Three cheers for the Drury Inn! Nice rooms, free soda and popcorn during the late afternoon, a nice continental breakfast, and most importantly, free high-speed internet access in every room! After watching the Cubs curse sweep down on Wrigley, I got back to my hotel room late last night and was able to write my presentation for today's panel. (It went well.) Now I just need to write tomorrow's presentation.  ;-)

But thanks to the net flow, I've been able to read email, catch up on news, and install iTunes on my Windows laptop. The very first iTunes screen shows exclusive Sarah McLachlan tracks - five tracks that make up a "Live Accoustic EP 2003" release. I already like the interface better than Rhapsody... it's much cleaner, just as I expected it would be. Other things iTunes has that Rhapsody doesn't: gift certificates, "allowance accounts" that let your kids download music without requiring them to have your credit card number, and a prominent link to 5,000 audiobooks (which I presume are Audible titles). Very nice - thanks, Steve! More on this as I have time to play with it.