Why don't you first write the code? With the transistor the code would be the same as PWM-ing an LED.

Yeah you can drive it with a transistor or mosfet. I recommend the IRF540N mosfet.

Nice! I took apart a washing machine and got a huge ac motor with a nice ac capacitor as well. I'll post photos latter.

I'm sorry, what is AC zero crossing time, and what does a Voltage Zero Crossing Detector and triac do?
Sorry for the trouble.

I really want to be able to PWM my 220v ac lights. I know I can't do this with the traditional relays, they are not fast enough. I was just thinking if it can be done with solid-state-relays?
Many thanks

Sure! I also had an urge to learn how to use Visual Basic with Arduino.
Look at this:
I wrote this with visual basic. You first drag the "SerialPort" object from the toolbox. Put this in the very beginning of the code:
 

Code:

Imports System
Imports System.IO.Ports
Imports System.Threading

Then in Public Class Form 1 insert the following code:

Code:

Dim WithEvents Arduinoport As SerialPort = New  _
    System.IO.Ports.SerialPort("COM5", _
                                9600, _
                                Parity.None, _
                                8, _
                                StopBits.One)

replace "COM5" with your desired port, 9600 with the desired baud rate.
Then, to send something to the serial port, use the following line:

Code:

Arduinoport.Write("the desired text")

good luck! Google is your friend.

How do I install Bitlash Commander in windows? I can't open a terminal window.

Thanks a lot! I already have visual studio.
Oh, I am also trying to sart an apache server with XXAMP.
Thanks!

Wow thanks @billroy! I managed to use bitlash with the Arduino serial monitor. But how do I use it over the network?

Bitlash looks really cool! But does it work with windows?

Thank you all! Due to my budget, I don't think I can afford an ethernet shield yet. 

Hi all! I don't have nearly no experience on webpage design and stuff like that. I have dreamweaver, and I once tried to build a website. I was just thinking if I use XAMPP, can I build a webpage that can be accessed within my local area network, that can send something to the serial port my Arduino is connected to?
Thanks a lot.
Habib

Seteppers are quite expensive. I think you only need a geared dc motor. You can accurately control the angle with a stepper. The geared dc motor also has a lot of torque.

What you need is an encoder.

Oh I thought it was about 400k for females and 600k for males.

EDIT
So I guess I can use myself as a pull-down reistor if I run out of resistors!