Using the built-in camera on my MacBook I compressed a few hours of work into a few seconds of film, quite amusing... The only problem is the changing light in my office, which somehow spoils the effect. But fun nevertheless!

I can only recommend BibTex (that's when you use LaTeX to write your thesis). For my 350 page PhD I spent less than a few hours on layout issues, and the bibliography got created automatically and correctly in the format I needed.

Yes, as a researcher I'd be worried about the quality of wikipedia. More and more students seem to be taking it for granted as a library substitute... But the tool in general sounds useful. A bit like Vannevar Bush's concept of trails perhaps.

In the UK sockets are usually fitted with switches, so I just switch the socket off whenever I'm not using an appliance with a charger/transformer.

It's probably not only a personal problem, but work-related too. I use gmail for all my work-stuff (I hate Outlook...), so presumably my employer has an interest in some of my emails as well. And the same goes for my (personal) laptop. Mmh, better think about some solution and live carefully until then ;)

That sounds great! I keep having programs open, as I'm too much in the no-window-no-program mode. Not just from Windows, but also from Unix.

I used to do that whenever I had a new computer or login; I have since given up, as I use too many different systems, and I find it's not worth customising things too much. Instead I try to be able to work with 'minimal assumptions', i.e. in various different environments without relying on particular short-cuts or…

Mmmh, I sometimes feel the urge to comment, and I can't. Now I don't, but I can... So I'll quote the Ramones here: