NationStates Jolt Archive

COMMENTARY: So this is pretty kewl, I suppose. A ringtone that adults ( or at least most of them ) aren't suppose to be able to hear! Click on the link after the first paragraph and see if YOU can hear it. I can, although it's right at the upper limit for me.


A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/12ring.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin)


By PAUL VITELLO
Published: June 12, 2006
In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.

CAN YOU HEAR THIS: The High-Pitched Ring Tone (http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/audio/nyregion/20060610_RINGTONE.mp3) (mp3)

In settings where cellphone use is forbidden — in class, for example — it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species.

"When I heard about it I didn't believe it at first," said Donna Lewis, a technology teacher at the Trinity School in Manhattan. "But one of the kids gave me a copy, and I sent it to a colleague. She played it for her first graders. All of them could hear it, and neither she nor I could."

The technology, which relies on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, was developed in Britain but has only recently spread to America — by Internet, of course.

Recently, in classes at Trinity and elsewhere, some students have begun testing the boundaries of their new technology. One place was Michelle Musorofiti's freshman honors math class at Roslyn High School on Long Island.

At Roslyn, as at most schools, cellphones must be turned off during class. But one morning last week, a high-pitched ring tone went off that set teeth on edge for anyone who could hear it. To the students' surprise, that group included their teacher.

"Whose cellphone is that?" Miss Musorofiti demanded, demonstrating that at 28, her ears had not lost their sensitivity to strangely annoying, high-pitched, though virtually inaudible tones.

"You can hear that?" one of them asked.

"Adults are not supposed to be able to hear that," said another, according to the teacher's account.

She had indeed heard that, Miss Musorofiti said, adding, "Now turn it off."

The cellphone ring tone that she heard was the offshoot of an invention called the Mosquito, developed last year by a Welsh security company to annoy teenagers and gratify adults, not the other way around.

It was marketed as an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer designed to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected.

The principle behind it is a biological reality that hearing experts refer to as presbycusis, or aging ear. While Miss Musorofiti is not likely to have it, most adults over 40 or 50 seem to have some symptoms, scientists say.

While most human communication takes place in a frequency range between 200 and 8,000 hertz (a hertz being the scientific unit of frequency equal to one cycle per second), most adults' ability to hear frequencies higher than that begins to deteriorate in early middle age.

"It's the most common sensory abnormality in the world," said Dr. Rick A. Friedman, an ear surgeon and research scientist at the House Ear Institute in Los Angeles.

But in a bit of techno-jujitsu, someone — a person unknown at this time, but probably not someone with presbycusis — realized that the Mosquito, which uses this common adult abnormality to adults' advantage, could be turned against them.

The Mosquito noise was reinvented as a ring tone.

"Our high-frequency buzzer was copied. It is not exactly what we developed, but it's a pretty good imitation," said Simon Morris, marketing director for Compound Security, the company behind the Mosquito. "You've got to give the kids credit for ingenuity."

British newspapers described the first use of the high-frequency ring tone last month in some schools in Wales, where Compound Security's Mosquito device was introduced as a "yob-buster," a reference to the hooligans it was meant to disperse.

Since then, Mr. Morris said his company has received so much attention — none of it profit-making because the ring tone was in effect pirated — that he and his partner, Howard Stapleton, the inventor, decided to start selling a ring tone of their own. It is called Mosquitotone, and it is now advertised as "the authentic Mosquito ring tone."

David Herzka, a Roslyn High School freshman, said he researched the British phenomenon a few weeks ago on the Web, and managed to upload a version of the high-pitched sound into his cellphone.

He transferred the ring tone to the cellphones of two of his friends at a birthday party on June 3. Two days later, he said, about five students at school were using it, and by Tuesday the number was a couple of dozen.

"I just made it for my friends. I don't use a cellphone during class at school," he said.

How, David was asked, did he think this new device would alter the balance of power between adults and teenagers? Or did he suppose it was a passing fad?

"Well, probably it is," said David, who added after a moment's thought, "And if not, I guess the school will just have to hire a lot of young teachers."

Ow! fuck! Why would anyone use that? That's terrible! Ow!

:(

Ow! fuck! Why would anyone use that? That's terrible! Ow!

