Want your letterbox to email you whenever the postman has been? Need a clock to show you where your loved ones are? Or a glowing multi-coloured ambient orb to show your energy usage?

Given that I've been working with the Arduino and Ethernet for a couple of years now, when the guys at Madlab asked me to run a more advanced Arduino course, something based on the Internet of Things seemed a no-brainer.

So this Friday I'm running a course to take you through getting your Arduino connected via Ethernet and then talking to a variety of services including Pachube and, of course, Twitter.

It should be a fun and informative day, and you'll get an Ethernet shield and a bunch of components, and a load of example code to take home. There are still some spaces left, so head over to the Madlab Omniversity Internet of Things course page to sign up.