Why wake up to the annoying buzzer of your alarm clock, when you can let your computer play one of your favourite songs in the morning?  This is how you do it:

1. Start the Scheduled Tasks program.  (Start button -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks)
2. Drag and drop an MP3 file (or a WinAmp play list, if you have WinAmp) onto the Scheduled Tasks program.  Note that you need not have WinAmp to do this, as Windows simply runs whichever program is associated with MP3 files, which is Windows Media Player, by default.
3. You now have a new task scheduled.  Set the scheduling times of this task by right-clicking on it and selecting 'Properties'.  Note: You may have to give the password for the user who the task will be played under.

That's it!

Note:  Since you will likely wish to test this before relying on it to wake you up, you will notice that the default scheduling will start one day after the day you create the task.  So, if you want to test it out immediately, you need to schedule it to start a day earlier.

Don't forget to leave your volume up when you go to sleep.  Also, if you leave programs running that constantly make annoying sounds, like MSN Messenger, you may wish to turn these sounds off, so they do not bother you while you attempt to sleep.

About the Author:  I am Jason Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning, team-of-two indie studio concentrating on "intense retro" games (Xbox LIVE, PSN, WiiWare, and Windows PC). We've released Decimation X (XBLIG), a 1-4 player shmup, #1 best selling and #1 top rated XBLIG in Japan. We're working on Duality ZF (XBLA), a groundbreaking 1-4 player shmup, which placed #1 in Canada and #5 in the world in Microsoft's Dream Build Play 2010 contest. It features dual play, the ability to control two fighters at once, and a massively upgradable 32-stage spread/laser weapon system. 4 player dual play allows up to eight fighters at once.  Many of these features are never before seen shoot'em up firsts. Both games feature beautiful electronic Imphenzia soundtracks.  Help spread the word with our official dualityzf.com and decimationx.com websites.

P.S. Watch out for Score Rush (official website scorerush.com), another 1-4 player shmup. Coming soon to XBLIG.

*Shmup also known as: shoot'em up, 2D shooter, scrolling shooter, space shooter, spaceship shooter, retro shooter, etc.