Talks to Watch

Dial Up Modem Handshake Sound - Spectrogram

3.7M views · Feb 10, 2013 · 0:29 · 1 HN recommender · 8 mentions · discussed 2014–2024

A spectrogram visualization of the sounds in a dial-up modem handshake, with an annotated image explaining each noise. It shows how the handshake's tones map to the negotiation steps.

Why Hacker News points people here: Linked as a nostalgic and clear way to see what the modem handshake is doing, and as an example of sounds people can recognize.

“I went back and watched this youtube video again and it made more sense to me”HN comment, 2015

What Hacker News said 8

RecommendsFuzzwahMar 2015

“I went back and watched this youtube video again and it made more sense to me”

Spectrogram makes the handshake explanation clearer.

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After reading the explanation I went back and watched this youtube video again and it made more sense to me: this video

in “The sound of the dialup, pictured and explained (2012)” · view on HN
Cites itdraugadrottenSep 2014

“it is trivial to recognize the various modem handshakes.”

Nostalgic example of recognizable modem and tape loading sounds.

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I grew up with the bleeping chirps of software loading from 300bps modems and "turbo" C64 tape recorders. I could easily recognize different games from the sound they made when loading, and it is trivial to recognize the various modem handshakes. this video link

in “Scientists can use their ears instead of their eyes to process data more rapidly” · view on HN
Cites itDiThiMar 2015

“you can hear an additional sound pattern at the end that is not explained in the article or the image”

Has an extra sound pattern at the end.

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In this link this video you can hear an additional sound pattern at the end that is not explained in the article or the image, but I remember hearing it every time I connected via modem. Can someone explain what it is?

in “The sound of the dialup, pictured and explained (2012)” · view on HN
Cites itwhoopdedoJan 2016

“But I was always fond of the Rockwell sweep[2].”

Example of the Rockwell handshake sweep.

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Did you know each manufacturer had a unique sound for their v90 handshake? This one sounds like a Lucent WinModem. (Based on listening to the sounds here[1]. Yay for RealAudio!) The USR/3Com modems were two "bongs" (four if the higher speed failed). But I was always fond of the Rockwell sweep[2]. Of course, required reading is HN favorite Oona Räisänen's excellent analysis of a modem handshake. [1] link [2] this video [3] link

Cites itmuxatorNov 2017

“3d spectrogram”

3D spectrogram of the handshake sound for nostalgia.

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3d spectrogram: this video Animation of the picture illustrated in this article: link If you live with someone >= 30, turn up the volume and wait for him/her to appear at the door for a nostalgia moment...

in “The sound of the dialup, pictured (2012)” · view on HN
Cites ittpmxAug 2022

“Here's a 3d visualization of a dial up modem handshake sound”

3D visualization of a dial-up handshake.

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Here's a 3d visualization of a dial up modem handshake sound apparently made using iZotope Ozone 5 (from 2011): this video

in “Earbirding – How to Visualize Sounds” · view on HN
Cites itjerfOct 2024

“is reasonably recognizable as clearly some sort of language even if we have no (unassisted) human idea what it is saying”

Example of a sound recognizable as language without understanding it.

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However, another major reason is that people have repeatedly gone seeking for language-like or human-language-level behaviors in animals, and repeatedly and consistently failed. It is also worth pointing out that detecting language is a great deal easier than understanding language. Something like this video is reasonably recognizable as clearly some sort of language even if we have no (unassisted) human idea what it is saying. We can tell with quite high confidence that most animal sounds are not hiding some deeper layer of information content. Such exceptions as there are, like whalesong, take you back to my first paragraph, though. The idea that language is a uniquely human phenomenon may be "dogma", but it is also fairly well-founded in fact. It should also not be that surprising; had another species developed language first, they'd be the ones looking around at their surroundings being surprised they are the only ones with proper language, because they'd probably be the dominant species on the planet. It isn't a "humanist" bias, in some sense that humans are super special because they're humans, it's a "first species to high language" bias, which happens on this planet to be humans.

in “Scientists working to decode birdsong” · view on HN
JokePiskvorrrMay 2018

“Does this sound look familiar? ;)”

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Does this sound look familiar? ;) this video In other words, if M2M handshake works, switch away from voice.

in “Google Duplex: An AI System for Accomplishing Real World Tasks Over the Phone” · view on HN