Anyone else using ?Pzizz?
James Jolley
I've just recently started to use Pzizz at http://www.pzizz.com/
The idea is that it creates background soundtracks to help with sleep
disorders. As you may appreciate, sleeping problems are very common in
the blind generally, probably because in my case I was born premature
and perhaps this caused it. Whatever the reason, I often sleep at
unusual times, often not getting to sleep properly past 3 or 4 A.M.
This software really did make a difference for some reason.
I also did buy the Iphone app called Pzizz Relax, witch is used to get
a quick half an hour during the day. the yanks call it power napping -
the idea being that you just take time away for a while.
Just wanted to let people know that this exists and may be useful to folks.
Best
-James-
Woody
news:7na0keF...@mid.individual.net...
> Hi again folks,
>
> I've just recently started to use Pzizz at http://www.pzizz.com/
>
> The idea is that it creates background soundtracks to help with sleep
> disorders. As you may appreciate, sleeping problems are very common in the
> blind generally, probably because in my case I was born premature and
> perhaps this caused it. Whatever the reason, I often sleep at unusual
> times, often not getting to sleep properly past 3 or 4 A.M. This software
> really did make a difference for some reason.
I used to have a lot of problem sleeping. I would just play music, which
always helped so it may be the same sort of thing, just gives something for
your brain to (not) focus on.
Luckily when I gave up smoking it seemed to mean I could sleep normally, and
since then I haven't had a problem.
--
Woody
Adrian C
>
> I used to have a lot of problem sleeping. I would just play music, which
> always helped so it may be the same sort of thing, just gives something
> for your brain to (not) focus on.
I couldn't do it with music (too involved), but there are loads of
soundcapes on the free streaming thing I seem to keep yapping on about.
Dolphins, Seashores etc....
I used to have a clock radio with London's LBC on a 'sleep' timer.
However when it seems most of that talk station's callers and presenters
started just regurgitating the previous days bigoted content of the
daily mail, and other stations kept me too awake, I totally jetisoned
the radio and now sleep in a quiet room silently counting backwards from
100 ...
--
Adrian C
Jim
> Woody wrote:
>>
>> I used to have a lot of problem sleeping. I would just play music, which
>> always helped so it may be the same sort of thing, just gives something
>> for your brain to (not) focus on.
>
> I couldn't do it with music (too involved), but there are loads of
> soundcapes on the free streaming thing I seem to keep yapping on about.
> Dolphins, Seashores etc....
I like thunderstorm soundtracks, although I like the 'on the horizon' kind
rather than the 'rotating supercell with a wall cloud about to spawn an EF2
on your house' kind.
Jim
--
http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk http://twitter.com/GreyAreaUK
My Oasis of Calm has dried up. However, my Garden of Angry is
flourishing quite nicely.
James Jolley
> On 2009-11-27, Adrian C <em...@here.invalid> wrote:
>> Woody wrote:
>>>
>>> I used to have a lot of problem sleeping. I would just play music, which
>>> always helped so it may be the same sort of thing, just gives something
>>> for your brain to (not) focus on.
>>
>> I couldn't do it with music (too involved), but there are loads of
>> soundcapes on the free streaming thing I seem to keep yapping on about.
>> Dolphins, Seashores etc....
>
> I like thunderstorm soundtracks, although I like the 'on the horizon' kind
> rather than the 'rotating supercell with a wall cloud about to spawn an EF2
> on your house' kind.
>
> Jim
I'm glad this has sparked some discussion. I thought I was on my own.
It's certainly an interesting mac application.
Best
-James-
Peter Ceresole
> I like thunderstorm soundtracks, although I like the 'on the horizon' kind
Oooooo.... I remember sleeping at my sister's house in Basle one summer,
when two thunderstorms came by. We were in a loft room, so as close to
the action as we could get. We could hear the storms walking up the
Rhine valley; crackety boom. A couple of strikes were directly across
the street- the flash and the bang seemed absolutely simultaneous. It
was jolly nice to be snuggled down in a deep bed in a solidly built
house.
As the first storm wandered off, the second one moved in. The sense of
distance and space those storms created was extraordinary. And I slept
jolly well, but before and after, not during.
--
Peter
Jim
Any storm you can sleep through just isn't trying hard enough.
zoara
> I'm glad this has sparked some discussion. I thought I was on my own.
>
> It's certainly an interesting mac application.
I used the app that generated tracks for you a year or two back, and it
made an incredible difference to my insomnia (which is at about the same
level as yours)
However, I found that, even with half a dozen to choose from, they
quickly became too predictable and soon lost their effect; seems I need
something novel enough to keep my attention otherwise I get distracted
and start thinking about all the usual stuff that keeps me awake... And
the "chore" of generating new ones every few days soon became something
I didn't bother with.
