diff --git a/actions/process_pdfs.rb b/actions/process_pdfs.rb
index df76aa6..0cbd111 100644
--- a/actions/process_pdfs.rb
+++ b/actions/process_pdfs.rb
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 # See <tt>examples/process_pdfs_example.rb</tt> for more information.
 class ProcessPdfs < CloudCrowd::Action
   
-  # Split up a large pdf into single-page pdfs.
-  # The double pdftk shuffle fixes the document xrefs.
+  # Split up a large pdf into single-page pdfs. Batch them into 'batch_size'
+  # chunks for processing. The double pdftk shuffle fixes the document xrefs.
   def split
     `pdftk #{input_path} burst output "#{file_name}_%05d.pdf_temp"`
     FileUtils.rm input_path
diff --git a/actions/word_count.rb b/actions/word_count.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f9ba74e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actions/word_count.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+# A WordCount, the canonical MapReduce Demo. Depends on the 'wc' utility. 
+class WordCount < CloudCrowd::Action
+  
+  # Count the words in a single book.
+  def process
+    (`wc #{input_path}`).match(/\A\s*(\d+)/)[1].to_i
+  end
+  
+  # Sum the total word count.
+  def merge
+    JSON.parse(input).inject(0) {|sum, count| sum + count }
+  end
+  
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cloud-crowd.gemspec b/cloud-crowd.gemspec
index e808ba8..8024138 100644
--- a/cloud-crowd.gemspec
+++ b/cloud-crowd.gemspec
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.files = %w(
 actions/graphics_magick.rb
 actions/process_pdfs.rb
+actions/word_count.rb
 cloud-crowd.gemspec
 config/config.example.ru
 config/config.example.yml
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ config/database.example.yml
 EPIGRAPHS
 examples/graphics_magick_example.rb
 examples/process_pdfs_example.rb
+examples/word_count_example.rb
 lib/cloud-crowd.rb
 lib/cloud_crowd/action.rb
 lib/cloud_crowd/app.rb
diff --git a/examples/graphics_magick_example.rb b/examples/graphics_magick_example.rb
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 62e60d2..351e891
--- a/examples/graphics_magick_example.rb
+++ b/examples/graphics_magick_example.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-# Inside of a restclient session:
-# This is a fancy example that produces black and white, annotated, and blurred
-# versions of a list of URLs downloaded from the web.
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby -rubygems
 
+require 'restclient'
 require 'json'
 
-RestClient.post(
-	'http://localhost:9173/jobs', 
+# This example demonstrates the GraphicsMagick action by taking in a list of
+# five images, and producing annotated, blurred, and black and white versions
+# of each image. See actions/graphics_magick.rb
+
+RestClient.post('http://localhost:9173/jobs', 
 	{:job => {
 	
 		'action' => 'graphics_magick',
@@ -39,10 +41,4 @@
 		}
 		
 	}.to_json}
-)
-
-# status = RestClient.get('http://localhost:9173/jobs/[job_id]')
-
-# puts JSON.parse(RestClient.get('http://localhost:9173/jobs/[job_id]'))['outputs'].values.map {|v| 
-#		JSON.parse(v).map {|v| v['url']} 
-#	}.flatten.join("\n")
\ No newline at end of file
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/examples/process_pdfs_example.rb b/examples/process_pdfs_example.rb
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 337d2ad..fd857fc
--- a/examples/process_pdfs_example.rb
+++ b/examples/process_pdfs_example.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby -rubygems
+
+require 'restclient'
+require 'json'
+
+# This example demonstrates a fairly complicated PDF-processing action, designed
+# to extract the PDF's text, and produce GIF versions of each page. The action
+# (actions/process_pdfs.rb) shows an example of using all three steps,
+# split, process, and merge.
+
 RestClient.post(
 	'http://localhost:9173/jobs',
 	{:job => {
diff --git a/examples/word_count_example.rb b/examples/word_count_example.rb
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..7f3599b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/word_count_example.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby -rubygems
+
+require 'restclient'
+require 'json'
+
+# Let's count all the words in Shakespeare.
+
+RestClient.post('http://localhost:9173/jobs', 
+	{:job => {
+	
+		'action' => 'word_count',
+		
+		'inputs' => [
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/1ws3010.txt',  # All's Well That Ends Well
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws3511.txt',  # Anthony and Cleopatra
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/1ws2510.txt',  # As You Like It
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/1ws0610.txt',  # The Comedy of Errors
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws3911.txt',  # Cymbeline
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/0ws2610.txt',  # Hamlet
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/0ws1910.txt',  # Henry IV
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws2411.txt',  # Julius Caesar
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/2ws3310.txt',  # King Lear
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws1211j.txt', # Love's Labour's Lost
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/2ws3410.txt',  # Macbeth
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/2ws1810.txt',  # The Merchant of Venice
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws1711.txt',  # Midsummer Night's Dream
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/3ws2210.txt',  # Much Ado About Nothing
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/0ws3210.txt',  # Othello
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/2ws1610.txt',  # Romeo and Juliet
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/2ws1010.txt',  # The Taming of the Shrew
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws4111.txt',  # The Tempest
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext00/0ws0910.txt',  # Titus Andronicus
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext99/1ws2911.txt',  # Troilus and Cressida
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/3ws2810.txt',  # Twelfth Night
+			'http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1539/1539.txt'        # The Winter's Tale
+		]
+		
+	}.to_json}
+)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/cloud_crowd/worker.rb b/lib/cloud_crowd/worker.rb
index 0daacef..8594928 100644
--- a/lib/cloud_crowd/worker.rb
+++ b/lib/cloud_crowd/worker.rb
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ def complete_work_unit(result)
       keep_trying_to "complete work unit" do
         data = completion_params.merge({:status => 'succeeded', :output => result})
         unit_json = @server["/work/#{data[:id]}"].put(data)
-        log "finished #{@action_name} in #{data[:time]} seconds"
+        log "finished #{display_work_unit} in #{data[:time]} seconds"
         clear_work_unit
         setup_work_unit(unit_json)
       end
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def fail_work_unit(exception)
       keep_trying_to "mark work unit as failed" do
         data = completion_params.merge({:status => 'failed', :output => {'output' => exception.message}.to_json})
         unit_json = @server["/work/#{data[:id]}"].put(data)
-        log "failed #{@action_name} in #{data[:time]} seconds\n#{exception.message}\n#{exception.backtrace}"
+        log "failed #{display_work_unit} in #{data[:time]} seconds\n#{exception.message}\n#{exception.backtrace}"
         clear_work_unit
         setup_work_unit(unit_json)
       end
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ def check_out
         :name       => @name,
         :terminated => true
       })
+      log 'exiting'
     end
     
     # We expect and require internal communication between the central server
@@ -104,6 +105,11 @@ def has_work?
       @action_name && @input && @options
     end
     
+    # Loggable string of the current work unit.
+    def display_work_unit
+      "unit ##{@options['work_unit_id']} (#{@action_name})"
+    end
+    
     # Executes the current work unit, catching all exceptions as failures.
     def run_work_unit
       begin
@@ -156,7 +162,7 @@ def setup_work_unit(unit_json)
       @options['job_id'] = unit['job_id']
       @options['work_unit_id'] = unit['id']
       @options['attempts'] ||= unit['attempts']
-      log "fetched work unit ##{@options['work_unit_id']} for #{@action_name}"
+      log "fetched #{display_work_unit}"
       return true
     end