I know it wasn't very fashionable to like them even during the height of Britpop, but Sleeper's 'Stop Your Crying' is quite enjoyable. It's being played through Rhythmbox, a new music jukebox application for GNOME. To say that it borrows from iTunes is an understatement - it's more like a daylight heist. A lot of things aren't working properly yet (while you can rate songs, you can't do the sort of tricks with them that iTunes allows), but it's coming along fast. Having access to all 3,500-plus songs without having to spend ages manually building a playlist changes the way you listen to your music collection somewhat. You discover forgotten gems, as well as some songs that deserve to remain hidden (did I really buy a Candyskins single?). Much better than having to switch between the limited number of CDs that you can fit inside a multi-disk player. Obviously, this behaviour is un-American, and must be outlawed.

Finally finished marking the midterms, so I can hand them back tomorrow. At which point I'll probably be mobbed by students wanting to challenge their grades. Remember the start of Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade? I expect that on Tuesday morning...

One month and fourteen days until I come home. I suppose I'll have to start thinking about Christmas presents. Anybody have any specific requests?