Best way to schedule audio playback on a computer?

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:36 am

The efficiency of my alarm clock has lessened over the past months, and so I'm thinking of upgrading to something more powerful.

I was thinking something along the lines of System of a Down at 95dB.

What's the easiest way to make my computer start playing at a given time?

I've got several mp3 programs - foobar2000, winamp, iTunes, WMP, audacity, etc.

Any one know something off the top of their head?

Thanks.

aaa · Post by **aaa** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:57 am

First thing off the top of my head is the Microsoft Task Scheduler.

yaler · Post by **yaler** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:18 pm

at or sleep commands on a Linux box, I think windows has at as well, but who knows how useful it is. I'm sure there are several full featured alarm programs for Windows. But really a computer is not a good substitute for an alarm clock, believe me I've tried. Get a new one and a couple 9v batteries.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:19 pm

I have never failed to wake up to an alarm clock ever since I placed it on the other side of the room. So, when it goes off in the morning, I have to get up and walk to turn it off.

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:21 pm

Matija wrote:I have never failed to wake up to an alarm clock ever since I placed it on the other side of the room. So, when it goes off in the morning, I have to get up and walk to turn it off.

I do that, and go back to bed. or sometimes I just leave it on, and after five minutes I get used to the noise and go back to sleep (btw, this is like my fifth alarm in 5 years, and finally i thought i had found one that works).

What I need is something really noisy, and a strobelight. Possibly also an earthquake and some gunfire.

scdr · Post by **scdr** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:21 pm

Make your sound file into a WAV file and make it the operating system startup sound.

If don't want to make it a startup sound - put the media file in the startup folder (Windows), so it starts playing. (I know you can get same effect in Linux, just don't know the appropriate incantation off top of my head.)

Set the computer to turn on at the time you want to be awakened
(most have a setting for this in the BIOS).

Then you just have to get it to shut off (unless you will be using it first thing in the AM) once it has played the sound. (e.g. schedule a shutoff at given time. Use PowerOff, etc.)

Added benefit - doesn't waste power leaving your computer on while you are asleep.

(Of course, if this weren't SPCR - you could just use the sound of that Delta screamer on the CPU to wake you from sweet slumber.

If that isn't simple enough (or your BIOS doesn't have the wakeup function). You could plug the computer in to an external timer (like the kind they use to turn on lights/etc.).

[There are of course lots of alarm clock programs for Windows -
or you could use a cron job in Linux,
and there are some programs that will wake your machine from
sleep state or hibernation at a particular time (and run a program then).
But using the BIOS wakeup is the simplest way I can think of.]

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:34 pm

Unfortunately, I think that even if you had an airplane engine in the room, you'd only get a bazooka to blow it up and continue sleeping... :/

The problem isn't the alarm clock, it's you (sorry for being blunt). Nothing will help until _you_ change.

I can understand people turning off the alarm clock next to their bed when still half-asleep and not even close to being lucid (hell, it happened to me dozens of times, I didn't even recall it buzzing), but if you can't pull yourself together even after getting up and walking, then it's a sign of a bigger problem. Either you don't get enough sleep, or you need to change your job (or whatever else it is that's causing you problems).

Anyway, that's what I've learned in Armchair Psychology class.

scdr · Post by **scdr** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:35 pm

klankymen wrote: What I need is something really noisy, and a strobelight. Possibly also an earthquake and some gunfire.

Well if that's what you need - how 'bout get yourself a few x-10 modules and string them up into an alarm clock.

Use one of the siren modules
(e.g. 110dB x10 powerhorn ) http://www.smarthome.com/7360.html

A lamp module, controlling your strobe light,
as well as an appliance module to turn on the
motor to shake the bed, in lie of an earthquake.

Might add a watering control module to start a drip of cold water on your head.

Set them to the same code, and use a timer module to
set the whole catastrophe in motion.
(You could even get fancy and program it to come on in sequence with a macro.)

If that doesn't work - you may have to go the full monty and build something like Wallace's alarm clock in
"The Curse of the Were Rabit."

[You do live far away from anybody else, don't you?]

(Edit: Chronic sleep deprivation causes significant problems for individuals and society. But what fun/profit is treating the underlying causes compared a baroque technical patch. Why it's practically unamerican. Where would Starbucks be if people actually took care of themselves, instead of abusing drugs to stay alert.

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:37 pm

OK, I made it work using the scheduled tasks.

Btw, indeed you are right that I have sleeping problems, I plan to see a doctor about it, but at the moment I just need the most annoying thing possible to wake me up for my exams.

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 12:56 pm

Nah, the doctor will just say you're crazy

You are stressed. That's where the problems come from. Would the world end if you failed half of your exams and left them for another time?

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 1:07 pm

Yep. I have to pass 3 out of 4.

Lol, don't think my neighbours would appreciate 10 sirens, I am unfortunately in a semi-detached.

Yep, I hit up starbucks as often as I can afford before university

EDIT, just made myself a 18KHz sine wave in Audacity. That is possibly the most annoying thing I ever heard. Unfortunately I think I might be doing my ears damage with that.

BTW, the actually going to the alarm and back to bed case is fairly rare. However it does occur that I sleep so deeply that I either don't hear the alarm, or wake up shortly, and fall immediately back to sleep.

My sleeping patterns are really strange, as I will sleep 12 hours - 5 hours - 13 hours - 6 hours - 11 hours - 4 hours and strange patterns like that. I sleep a little and am very tired, and oversleep the next day, then after sleeping for 13 hours I can't get to sleep until like 2 AM, and then I wake up again at 7. So in the night I'm dead tired and I oversleep. It's disturbing cause I can't break the mold. I'd like to wake up at 7 or 8 two days in a row, but the second time fails all the time. So tommorow morning is a "second day" again, as I only slept 5-6 hours this past night. I'll try SOAD - Prison song at 90dB first, that used to wake me up when I had a compact stereo whose CD player still worked. (like back in ninth grade)

lm · Post by lm » Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:21 pm

I have the same problem. No matter what kind the alarm, doesn't matter. You'll only hurt your ears (maybe permanently). Only thing I could do is get a grip. If there is a pressing reason to get up, I'll just get up. You can only change it from inside. If you really want to do those exams, you go and do them. Decide to do it. It might be hard, but don't let in.

Oh, try light, very powerful light. Not halogen, that'll just burn your eyes, but those official brightlights. They are designed to affect your system the same way it has worked for the history (and prehistory) of man.

klankymen · Post by **klankymen** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:52 pm

wow, this morning at eight Prison Song by System of a down started playing at around 85dB.
If you watch the first 20 seconds of the link you can see how that would wake you up.... naught to sixty in 1 second

Now I just need to buy dual MFW-15s, then I can wake up anywhere in the house