A ringtone for school

[bwana]

A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears
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.

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."

There is a link in the article for the mp3 - alternatively - http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/audio/nyregion/20060610_RINGTONE.mp3. Enjoy

 

[Daveogg]

Oh damn i must be getting old!!

 

[bwana]

Oh damn i must be getting old!!

lol - me too Quicktime shows there's something there though - I'll ask the missus if she can hear it in the morning.

 

[sludge]

I only hear a high noise, which sort of hurts my ears... Does this mean that i'm getting old?

 

[nGAGEd55]

I can hear it loud and clear. bwana, are you serious that you cant hear it?

 

[Highflyer_GP]

Why don't they just set it to vibrate so that nobody hears anything anyway

 

[sludge]

I can hear it loud and clear. bwana, are you serious that you cant hear it?

What do you hear???

 

[w1z4rd]

thats a high pitched sound. word, nearly popped my ears! im 27, and not in 1st grade either :/

 

[sludge]

Whoohoooo!!!!!
I heard it then!!!!

 

[Highflyer_GP]

Yeah I'm guessing that sound is probably running at 20kHz, the highest frequency that humans can hear. Sounds absolutely terrible

 

[nGAGEd55]

thats a high pitched sound. word, nearly popped my ears!

same here, gonna load it onto my cellphone now and check how it sounds

 

[mooK]

It definitely doesn't sound good for your ears.

It could be used as a torture technique, forcing a prisoner to listen to it 24/7 could drive him crazy, or possibly damage his hearing.

 

[AntiThesis]

Woot! I am still young enough to hear it!

 

[Kimosabe]

I can hear it, damn and here i was thinking 23 was old

 

[w1z4rd]

Its actually a mind control device bwana made, and ure all programmed to assassinate Robert Mugabe. f00lz

 

[mooK]

Yeah, just wait for the signal. It's RPM's 702 radio interview.

 

[Debbie]

Jeepers, yes, heard that loud and clear. Actually think I'm still kinda hearing it. Probably shouldn't have played it three times in a row. Talk about a torture device!

 

[Yuu]

I couldn't hear it and i am only 20

 

[neio]

I could hear a very faint high pitched sound.

 

[bwana]

I can hear it loud and clear. bwana, are you serious that you cant hear it?

Nope cant hear it - but in my defence I'm married (for the second time) and have learned to ignore high-pitched whining.