McDonald's restaurants in Victoria

[manuel]

wouldn't a pellet gun do the job?

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by manuel

wouldn't a pellet gun do the job?

Well, a shotgun certainly would, but we are talking about a busy corner here.

[Mike K.]

Has anyone who wrote the mayor and council received a response yet?

[sebberry]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

Has anyone who wrote the mayor and council received a response yet?

Can anyone on council actually hear it? I thought they were too old?

They've probably been there to assess and discuss the situation at great length and are now wondering what all the fuss is about.

[aastra]

They've probably been there to assess and discuss the situation at great length and are now wondering what all the fuss is about.

Here's hoping they don't raise taxes so they can do a study, produce a report, and then install a buzzer on every corner in the old town.

I shouldn't even joke about it.

[Sparky]

I will try and take my 18 year old daughter there this weekend and provide an update.

[manuel]

Originally Posted by Mike K.

Has anyone who wrote the mayor and council received a response yet?

No, nothing yet from my inquiry.

[Mike K.]

A bylaw officer suggested that individuals should contact mayor and council, so those who have reached out to their elected officials are doing as they're told. We'll have to wait and see what officialdom's position on this might be.

[Sparky]

Here is a link to a site that is not a fan of the "Mosquito"

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86200

If you are over the age of 20 something and would like to hear the tone at 8 khz click on the link and "play" the 8 khz ringtone.

http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

If the device at View and Douglas is set at 17 khz that would explain why VHF and I could not hear it. I think he is old too.

[manuel]

Mike K. - was the bylaw officer old enough not to hear it as well?

[Sparky]

Take 11 minutes and watch and listen to this film clip to the end, then decide for yourself if this device has a valid use on our sidewalks.

The first 10 minutes are a bit repetitious. The last minute will enable you to understand. Don't quit too early.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...5709914839389#

If you dare to use headphones while viewing......leave them on for a few minutes after in silence.

It will be interesting to read the responses.

[victorian fan]

That's it? I could hardly hear a thing and I'm using headphones.

[martini]

Originally Posted by victorian fan

That's it? I could hardly hear a thing and I'm using headphones.

I found it ear-piercing.

[gumgum]

I can hear it. Sounds like ringing in your ears after a concert, but louder and more painful. It's a little sickening after 30 seconds.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Ow, I had to stop the video 9 minutes in. Somewhere around 8 minutes, the zzzzz noise became to intrusive that it did start to get painful. At 9 min., I thought, "forget it, I'm not doing this to myself for another 2 minutes." Jeez, what an annoying, awful thing. Should be flat-out illegal to use.

PS: the after-effect is ...um, memorable, too. Ick.

[Mike K.]

Originally Posted by manuel

Mike K. - was the bylaw officer old enough not to hear it as well?

The bylaw officer looked to be in her 40's, so probably too old to hear the tone.

[http]

Originally Posted by LJ

Doing the hearing test I found that I could hear all freqs which according to the norms I shouldn't be able to.

You're probably getting harmonic distortion (synthetic undertones) from your computer speakers. One three inch speaker can't reproduce all input accurately. My computer speakers actually produced lower frequency outputs as I increased the tones above 10 kHz.

[LJ]

Originally Posted by http

You're probably getting harmonic distortion (synthetic undertones) from your computer speakers. One three inch speaker can't reproduce all input accurately. My computer speakers actually produced lower frequency outputs as I increased the tones above 10 kHz.

I suppose that is possible but my wife couldn't hear the higher tones so I think there is some validity to it.

[Sparky]

It would appear that the "Mosquitos" at the corner of Douglas and View do not operate 24/7. My 18 year old daughter and I made a visit on Sunday at 2:00 PM. She could not hear anything and my digital decibel meter read "around 65 db", which appeared to be consistent with "ambient" readings.

[martini]

Victoria News
Mosquito buzz irks passersby
By Erin Cardone - Victoria News
Published: February 22, 2010 3:00 PM
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver.../84995317.html

Four years ago, the McDonald’s restaurant at the corner installed a Mosquito – an ultrasonic device that emits a high-frequency sound sometimes described as white noise.

The Mac’s convenience store at Douglas and Yates streets has had a Mosquito device for more than three years. The employee can swich it on for 20 minutes using a remote control if loiterers are noticed outside, Gibson said.

[Bingo]

Perhaps a customer can take a recording of the Mosquito into the restaurant, and play it while he sits with his Big Mac.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Has anyone noticed how poor quality McDonalds food is? This new buzzer is simply a warning to all to keep away from the place.

But seriously, the buzzer is a symptom of how unhealthy our society can be. Be it unhealthy food, or losers loitering on the dirty street corner.

[VicHockeyFan]

I wonder if it wasn't used until the new owners took over a few months ago. Or maybe we only noticed because of the white noise they were blasting a few weeks ago. Strange.

[http]

Originally Posted by Dylan Leblanc

Has anyone noticed how poor quality McDonalds food is? This new buzzer is simply a warning to all to keep away from the place.

But seriously, the buzzer is a symptom of how unhealthy our society can be. Be it unhealthy food, or losers loitering on the dirty street corner.

It's a classic case of trying to force a technological solution on what is, at the core, a sociological problem. Even when it does work, the side effects are worse than the problem.

The ineffectiveness of tech solutions to people problems has been humourously and truthfully summarized in the boilerplate spam solution response - IT folk got tired of having to repeat themselves every time a first-year intern came up with "the perfect way to end spam once and for all".

[Dylan Leblanc]

Originally Posted by http

It's a classic case of trying to force a technological solution on what is, at the core, a sociological problem. Even when it does work, the side effects are worse than the problem.

Yes, situations like this remind me of the song There was an old woman who swallowed a fly! How did the song end? Oh yeah, the old lady died!