When I found the iPhone app I bought it straight away, and it's really
helped with kipping on the train on the way into work. But I'm
impatiently waiting for the "sleep" version, as that's where it would
really be useful. Being randomly generated each time, it (hopefully)
won't lose its novelty quite so quickly.
And the iPhone apps are a *lot* less than I originally paid for the
Pzizz desktop app...
-zoara-
--
email: nettid1 at fastmail dot fm
Pd
> I like thunderstorm soundtracks, although I like the 'on the horizon' kind
> rather than the 'rotating supercell with a wall cloud about to spawn an EF2
> on your house' kind.
Feh. Lightweight.
--
Pd
James Jolley
I've also got the iPhone version and it's really useful. There is a
slight accessibility issue with the slider for setting the timer, VO on
the 3gs and touch doesn't seem to register that the value has changed,
the percentage of movement is spoken but not it's respective time.
The Pzizz desktop app cost me 37 quid in real money, $60 US. How much
did you pay at the time? Did you get both the energiser (Iphone
equivelant for the desktop) as well as the sleep modules?
Best
-James-
Ian McCall
> I'm glad this has sparked some discussion. I thought I was on my own.
Certainly not - we (Caz and I) also use them. We use the Sleepmaker Pro
apps on the iPhone - Rain, Storms and Wildlife. Works very well.
Pzizz for the iPhone has a warning saying it will play an alarm at the
end of the track - I'm waiting for the version they they're bringing
out that doesn't have this alarm, since I'll want to use it for night
time rather than the day.
Cheers,
Ian
zoara
> I've also got the iPhone version and it's really useful. There is a
> slight accessibility issue with the slider for setting the timer, VO
> on
> the 3gs and touch doesn't seem to register that the value has changed,
>
> the percentage of movement is spoken but not it's respective time.
The slider is horrible for sighted users, too. At least, it is if you
want to set an exact number of minutes. I've given up and just set
something that's roughly what I'm after.
> The Pzizz desktop app cost me 37 quid in real money, $60 US. How much
> did you pay at the time?
That sounds like about what I paid. Lots more than the less-than-a-pint
cost of the iPhone app.
> Did you get both the energiser (Iphone
> equivelant for the desktop) as well as the sleep modules?
I got both. My insomnia means I can sometimes do with a 20 minute kip in
the afternoon, and it helps a *lot* for that.
James Jolley
Same here. Amazing that we're alike in that respect. I put it down to
blindness, perhaps not seeing so my body's got no concept of time of
day. I'm bollocksing my way through here but perhaps it makes some sort
of sense.
Best
-James-
Jim
Confess I've been *cough* acquiring *cough* the Storm Chasers series
from the US Discovery Channel. Series 1 is now available over here as a
DVD set (which I've bought, I'll have you know). The footage these guys
are getting is incredible. There's this guy called Sean Casey who's
built what he calls the 'TIV' - Tornado Intercept Vehicle. Essentially a
massively armourplated truck that he's trying to park in a tornado's
path so he can film IMAX film from inside the funnel. As of series 3
(currently showing) he hasn't yet succeeded, but the last two episodes
are being shown this weekend, and the fact that they're being shown back
to back gives me hope.
Gods, I'd *love* to do that.
Jim
--
"Microsoft admitted its Vista operating system was a 'less good
product' in what IT experts have described as the most ambitious
understatement since the captain of the Titanic reported some
slightly damp tablecloths." http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/
Ian McCall
> Confess I've been *cough* acquiring *cough* the Storm Chasers series
> from the US Discovery Channel...Gods, I'd *love* to do that.
I have a standing promise to Caz that once the kids are a little older
an can stay with relatives, we're going to go on a storm chasing
holiday.
Cheers,
Ian
Jim
It's very much on my "things to do" list but never seems to get anywhere
near the top.
zoara
> When I found the iPhone app I bought it straight away, and it's really
> helped with kipping on the train on the way into work. But I'm
> impatiently waiting for the "sleep" version, as that's where it would
> really be useful. Being randomly generated each time, it (hopefully)
> won't lose its novelty quite so quickly.
Pzizz Sleep has just been released, and is downloading as we speak.
They're both on offer on the app store at the moment; �1.79 until
December 14th, then they go up to $9.99 (so probably �5.99 or
thereabouts).
-zoara-
--
"And the tiny universe compiles."
http://powazek.com/posts/1655
James Jolley
> zoara <me...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> When I found the iPhone app I bought it straight away, and it's really
>> helped with kipping on the train on the way into work. But I'm
>> impatiently waiting for the "sleep" version, as that's where it would
>> really be useful. Being randomly generated each time, it (hopefully)
>> won't lose its novelty quite so quickly.
