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The sound on my computer is not working properly. When I play mp3, mov, wav, wmv, wma, rm, and avi files, there is a beeping/crackling noise. Most of the time the jibberish noise is complete. Sometimes, a bit of the intended audio can be heard through the beeping/crackling. The only audio that plays well is from YouTube videos and .flv files. I have a Creative SoundBlaster Audigy sound card. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers for the sound card with no success. I have removed the sound card and reseated it with no success. My speakers are 6.1 Cambridge...

Earth 'noise' could attract alien invaders 03 May 2008 From New Scientist Print Edition. No matter how quiet we try to be now it's too late to prevent alien invaders. So says Alexander Zaitsev of the Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics in Moscow, Russia, who points the finger at astronomers. For 40 years, astronomers have fired microwaves off objects to chart near-Earth space and track the movement of close asteroids - and these signals are traceable back to us. By comparison, Zaitsev says, dedicated transmissions - often described as "shouting into an unknown jungle" - are a mere whisper....

Their high-pitched skirl has put fear into the hearts of Scotland’s enemies and sent sensitive tourists reaching for the cotton wool. Now, however, the bagpipes are to be quietened by an edict from Brussels. From this month, pipers must adhere to strict volume limits or risk breaking European Union health and safety laws. Bands have been ordered to tone down or wear earplugs to limit noise exposure to 85 decibels. Typically, a pipe band played at full volume peaks at 122 decibels outdoors, noisier than the sound of either a nightclub or a chainsaw, which rises to 116 decibels. The...

A Piney Woods retreat that has hosted national church conferences on controversial issues, celebrated the consecration of bishops and provided summer memories for thousands of teens now faces another kind of challenge. The nearly two square miles of forest, hills, fields, lakes and buildings that make up Camp Allen Conference & Retreat Center, 15 miles southeast of Navasota, lie in a two-mile-wide strip listed in state documents as the preferred route for the planned Interstate 69/Trans-Texas Corridor. Proposed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2002, the corridor plan has drawn heated opposition at town hall meetings and public hearings throughout Southeast...

Weekend work on new homes and remodels in Boulder's neighborhoods could become a thing of the past if a proposal to limit residential construction to weekdays advances. snip p> snip Kathryn Keller, who wrote an e-mail to (city councilwoman)Osborne asking for help, said the intense impacts from living next to a major construction project wouldn't be unbearable if neighbors had quiet and peaceful weekends to recuperate. "Working those extra two days to fast-track this project to get it done for these rich people is what has pushed so many people in the neighborhood over the brink," she said. "You're woken...

FOLSOM, Pennsylvania (AP) -- The skies won't seem especially friendly to anyone taking off from Philadelphia International Airport if they notice what a suburban couple wrote on the roof of their home. "(Expletive) U FAA," the message reads, though one letter of the profane word is substituted with an underline. Below that it is a picture of a plane with a slash through it and the words "no fly zone." Homeowner Michael Hall and his girlfriend, Michaelene Buddy, are angry that jets have been flying over their house since last month, when the Federal Aviation Administration altered departures heading out...

MILWAUKEE - Cities from New York to Denver are giving motorcyclists the silent treatment. That worries riders rights groups, which fear that a wave of ordinances aimed at muffling Harley-Davidsons, hushing Hondas and stifling Suzukis will create a confusing patchwork of laws that motorcyclists won't be able to navigate. The motorcycle industry is concerned it could turn these frustrated riders away. 'From our perspective, this creates enormous problems for us because people notice the one motorcycle that makes a lot of noise,' said Bill Wood, spokesman for the American Motorcyclist Association. 'They don't notice the 50 that pass that don't....

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- A Waukesha woman who claims she's a witch was arrested on suspicion of disturbing her neighbors, police said. Neighbors along a typically quiet Waukesha street said they woke up just after midnight Tuesday to quite a commotion, reported WISN-TV in Milwaukee. "All of a sudden I'm seeing flashing lights, firecrackers and all sorts of stuff," said neighbor Vicki Denova. Investigators said Brenna Barney is a Wicca and was practicing a religious ritual because of a new moon. Police said it involved a bon fire in a pit and witch chants. "Literally, we saw her take a doll,...

