Introduction

I do have enough to do:

- improve my German
- learn Finnish
- pass the XP MCP
- requalify as an CCNA
- get the business trading
- get a job.

So, in my spare time I thought I'd write a widget.

What's the first thing you do whenever you start a new venture? That's right, set up a blog.

Here it is.

Why are you writing a widget?

It's an opportunity to learn something different: Javascript and XML. Plus, the widget will have some real use.

Oh yes?

Yes. In my last job I was messing around in a comms room sorting out network connections. The only way to see if I'd got the connection right was when my laptop, on a bench out of sight, started successfully pinging, thus indicating I'd made the right connection.

I had to keep getting up from the bottom of the comms cabinet (where the router was placed), going round the cabinet to check the laptop. If only I had an audible addition to the ping.exe program ...

Now I have, er, more time on my hands I can get down to creating such a solution. Here goes ...