To add to your tip #7: Get to know your local user group. Google "PHP/Python/RoR/etc [Insert City here]".

They might be doing monthly meetings, code sprint, bug squashing parties, or just enjoying a beer once in a while. That allows you to stay on top of what is going locally, get to know other freelancers, grow your network and have fun!

"Python slithers into Fort Myers yard"

Damn.

In all seriousness, most non-major areas are very lacking in things like this. My area has none that I can find, and I tried to expand even to just general programming meetups.

I also love using Python's integrated SMTP server.

  python -m smtpd -n -c DebuggingServer localhost:25

This will just spit out the raw email.

Edit: you need root permission to listen on port 25. Otherwise you can use a different port > 1024.

Cool, :) So you start a smtpd to catch your mails and do the test. That's also how MailCatcher(http://mailcatcher.me) works. If it's fine to start a smtpd, it's a good choice too!

Didn't even think of searching for such application! It sure is great to be able to have an inbox-like view.

I agree, I stopped to care during the last winter Olympic in Vancouver.

i stopped caring in the late 80s, when it was already clear that media rights were being treated as more important than the actual sports. things have only gotten worse since then.