My "desktop patch" unifies some kernel patches that I find useful on my desktop machine.

LIDS

The Linux Intrusion Detection System. Adds mandatory capabilities to the kernel, greatly increasing security if used correctly. Capabilities effectively split up the godlike root into smaller privileges, giving applications only the capabilities they need (a webserver will probably want to open the privileged port 80, but there is no reason why it should be able to open other ports, set the system clock etc., like it could with traditional root privileges).
Please note that that the unified patch replaces the LIDS-patch, but you will still need a current LIDS-archive for the maintainence programs. Please also note that lidsadm has recently been split up into lidsadm and lidsconf, so you may need to adjust automatic setup-scripts. Do not forget to do the usual LIDS setup stuff (as per the documentation that comes with the LIDS archive) before you reboot into your new kernel! As always, keep at least one LIDS-free kernel in your boot-menu, just in case.
Lastly, this patch is intended for those who want LIDS. If you use it to patch your kernel only to disable LIDS in the configuration, don't come to me if weird stuff happens at compile-time -- that would be a problem with the original LIDS-patch rather than mine, anyway.

IMon

Inode Monitor. Applications register with it through FAM, the File Alteration Monitor, so they will be notified when certain files change. Without IMON, FAM will have to poll (constantly check/stat) the files, needlessly draining performance. EFM, the enlightenment file manager, and KDE use FAM, amongst others.
If you want IMON, build it as Module. If you build it static, you're on your own.

Boot logo

This is a pure vanity patch that changes the logo during boot-up from Tux, the penguin, to anything you want.
Same as Tux, it only works for those with a frame-buffer. If you select this option, you need to place your custom logo as a bzip2-compressed PPM-file in your linux tree: linux/Documentation/boot_logo.ppm.bz2. Make sure your logo does not exceed the screen resolution at boot-time, and keep the number of colours low, as linux/scripts/ppmtolinuxlogo does not seem to handle all colour-depths well when quantifying.
See the kernelnewbies server for this and many other interesting patches.

Preempt patch

This patch allows preemption even in the kernel, improving responsiveness of the system at the expense of a slight decrease in speed. Good for workstations, pointless for most servers. The patch contained is that by Robert Love (RML); there are other patches similar in intent.

So, new kernel in few easy steps...

1. tar -jxvf linux-your-version-here.tar.bz2
2. cp linux-your-version-here-azou.patch linux
3. cd linux
4. patch -p1 < linux-your-version-here-azou.patch
5. make xconfig, make oldconfig or what-not. Remember, IMON is supposed to be a module.
6. place your boot_logo.ppm.bz2 in Documentation.
7. make dep && make bzImage && make modules && make modules_install
8. add the kernel to /etc/lilo.conf
9. /sbin/lilo
10. get LIDS for kernel your-version-here, unpack it, do not use the kernel patch contained within, but follow all other instructions, creating the LIDS-tools and setting up LIDS before booting into your new kernel.
11. reboot
12. Enjoy!