Does anyone know a good place to get brackets and other metal hardware for mounting servos, building robot arms, etc. ?

Honour to bold Robin Hood,
Sleeping in the underwood!
Honour to maid Marian,
And to all the Sherwood-clan!
Though their days have hurried by
Let us two a burden try.
- John Keats

We may not be that far away from sending humans to other solar systems.  If we had the technology to grow a baby in a bottle, we could send a frozen embryo on a 67,000 year journey to the nearest solar system.  We would also need a robot capable of caring for a baby until it reaches maturity.  How far away is that technology?  200 years, maybe 100 years?

Ok, got it.  I didn't have the exact right java package downloaded, just something that looked like it.

Exception in thread "main" java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError
   at processing.app.Base.main(Base.java:113)
Caused by: java.awt.HeadlessException
   at sun.awt.HeadlessToolkit.getMenuShortcutKeyMask(HeadlessToolkit.java:231)
   at processing.core.PApplet.<clinit>(Unknown Source)
   ... 1 more

I've been through the arduino.cc guides but no luck.  I have added all the necessary packages following the directions here: http://www.pluggy.me.uk/arduino-ubuntu/
When I click on the program and hit 'Run' nothing happens.  If I click on 'Run in Terminal' the terminal will open for a split second and then close down.  I've tried installing the program into my home folder and desktop, neither works.  Under the 'open with' options I've tried gedit, wine windows program loader, and autorun prompt.  
Let me know if you have any ideas.

My own experience was a leap of faith.  I got into programming and electronics without a project in mind.  After I learned what was possible I started finally coming up with projects.  I think some beginning users have a tough time gaging the difficulty of projects, and want to be pointed in the right direction. 

Tribbles.  There's trouble.

You could use a device with wooden fuses to flip your burgers once the grill is hot enough.  Maybe string would be better.

Will it be possible to daisy chain 2 74hc595 shift registers to an attiny 85?  I want to have a pin left over on the attiny85 for an input.

I want to use an attiny.

I'm trying to identify the cheapest shift register for a 3 digit 7 segment display.

He gives a 10 minute lecture on the Arduino and lists several projects.
http://www.ted.com/talks/massimo_banzi_how_arduino_is_open_sourcing_imagination.html

At the end he mentions this kickstarter project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/575960623/ardusat-your-arduino-experiment-in-space which aims to put an open source arduino satellite into space that amateur astronomers will have access to.

Here's another one from two years back that I haven't gotten around to: An embroidery machine (typically retails for $500 - $700 U.S.).  It's basically a sewing machine that draws pictures with thread.  All you would need is a two-axis cnc style setup mounted under a normal sewing machine, with a sensor mounted on the sewing machine to keep track of the needle moving up and down.  Right now the embroidery companies are ripping off poor old ladies with their expensive machines.