TubeNet

New York Times wrote: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.

David Herzka, a freshman at Roslyn High School on Long Island, shared the ring tone with friends.

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...

Here's an MP3 of the ringtone:

Click this

Here's the whole NYT story:

http://tinyurl.com/enyqu

If I crank the volume on my PC full up, I can just hear the tone, which cuts like a knife through my dim hearing.

I guess my hearing isn't as far gone as I thought it was. I will admit it was inaudible at low volume, but I didn't have to turn up the volume to the point where other stuff was blasting to hear it. That is assuming that the single high pitch I heard (which sounded like a concert C to me) is the "ring tone."

I've read that men's high frequency hearing goes faster than women's...so the kids better be careful who their teacher is, if they intend to use this. Even a middle-aged female teacher ought to be able to hear this; knowing what it is might be a different challenge.

Seems that having kids put their cell phones in a box at the front of the room would be the easiest solution to all this.

MA

Thanks to rock music in the 60's (among other things!), gunfire in close proxibity, and working as a radio operator in the Navy, AND the fact that I'm almost 60... I don't hear nuttin' over about 7,500hz.

http://graphics.nytimes.com/packages/au ... NGTONE.mp3

What ring tone?

Oh, there it is. I had to turn up the volume to the point I heard a hum first.

Man...... That hurt these ol' piano tuning ears! They'd better go back to the drawing board. Since many of us said we heard it, the young folks aren't going to be getting this by as many old farts as they think they might!

Mid 30's and I can hear it. Of course, I can also hear a TV or CRT when it is on even with the volume completely off - that high pitched whistle.

One thing I noticed is the position of your head in relation to the speakers is critical. There were points that positively set my teeth on edge, but move a few inches to the left or right and nothing.

I'm 43. If its turned up really loud I can hear it. My 13 yr old daughter can hear it to the point where it hurts here ears. I had her sit with her back to the computer and I slowly turned it up and when I was at the point where she could here it well I couldn't hear it at all

MartyNeilan wrote: Of course, I can also hear a TV or CRT when it is on even with the volume completely off - that high pitched whistle.

I thought I was the only one. Neat.

Doug "sold his CRT for that very reason"

ouch, that hurt my ears

Chuck(G) wrote:

New York Times wrote:...it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species...

Yeah, but not so discrete for the other students in the class. Holy crap that's loud! (to me!)

A 15 % hearing lose in one ear and spotty hearing the other .....thanks to tubes being put in my ears 3 times as a kid ....the scar tissue has hardend my ear drums ... I can barely detect the noise . Any wonder my pitch is bad ?

Doug@GT wrote:

MartyNeilan wrote: Of course, I can also hear a TV or CRT when it is on even with the volume completely off - that high pitched whistle.

I thought I was the only one. Neat.

Doug "sold his CRT for that very reason"

Up until I was about 50, I could still hear it quite plainly to the point where I could pass a room with a closed door and tell you if the TV was on. When I was in my 30's, they introduced those ultrasonic burglar alams and I could tell the store owner that he forgot to turned the damned thing off when it made my head split down the middle.

But now, thanks to modern medicine and the wonders of anithypertensives, I hear the sound all of the time. I'm told that eventually, I'll get used to it.

Chuck(G) wrote:But now, thanks to modern medicine and the wonders of anithypertensives, I hear the sound all of the time. I'm told that eventually, I'll get used to it.

Since I nailed the mountain, I've had minor second going on in my ears all the time. No one can explain to me why, but you do get "used" to it. I hardly ever notice it now, unless I thinks about it (which I am right now, thanks to this tread! )

Doug@GT wrote:

MartyNeilan wrote: Of course, I can also hear a TV or CRT when it is on even with the volume completely off - that high pitched whistle.

I thought I was the only one. Neat.

I hear it too.

The interesting thing to me is that the speaker and electronics in phones can actually reproduce the sound. Cell phone speakers are not exactly high fidelity.

Interestingly, here are the dates I saw this story at four different locations on the Net. Draw your own conclusions.

Date|Site/Email list|Location of actual story posted that day

5/28 Marginal Revolution (GeekPress)
6/12 TubeNet (NY Times)
6/14 GT Band Header (bbc [site posted in May])
6/21 Drudge (breitbart.com)

When I was student teaching, my supervising teacher told me a story about when he was student teaching with a band director who was very close to retirement.

That director was rehearsing the group, and yelled at the flutes to play softer. The flutes looked at him and pointed out that they had not even been playing.

After class, he admitted to his student teacher that he hadn't been able to hear the flutes, at all, for years.

Uncle Buck wrote:After class, he admitted to his student teacher that he hadn't been able to hear the flutes, at all, for years.

The lucky stiff!