Ok so it being so nice out today, I wanted to talk about the service I use daily and love because to the variety. It's called Pandora radio, it is a website that offers music the way you want it. Check it out at pandora.com. I know this isn't exactly class related but I wanted to show my appreciation and look at another example of AJAX in effect.
First start by opening Pandora.com and typing in an artist that you enjoy listening to. The first song will be by that artist and is usually a popular song. Then the second song will be by another artist in the same genre and the same type of music. For instance, I listen to country and typed in Darryl Worley the first song was "Awful, Beautiful life" the second song was Keith Urban "Making memories of us" and the third song was Dierks Bentley "Free and Easy. While not the same artist it is a similar sound and something I like listening to.
The reason I wanted to blog about this topic because it reminded me of a way AJAX works. Pandora is expecially nice because it streams straight from the internet(no download necessary) and plays a song while giving you updates on artist. Howstuffworks.com says that for every four minute song it takes roughly 20-30 minutes to to examine. With 400 attributes being scanned. Another feature they have is the "thumbs up-thumbs down" if you decide you like a song it will find other songs by that artist or closer to that type. If you dont like a song chose "thumbs down" and it will refrain from songs of that type. Another example of AJAX is they give you the option of buying the music from amazon.com.
Hope this opens someones eyes when they are sitting at home and are tired of searching for songs they like on youtube.com.
I absolutely love Pandora. It's the only thing that makes my day at work go by a little bit more faster. And like you said it is a great example of the website calling into a server and bring back info (music) without having to refresh the entire page every time.
ReplyDeleteI really like websites that allow people to decide what product or service they want. The world is changing from a you will get what we give you to a you get want you want place. I wonder where this will go.
ReplyDeleteExactly Greg, thats why I thought it was a useful blog post. Just another example of AJAX in effect. And Leticia I hope it always gets better, as long as we know what we want, im sure we will always be able to get it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Pandora as well and use the iPhone app constantly while I'm at work. Can you elaborate about the 2-030 minutes of scan time? What is it scanning and does that mean that every time you listen to a song the server keeps processing for up to 30 minutes after it's complete?
ReplyDeleteI will take a look at Pandora.
ReplyDeleteI love love LOVE Pandora. It is awesome. I've found so many new artists on there that I never would have found if I hadn't been listening to Pandora. One of my favorite things is to use it on my cell phone because I have an Android phone and have the app. One thing tho, sometimes it plays some really weird music that I do not want to listen to, lol.
ReplyDeleteI have heard all my geek friends talk about pandora as a source for music. I have not tried it as about the only time I want to sit and listen to music on the computer is at work and Pandora is blocked.
ReplyDeleteMight try it at the library with my headphones while studying.
Well it is quite interesting when I read blogs written by everyone and how they have started relating AJAX to things around them.
ReplyDeleteThis proves that Professor Drake has done his job well.
i never really used pandora but might try today see if i like it.
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