility of a faulty pot.

I'm thinking this will be a pretty good start for some hobby projects.

You might even be able to pick up a coolant temp sensor designed for a car and use it depending on the range it supports. Certainly it would cover room temp up to past boiling. But I suspect probably go below freezing as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-DELPHI-COOLANT-TEMPERATURE-SENSOR-TS10208-MERCURY-NISSAN-1993-2007-/160618336472?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item25659950d8&vxp=mtr

I think this one goes from -55C to 110C.

You'd have to calibrate your program to know the relationship between ohms and temp. But that shouldn't be too hard.

I would think these might be more rugged and are designed to normally work under pressure of 1 to 2 bar.

I had been looking on Amazon, Sparkfun, Adafruit for cheap sensors to get started but then on a whim checked ebay. 

HC-SR501   MOTION SENSOR   $1.93
HC-SR04   ULTRASONIC    $2.03
DHT11   TEMP/HUMIDITY   $1.52

I reckon I'd save $20 to $30. 

I could save a few cents more but I specifically chose Hong Kong sources rather than mainland China.

Sure you could say "Oh you're ordering from China/HK!" But in the scheme of things, I'm reasonably sure that those parts ultimately come from China anway.

I recently came across a couple of these, but I can't find any info in them. Googling shows me they are an early 80's Microcontroller. But I can't find a data sheet on them for "free" . Using the search bar on the Intel site doesn't even pull up anything.

They are in a 40 Pin DIP package, labeled
P87C521
L1027A32F
Intel (M) (C) 1980

Does anyone know where I can get a datasheet on them or can anyone give me some background on them?

[only]

...  pre-programmed "Duemilanove only" chips  ...

What sort of chip can only be a Duemilanove? Not a genuine one.

I think they said that because they put the Duemilanove boot loader on it. I don't believe it is fake.

Yeah I think I found a better deal.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B007SH0D0A/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

2.95 + 1.95 shipping.

I'd try to splice in a 9V voltage regulator in there. Or find a 9V power supply. Just to be safe.

Take the shield off. Still smoke?

Sniff your boards for smokey goodness.

Connect the +5 and gnd from your shield to a power source? Smoke?

[should]

Are you powering it from USB or from the power jack.  If the power jack, what are you using?

If you are powering from the USB port, make sure you're plugged directly into the computer and not into a hub, keyboard or monitor port.

Many of those ports only supply 100ma which should barely be enough. I've tested my Uno at 85mA peak so far, but just running LEDs and a speaker.  If you have more inputs and outputs running, you could be too low. I've found some keyboards that can't give enough juice to power some thumb drives.

I tried running my Uno off of 3 AA batteries that were in a rechargable battery pack directly to the jack but the lights just dimly flickered and the sketch didn't run.  Not enough juice.