The University of Washington has popular introductory CS / programming courses. The teachers wrote the textbook and the classes have really good handouts and slides. They use an "objects later" approach instead of "objects early" like a lot of universities. All their materials are up and others can use them. The web sites are here (CS 142) and here (CS 143). The book is called Building Java Programs.
One of their instructors also teaches a web programming course that was really popular.
I'd also check out the "How to Think Like A Computer Scientist" series.
I haven't bought a square game since Final Fantasy X2, so I have contributed to their decline I guess. But did you play it? I have played Final Fantasy games for as long as I can remember and I loved FFX. FFX2 was SO lame! Dance fighting with different outfits? I'm a girl and I don't even think that is fun. Hopefully their newer games are better, I haven't gotten into an RPG in a while (I tend to play them a little too much once I start) so I don't know. But if any of them are like FFX2, then I understand why they aren't making as much money!
I took a fish head to the movies and I didn't have to pay. -- Fish Heads, Saturday Night Live, 1977.