RPG Character Stat Creator – Make a program which will randomly create a character’s stats based on several rules set forth by the user. Have it generate a class, gender, strength/magic/dexterity points, and extra abilities or trades. Have it save it to a file which can then be printed out by a dungeon master.
Image Map Generator – Image maps are those images on the web that have multiple hover points that link to different pages. Such images may include maps or splash pages. See if you can make one where the user specifies an image, clicks hotspots in the image and specify links. It will then generate the HTML code to a file that the user can then copy and paste into their website to make the image map.
File Copy Utility – Create a utility that can do bulk file copying and backups of other files.
Code Snippet Manager – Another utility program that allows coders to put in functions, classes or other tidbits to save for use later. Organized by the type of snippet or language the coder can quickly look up code. For extra practice try adding syntax highlighting based on the language.
Versioning Manager – Create your own versioning system for code files. Users are forced to check out items and lock items during reading and writing so that a group of programmers are not accidentally overwriting code files on one another.
Databases
SQL Query Analyzer – A utility application which a user can enter a query and have it run against a local database and look for ways to make it more efficient.
Remote SQL Tool – A utility that can execute queries on remote servers from your local computer across the Internet. It should take in a remote host, user name and password, run the query and return the results.
Baseball / Other Card Collector – Create an online application for keeping track of a collection of cards. Let the user enter all cards in a set, check off which ones they have, which ones they need and generate lists of cards they are looking for. For extra complexity, have it sum up sets and generate reports on how close they are of completing sets or the current value of a set.
Report Generator – Create a utility that generates a report based on some tables in a database. Generates a sales reports based on the order/order details tables or sums up the days current database activity.
Database Backup Script Maker – A program which reads a database’s objects, relationships, records and stored procedures and creates a .sql file which can then be imported into another database or kept as a backup file to rebuild the database with.
Event Scheduler and Calendar – Make an application which allows the user to enter a date and time of an event, event notes and then schedule those events on a calendar. The user can then browse the calendar or search the calendar for specific events. For added complexity, allow the application to create reoccurrence events that reoccur every day, week, month, year etc.
Budget Tracker – Write an application that keeps track of a household’s budget. The user can add expenses, income, and recurring costs to find out how much they are saving or losing over a period of time. For added complexity allow the user to specify a date range and see the net flow of money in and out of the house budget for that time period.
Address Book – Keep track of various contacts, their numbers, emails and little notes about them like a Rolodex in the database. For extra complexity, allow the user to connect to a website publish their address book based on specific options the user has set.
TV Show Tracker – Got a favorite show you don’t want to miss? Don’t have a PVR or want to be able to find the show to then PVR it later? Make an application which can search various online TV Guide sites, locate the shows/times/channels and add them to a database application. The database/website then can send you email reminders that a show is about to start and which channel it will be on.
Travel Planner System – Make a system that allows users to put together their own little travel itinerary and keep track of the airline / hotel arrangements, points of interest, budget and schedule.
Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) Creator – A program that allows the user to put together ERD diagram and save it or have it generate some basic SQL syntax to give them a jump start.
Database Translation (MySQL SQL Server) – A simple utility that reads in from one database and constructs SQL compliant with another database. Then saves that to another database. One popular transition would be to and from MySQL server for databases like SQL Server and Oracle.
Web Board (Forum) – Create a forum for you and your buddies to post, administer and share thoughts and ideas.
Graphics and Multimedia
Slide Show – Make an application that shows various pictures in a slide show format. For extra complexity try adding various effects like fade in/out, star wipe and window blinds transitions.