ckaihatsu
3rd September 2012, 20:31
On Linux you can install 'sox' and use this command to generate a steady stream of 'white noise' in the background:
nohup play -n -q -c 2 synth whitenoise vol .2
These commands will write a 1.7gb WAVE file and compress it down to a 73mb MP3 file:
sox -n -c 2 white_noise_80min.wav synth 80:00 whitenoise vol .2
lame -b 128 white_noise_80min.wav white_noise_80min.mp3
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http://www.willatworklearning.com/product_reviews/
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Productivity Booster -- Getting Rid of Distractions by Adding Noise
If you're a knowledge worker, your productivity depends on your ability to give attention to your tasks. Unfortunately, the human cognitive system is designed to be wary of environmental events so it devotes some of its ongoing processing to scanning the environment. Thought interruptions naturally occur, lowering our productivity--including our output, creativity, effectiveness, and completeness.
If you've got your own office and your own door, you may be able to control outside distractions. But for many of us, we've got noisy creatures near us--our colleagues--requiring us to devote cognitive capacity to their trivial activities.
Fortunately, there are solutions. I just found a great one-two combination that is really working for me--for those times when I really need full-frontal attention.
1. Noise-Canceling Headset.
2. White Noise (see for example www.SimplyNoise.com)
I have a Audio-Technica Headset and I just discovered www.SimplyNoise.com, which allows me to hear white noise, pink noise, and red/brown noise--and I can even have it oscillate.
Thoughts on Noise
White noise (or pink, red/brown noise) is great for when I really need to concentrate. I do a lot of writing and so hearing words--like song lyrics--is really disruptive. I have found a great grouping of African musicians on Last.FM, and that will often work great because most of the words are not in English so the lyrics don't disrupt. Other people like Pandora for music, but their "instrumental" section doesn't work for me. Somebody needs to come up with a way to filter out songs with English words.
[...]
nohup play -n -q -c 2 synth whitenoise vol .2
These commands will write a 1.7gb WAVE file and compress it down to a 73mb MP3 file:
sox -n -c 2 white_noise_80min.wav synth 80:00 whitenoise vol .2
lame -b 128 white_noise_80min.wav white_noise_80min.mp3
---
http://www.willatworklearning.com/product_reviews/
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Productivity Booster -- Getting Rid of Distractions by Adding Noise
If you're a knowledge worker, your productivity depends on your ability to give attention to your tasks. Unfortunately, the human cognitive system is designed to be wary of environmental events so it devotes some of its ongoing processing to scanning the environment. Thought interruptions naturally occur, lowering our productivity--including our output, creativity, effectiveness, and completeness.
If you've got your own office and your own door, you may be able to control outside distractions. But for many of us, we've got noisy creatures near us--our colleagues--requiring us to devote cognitive capacity to their trivial activities.
Fortunately, there are solutions. I just found a great one-two combination that is really working for me--for those times when I really need full-frontal attention.
1. Noise-Canceling Headset.
2. White Noise (see for example www.SimplyNoise.com)
I have a Audio-Technica Headset and I just discovered www.SimplyNoise.com, which allows me to hear white noise, pink noise, and red/brown noise--and I can even have it oscillate.
Thoughts on Noise
White noise (or pink, red/brown noise) is great for when I really need to concentrate. I do a lot of writing and so hearing words--like song lyrics--is really disruptive. I have found a great grouping of African musicians on Last.FM, and that will often work great because most of the words are not in English so the lyrics don't disrupt. Other people like Pandora for music, but their "instrumental" section doesn't work for me. Somebody needs to come up with a way to filter out songs with English words.
[...]