Can you post the code you used?  I'm guessing a carriage return/line feed is getting sent and my be giving you the block.

And don't forget that you'll need the bootloader on the the breadboard Atmega!

I think the jumping has to do with the fact that you're not saving the value for any particular pin.  So, you can go from full off to full on or visa versa, causing a "jump".  If you always want smooth transitions I would think you need to track if each pin is full on or full off and adjust accordingly.

You may need to introduce a load to keep the power supply on.  I'm guessing just the Arduino will not be enough.

Are you possibly using a switching power supply?  What are the specs of the power supply you're using?

Hope you had a nice break Daniel!  Good to see you back!

Wow, 50A is gonna require a pretty serious power supply.  Can you give us more info about the motor and what it's doing?

I don't see where you tied the buttons to ground, so your inputs are most likely floating.  Have a look at the button tutorial here.

Yes, you can use VB to interface to the Arduino via the serial port.

I believe it's already available here.

NKC is great to deal with!

I believe they actually want to connect the Arduino to a device that has a serial interface.  The Arduino can do this, but you will most likely need to convert the ttl to rs232 voltages.  There are several ways to do this.  You could build your own circuit using a max232 chip or buy something like this from sparkfun.

There is a lot of good information on the playground and the main site.  Search around and you will find lots of good info!

http://www.arduino.cc/en/Reference/HomePage

serial.Print would be the equivalent.

You'd need to have software running on the computer to read the com port data and then write it to the text file.

No problem  

Parts list for serial Arduino here.

Assembly instructions here.

Parts list and assembly instructions for USB Arduino here.

Keep in mind you'll need a micro with the bootloader already on it or a way to burn the bootloader.