Hardware hacking workshop

I really wish that I could go to New York to this event. This is a workshop by artist Nicolas Collins, who is publishing a book called, oddly, Hardware Hacking. The description of the process sounds really good:

Basic soldering skills will be learned through building contact microphones and coils to sniff electromagnetic fields. The students will open up a range of battery-powered "consumer" technology (radios, electronic toys), observe the effect of direct hand contact on the circuit boards, experiment with the substitution of components, and listen to unheard signals running through the circuit. Knowledge acquired through this process will be applied to building circuits from scratch...

Sounds like fun. As I will be building my new computer this Easter weekend, I could use some of this knowledge.