can you hear this?

[moshquerade]

listen here. turn it up as loud as you want.

A New Ring Tone Teachers Can't Hear

Ring tones can tell a lot about someone. What 17-year-old Tyler Garner?s says about him, you can?t hear.

At least, his parents and teachers can?t.

"It?s just the right frequency so that only people under 20 can hear it", he says, and he?s right.

Students are using a new ring tone to receive messages in class ? and many teachers can't even hear the ring.

The ring tone is too high-pitched to be heard by most adults. With it, high schoolers can receive text message alerts on their cell phones without the teacher knowing.

"Make a noise what it sounds like," I ask students listening to the ring soundless to my ears. "Like a test for your ears," they respond: "EEEEEEEEEE."

Kathy Peck of Hearing Education Awareness for Rockers says, "Through noise exposure and the aging process, your hearing starts to fade a little a little."

Humans start losing their hearing ability just before they hit 20. This new ring tone clocks in at 17 kilohertz. That?s the range you have to be a teenager, or a dog, to hear.
Associated Press contributed to this report.

The ring tone is a spin-off of technology that was originally meant to repel teenagers ? not help them. A Welsh security company developed the tone to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected. The company called their product the "Mosquito."

And now, teens, as they do many times, have found a way to co-opt what was originally meant to thwart them.

Teacher Michael Rosenberg at Balboa High in San Francisco says, "When they get a phone call in class, the adults won?t hear the tone, it?s out of the adult range."

And he?s already figured out a way to get back.

"About every five minutes I?m going to say??Hey, I heard that. Turn that phone off,' even if it?s playing or not."

Of course, kids could just put their phone on vibrate, but what fun would that be. You couldn?t all laugh at the teacher knowing he or she can?t hear what you can.

http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_163203429.html

 

[pontifex]

heard about that on the radio today.

the sound was originally developed in the UK as a way for shop owners to keep kids from hanging out in front of stores. i guess they would play it and it would annoy the kids so they left.

 

[Lola]

i heard this story on my local radio station and they played the ringtone. I could not hear it... and i am only 23.
pretty interesting though.

 

[eits]

yes, i can hear it.

23 years old.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: pontifex
heard about that on the radio today.

the sound was originally developed in the UK as a way for shop owners to keep kids from hanging out in front of stores. i guess they would play it and it would annoy the kids so they left.

could you hear it on the mp3 link i posted above?

 

[iamwiz82]

I can hear it

 

[loup garou]

Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: LolaWiz
i heard this story on my local radio station and they played the ringtone. I could not hear it... and i am only 23.
pretty interesting though.

i can't hear it either.
but i have been around a lot of screeching dental equipment - so i blame that unfortunately.

 

[theknight571]

I was able to hear it.

Just barely...but I heard it.

 

[Abel007]

I can hear it as well. I'll test it here in the office to see if some of the slightly older people can hear it. (I'm 25 btw)

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

can you describe the sound?

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

It is really penetrating. It's like it rattles something deeper in my ear than normal tones.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: loup garou
Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

can you describe the sound?

It really sounds like a high-pitched dental drill.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: loup garou
Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

can you describe the sound?

It's just a very high pitched whine.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: loup garou
Godddammit I am so sick of this! Every news show has been running spots on it for the past 2 days and the sound drives me nuts (I'm 27 too).

can you describe the sound?

it's the sound your tv makes when it's on mute.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I can hear it...I'm 25.

 

[SpiderWiz]

After turning the volume all the way up, I was able to hear the sound.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: pontifex
heard about that on the radio today.

the sound was originally developed in the UK as a way for shop owners to keep kids from hanging out in front of stores. i guess they would play it and it would annoy the kids so they left.

could you hear it on the mp3 link i posted above?

just played it, i could hear it. i'm 26

 

[Umberger]

loud and clear. i can also hear the transformers on the low voltage undercabinet lighting in our house. i can hear the ultrasonic bird repeller that our neighbor has on his dock. i can hear my LCD's when you turn them on cold. i know it's a good thing to have deent hearing, but this is overkill.

 

[Whitecloak]

cant hear it.

 

[theknight571]

It's a high pitched tone/whine.

Edit:

Just thought of what it reminds me of:

A dieing CRT monitor.

I can remember hearing that high pitched whine and going around the office turning off monitors until the noise stopped.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Umberger
loud and clear. i can also hear the transformers on the low voltage undercabinet lighting in our house. i can hear the ultrasonic bird repeller that our neighbor has on his dock. i can hear my LCD's when you turn them on cold. i know it's a good thing to have deent hearing, but this is overkill.

Is it odd to hear those things? I can hear that kind of thing as well, I thought it was normal I've gotten used to constantly hearing electrical things humming like that.

 

[733SHiFTY]

I can hear it, and I'm almost 21...

does this mean I have superhuman hearing???

 

[Tremulant]

I can hear it no problem. I'm 21.

 

[Tremulant]

Originally posted by: 733SHiFTY
I can hear it, and I'm almost 21...

does this mean I have superhuman hearing???

we're mutants!!!

oh noes!!