diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index daa5138..d72736e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 HEAD
 src
 v*
+alias
diff --git a/.npmignore b/.npmignore
index 846b8e8..207258b 100644
--- a/.npmignore
+++ b/.npmignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 src
 v*
+alias
diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 274ffea..6cd0120 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ And then in any new shell just use the installed version:
 
     nvm use v0.2.5
 
-If you want to see what versions you have installed issue:
+If you want to see what versions are available:
 
     nvm ls
 
@@ -35,3 +35,7 @@ To restore your PATH, you can deactivate it.
 
     nvm deactivate
 
+To set a default Node version to be used in any new shell, use the alias 'default':
+
+    nvm alias default v0.2.5
+
diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index d7f2191..d7cb4db 100644
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -26,6 +26,46 @@ if [ ! `which curl` ]; then
     fi
 fi
 
+# Expand a version using the version cache
+nvm_version()
+{
+    PATTERN=$1
+    VERSION=''
+    if [ -f "$NVM_DIR/alias/$PATTERN" ]; then
+        nvm_version `cat $NVM_DIR/alias/$PATTERN`
+        return
+    fi
+    # If it looks like an explicit version, don't do anything funny
+    if [[ "$PATTERN" == v*.*.* ]]; then
+        VERSION="$PATTERN"
+    fi
+    # The default version is the current one
+    if [ ! "$PATTERN" -o "$PATTERN" = 'current' ]; then
+        VERSION=`node -v 2>/dev/null`
+    fi
+    if [ "$PATTERN" = 'stable' ]; then
+        PATTERN='*.*[02468].'
+    fi
+    if [ "$PATTERN" = 'latest' ]; then
+        PATTERN='*.*.'
+    fi
+    if [ "$PATTERN" = 'all' ]; then
+        (cd $NVM_DIR; ls -dG v* 2>/dev/null || echo "N/A")
+        return
+    fi
+    if [ ! "$VERSION" ]; then
+        VERSION=`(cd $NVM_DIR; ls -d v${PATTERN}* 2>/dev/null) | sort -t. -k 2,1n -k 2,2n -k 3,3n | tail -n1`
+    fi
+    if [ ! "$VERSION" ]; then
+        echo "N/A"
+        return -1
+    elif [ -e "$NVM_DIR/$VERSION" ]; then
+        (cd $NVM_DIR; ls -dG "$VERSION")
+    else
+        echo "$VERSION"
+    fi
+}
+
 nvm()
 {
   if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
@@ -38,15 +78,22 @@ nvm()
       echo "Node Version Manager"
       echo
       echo "Usage:"
-      echo "    nvm help                Show this message"
-      echo "    nvm install <version>   Download and install a <version>"
-      echo "    nvm use <version>       Modify PATH to use <version>"
-      echo "    nvm ls                  List versions currently installed"
-      echo "    nvm deactivate          Undo effects of NVM on current shell"
+      echo "    nvm help                    Show this message"
+      echo "    nvm install <version>       Download and install a <version>"
+      echo "    nvm use <version>           Modify PATH to use <version>"
+      echo "    nvm ls                      List versions (installed versions are blue)"
+      echo "    nvm ls <version>            List versions matching a given description"
+      echo "    nvm deactivate              Undo effects of NVM on current shell"
+      echo "    nvm sync                    Update the local cache of available versions"
+      echo "    nvm alias [<pattern>]       Show all aliases beginning with <pattern>"
+      echo "    nvm alias <name> <version>  Set an alias named <name> pointing to <version>"
       echo
       echo "Example:"
-      echo "    nvm install v0.2.5"
-      echo "    nvm use v0.2.5"
+      echo "    nvm install v0.2.5          Install a specific version number"
+      echo "    nvm use stable              Use the stable release"
+      echo "    nvm install latest          Install the latest, possibly unstable version"
+      echo "    nvm use 0.3                 Use the latest available 0.3.x release"
+      echo "    nvm alias default v0.3.6    Set v0.3.6 as the default" 
       echo
     ;;
     "install" )
@@ -55,16 +102,18 @@ nvm()
         return;
       fi
       [ "$NOCURL" ] && curl && return
+      VERSION=`nvm_version $2`
       START=`pwd`
       mkdir -p "$NVM_DIR/src" && \
       cd "$NVM_DIR/src" && \
-      curl -C - -# "http://nodejs.org/dist/node-$2.tar.gz" -o "node-$2.tar.gz" && \
-      tar -xzf "node-$2.tar.gz" && \
-      cd "node-$2" && \