:(
LMAO! So now everyone is wondering if the noble Kanabia is "protesting too much!" Tsk! :D

Somebody please tell me that it's not only terribly headache-inducing but also very, very quiet - otherwise I'd have to resign myself to the fact that I'm just really, really old. :(

LMAO! So now everyone is wondering if the noble Kanabia is "protesting too much!" Tsk! :D

No, i'm serious - I had my headphones on and I had to scramble to turn it off. :(

I hear it quite well. It sucks. :p

I remember pitying my father when he couldn't hear the sound of the grasshoppers. Poor man. :(

I am living under the assumption that my speakers werent able to broadcast that sound,... :(

Otherwise I would feel old....:(

Somebody please tell me that it's not only terribly headache-inducing but also very, very quiet - otherwise I'd have to resign myself to the fact that I'm just really, really old. :(
Awww! U ain't "old" babie ... u jus' really experienced! :D

In all seriousness, if I ever hear someone using that in public, I will get involuntarily violent. :/

I'm surprised mobile phones can actually play something at that level of pitch, though.

No, i'm serious - I had my headphones on and I had to scramble to turn it off. :(
Ouch! Well, I was using speakers, fortunately. Although it sounds very, very quiet to me, it's highly irritating! Heh!

Ahhh! That's disgusting!

...

Ow.

Can you hear it Eut?

I can - it is a boring flat high pitch - very irritating.

Ouch! Well, I was using speakers, fortunately. Although it sounds very, very quiet to me, it's highly irritating! Heh!

My own stupid fault. :(

It's still pretty bad through speakers (i'm a glutton for punishment) but the headphones are a fair bit worse.

Oh, okay, turns out actually reading the article (*gasp*) helps - I'm not even close to being over 40 or 50, so I'll just blame my laptop's crappy sound. *nods*

Somebody please tell me that it's not only terribly headache-inducing but also very, very quiet - otherwise I'd have to resign myself to the fact that I'm just really, really old. :(

It isn't that loud, but it definately is audible. And annoying.

My own stupid fault. :(

It's still pretty bad through speakers (i'm a glutton for punishment) but the headphones are a fair bit worse.
Makes me glad I don't even own earphones. :)

i saw on tv this morning that some school districts are banning it. i guess thehy dont realize that cell phones come with a vibrate setting too.

no i couldnt hear it.

just tried it on my dad (55) and he couldn't hear anything. i, however, can... a bit too much (it hurts! :mad: )

Damn kids and their fancy knick-knacks.

I made a better one. (http://rapidshare.de/files/22875389/trythisone.mp3.html)

Ouch! My ears are still ringing from that tone.

Why can't students just use vibrate or, better yet, silent? If I hear that in the middle of a class, I might just get violent on the offending phone. Seriously, that tone hurts!

Damn kids and their fancy knick-knacks.
LMAO! :D

I can't hear it :( I'm only 19... Noooo. Though I suppose I have an excuse in that I'm already partially deaf.

Well, I guess I am a young 29, because I could hear. Before that eardrum piercing scream anyways. NOW I can't.

I can hear it. And I am trying to get it for my phone. Mwahahaha!

:eek:

Can that hurt dogs? My dog was in the room..

Screw that. My ears wont stop buzzing now.

It's a lie! I didn't hear anything!

I can't hear it :( I'm only 19... Noooo. Though I suppose I have an excuse in that I'm already partially deaf.

You're not missing out on much. ;)

LMAO! So now everyone is wondering if the noble Kanabia is "protesting too much!" Tsk! :D
No fuckin anoying like a broke comp monitor

What I find is that 1 device that is used to discourage teen loitering and another device that is just FOR teens use the same anoying fucking tone

I can hear it. And I am trying to get it for my phone. Mwahahaha!

:eek:

Can that hurt dogs? My dog was in the room..
Naw not enough power to "Hurt" the dog unless you crank it

Not any more then a rather low pitched dog whistle

I can hear it, much better in one ear than the other. Yay, I'm still down with the kids, even at the age of 34. Looks like my past couple of years of working at a couple of hundred gigs per annum haven't fucked up my right ear too badly.

I made a better one. (http://rapidshare.de/files/22875389/trythisone.mp3.html)

Damn! The first one was painful enough, but that one was just excruciating!

Jeez, you guys are wimps. That doesn't hurt at all.

P.S. Also, there's this setting, on phones, called "Vibrate".

This was around my school for months. Most people just use 'vibrate'- same effect, but you dont get stuff thrown at you when your mobile rings.

Wow, and I thought some of my friends had annoying ringers. That's just painful...

Funny, I'm 35, with some tinnitus in both ears but I can still hear that. A bit annoying, but not painful.

