NOFX
06-01-2006, 06:08 AM
Pupils perform 'alarming' feat
Wednesday, May 24, 2006 (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=14031&in_page_id=2)
A high-pitched alarm which cannot be heard by adults has been hijacked by schoolchildren to create ringtones so they can get away with using phones in class.
Techno-savvy pupils have adapted the Mosquito alarm, used to drive teenage gangs away from shopping centres.
The alarm, which has been praised by police, is highly effective because its ultra-high sound can be heard only by youths but not by most people over 20.
Schoolchildren have recorded the sound, which they named Teen Buzz, and spread it from phone to phone via text messages and Bluetooth technology.
Now they can receive calls and texts during lessons without teachers having the faintest idea what is going on.
A secondary school teacher in Cardiff said: 'All the kids were laughing about something, but I didn't know what. They know phones must be turned off during school. They could all hear somebody's phone ringing but I couldn't hear a thing.
'One of the other children told me all about it later. I couldn't be too cross, because it shows resourcefulness.'
The Mosquito technology is said to play on a medical phenomenon called presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss.
It is thought to begin at 20 and first affect the highest frequencies – 18 to 20kHz.
The device was developed by Merthyr Tydfil-based Compound Security.
Boss Howard Stapleton said: 'I think it is a giggle. A teacher would be able to hear the sound only from 1m away. Teenagers could hear it from much further away.'
Here's the tone in case anyone wants to see if they can hear it.
http://lm2005.googlepages.com/highfreq1.mp3
http://files.redvsblue.com/TeenBuzz.mp3
http://www.savefile.com/files.php?fid=6469525
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0XJENM4F
http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=3849
The website for the company that produces the Mosquito: http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/
I can hear it a bit on the first link but not the second. Weird too... I hear the high pitched white noise from nearly everything electronic in the room.
Also, it's been pointed out that at least some cell phones aren't capable of putting out frequencies this high. I've seen some people say some phones can or if you mess with the phone you can play higher frequency sounds. Also, it seems at least some people are saying you can't hear it or can't hear it well on the computer, but if you put the tone on a phone they can hear it.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006 (http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=14031&in_page_id=2)
A high-pitched alarm which cannot be heard by adults has been hijacked by schoolchildren to create ringtones so they can get away with using phones in class.
Techno-savvy pupils have adapted the Mosquito alarm, used to drive teenage gangs away from shopping centres.
The alarm, which has been praised by police, is highly effective because its ultra-high sound can be heard only by youths but not by most people over 20.
Schoolchildren have recorded the sound, which they named Teen Buzz, and spread it from phone to phone via text messages and Bluetooth technology.
Now they can receive calls and texts during lessons without teachers having the faintest idea what is going on.
A secondary school teacher in Cardiff said: 'All the kids were laughing about something, but I didn't know what. They know phones must be turned off during school. They could all hear somebody's phone ringing but I couldn't hear a thing.
'One of the other children told me all about it later. I couldn't be too cross, because it shows resourcefulness.'
The Mosquito technology is said to play on a medical phenomenon called presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss.
It is thought to begin at 20 and first affect the highest frequencies – 18 to 20kHz.
The device was developed by Merthyr Tydfil-based Compound Security.
Boss Howard Stapleton said: 'I think it is a giggle. A teacher would be able to hear the sound only from 1m away. Teenagers could hear it from much further away.'
Here's the tone in case anyone wants to see if they can hear it.
http://lm2005.googlepages.com/highfreq1.mp3
http://files.redvsblue.com/TeenBuzz.mp3
http://www.savefile.com/files.php?fid=6469525
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0XJENM4F
http://www.wikiupload.com/download_page.php?id=3849
The website for the company that produces the Mosquito: http://www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/
I can hear it a bit on the first link but not the second. Weird too... I hear the high pitched white noise from nearly everything electronic in the room.
Also, it's been pointed out that at least some cell phones aren't capable of putting out frequencies this high. I've seen some people say some phones can or if you mess with the phone you can play higher frequency sounds. Also, it seems at least some people are saying you can't hear it or can't hear it well on the computer, but if you put the tone on a phone they can hear it.