-      ./configure --prefix="$NVM_DIR/$2" && \
+      curl -C - -# "http://nodejs.org/dist/node-$VERSION.tar.gz" -o "node-$VERSION.tar.gz" && \
+      tar -xzf "node-$VERSION.tar.gz" && \
+      cd "node-$VERSION" && \
+      ./configure --prefix="$NVM_DIR/$VERSION" && \
       make && \
+      rm -f "$NVM_DIR/$VERSION" && \
       make install && \
-      nvm use $2
+      nvm use $VERSION
       if ! which npm ; then
         echo "Installing npm..."
         curl -# http://npmjs.org/install.sh -o - | sh
@@ -90,41 +139,96 @@ nvm()
         nvm help
         return
       fi
-      if [ ! -d $NVM_DIR/$2 ]; then
-        echo "$2 version is not installed yet"
+      VERSION=`nvm_version $2`
+      if [ ! -d $NVM_DIR/$VERSION ]; then
+        echo "$VERSION version is not installed yet"
         return;
       fi
       if [[ $PATH == *$NVM_DIR/*/bin* ]]; then
-        PATH=${PATH%$NVM_DIR/*/bin*}$NVM_DIR/$2/bin${PATH#*$NVM_DIR/*/bin}
+        PATH=${PATH%$NVM_DIR/*/bin*}$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/bin${PATH#*$NVM_DIR/*/bin}
       else
-        PATH="$NVM_DIR/$2/bin:$PATH"
+        PATH="$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/bin:$PATH"
       fi
       if [[ $MANPATH == *$NVM_DIR/*/share/man* ]]; then
-        MANPATH=${MANPATH%$NVM_DIR/*/share/man*}$NVM_DIR/$2/share/man${MANPATH#*$NVM_DIR/*/share/man}
+        MANPATH=${MANPATH%$NVM_DIR/*/share/man*}$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/share/man${MANPATH#*$NVM_DIR/*/share/man}
       else
-        MANPATH="$NVM_DIR/$2/share/man:$MANPATH"
+        MANPATH="$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/share/man:$MANPATH"
       fi
       export PATH
       export MANPATH
-      export NVM_PATH="$NVM_DIR/$2/lib/node"
-      export NVM_BIN="$NVM_DIR/$2/bin"
-      echo "Now using node $2"
+      export NVM_PATH="$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/lib/node"
+      export NVM_BIN="$NVM_DIR/$VERSION/bin"
+      echo "Now using node $VERSION"
     ;;
     "ls" )
       if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
-        nvm help
-        return;
+        nvm_version $2
+        return
       fi
-      for f in $NVM_DIR/v*; do
-        if [[ $PATH == *$f/bin* ]]; then
-          echo "v${f##*v} *"
-        else
-          echo "v${f##*v}"
-        fi
+      nvm_version all
+      for P in {stable,latest,current}; do
+          echo -ne "$P: \t"; nvm_version $P
       done
+      nvm alias
+      echo "# use 'nvm sync' to update from nodejs.org"
+    ;;
+    "alias" )
+      if [ $# -le 2 ]; then
+        (cd $NVM_DIR/alias; for ALIAS in `ls $2* 2>/dev/null`; do
+            DEST=`cat $ALIAS`
+            VERSION=`nvm_version $DEST`
+            if [ "$DEST" = "$VERSION" ]; then
+                echo "$ALIAS -> $DEST"
+            else
+                echo "$ALIAS -> $DEST (-> $VERSION)"
+            fi
+        done)
+        return
+      fi
+      if [ ! "$3" ]; then
+          rm -f $NVM_DIR/alias/$2
+          echo "$2 -> *poof*"
+          return
+      fi
+      mkdir -p $NVM_DIR/alias
+      VERSION=`nvm_version $3`
+      if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "! WARNING: Version '$3' does not exist." >&2 
+      fi
+      echo $3 > "$NVM_DIR/alias/$2"
+      if [ ! "$3" = "$VERSION" ]; then
+          echo "$2 -> $3 (-> $VERSION)"
+          echo "! WARNING: Moving target. Aliases to implicit versions may change without warning."
+      else
+        echo "$2 -> $3"
+      fi
+    ;;
+    "sync" )
+        [ "$NOCURL" ] && curl && return
+        LATEST=`nvm_version latest`
+        STABLE=`nvm_version stable`
+        (cd $NVM_DIR
+        rm -f v* 2>/dev/null
+        echo -n "# syncing with nodejs.org..."
+        for VER in `curl -s http://nodejs.org/dist/ -o - | grep 'node-v.*\.tar\.gz' | sed -e 's/.*node-//' -e 's/\.tar\.gz.*//'`; do
+            touch $VER
+        done
+        echo " done."
+        )
+        [ "$STABLE" = `nvm_version stable` ] || echo "NEW stable: `nvm_version stable`"
+        [ "$LATEST" = `nvm_version latest` ] || echo "NEW latest: `nvm_version latest`"
+    ;;
+    "clear-cache" )
+        rm -f $NVM_DIR/v*
+        echo "Cache cleared."
+    ;;
+    "version" )
+        nvm_version $2
     ;;
     * )
       nvm help
     ;;
   esac
 }
+
+nvm ls default >/dev/null 2>&1 && nvm use default >/dev/null