Random thought on SQLite
SQLite is the Unixey equivalent of Microsoft Access. A cheap, simple database for random use. Of course, it has no fancy GUI or integration with Visual Basic to make fancy forms or anything like that. It just does SQL, and does it reliably and well within its problem domain.
So, now I have an answer for some people who want to use Microsoft Access. It would be nice if someone built a VB like tool to sit on top of SQLite, then it would be a complete replacement. SQLite is certainly a great way to play with SQL without having to go through the administrative pain of setting up a database with a normal piece of database software designed for a much heavier load.
Edit 08:56 PDT: I didn't do the research I ought to have. There are apparently a whole bunch of SQLite GUIs. I don't know if any of them do as much as MS Access does, but I suspect at least one of them will actually be nicer to use for a beginner than the command line is.
The SQLite website has a list of SQLite GUI and/or management tools.
As a random aside, my stupid desktop system locked when I tried to send the new xcode I'd downloaded from Apple over to my laptop. It has a hardware/firmware issue on the motherboard that causes it to lock up when disk access occurs during heavy network usage, heavy usually meaning high speed transfers within my gigabit network. This is a probabilistic problem though, so if I use bittorrent or gnutella on that system it will likely eventually freeze, though it will take hours.