I've only recently fixed the sound on my machine so that I can reliably play sound files without requiring a reboot before I start MythTV. So far I've been listening to music, but today I decided to pick up with one of the lecture series to which I'd stopped listening just a few chapters in. Very glad I did.

Having something to think about while coding is distracting when you're doing something deep and complex, but when the coding is just straightforward implementation work, there's just not enough mental stimulation. Having a political polemic going in the background is just enough to make me get into that coding "zone", where time ceases to have meaning and it seems you can code forever, where you forget about the pain in your hands and just keep hammering away until the problem unravels.

Got a large part of a fairly significant 2.0 feature implemented today. That feels good on some level. My hands aren't really happy with me, but oh well, a good day's work.