theNoosphere.com

Not to be a shill or anything, but ... for those of you as into music as I am, if you haven't discovered Pandora yet, welcome to heaven. I won't try to describe what it is and how it works--take a few minutes to poke around the site and you'll get the idea. What I will say is this ... for my money, this is one of the few sites I've found that is actually fulfilling, and even exceeding, the potential of the internet.

It's am amazing, FREE, service. I have discovered more new music through this source than any other, and it provides what is essentially free, non-stop, non-commercial amazing music to your computer ... based on musical preferences you program in.

On 'my' Pandora right now I have Pink Floyd Radio, Acoustic Alchemy Radio, Genesis Radio, Led Zeppelin Radio, CSNY Radio, Eagles Radio, TSO Radio ... and so on. And no, that doesn't mean each plays only music from that artist. Not hardly.

Check it out ... you won't be sorry.

Would I lie to you?

Om, where the dickens did you find this gem?!? I love the premise-and having somewhat(!) eclectic musical tastes I can't wait to see what it does when I start feeding it,...well, lets begin with k.d.lang, Enya, and Prince. This could be immense fun!

BTW, Om, my friend, I couldn't help but notice the mention of CSNY radio. I was in college during the late 60's and early 70's and CSNY was pretty much
required listening. They were extraordinary, of course, however...I believe that for every person attuned musically there are those few pieces of music that qualify as "time-stoppers"-pieces that, no matter how much time has passed or how many hearings, still retain the ability to reach deep into the soul and deliver an auditory body-slam. When you hear one of these, you stop whatever you're doing, pause, and let the music take control-because it thrills like nothing else..."Southern Cross" is one of those to me-decades later it still sends chills up my spine. Thanks-for Pandora-and the connection also.

Honestly, I can't remember now how I stumbled on it. I do know it changed my life.

Wait until you start bookmarking songs and artists that you have never heard of, playing music that just talks to you. It's intoxicating. It's can also be expensive if you're not careful.

It really is an amazing site. Every time I go to it, I'm afraid there's going to be an error message saying, "Sorry. This was too just too cool to continue. Resume normal web experience."

You'll be pleased to know, my friend, that at least as late as 1982, a certain college band at VA Tech was found passionately and sincerely belting out Ohio at a "Rally for Peace" on the Drill Field, in front of a healthy crowd of young potential protesters. CSNY definitely carved a niche in modern American culture.

And I'm with you on Southern Cross--it reaches deep. You're no doubt familiar with Nash's Cathedral, right? That's another one for me. I don't care if it was based on an LSD-induced vision or not--that one has stopped me in my tracks since the first time I heard it.

Music. Ain't nothing like it.

It's pretty awesome. I used to listen for the entire work day, every day. I no longer have my own office so I can't do it anymore--but it's a treasure. For sure.

Well....three hours, four new stations, half-a-dozen bookmarked artists I'd never heard before...Crap, Om what have you done?!? Pandora is, in a word, amazing...you said intoxicating? Try addictive-this is going to require some serious self-discipline or it could get out of hand in a serious hurry. An intuitive radio station that learns your likes and dislikes in music...you pegged this one.
This is where the Web could turn into a mind expanding experience on many levels-hell, I'm already imagining this type of application for art, literature, technology, humor, philosophy, any mental and emotional activity humanly imaginable. I apologize for sounding like I'm gushing-but damn, this is what the Internet should be.

We think alike, servum. To me what they've done is nothing short of genius. Glad to see a fellow traveler react to it as I have.

I'd never seen this before - then again, I lead a pretty sheltered life Thanks for the nudge Mark! Pretty cool idea. I think a stickied Pandora thread where we can keep a master list of the best stations would be cool (or maybe we could put them here and keep a master list going in the original post?).

Ugh. Thanks Mark...yet another thing on the web to be addicted too.

Very good.

Amazon's recommendations based on prior purchases are solid but rarely come up with something unfamilair or surprising ... except for the time it said

"People who bought the Linksys Wireless G router have also bought the Passion of the Christ".

That's a big miss.

Pandora is very cool. I used to listen to it quite frequently. There are other services that are similar, but I think Pandora is the best.

Ok...my new Jethro Tull station is killing me. How cool is this? So far it hasn't played anything I have not heard before it is all sorts of stuff that I had sort lost track of in the dust covered corners of my mind. "Question" by the Moody Blues is on right now...love it but had not thought about it in years.

I've been throwing the door open wide to "world music" lately. I created an Afro Celt Sound System Radio station and have been trippin' over some of the stuff I'm hearing coming out of the far corners of the globe.

Grrrrr - 4 days and I am going to end up subscribing...

As usual, my frigging work internet is blocking....

My only real gripe with this is that they don't have a way to pull Pandora out of the browser for XP like they do Vista and Windows Mobile. XP not enough of an OS for them or what? I don't know anyone going to Vista willingly which means there are still a lot of us running XP and I would like to get Pandora off a tab.

But this is really a minor thing. Great service otherwise. I am trying to figure out why I should subscribe though. I have heard almost no advertisements at all so avoiding those is no real incentive.