diff --git a/functions.php b/functions.php
index f0515136..ee22621f 100644
--- a/functions.php
+++ b/functions.php
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@
 	require_once "magpierss/rss_fetch.inc";
 	require_once 'magpierss/rss_utils.inc';
 
+	function _debug($msg) {
+		$ts = strftime("%H:%M:%S", time());
+		print "[$ts] $msg\n";
+	}
+
 	function purge_feed($link, $feed_id, $purge_interval, $debug = false) {
 
 		$rows = -1;
@@ -90,7 +95,7 @@
 		}
 
 		if ($debug) {
-			print "Purged feed $feed_id ($purge_interval): deleted $rows articles\n";
+			_debug("Purged feed $feed_id ($purge_interval): deleted $rows articles");
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/update_daemon.php b/update_daemon.php
index 77660f09..63279501 100644
--- a/update_daemon.php
+++ b/update_daemon.php
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@
 	while (true) {
 
 		if (time() - $last_purge > PURGE_INTERVAL) {
-			print "Purging old posts (random 30 feeds)...\n";
+			_debug("Purging old posts (random 30 feeds)...");
 			global_purge_old_posts($link, true, 30);
 			$last_purge = time();
 		}
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@
 
 		$user_prefs_cache = array();
 
-		printf("Scheduled %d feeds to update...\n", db_num_rows($result));
+		_debug(sprintf("Scheduled %d feeds to update...\n", db_num_rows($result)));
 		
 		while ($line = db_fetch_assoc($result)) {
 	
@@ -134,25 +134,26 @@
 				continue; 
 			}
 	
-			print "Feed: " . $line["feed_url"] . ": ";
+			_debug("Feed: " . $line["feed_url"]);
 
-			printf("(%d/%d, %d) ", time() - strtotime($line["last_updated"]),
-				$upd_intl*60, $user_id);
+//			_debug(sprintf("\tLU: %d, INTL: %d, UID: %d) ", 
+//				time() - strtotime($line["last_updated"]), $upd_intl*60, $user_id));
 	
 			if (!$line["last_updated"] || 
 				time() - strtotime($line["last_updated"]) > ($upd_intl * 60)) {
-	
-				print "Updating...\n";	
+
+				_debug("\tUpdating...");
+
 				update_rss_feed($link, $line["feed_url"], $line["id"], true);	
 				sleep(1); // prevent flood (FIXME make this an option?)
 			} else {
-				print "Update not needed.\n";
+				_debug("\tUpdate not needed.");
 			}
 		}
 
 		if (DAEMON_SENDS_DIGESTS) send_headlines_digests($link);
 
-		print "Sleeping for " . DAEMON_SLEEP_INTERVAL . " seconds...\n";
+		_debug("Sleeping for " . DAEMON_SLEEP_INTERVAL . " seconds...");
 		
 		sleep(DAEMON_SLEEP_INTERVAL);
 	}