Who can hear that last high-pitched tone in the Sgt Pepper's album? Supposedly only dogs can hear it, but I can hear it just fine. Then again, it may be a thing with the CD that's different from the vynil record.

SON OF A B**CH! MY EARS! Ow, ow, ow. How can you people not hear anything!

I had my mom listen to this and she had no problems hearing it and she is 56.

I had to turn the volume on my speakers up full blast yo hear it, but then that high-pitched squeal stuck in my ears for several minutes. F---in' teenagers.

I could feel it in my brain ;_;.

Sets your teeth on edge...though there are a number of things that seem to make that very high pitched sound on occasion...appliances turning on sometimes...hard to place where it's coming from.

my ears hurt now. that's like the noise tv's and computer monitors make but amplified. nasty.

That's a good way to get tenitis(sp).

I'm approaching forty and could hear it so I don't know how accurate their assertion is, though maybe I'm still not an adult.

No, i'm serious - I had my headphones on and I had to scramble to turn it off. :(
at 30+ yrs... I heard it without headphones and it was annoying.

I can hear it perfectly fine.

Does that mean I'm still a "youngster" at 20? Good, who wants to be an adult :p

Sounds awful though. Who would use it? Idiots, that's who.

Same sound a crappy tv makes when there is too much white to refresh. Well, that sound mixed with a dentist drill.

My poor ears...

That made my teeth hurt, eyes water, and sinuses clog up....jesus, just put the phone on vibrate.






I can't wait to try that on my husband at home, maybe it will stop him snoring at night

What an annoying pitch - If I should ever hear anything like that in class, someone's in trouble!

I can't wait to try that on my husband at home, maybe it will stop him snoring at night
Don't. It'll give him nightmares :eek:

Oof, that sound hurts.

ouch!
that should clean out some earwax...

Looks like the Ringtone Adults are not suppose to hear is turning out to be a BUST! :D

Wonder how many other teens are finding this out in class...

This reminds me of that little speaker some stores in the UK have put up outside their doors: They play that high-pitched tone all the time and kids loitering there are soon annoyed and leave. Older customers can't hear the sound and thus it doesn't drive'em away.

As for my ears - I hope they stay as finely tuned as they are right now for a long time!

i can hear it fine... i have headphones n its not THAT bad. My mom can hear it too though :( not sure about my dad yet.

I love it.
How can that possibly hurt your people's ears?

Its a high pitched rigning noise.... It didint hurt mine but others have diffrent speaker settings

Of course I can hear it. I'm only 36, after all.

But it's hardly painful. It sounds exactly like the old black & white televisions used to sound once they'd warm up.

That really is annoying.

Hmm, where does one download this to their cellphone for free? :confused:

I googled it and the price is $3, not worth it.

I tried it, and I could hear it...so could my parents and my dog, but he (my dog) was the only one it bothered. I fail to see how that could be used as a teen repellant.

Uh... I can see how that would get annoying after a while. What was really weird was that I could feel the sound in my throat, and it kept making me want to swallow. :eek:

Meh, I guess I didn't find it that bad as I normally have my speakers turned down quite low. I think I have ears that are fairly sensitive and don't need things to be loud to hear them. Though if things get too loud I completely can't hear. Everything just becomes one huge blur of noise. It's why I don't really like clubs or gigs - it's all just too loud for me.

BWAHAHAHA

I can hear it.
I CAN keep telling my students, "I'm blind, not deaf. Turn it off!"


Incidentally, so could my cat who took off with a short "YA!" and my fish, who went into full on threat display (he's a betta).

I was playing with the Generate Tone feature of Audacity and stopped hearing at around 19,500 Hz. Not too bad, I guess.

BWAHAHAHA

I can hear it.
I CAN keep telling my students, "I'm blind, not deaf. Turn it off!"


Incidentally, so could my cat who took off with a short "YA!" and my fish, who went into full on threat display (he's a betta).I Thought animals would hear it. but never figured on your beta...

keep one in the classroom... then you can use that to impress your students even when you can't hear it. :D

I was playing with the Generate Tone feature of Audacity and stopped hearing at around 19,500 Hz. Not too bad, I guess.

Woah...That frequency has a weird lag effect on me.

(but for the record, it still didn't hurt...wimps.)

I can hear it, but it's nearing the upper limits.

Stupid 19,500...I kept listening and now my right eyball lost focus. :cool:

Muah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!! now we can turn our cell phones n in class!!!!!! :D

But if it's that high-pitched, then screw it. I hate high-pitched noises, unless I'm playing my flute.

