Excellent Music for Being in the Flow

buddy — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:57:27 +0000

I’ve always insisted on getting all my music on my iPod. The fogy in me doesn’t like being tethered to the internet for everything these days.

In search of good coding music

I asked some folks what they listen to while coding, to get and stay in the flow, in the zone. Almost all of them pointed me to Pandora.

Checking Pandora out again

I sighed, and logged in to pandora.com. I already had an account, but had abandoned it due to the aforementioned fogy feelings.

In the flow and feeling great

It’s a good thing I’m not opposed to change. If I were, I’d miss out on this excellent source of music! At this moment, I’m listening to my version of the “Paul Oakenfold Radio” channel. I first heard of Paul Oakenfold when you could download sample tracks from music.download.com. Glad to be reaquainted!

Status of my coding music selection

I have some stations based on Nirvana / Foo Fighters / The Vines, and on Sia. By far, the best for getting in the flow and coding is the Oakenfold channel, though.

Here’s how you can get yours, once you log in and sign up at pandora.com.

NOTE: You could just listen to my modified Paul Oakenfold channel directly.

Search for “Paul Oakenfold” in the “New Station” box, and add it.
Under the resulting station, click “add variety.”
Add the following, which end up being called “Artist Seeds:”

Tiesto
Paul Van Dyk
Sandra Collins
Armin Van Buuren
Hallucinogen
Infected Mushroom
Atmos
Vibrasphere
DJ X-Dream

Now, listen and enjoy! Be sure to use “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” to help Pandora tailor the station to your preferences.

Let me know if you find any more great artists I should add.

Content Scheduler WordPress Plugin Launched

buddy — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:59:08 +0000

Last week, I launched my Content Scheduler WordPress Plugin, version 0.9.

Content Scheduler helps you easily set Posts and Pages to expire at a certain date and time. Upon expiration, content can move to the trash, change categories, unset the “stick this post to the front page” box, change status, and more.

In addition to expiring content, Content Scheduler optionally notifies the site admin, content author, or both as expiration dates approach, or as they are reached and action is taken.