Does anyone know of an MS Windows-based program that could run on my notebook computer and serve as a universal remote control? My notebook has an IR port on the back, and since it always seems to be sitting on my coffee table facing the home theater equipment I thought a remote application would be fun to experiment with.

http://www.visualdomain.net/ remote selector might.
www.myx10.com's powerhome does that kind of thing, but right now writes to a CIR ir interface form ziplabel.com/cir/, but if you email the author he might add ir laptop support.

I just read this thread. The idea of using the notebook is great. Now whenever I want switch stations, I just have to wait for Windows to load!!!!!