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ghostly presence activates CD player
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Subject: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 22 Jun 03 - 11:32 PM Here's a question for the electronically sophisticated. On Sunday morning, the cat and I were whiling away time on the back porch. The cat was yowling from time to time while I played the mountain dulcimer. Upstairs, my dear husband (DH) was sound asleep. After a while, Kitty and I opened the back door to discover that the CD in the CD player was playing music. (It was Becky Baxter, harper, playing early music with an assortment of friends.) I assumed that my DH had come down and turned the CD on in order to mask the cat's yowling. I thought this most astute of him, since the CD includes small pipes. However, the DH denies turning the CD on. I believe him, because he was very sound asleep and groggy, even some time later. Well, it takes quite a bit of pressure on the PLAY button to get a CD to play. So what spectral or electromagnetic impulse caused that CD to start playing while Kitty and I were on the porch? By the way, it is possible to operate the unit with a remote, but we've lost it and it's never had any batteries in it. Why bother. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST, Date: 22 Jun 03 - 11:42 PM It was a neighbor's garage door opener, or an errant helicoper signal. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: NicoleC Date: 22 Jun 03 - 11:50 PM > he was very sound asleep and groggy So he doesn't remember tunring it on. Haven't you ever answered the phone or something while sleeping and didn't really remember it? |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Rapparee Date: 23 Jun 03 - 09:03 AM Most electronic remotes use an infrared beam, so errant radio signals from a passing police car, fire truck, helicopter, or motorist won't work the machine. If it wasn't for the fact that there could be other IR sources in your house (like a TV remote), I ask if you've experienced areas of intense cold, seen blue or green lights in your windows when no one was home, heard gibbering in the wine cellar, eery music during the night, and so on. My guess is that a stray bit of IR did it. Take a peek here for an inside view. Remember that there has to be a received as well as a transmitter, so the stray IR could have come from 'most anywhere. And let's not rule out possible transient problems in the electronic circuits. Unless, of course, you HAVE seen shadowy figures playing your CDs, late at night? |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: MMario Date: 23 Jun 03 - 09:11 AM That cat probably did it telekineticaly. They do things like that you know. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: JennyO Date: 23 Jun 03 - 09:36 AM If there is any kind of power failure, no matter how slight, my CD player starts playing when it comes back on - that is assuming the power switch on the CD player was already turned on. Jenny |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 23 Jun 03 - 09:39 AM Thanks for the web site, Rapaire. I will put it on my Favorites list. Re: "I ask if you've experienced areas of intense cold," A. Yes. You should have been here the year it was 25 below zero for Christmas. "seen blue or green lights in your windows when no one was home" A. Christmas lights are very popular here. I see green and blue lights from late November into January. "heard gibbering in the wine cellar" A. Only when the DH is trying to think. "eery music during the night" Yes, everytime my friends come over and we play early music. My guess is that a stray bit of IR did it. I think you're right. I am close to two huge hospitals, and helicopters go over. Nobody else has a garage nearby. Now thunderstorming! Gotta shutdown! |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Watson Date: 23 Jun 03 - 10:10 AM I'm with Jenny on this one - one of my CD players is designed to start playing as soon as the power is connected if there is a CD in the tray - so that you can switch it on via a timer I suppose and use it as an alarm clock. If your power went down for a short time, if you were on the porch you may not have noticed, but if your CD player is like that you can forget about having it exorcised. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,Lidy Date: 23 Jun 03 - 10:59 AM I have a hairdryer that switches itself on when I'm asleep alone in the room. Now that's scary. And one of my flatmates has a TV that frequently turns itself on at random times. At first we tried to blame it on electrical stuff (I'm a linguist and dressmaker, he's a lawyer, what do we know???), but then the shower kept turning on at all hours of the night. Yikes! fortunately the contract expires on thursday and we're moving out! |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: JennyO Date: 23 Jun 03 - 11:14 AM Guest Lidy, I had one of those TV's once, then one day it turned itself on, caught fire, singed the curtains and nearly burnt the place down. Fortunately I was in the room at the time to put out the fire. Those TV's with standby can do some strange things when they decide to play up....... just a cheery thought for you :-) Jenny |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,Lidy Date: 23 Jun 03 - 11:52 AM It's ok, I only have to live til Thursday with it and then we're going our separate ways so I should be ok. I'll warn him though! What with the shower thing, though, we effectively have our own sprinkler system anyway! |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: SINSULL Date: 23 Jun 03 - 05:31 PM I woke to Gordon Bok blaring "THree Score And Ten" at 2 AM. The CD player. But the culprit was the cat who managed to jump on the start button and turn up the volume in one fell swoop or swell foop...whatever. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 23 Jun 03 - 06:59 PM I think Mmario has it right. Kitty wanted some more backing than the dulcimer could provide. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 23 Jun 03 - 10:48 PM It's good to know that others have appliances that seize control. That's scary about the TV that caught fire, though. I remember televisions. People used to watch "I Love Lucy" and "Gunsmoke" on them, didn't they? I haven't seen one in a long time. Just two days ago we played the Rondeau by Mouret. This is the famous theme from Masterpiece Theatre. Everybody was tickled to hear a new section of the piece, one I don't think they play on the show. If you want to hear it or download it, go to http://www.island.net/~kstacey/wedding.html |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Ely Date: 23 Jun 03 - 10:48 PM Was there a power blink (or surge)? My CD player goes nuts whenever there's a blip in the power (like during a storm). I once had a computer with a short in it; not only did it turn itself on, but it would dial onto the internet by itself and run up huge phone bills. What a pain. