A Dutch supporter blows a vuvuzela at Soccer City stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg. An online company has begun marketing an "Anti Vuvuzela Filter". (Agencies) |
An online company has begun marketing an "Anti Vuvuzela Filter" that promises to silence the sound of the controversial plastic trumpets that have become the trademark of South Africa's World Cup. The company's web site, antivuvuzelafilter.com, sells an MP3 audio file for 2.95 euros (3.60 dollars) that the company says will cancel the vuvuzela noise for TV viewers by producing a sound wave similar to the horn's that cancels the noise. "Just download our specially designed vuvuzela noise cancellation MP3 and play it back on your home stereo system, computer, iPod, iPhone, etc.," the website says. "Depending on the circumstances, the resulting soundwave may be so faint as to be inaudible to human ears." But Anthony Sullivan, a physicist at South Africa's Rhodes University, called the idea "a marketing hype and a waste of money." "Noise cancelling depends on specific positions. You're not going to get that cancelling," he said. His advice to those who don't like hearing the vuvuzela? "Mute the TV." (Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.) (Agencies) |
備受爭議的“嗚嗚祖拉”加油工具已成為南非世界杯的一大標志,日前,一家網絡公司推出了一種據稱可消除這種塑料喇叭所發出的噪音的“嗚嗚祖拉濾聲器”。 該公司網站(antivuvuzelafilter.com)上出售的“嗚嗚祖拉濾聲器”其實是一個MP3音頻文件,每個售價2.95歐元(3.6美元)。據該公司介紹,該音頻文件可通過產生與“嗚嗚祖拉”聲音相近的聲波,消除電視里發出的噪音。 該網站說:“你只需下載我們特別設計的‘嗚嗚祖拉’MP3消音文件,然后在家庭立體音響系統、電腦、iPod播放器或iPhone手機上等進行播放,即可達到屏蔽噪音的目的。” “在某些環境中,用這種文件處理后的聲波可能會變得很微弱,人耳幾乎聽不到。” 但南非羅德斯大學的物理學家安東尼?沙利文則稱這個想法純粹是“市場炒作和浪費金錢”。 他說:“噪音的消除取決于特定的位置。喇叭聲是消不掉的。” 那么對于那些不喜歡“嗚嗚祖拉”聲音的人,他有什么建議呢? “把電視機調成靜音。” 相關閱讀 The Noisy Horn of South Africa 南非喇叭的噪音 (中國日報網英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯蔡姍姍) |
Vocabulary: stereo system: 立體音響系統 hype: the use of a lot of publicity and advertising to make people interested in something such as a product 大肆宣傳,炒作 |