50 Cent believes his new album will outsell Kanye West's upcoming disc, and he's betting his solo career on it. Both 50 Cent and West have albums due out Sept. 11. 50 Cent, who has sold better than West, has been riled by forecasts that sales of West's "Graduation" could rival those for his "Curtis" CD. "Let's raise the stakes," the 31-year-old rapper told hip-hop Web site SOHH.com in an interview posted Friday. "If Kanye West sells more records than 50 Cent on September 11, I'll no longer write music. I'll write music and work with my other artists, but...

BELMAR, N.J. - How serious is Belmar about cracking down on noise after dark? Just ask Joseph Palermo, who was fined $572 for letting a woman ring the bell on his bicycle. Of course, it was 1:45 a.m. and he had already been warned by police twice to stop. "I just think it's funny that they can do that," said Palermo, a 22-year-old surfer from Kapaa, Hawaii who is spending the summer working on a scallop boat based in Brielle and is staying with friends in Belmar. But the borough is strictly enforcing its quality of life ordinances, particularly those...

NEW YORK (AP) - Dave Legeret silently fumed as the man seated beside him on the plane blasted techno music on his iPod at full volume. "It was kind of rude," recalled Legeret, 38, a jewelry designer from Sandy Hook, Conn., who was forced to listen while flying from New York City to Disney World with his wife and 8-year-old son. "Listen to it at a level that just you can hear it and everyone else doesn't have to be subject to it." Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s ubiquitous iPod is best known as an instrument of solitude - unless the user...

NEW YORK - Authorities issued more than three dozen summonses — including at least one to an ice cream truck driver — in the first five days of a new noise ordinance, a newspaper reported Friday. Some 38 citations were issued Sunday alone, according to The New York Times. The report said authorities did not provide a complete tally of summonses issued since the regulations took effect July 1. Costas "Gus" Vamvakas received a citation while on his rounds in a Mr. Softee truck in Queens on Wednesday. The new rules require the popular ice cream chain to stop playing...

Bayville couple in hot water over pool noise A Bayville couple could face jail time because angry neighbors claim their daughters play too loudly in their backyard. William and Rachel Poczatek must enter a plea in village court today after their neighbors complained to the village that the Poczateks' two daughters, aged 5 and 11, were making too much noise around the family's pool. "I don't know what kind of solution there is," said Rachel Poczatek, 43. "Should I muzzle my children?" The couple is charged with violating a noise code aimed at "the shouting and crying of peddlers, hawkers...

SPYING is big business, and avoiding being spied on an even bigger one. So imagine if someone came up with a simple, cheap way of encrypting messages that is almost impossible to hack into? American computer engineer Laszlo Kish at Texas A&M University in College Station claims to have done just that. He says the thermal properties of a simple wire can be exploited to create a secure communications channel, one that outperforms quantum cryptography keys. His cipher device, which he first proposed in 2005, exploits a property called thermal noise. Thermal noise is generated by the natural agitation of...

FORT HUACHUCA — The sounds of battle are strong enough to unnerve soldiers — the two-legged variety and the four-legged ones. Not too long ago, a military team from this Army post was the victim of an improvised explosive device that hit the vehicle they were in while deployed to Afghanistan, where they arrived early last year. Staff Sgt. Ruben Alaniz and his four-footed partner Anka received slight concussions, and it is thought this may have led the specialized search dog to become hesitant in performing her duties and become a little aggressive. She had found a number of devices....

1 The Velvet Underground and Nico The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967) Though it sold poorly on its initial release, this has since become arguably the most influential rock album of all time. The first art-rock album, it merges dreamy, druggy balladry ('Sunday Morning') with raw and uncompromising sonic experimentation ('Venus in Furs'), and is famously clothed in that Andy Warhol-designed 'banana' sleeve. Lou Reed's lyrics depicted a Warholian New York demi-monde where hard drugs and sexual experimentation held sway. Shocking then, and still utterly transfixing. Without this, there'd be no ... Bowie, Roxy Music, Siouxsie and the Banshees and...

