UPDATE 5-21-06 A constructed programmer can be seen on my pic programmer project page You will need: Digilent parallel JTAG3 cable WinPic programmer software: winpicpr.zip  The authors website is http://www.qsl.net/dl4yhf/winpicpr.html NPN transistor (1) 1 k resistor (1) 12 and 5 volt source.     In order to make WinPic programmer work, you will need to create a setup file for the Digilent JTAG3 cable.  I have taken the liberty of doing that for you.  download the .INI file JTAG3 LPT.INI and place it into the folder that WinPic resides in.  When WinPic starts up, select the "interface" tab and look for the "interface type"  in that combo box, select "Custom, on LPT port, defined by FILE"  select the parallel port that your cable is connected to and its address, then where is says "custom interface definition file" click the button marked "select" and navigate to the file you just placed into that directory. now that you have done that, you simply need to construct the following circuit. I forgot to put into the schematic that you need to ground RB3.  failure to do so will create unexpected problems.  This pin is the LVP pin, and grounding it allows you to enter high voltage programming mode (Which is why we supply 12 volts to MCLR) Read the instructions included in the WinPic folder and you should be on your way!  This saved my butt in a pinch, it might save yours too.