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: JennyO Date: 24 Jun 03 - 12:42 AM The TV I have now is kinda strange, too. When there is any electrical activity about, not even enough to turn the power off, it sometimes turns itself off, or the channels change by themselves. sometimes in rapid succession. This is a VERY OLD TV that my mother bought in 1976. I'm waiting for it to die so I can get a new one, but it just keeps on going....and going....and going.... Jenny |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Mark Cohen Date: 24 Jun 03 - 01:50 AM Oh, lord, a VERY OLD television that her mother bought all the way back in 1976!!! What does that make the rest of us? [insert stupid smiley face thing here] Actually, way back in those dark ages, some TV remotes worked by high frequency sound and not infrared. We had a Motorola Quasar that MY parents bought way back in 1969, and if you listened very carefully you'd hear very high-pitched sounds when you pushed the buttons. (Other remotes worked by sending little Aloha, Mark PS, Outstanding answers, leeneia! But remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not really after you... |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: mooman Date: 24 Jun 03 - 04:23 AM We have a little unit with a CD player in our bedroom that also does this erratically and unpredictably. It seems to be set off by such diverse events such as a sparrow farting or a bumble bee in the distance and it is somewhat disconcerting to be awoken by a variety of music from Beethoven's 9th to Led Zep's "Whole lotta love" in the middle of the night (we are quite eclectic in our tastes). Strange... Peace, moo |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Bert Date: 24 Jun 03 - 09:40 AM JennyO has the answer. We had such a CD player in Alabama and it loudly announced every single brownout in our rural electricity supply. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: MMario Date: 24 Jun 03 - 09:56 AM Ely - that wasn't a short - that was spyware! |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: LadyJean Date: 24 Jun 03 - 10:56 PM Some years ago, I woke up and saw my sewing machine running on it's own. After the shock wore off, I found Ocelittle, one of the most evil cats I've ever lived with, sitting on the pedal, looking pleases with herself. It's amazing what a cat can do, if she's int he mood. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,.gargroyle Date: 24 Jun 03 - 11:03 PM Who .... but a "clone"...
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: hesperis Date: 25 Jun 03 - 02:23 AM Actually, it's a combination of tech and folk legends around music players. Anyone got any eerie phonograph stories? *grin* |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 25 Jun 03 - 10:24 PM I'm glad to hear that this kind of thing happens to others. There could have a short power outage. We have been having a lot of thunderstorms, and a distant storm could have caused an interruption. No wait, if that had happened, the clock on the microwave would have been going "888", and the computer would have objected. Stray infrared must be the answer. I'm glad I keep my garage door, which can be operated by an opener, on the locked position. We can reject the possibility that my husband came downstairs in his underwear, stood in front of the picture window, deciphered the tiny writing on the CD buttons, and decided to play a CD. Very few men would allow a cat to disturb their morning snooze without either whining, storming, or moping - depending on the phase of the moon or how hungry they were. Does a cell phone emit IR? The man next door spends much time on the front porch talking on his cell phone. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: JennyO Date: 26 Jun 03 - 09:56 AM I have had the tiniest power fluctuations or brown outs which have affected some appliances and not others, so it is still possible that your microwave and computer were not affected and the CD player was. For instance, my clock radio needs more of a power outage than some other things. I have noticed that when my TV goes crazy, there are often distant electrical storms, but there is no actual power outage that affects anything else. My CD player seems to be the second most sensitive appliance, after the TV. Jenny |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: Willie-O Date: 26 Jun 03 - 10:19 AM Our last CD player routinely started, as others have described, if there was a power blip and the stereo amp and CD player were left powered on. Our new one doesn't do this--so far. Many clock radios have a backup 9-volt battery which is there specifically for backup so they won't lose their time and alarm settings if the power goes off. Having whatever electrical unit plugged into a decent surge protection power bar helps too--if the power just flickers, the electronic units usually don't go down. Old TV's: last summer, I threw out our family's very first TV (purchased in 1961, I was five) over my mother's protests. She said there was a charity that would take "used appliances". "Mom," I said, "this isn't a used appliance, it hasn't worked for fifteen years and unless Zenith has a museum it's just cluttering up the basement..." she did not on the occasion retrieve it from the curb. W-O |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: JennyO Date: 26 Jun 03 - 11:38 AM My clock radio doesn't have a battery backup. With a power failure it starts to flash when the power comes back on, but with a very slight fluctuation it is not affected, whereas the TV and CD player sometimes are. Jenny |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 26 Jun 03 - 12:01 PM These posts about power fluctuations have been helpful. I think I'll get a surger protector for the stereo. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: SINSULL Date: 26 Jun 03 - 09:35 PM I had one of those lamps that turned on or off with a touch. It kept turning itself on in the middle of the night. I thought it was the cats but one night while I was reading it went on by itself. Assuming a short, I got rid of it and replaced it with another lamp which also turned itself on. Must have been faulty wiring. I don't know. I unplugged the second lamp and decided that if in fact it a haunting, it would turn on without being plugged in. Never did. |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,shonagh Date: 27 Jun 03 - 01:57 PM my cd player does that as well... hmm. came in the other day and Arthur Cormack was blaring at the top of his voice! Also, woke up one night with an intruder....the next door neighbours cat playing the piano! scary at 3am! |
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Subject: RE: ghostly presence activates CD player From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 28 Jun 03 - 07:56 AM My cat plays Schoenberg sometimes. |
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