Tampa Bay, Florida - Take a look at this police video. Watch as police pull over a man for speeding and a loud stereo. You'll see as the man gets belligerent - it seems he thinks that noise laws should not apply to what he is listening to. During this stop, the man that was pulled over for speeding explains to the officer, that wasn't listening to rap, and he wasn't listening to rock and roll. He opines that since he was listening to Bill O'Reilly, that it was ok to have it at top decibel. The officer explains differently.

For Cindy Nooney's 3-year-old twin boys, playing with the Thomas the Train set at their local bookstore in Southern California is a major thrill. Jack and Sam push Thomas, Arthur and friends down the track, they run around the table, jump up and down — and, of course, they squeeeaal. Nooney expects as much in the children's section of the store. But on a recent afternoon, she was surprised by an employee who confronted her, calling her darling Jack a tyrant. "He was a little loud but this is a children's section," says Nooney. "They run a noisy, cavernous bookstore...

Among the most noteworthy performances at Lollapalooza 2006 were the biggest hometown shows ever performed by the two most successful rappers Chicago has produced -- Common and Kanye West -- and the first appearance here by French-Latin giant Manu Chao, a heroic figure in the Latin music community. Unfortunately, the crowd of about 50,000 that watched West perform was almost exclusively white, and hardly a mirror image of his hometown or his fan base. And many Latin music fans felt excluded from Chao's show and hurt by a contract that prohibited him from performing elsewhere in the city during his...

Anyone interested in watching the rock group, The Who, perform an entire concert online for FREE, check out the website www.thewholive.tv - follow the links to see the show. I watched the Hyde Park show yesterday and it was fantastic !! Just a FYI for some Who fans or rock fans !! Today's show starts at approx. 4 pm EST and two others on July 5, 6 for free. It's a good deal to watch one of the greatest rock bands ever !!

TOOL have been confirmed as direct support for METALLICA on August 15 at the Jamsil Olympic Main Stadium in Seoul, Korea. This concert will mark TOOL's first-ever Korean appearance and METALLICA's first show in the country since April 1998. More support bands will be announced soon. Tickets are available at this location. TOOL's fourth full-length album, "10,000 Days", debuted at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and has sold one million copies in the seven weeks since its release. METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told England's BBC Radio 1 that the group's new album is likely to be released in the...

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2006 – Dads of the Offutt Air Force Base community in Nebraska are in for a special Father's Day treat, the Spirit of America Tour founder and president said. Country music favorite Charlie Daniels (left) and Spirit of America founder and president Robert Rosenthal chat on stage at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., during Daniels' concert in 2003. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thanks to Spirit, and a well-timed break in her tour schedule, country music star Jo Dee Messina will have a "meet and greet" with the troops before performing a free concert...

It's party time―again. It's time for all the good, little, right-wing boys and girls of the OC, Inland Empire, and Central Valley to strut their stuff at the California Republican Party convention―again. Seriously, how many of these things do these guys have every year? Still, this one ought to be interesting. The PPIC poll out today shows Schwarzenegger has failed to gain traction with the public, despite his infrastructure bond marketing tour. In fact, Arnold's approval rating has tumbled down to 35 percent among all adults, dropping five points since January. Arnold was hemorrhaging support from the left and the...

BISBEE — Not everybody was listening to President Bush’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night. In Bisbee’s Goar Park, a group of about 50 anti-Bush protesters “made a joyful noise to drown out Bush’s lies,” according to organizer Mary Elinor “Walking Mary” Adams, 65. The festive din poured up Brewery Gulch. Children joined in the noisy chorus. Coffee and refreshments were served. “Today, I’m with the people who speak the truth,” Adams said as her friend Beverly “Bobo” Quick, 60, danced nearby, smacking a tambourine on hip and hand. Local jewelry maker Joe Hogan, 70, wearing a Tibetan hat,...

