Charcoal HQ

@angussidney I'm intelligent I swear

sigh here was I hoping for a quiet night... and the housemates all come in drunk and high and immediately yell MUSIC

@ArtOfCode :(

my feeble attempt at disabling the speakers didn't stop them, either >:(

I'd hoped it would be enough to confound drunk drugged students, but clearly not

solution: emp cannon

11:17 PM

@quartata @ThomasWard, can I borrow yours plz

matter of international importance

apparently their idea of "music" consists of random droning with the occasional heavy thump thrown in without discernible melody or even consistent tempo or rhythm

angussidney

@ArtOfCode do you have noise cancelling over-ear headphones? They do wonders

...and none of them can sing, unless you happen to consider AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH singing

@angussidney I'm wearing them :(

@ArtOfCode how late is it

active/passive combination noise cancelling, and I can still hear it

@quartata 00:20

the problem should solve itself if any of your neighbors own shotguns

11:21 PM

@quartata you forget I don't live in Texas

Oh yes that's Doorknob

Hmm

I can almost guarantee you Art's neighbors don't own shotguns.

Maybe one of your neighbors will strangle them with a crumpet?

I think they're too flaky though

Need something more doughy

geometrically challenging too

A baguette may work?

so, realistic solutions for disabling speaker systems, anyone?

11:23 PM

Breaker?

Have physical access?

yeah, the issue with the strangulation idea is that then I'd have to go downstairs and interact with them

@Undo yes

@quartata same circuit as my PC, so that may be a bad idea

Tough but fair

Have a microphone?

I suspect if you could place a magnet or similar in/around the diaphragm it'd sound pretty bad.

Could set up some feedback maybe

11:24 PM

(yes, the circuits in this house are weird - first floor back sockets are for some reason on the same circuit as ground floor mid sockets)

@Undo this sounds wonderfully evil

@ArtOfCode Bonus points if it's a giant fabric covered one - small slit in fabric, magnet in, no one knows.

@Undo it is, but there's a screwed-on panel at the back that would avoid the slit in the fabric :)

There you go

Nice.

Get a couple reasonably strong magnets and you're ready to go

11:26 PM

kinda wish it was a network-enabled speaker so I could shut it down remotely, but alas

that said, shutting off their internet might handily disrupt access to whatever streaming service they use...

oooh, there we go. Get an ESP8266 connected to a relay, make it network connected

Connect relay to two appropriate spots inside the speaker.

if done properly, you might have remote-controlled smoke

If I had the speaker over the summer, I might, but this has gotta be something I can do inside an hour while they're all out sometime :)

A remote magic-smoke release valve

Fair

that would, however, be wonderfully evil

a speaker that "breaks" on command

J F

@ArtOfCode Then “fixes” itself when someone holds their hand in just the right position on top of it.

11:30 PM

Not sure I know enough about integrated systems programming to do it, though

esp8266 is easy. Just an arduino.

So just C. Not hard at all.

@JF or holds it in a precarious position on a window ledge because... looks at BOFH excuse calendar... solar flares are causing strange interference patterns around plasterboard walls this time of year

the plasma shielding was breached by that prank last year.

Related: whatever you're doing, try not to get yourself killed, mkay?

yeah, I don't actually know C beyond "looks vaguely like a bunch of languages I know"

I don't either, but there are enough Arduino examples out there.

11:33 PM

@Undo what? Yeah, totally not wiring up a live toaster to the network. Gotcha.

@ArtOfCode I was thinking more "flatmates throwing you out of said window" when they find out

I bet if you fixed up enough household items you could convince a bunch of housemates the house is haunted

@Undo ground floor :) Also, none of them will go within three metres of a screwdriver without qualified expert supervision. I got asked "how do I use a screwdriver" earlier this year.

oh, then you're prolly safe :P

wonder if a lower-capacity fuse in the plug would do it...