Damn! The first one was painful enough, but that one was just excruciating!

Mwahahahahahahaa. :D

Muah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!! now we can turn our cell phones n in class!!!!!! :D

But if it's that high-pitched, then screw it. I hate high-pitched noises, unless I'm playing my flute.
V-I-B-R-A-T-E

I still hear high pitch noises. If I couldn't, I'd love this. As it is... well, I have had an established procedure for dealing with mosqitos ever since I visited a malaria infested region. Crunch.

Of course I can hear it. I'm only 36, after all.

But it's hardly painful. It sounds exactly like the old black & white televisions used to sound once they'd warm up.
I can hear it too--and I think it's horribly annoying!

It does indeed sound like a TV. Not just a black & white one, either--I have a color one that's about 8 years old...the pitch is only a shade different. Which is one of the reasons I hate TV, and can't even be in the same room as that set when it's on.

That's friggin' awful. :mad:

I need to listen to more loud music and deaden my ears.

Oh gawd...it's that TV noise !! >.<

Even when I don't think I can hear that noise, I can FEEL it...

What happened to the good old Batman Tune?:(

Has nobody else noticed that the tone isn't 17k, but instead 15k?

Has nobody else noticed that the tone isn't 17k, but instead 15k?

The one I posted earlier was 14k...

The technology, which relies on the fact that most adults gradually lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, was developed in Britain but has only recently spread to America — by Internet, of course.


Holy crap, WHAT is going to happen to my hearing?

...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo!

...

/ goes to listen to the mp3

Good lord, what the heck was that? I was expecting, you know. Something that sounded like a phone ringing.

Holy crap, WHAT is going to happen to my hearing?

The tiny nerves that vibrate like a guitar string when a sound reaches them are going to start to break, starting with the ones for high frequencies. They're the tiniest.

This happens because of exposure to noise. However, you can do a lot to protect your hearing. People from quiet places, especially underdeveloped countries where they have no exposure to loud, continous noise, can live to old age with perfect hearing.

The tiny nerves that vibrate like a guitar string when a sound reaches them are going to start to break, starting with the ones for high frequencies. They're the tiniest.

This happens because of exposure to noise. However, you can do a lot to protect your hearing.

However, the top octave of human hearing is the one we make least use of anyhow (except for possibly the lowest one, but we are able to feel noises down there through our body regardless of whether we can hear them), and so loss of hearing above 10k is not a great disaster. The loss of the ability to hear bats' lower frequency outputs is probably the only thing I'll miss - the rest of noises up at that frequency range in our modern society are normally accidental ones, such as the whines of electrical power supplies.

I made a better one. (http://rapidshare.de/files/22875389/trythisone.mp3.html)

Kanabia, you sick, twisted villain.



This happens because of exposure to noise. However, you can do a lot to protect your hearing. People from quiet places, especially underdeveloped countries where they have no exposure to loud, continous noise, can live to old age with perfect hearing.


Heh. :)

My friend informs me that this kind of noise was originally used to scatter teenagers loitering around in places where they shouldn't be loitering.

You know, this would make a great fundraiser at high schools. The administration could just feed this through over the intercom, and then say "GIVE US YOUR LUNCH MONEY OR SUFFER THE PAIN!"

Fergi America']I can hear it too--and I think it's horribly annoying!

It does indeed sound like a TV. Not just a black & white one, either--I have a color one that's about 8 years old...the pitch is only a shade different. Which is one of the reasons I hate TV, and can't even be in the same room as that set when it's on.
That noise is so annoying, and my 7 year old tv makes the same pitch only louder. I can barely stand watching tv because of that noise.

the rest of noises up at that frequency range in our modern society are normally accidental ones, such as the whines of electrical power supplies.
But I like being able to hear that, lets me know when something is on or connected.

Some sounds in speech can get hard to distinguish after some high frequency loss, like p and b.

Im not old, but my hearing has been brutalized by too many years of guitars, PA sytems, and drums at brutal levels.
These days, when playing music, I have to use earplugs or I get ringing in my ears for hours afterwards.

Didnt hear a thing.

Oh thank god I can hear that... Its not to bad!
Seems a neat experiment too, determine where your hearing is... I give out at 19k according to a nifty java program i found, but i guess thats the price one to many shows eh?

Oh thank god I can hear that... Its not to bad!
Seems a neat experiment too, determine where your hearing is... I give out at 19k according to a nifty java program i found

Care to linky?