>
> Pzizz Sleep has just been released, and is downloading as we speak.
>
> They're both on offer on the app store at the moment; �1.79 until
> December 14th, then they go up to $9.99 (so probably �5.99 or
> thereabouts).
>
> -zoara-
Isn't that just the way? Send us you're thoughts on how you're finding
the sleep version. The mac app for both seems the same. One wonders how
the iPhone versions are cheaper yet we paid all that money for the OS X
copy.
zoara
> > Pzizz Sleep has just been released, and is downloading as we speak.
> >
> > They're both on offer on the app store at the moment; £1.79 until
> > December 14th, then they go up to $9.99 (so probably £5.99 or
> > thereabouts).
>
> Isn't that just the way? Send us you're thoughts on how you're finding
>
> the sleep version. The mac app for both seems the same.
The sleep version is just as good as the nap version, for me. I've got
it set to 25 minutes and have yet to hear it finish; compare that to my
usual time to drift off, which is between one and two hours (more if I
give up and read for a but before trying again).
And the nap version means I can have a 20 minute kip in the afternoon if
I need it, and actually fall asleep; without it I'd take 20 minutes just
to doze off (and yes, it is odd that - with or without Pzizz - I fall
asleep quicker when kipping than when sleeping; I've been known to try
"fooling" myself that I'm just going to have a kip in order to get to
sleep of a night).
Both versions have been well worth the money for me.
> One wonders how
> the iPhone versions are cheaper yet we paid all that money for the OS
> X
> copy.
It's market forces at work. Stick it at the highest price the market
will bear. A forty quid app will sell on the desktop, but even at a mere
ten quid it will struggle to sell on the iPhone.
A friend of mine - who is planning on getting an iPhone, but doesn't
have one yet - is intending to write an app that records archery scores
and wants to sell it for a tenner. I've yet to convince him that for
something that simple, he'll stuggle to get many sales at that price,
and would likely see much higher revenue at under a couple of quid.
The iPhone market is a bit weird.
James Jolley
> James Jolley <jrjo...@me.com> wrote:
>> On 2009-12-05 19:32:58 +0000, me...@privacy.net (zoara) said:
>
>>> Pzizz Sleep has just been released, and is downloading as we speak.
>>>
>>> They're both on offer on the app store at the moment; �1.79 until
>>> December 14th, then they go up to $9.99 (so probably �5.99 or
>>> thereabouts).
>>
>> Isn't that just the way? Send us you're thoughts on how you're finding
>>
>> the sleep version. The mac app for both seems the same.
>
> The sleep version is just as good as the nap version, for me. I've got
> it set to 25 minutes and have yet to hear it finish; compare that to my
> usual time to drift off, which is between one and two hours (more if I
> give up and read for a but before trying again).
Agreed. It's been very good for me also. It's obviously much better on
headphones rather than speakers for some reason.
>
> And the nap version means I can have a 20 minute kip in the afternoon if
> I need it, and actually fall asleep; without it I'd take 20 minutes just
> to doze off (and yes, it is odd that - with or without Pzizz - I fall
> asleep quicker when kipping than when sleeping; I've been known to try
> "fooling" myself that I'm just going to have a kip in order to get to
> sleep of a night).
I see what you mean. I find that the pzizz kind of sleep is much
better. If I just randomly fall asleep because of being overtired or
whatever, or if I kip in the afternoon I wake up fucked for some
reason. Pzizz kips neber do that to me, something in the sounds i'm
guessing.
>
> Both versions have been well worth the money for me.
>
>> One wonders how
>> the iPhone versions are cheaper yet we paid all that money for the OS
>> X
>> copy.
>
> It's market forces at work. Stick it at the highest price the market
> will bear. A forty quid app will sell on the desktop, but even at a mere
> ten quid it will struggle to sell on the iPhone.
Here's why I think it may not be so popular for new users when they
jack the price up. Edward Lang wrote a post on the pzizz blog about it,
complaining that many relaxation/sleep apps are just glorified cd
player type programs. Having never tried any others apart from Pzizz I
couldn't say. I hope the company still makes money in the future though.
>
> A friend of mine - who is planning on getting an iPhone, but doesn't
> have one yet - is intending to write an app that records archery scores
> and wants to sell it for a tenner. I've yet to convince him that for
> something that simple, he'll stuggle to get many sales at that price,
> and would likely see much higher revenue at under a couple of quid.
He's got no chance.
>
> The iPhone market is a bit weird.
>
> -zoara-
It is, but some people, the wolfram alpha folks can take the piss in
other respects though.
Best
-James-