A shop manager's annoyance over problem teenagers hanging around his store is being tackled head on with a noise nuisance device. The Mosquito, which sends out high-pitched soundwaves, is persuading gangs to move on. Robert Gough, who runs the Spar shop in Barry, says the new nine-inch box is a success. As treasurer of PACT (Preventing Anti-Social Crime Together), Mr Gough hopes more businesses will be helped. It's like a buzzing noise. I didn't know where it was coming from, it's not terrible. Shopper Gerda Hunt The box, placed on the outside wall of the store, emits an 80-decibel pulsing...

Welsh inventor's 'mosquito' makes noisy teens buzz off A Welsh inventor claims to have found the perfect solution to rowdy youngsters: noise. Howard Stapleton says his device, the "mosquito", emits an uncomfortable high-pitched ultrasonic sound that can be heard by children and teenagers, but almost no one over 30. It has successfully driven away noisy teens from a grocery store in the Welsh town of Barry and a shop in Stapleton's home town Merthyr Tydfil, making smoking, lounging and foul-mouthed youths a thing of the past.

The difference between Langley Air Force Base and Oceana Naval Air Station on the base closure list is a case of sound and fury. Every nine minutes or so, an F-15 or F/A-22 comes in over Back River at about 245 mph on a path that's gradual and shallow and which leads to the softest, quietest touchdown possible. Col. Tom Tinsley calls it a "don't-spill-the-coffee-on-the-guy-in-first-class" landing. The pilot cuts power, works the brakes and eventually coasts to a stop on an adjoining concrete parking lot. Langley Air Force base has received five complaints this year from people who say their...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner (202) 224-2633 This is a critical moment for this country¹s future. If John Roberts is confirmed, he will have a vital role in setting the direction of the country for generations to come. The Supreme Court is often the last line of defense for the freedoms and liberties for hundreds of millions of Americans. Few responsibilities of the Senate are more important than reviewing the qualifications of nominees for the Supreme Court. Every Senator, Republican or Democrats, has a responsibility to determine whether Mr. Roberts deserves to join the currently closely divided court...

Light Speed a Barrier? To go, the children of tomorrow may have had to discover what is believed impossible today -- how to travel faster than light. Mel Zisfein, deputy director of the national Air and Space Museum, and an aerosynamicist amoung other things, has noted a similarity between the way most people today regard "C," the speed of light, and the way many people a generation or so ago regarded "a", the speed of sound. For this publication, he sketched the illustrations which appear on the following page, and drafted the following... "Some people used to look at...

N. Korean ferry granted port access after giving assurances on music NIIGATA, May 27 Kyodo - A North Korean ferry received permission Friday to use the Niigata port on its upcoming visit after the ferry operator said the ship will refrain from playing loud music. The 9,672-ton Mangyongbong-92 is usually greeted by Japanese nationalists blaring anti-Korean slogans during its calls at the port. Niigata Prefecture issued the port-call permit after the Pyongyang-based operator said it ''will have the ferry exercise self-restraint,'' prefectural officials said.

1. Ethel Merman Ethel Merman (1908-1984) sang such hits as "There's no Business Like Show Business" and "Everything's Coming Up Roses". Ethel Agnes Zimmerman was born at 359 4th Avenue in Astoria, Queens, in her grandmother's house. She has been called the loudest woman in show business, and she probably was! 2. Macy Gray The first time I heard Macy Gray song on the radio, I thought a baby was singing. Well, not really. I suppose I though she was a toddler. When I first saw her on television, I thought she was a Saturday Night Live parody of a...

When he began his quest for a quieter, cleaner city months ago, little did Stephen Rueff know he'd run into throngs of people who believe they have a right to bear leaf blowers. But oh, they're out there, legions who think that the roar of the leaf blower is the sound of liberty. "It's pretty interesting," Rueff said. "There are people who don't accept the notion of a greater good. They don't see that what happens on their own property impacts their neighbor." He's still on his quest, saying the more people learn about leaf blowers, the less they defend...

