I came across yet another software package that makes me happy every time I see it. It's extremely cool, and kinda clever. It's one of those mostly trivial applications that I never knew existed but always wanted. I had gotten along pretty well without it so far, but I didn't know how much I'd like to use it.

The item in question isn't an application, per se, but an API. And stuff. It's called XOSD. It stands for X On Screen Display. It mimics the sort of text that your DVD player or VCR might momentarily display on your TV. They have an XMMS plugin as well, so when you're listening to music, reducing the volume, skipping a song, whatever, it displays that VCR-like text in some part of your root window.

I've been running gkrellm with the XMMS plugin such that gkrellm minimizes XMMS and the controls are right there on the krell. And now I've got the XOSD bits working and it's all pretty seamless. I don't have an active XMMS window, but I see the XOSD stuff telling me what's playing. I chuckle every time a song changes.