We have come accross a great blog on PIC microcontroller projects called Embedded Lab. There are some cool and interesing devices and ideas, some of them are very practical and handy. Each one is in a form of Tutorial, with free schematics, explanations and source codes, all written in mikroC PRO for PIC. We invite you to visit the website, and check Embedded Lab guys are working on.
Their latest blog is about Programmable digital timer switch using a PIC Microcontroller. It's a tutorial on how to build an inexpensive digital timer, with LCD display, which you can program to turn on/off your devices. For example, you can set the timer to turn on your toaster the next morning, without you having to come out of bed, until the smell of tasty breakfast awakes you. The maximum time interval that you can set for on and off operation is 99 hours and 59 minutes. Take a look at the demonstrational video, and read more about the device in the author's blog.