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Distress Signal Emitted By Flat-Screen TV
pinqkandi writes "CNN is a running a story on an Oregon college student's flat-screen Toshiba TV which was releasing the 121.5 MHz international distress signal. He was unaware of the issue until local police, search and rescue, and civil air patrol members showed up at his apartment's door. Apparently the signal was strong enough to be picked up by satellite and then routed to the Air Force Rescue Center in Virginia. Quite impressive - luckily Toshiba is offering him a free replacement."
It turns out it got stuck on the Lifetime network, so it really was in a state of distress.
"So if you need to transmit an international distress signal then stop by any local store and turn on a Toshiba flat-screen TV. We should be able to locate you in a matter of minutes."
You can relax now. The aliens aren't coming just yet.
. . . this is the last time that guy is a smartass to the salesman at Best Buy when buying a TV, though!
The TV probably gained sentience and realized the crap that was being fed to it. It responded in the only way it knew how.
Yeah, this gives me an idea for a new TV feature. Whenever you lose the remote control, it sends out a destress signal until a search team shows up to find it. Now that's service!
The Dude abides.
Big deal. Now, if that had been a free, unencrypted feed of the Spice or Playboy channels...
Cheers!
Ehttp://eugeneciurana.com | http://ciurana.eu
You've gotta wonder what that guy was doing to that poor TV. (and whether the teletubbies were involved...)
Warning!
This television will send out a distress signal to authorities whenever any program catering to an IQ of less than 80 is viewed. This includes games shows (Jeopardy excluded), reality shows, Spongebob Squarepants, and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.
No boom today. Boom tomorrow. There's always a boom tomorrow. - Cmdr. Susan Ivanova
I had a similar problem with my toaster emitting moorse code signals.
He shouldn't have been forcing the poor TV to play "Survivor".
"Please Help! My plasma is burning out! I'll need to be replaced in 2 years!"
CNN is a running a story on an Oregon college student's flat-screen Toshiba TV which was releasing the 121.5 MHz international distress signal...
In other news, a man's 4-door sedan was emitting the 1.21 jigawatts necessary to power the flux capacitor. Christopher Lloyd was unavailible for comment.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
So we are supposed to trust companies to use their judgement and ethics when slaping a "This device probably meets federal EMI regulations" sticker on a device. I feel better already.
To make laws that man cannot, and will not obey, serves to bring all law into contempt.
--E.C. Stanton
It scares me that it took them almost a year to get the distress signal. Remind me never to get lost at sea.
Free Flat Screen
He was probably watching an ad with an image of new currency, and the TV detected the anti-counterfeit pattern. :-)
Can you really blame the TV for sending out an SOS? Be fair to it.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
In Soviet Russia, The TV Distresses YOU! ....oh wait...
Your tinfoil hats
The guy bought the TV at MacGyvers yard sale.
Yeah, because it would be simply _unbearable_ to go without television for a couple of weeks.
What the hell are you thinking? The unit was broadcasting the International Distress Signal for fuck's sake.
TV:"Oh, please God.. I can't take another episode of "Survivor" and I'm so sick of "The Surreal Life" these days.. help me!"
On October 2, the 20 year-old college student was visited at his apartment in the small university town by a contingent of local police, civil air patrol and search and rescue personnel.
[...]
Authorities had expected to find a boat or small plane with a malfunctioning transponder, the usual culprit in such incidents, emitting the 121.5 MHz frequency of the distress signal used internationally.
Why did they expect to find a boat/plane in a apartment building?
^^
Langley: Forgive me, FCC, but I am receiving numerous distress signals.
FCC : I don't doubt it.
What I wanna know is how a college student has a plasma TV. Aren't college kids supposed to be poor? Whatever happened to the trusty 13"er with bad reception?
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
It turns out that those government satellites are monitoring our TVs. Luckily, Toshiba sells tinfoil hats for closeup viewing.
--
make install -not war
"Why did they expect to find a boat/plane in a apartment building?"
I can't resist.
Maybe it was a seaplane?
Satellite detection range is limited for these EPIRBs (satellites must be within line of sight of both the EPIRB and a ground terminal for detection to occur),
My god, the architecture of buildings in Oregon must really be "sub-standard", assuming that usually you operate your TV set inside a house with a roof and walls... Usually that also means "no line of sight to satellites". But maybe walls and roofs there are very thin...
In the New Soviet Amerika, Tv watches You!
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
There was a guy in Glasgow, who lived not far from where I am now, that worked alongside one of my friends on a North Sea oilrig. He took a positioning beacon home with him (why? Who knows? It's four feet long, bright orange, and very heavy. How did he even get it about the helicopter?). He then placed his purloined "toy" in a cupboard. One of his children knocked it over, a couple of weeks later, activating it. Within 10 minutes, there was a Coastguard helicopter hovering over this house in the middle of Maryhill...
..because he thought that the RIAA had finally caught up with him...
Distress signals emit you!
I might buy a toshiba flat screen tv in the hope that it releases a 132.7 MHz international playboy signal !
But didn't you know that all etch-a-sketch's since 1986 have had built in pattern recognition and reporting capabilities so the government can monitor for early onset liberalism and issue corrective education via the drawing panel?
You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
Get used to it pal. With the rise of satellite radio and the host of devices that will stream it, we'll soon have "crashes" in that realm as well.
In Japan, I hear there are even toilet seats that occasionally require a reboot (although mine runs Slackware 10.0 and is remarkably robust).
"...all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness..." yada yada
yah, my toilet used to be runnin Windows: my ass would be blue and every could get in to see me naked. thank god i switched to Mandrake.
I'm going to go create my own technology news site, with blackjack and hookers. You know what? Forget the news site.
Obviously the TV thought it had been stolen. Did the cops check for that?
Hm. If only Mr. Howell had been a gadget freak, perhaps they all would have been rescued...
For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
> In Japan, I hear there are even toilet seats that occasionally require a reboot
I wonder if the error messages include Kernel panic: You've been eating way too much corn.