Toledo City Council is considering an ordinance that could put landlords in jail if their tenants hold too many loud parties. The proposal, which is tougher than either the Athens, Ohio, or Bowling Green ordinances upon which it is based, is an attempt to crack down on student parties in the residential neighborhoods around the University of Toledo, but would apply citywide. "This ordinance addresses the egregious examples of parties and gatherings that are literally out of control," District 5 Councilman Ellen Grachek said. Co-sponsoring the measure are District 1 Councilman Wilma Brown and at-large Councilman George Sarantou. A landlords'...

FCC commissioners yesterday unanimously approved rules for broadband over power line (BPL) technology, which policymakers hope will provide the elusive third broadband access line into most U.S. homes and reduce—or eliminate—the need to regulate the broadband industry. Certainly the most outspoken opposition to BPL has come from the amateur radio community, which has claimed that BPL will create interference with its operations. FCC Chairman Michael Powell called amateur radio operators “an important resource” and expressed hope that the rules the FCC has created will protect them, but he said obstructing the deployment of BPL is not an option. “The potential...

The shooting range at Michigan Department of Natural Resources' Island Lake State Recreation Area must comply with Green Oak Township's noise ordinance, a judge has ruled. Livingston County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Burress Thursday signed a preliminary injunction ordering the DNR to comply with the ordinance, which limits noise to 65 decibels. "We're very, very happy the judge took that stance with it, we really think he's for the people," said Marilyn Carr, a nearby resident who has been one of the most vocal in complaining about the noise levels. If the state does not comply, a court hearing will...

Boycott call not hurting rally interest By Bill Cissell, Journal Staff Writer STURGIS - A call by some motorcycle riders for a boycott of the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally doesn't seem to have hurt interest, and this year's event may be one of the largest in the 64-year history of the August gathering, local and state officials say. This year's rally officially runs Aug. 9-15, but the weeks immediately before and after the rally typically are only a little less hectic. The calls for the boycott came in protest of the sentencing of former Rep. Bill Janklow, R-S.D., for the...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A Swedish woman, tired of the noise made by her amorous neighbors in the apartment above, took her quest for some peace and quiet to an official environmental health committee. Jon Persson, who works with the local health committee in Simrishamn, some 382 miles south of the capital, Stockholm, said Thursday that the woman said she was "distressed, angry and tense all over" because her neighbors make love loudly almost nightly. He said it was the first time he can recall such a complaint ever being filed in the Scandinavian country. Typically, most disputes get settled...

Opera-fan judge makes guilty face the music Noise violators earful in Miami Beach By Amie Parnes, Globe Correspondent | April 22, 2004 MIAMI BEACH - Ricky Libutti stood up, faced the judge, and pleaded guilty to cranking up a hip-hop beat after midnight as he cruised down Washington Avenue in his Acura Integra. Judge Jeffrey Swartz offered what must have seemed a Hobson's choice to the 19-year-old with a crew cut and a love for what he called "conscious hip hop." "You can either pay a fine," the judge told Libutti, "or you can spend a leisurely 2 1/2 hours...

Futurism was an international art movement founded in Italy in 1909. It was (and is) a refreshing contrast to the weepy sentimentalism of Romanticism. The Futurists loved speed, noise, machines, pollution, and cities; they embraced the exciting new world that was then upon them rather than hypocritically enjoying the modern world?s comforts while loudly denouncing the forces that made them possible. Fearing and attacking technology has become almost second nature to many people today; the Futurist manifestos show us an alternative philosophy. Too bad they were all Fascists. TO THE YOUNG ARTISTS OF ITALY! The cry of rebellion which...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - After 17 years of relative quiet, Mother Nature is bringing the noise. Periodical cicadas, a species of the grasshopper-like insects best known for the scratching, screeching "singing" of the males, will emerge this May, filling forests in more than a dozen states. Almost as abruptly as they arrive, they'll disappear underground for another 17 years. "Why do certain insects take only one year to develop, and others take two or three? It's just part of their genetic programming," said Greg Hoover, senior extension entomologist for Penn State University. There are at least 13 broods of 17-year...

