If you're like me, you often find yourself connecting to VPN networks. Every time I open my laptop, I must log on to the VPN in order to access the Internet. Not that this is a tedious task, but it is annoying. So I thought I'd write an AppleScript to automate the task. Right before I attempted to write the script (which would connect if and only if a specific wifi network is joined), I came across this free little application called PearportVPN (it's the third entry on that page).
It does all the work for you, and even disconnects from the VPN before putting your Mac to sleep. That feature is great -- otherwise you would receive a time-out message if you forget to disconnect from your VPN. Here's a screenshot of the pearPortVPN interface, in case you're curious as to what it looks like. I have no affiliation with pear, but thought others might find this app useful.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20070509180002507