jolouis and gerald, taking this idea one step further - how about a silence application that analyses ambient noise (e.g. ac sounds, traffic noise, etc. ) and creates opposite soundwaves to silence it until the alarm rings? this would come in handy in many hotel rooms... these are already available as stand alone appliances. - but of course a more basic version of that, a loop playing wave sounds, white noise, etc. would also be very useful.