https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg8wnb/square-dancing-noise-china

Residents who are fed up with the noise from China's ubiquitous
"dancing grannies" are resorting to a special device that could mess
with the speakers that blast out loud music.

They use an infrared remote control dubbed "anti-square dancing
magical device" to silence the noisy dancing troupes that have taken
over public squares, parks, and housing estates across China.
[...]
But with scarce public spaces in urban China, the loud music has
become a major nuisance for other residents and led to intense
disputes. In 2013, someone in the central city of Wuhan dumped feces
on a group of dancing women. And in 2016, a man in the southern city
of Guilin, angered by the noise, shot at a dancing group's
loudspeaker with an air gun and accidentally hit a woman on her
thigh.

Merchants of the new square dancing repeller are advertising an
easier way to stop the noise. The device, priced at $15 to $40 each
on shopping site Taobao, resembles a universal remote control and is
able to shut down most speakers operated by infrared signals,
according to the vendors.

The pictures, it's noteworthy to say, make the device look like it has
been built into the case of a small flashlight, not a remote control.

Sounds like a TV-B-Gone:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV-B-Gone

But are infra-red controlled speakers really common? I'd expect
bluetooth to be the protocol of choice and not easily duped by such a
device. Or is this something else, and the news story has it garbled?

Elijah
------
can't read Chinese and has not searched for primary sources

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Eli the Bearded wrote:
===================

The pictures, it's noteworthy to say, make the device look like it has
been built into the case of a small flashlight, not a remote control.

** The IR LED is likely stronger than usual and needs to be focused to work at long distance.

But are infra-red controlled speakers really common? I'd expect
bluetooth to be the protocol of choice and not easily duped by such a
device. Or is this something else, and the news story has it garbled?

** IR is the only common method of remote control for audio gear.
Bluetooth is mainly used with cameras or smartphones.

FYI:

The news item makes no sense - even if you manage to trigger the "mute"
on a speaker the users will soon put it back in action.

When they get wise to what is happening, just covering the IR sensor will stop the harassment.


..... Phil

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On Tuesday, October 12, 2021 at 2:32:14 AM UTC, palli...@gmail.com wrote:

Eli the Bearded wrote:
===================

The pictures, it's noteworthy to say, make the device look like it has
been built into the case of a small flashlight, not a remote control.

** The IR LED is likely stronger than usual and needs to be focused to work at long distance.

But are infra-red controlled speakers really common? I'd expect
bluetooth to be the protocol of choice and not easily duped by such a device. Or is this something else, and the news story has it garbled?

** IR is the only common method of remote control for audio gear.
Bluetooth is mainly used with cameras or smartphones.

FYI:

The news item makes no sense - even if you manage to trigger the "mute"
on a speaker the users will soon put it back in action.

The 'arms race' will continue...
IR is disappearing on consumer gear.
We're seeing a majority of LCD & OLED TVs
now come with an RF (Bluetooth) remote, not IR
So joe/jane doesn't have to point it anywhere
regards, RS

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Rich Sulin wrote:
=============

** IR is the only common method of remote control for audio gear.
Bluetooth is mainly used with cameras or smartphones.

FYI:

The news item makes no sense - even if you manage to trigger the "mute"
on a speaker the users will soon put it back in action.

The 'arms race' will continue...
IR is disappearing on consumer gear.
We're seeing a majority of LCD & OLED TVs
now come with an RF (Bluetooth) remote, not IR

** But the issue is NOT with any of them.

It's with portable ( battery powered) sound gear in public places.



..... Phil

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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