Hardware hacking
I recently rekindled an interest I have in fooling around with hardware. I bought myself a USB I/O device from Elexol , a local electronics supplier, and with a lot of junk from Dick Smith Electronics I've managed to control some LEDs from my Linux box - an awesome feat I'm sure you'll agree - all without doing any soldering. This makes my wife happy (did I mention I got married ?), who is somewhat afraid the soldering iron will burn down the house one day. It also means I can pull apart old projects to make new ones without making a big mess or having to buy new components. Went to Jaycar Electronics and bought a 10-pin connector and some ribbon cable. Here's a shot of my board looking a bit neater. While there I also bought some push button switches which I'm sure will come in handy.