Just heard & felt a huge noise here in Las Vegas. My wife & I felt the house shake. My wife has been through many earthquakes in CA and she said it sounded like a "popper" type of quake. I ran outside & looked around 360 degrees and did not see or hear anything. I looked to the direction of McCarran thinking a plane explosion but nothing there either. Anyone else see or hear anything. It was big and since I work out of my home, I've never heard or felt anything like this in LV.

Secret Service Probes Eminem 'Bush Threat' By Mark Sage, PA News, in New York The United States presidential bodyguard said today it was examining lyrics by rap star Eminem to see whether he had threatened George Bush. The Secret Service confirmed it was probing lyrics by the controversial artist, who says in a song: “I’d rather see the president dead.” The words to the song, We As Americans, are available on the internet and have not been released by the award-winning rap artist. Eminem says in the song: “F*** money, I don’t rap for dead presidents. I’d rather see the...

A new shock song from rapper Eminem wishes the president dead, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned...

Stop The Noise Aircraft Noise Battle Becomes Lawsuit... A long-simmering feud over aerobatic flying near busy Hanscom Field, just outside Boston, Mass., has reached a new level, as a group of local residents is pressing a million-dollar lawsuit against several pilots based at the airport, alleging that they are creating a noise nuisance. One of the pilots named in the suit, Steve Pennypacker, told AVweb yesterday that he and his partners are planning to sell their airplane, as a direct result of the pressure. "Flying is just a hobby for me," he said, "but my concern is that this can...

<p>The ear-blasting takeoffs of military fighter jets at suburban Scottsdale Airport have residents buzzing and city officials flying off.</p> <p>Six fighter jets in three formations of two and another pair of fighters have roared into the general aviation airport in recent weeks for refueling stops.</p>

Roaming America's back roads and byways over the past two years, I've noticed an alarming development: Christian supply stores continue to proliferate. They're springing up all over the hinterland, a rural aberration of our vapid consumer culture wherein all things marketable, including Jesus Christ and Christianity, have been reduced to their shrink-wrapped lowest common denominator. When I finally stumbled across the Wholesale Christian Supply Factory Outlet Store in rural Idaho, I thought I'd seen it all, yet I didn't actually go inside this particular store, I just sat in the back of the parking lot where my peripheral vision could...

AUGUSTA — Don't blame earthquakes for the rattles and rolls that shook buildings and shook up people in the middle of the afternoon Friday. The definitive word from the National Earthquake Information Center in Boulder, Colo., is that the three shakes and booms were not caused by earthquakes. Bob Lent, district chief for the U.S. Geological Survey, said, "They did not detect anything above background that could indicate an earthquake." Lent, whose office is on Whitten Road, said, "It sounded like a blast to me." While the rumbling began about 2:45 p.m., more incidents were reported later in the evening....

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's largest mobile phone operator said Thursday that it will offer cell phone users a new noise service that it says will repel mosquitoes. SK Telecom Co. said subscribers can pay 3,000 won (US$2.50) to download a sound wave that is inaudible to human ears but annoys mosquitoes within a range of three feet. Customers can then play the sound by hitting a few buttons on their mobile phones.

Man facing court over noisy American flag A Michigan man is facing possible court action because his American flag is too noisy. Ray Saelens has been summonsed for violating a noise regulations in Chesterfield Township, Macomb. It's believed the summons follows a complaint from a neighbour, who claims the flapping noise made by the 18ft by 12ft flag is keeping him awake at night. Mr Saelens paid £2,400 to install the flag and 50ft flagpole behind his home after the September 11 attacks. He even changed from using a nylon flag to a polyester flag to try to keep the...