Sound machines can block out noise

Living alone, I'm struck my how I often turn the radio on just to have some kind of sound going on. I know that many people do that with the TV, but I hate TV and somehow would find that going on in the background horrible for my nerves. I can't always stand the chatter and the ads on radio. But I also don't want much of the noise that comes from the outside, especially from cars. Personally, I think car radios should be restricted so their volume can't go any higher than what you can hear inside the car. But that would still leave noisy engines. Anyway, the solution for blocking out unwanted noise and not replacing it with a radio station going on about stuff you don't want to hear is sound machines that can make white noise. That's also good for reading, relaxing, studying, meditating and sleeping.