Sharky's Notebook

Linux only: Back In Time, a Linux backup app inspired by Macs' Time Machine and offering the same kind of no-worry, space-saving snapshot protection, is worth adding to your must-install list.

I get bored with my desktop wallpaper pretty easily, especially in Ubuntu Linux, where it's nearly the only thing on my desktop. Until recently, that meant scouring theming sites for great artwork, opening the Appearance tab and re-scaling and choosing background colors for each picture, and just general unproductive knob-twiddling. Digging through the Ubuntu Forums, however, I came across a few tools that can rotate customized background images with a shortcut, on a timer, or based on the time of day.

Windows/Linux: Media cataloging software Griffith covers nearly every aspect of managing your movie collection. Entering movies in the database is snap, and a button in the add movie dialog box searches 22 film databases—so no matter how obscure the film is there's a good chance you won't have to fill in its information by hand. Search big collections by keywords or date ranges in Griffith as well, and track what movies you've loaned out to whom.