Over at ladyada’s ranting, lady ada has a list of her suggested tools to get you started in electronics. Here are a few of her suggestions:

• Panavise Jr - PCB holder and general purpose 360 degree mini-vise. I use mine every day, they are the best thing for holding your circuit board steady, and the soft jaws are not conductive so you can do power tests at the same time.
• Diagonal cutters (model Xcelite 170M) - the best diagonal cutters, these are comfortable to use and have strong nippers for perfect trimming of wires and leads. I’ve used my pair every day for years. (I need to get myself one of these)
• 30W adjustable temperature soldering iron (Model XY258) - with a temperature control on the side and indicator LED so you can go from standard to lead-free to silver solder. Comes with a 1/16? tip which is good for through hole and some larger surface mount assembly. (Don’t underestimate the usefulness of a good soldering iron)

There are a few other tools she recommends and she actually sells her kit in the adafruit store. The only thing I would add to that list would be a little fan to blow/suck the solder fumes away. Of course that could always be your first project.

What would you add?

Apple Trailers has a new trailer for the upcoming Star Trek movie:

Check the official movie site for high definition versions of the trailer.

The movie is slated to be released in May 2009. Here’s a teaser trailer to whet your appetite for Star Trek.

The Toyzone has a list of 20 Album Covers Recreated in LEGO. Many of The Beatles’ album covers have been recreated, including Abbey Road:

Check out the article for the other albums.

If you are into Lego, check out this site which has building instructions for (I would say) every Lego set ever released. Awesome!

Instant messaging has brought the world together and allowed people all over the world to communicate in real time without having to pick up the phone. While this is fine and dandy, one must keep in mind that certain etiquette rules apply to IM’s as well (just like with email and phone conversations).

wikiHow has a great article on How to Practice IM Etiquette. Among the tips listed:

• Read and Use status messages (there’s a reason developers allow us to set ourselves as “Busy” or “Away”)
• Use correct grammar (it’s so much easier to read and make sense of what you want when you follow this rule)
• Give time to respond (IM’s are semi-asynchronous. They’re more real time than email but only when the other person is there and can understand what you are saying.)
• datm (Don’t abbreviate too much)

Read the article and brush up on your IM-tiquette!

• a security knob
• hidden USB ports
• a built-in paper shredder

I don’t think I will be buying one any time soon, but if you’re into ultra secure laptops, this concept seems to do the trick.