2 March 2007 in Business, Mindscape | Comments enabled
One of the things that we’ve been thinking about a lot with the creation of Mindscape is how we can create an environment that is condusive to great software development.
One of the cool things in my opinion is our sound system. We have a stereo system that is driven from a server running WinAmp so we always have some quiet tunes playing in the background. Sounds simple enough right? To add our own flavour of geek to this setup, JB has used WCF and hooked into the WinAmp API to allow control of the music from each of the development machines at Mindscape.
What is really cool about this is that it enables everyone to have a say about the music that’s playing – song, volume etc. This works well when somebody gets a phone call, anyone can reduce the volume without leaving their desk.
The source code is of course available in our company repository so anybody can make changes to the functionality if they want. JB delivered a command line version of the system, Andrew is developing a WinForms version and I’m creating an ASP.NET(with AJAX Extensions) version for fun.
That’s just one of many things we’ve done, there is plenty more to do though. In terms of creating a fantastic working environment, what would you have?
- JD
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5 comments. Add your own comment.
Haydn Thomsen says 2 March 2007 @ 13:21
You’re right – you certainly have added a geek flavour to your sound system. But that’s way cool.
In my dream office, I would make it somewhere I’d like to hang out. Music definitely and maybe couches, art and plants might help.
I’d also like some privacy – not necessarily offices, but not having to stare lovingly into the eyes of my colleagues either. And a large enough desk that I can have my colleagues (or clients) sit or collaborate with me – or for pair programming if you’re a geek (Err. Developer
Tokes says 5 March 2007 @ 15:49
You guys are truly an inspiration. Mindscape’s still wearing pull-ups and you guys have already built a company that allows the entire workforce to geek out on software to remotely control the sounds!
What’s the secret?
traskjd says 5 March 2007 @ 16:04
Sarcasm aside, it just didn’t take too long to write
The opportunities to explore some of these sorts of things is fantastic.
Cheers for dropping by Tokes
– JD
James Newton-King says 5 March 2007 @ 16:48
I’ll be impressed when you add Windows Workflow Foundation to control song approval
Tokes says 5 March 2007 @ 17:19
Seriously – always good to hear what you guys are up to. Nice that you’re back in the blogging mindset too JD – always a good read.
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