If I remember correctly there are a couple of other Minecraft players around here. Good news patch 1.3 was released yesterday and then updated to 1.31 today.
http://www.minecraftforum.net/news/568-131-is-now-live/
A big list of updates and fixes that should help the game run smoother. Here are a couple of new game play additions.
QuoteGameplay
Added Adventure mode[5]
Only playable using commands.
Building, setting things on fire and using buckets is disabled.
Players can only interact with mobs and the environment.
Players can place and take stuff from a chest, a furnace or a dispenser.
Added trading[6]
Using emerald as currency, villagers will, depending on profession, offer different trades to players.
There are three kinds of trades: Selling, buying and enchanting.
As displayed in the top-most part of the trading GUI, villagers take one or more items or item stacks and give back something.
After trading, villagers will sometimes emit purple particles for a few seconds to indicate that their trades changed.
Otherwise unobtainable bottles o' enchanting and chainmail armor can be obtained by trading.
It will be very interesting to see what awesomeness the modders do with the Adventure Mode.
My youngest daughter has been waiting for this and now she just went out of town for a week. Bad timing.