The infamous 17KHz mosquito cell phone ringtone
NPR had a story about the mosquito ringtone that Colleen pointed out to me. That's what prompted me to create these MP3 and WAV files. The radio story featured an interview with the teen repellent inventor and his daughter. This article has additional background information too.
As we age, we lose the ability to hear high frequencies. So if you don't want teenagers loitering around your establishment, blast them with high pitched sounds and they'll go away. Meanwhile your adult customers can't hear the sound and aren't bothered by it. Students figured out that you can use a high frequency sound as your ringtone and teachers in school won't be able to hear it. So much for banning cell phones in class.
Adults can't hear this high frequency ringtone but kids can. Students use the high pitch mosquito ringtone to receive text messages in school so their teachers can't hear their cell phones ring. Clever, hunh?
Click here to hear or download a WAV file of a the so-called Mosquito Ringtone, a 17 KHz tone a.k.a. Teen Buzz. (Here is a Mosquito Ringtone MP3 file too*). Given how poor most computer speakers are, you'll probably have better results listening to this through good headphones or external speakers.
Here is a 10 second WAV file of a 17KHz tone. Please let me know if you come up with an interesting application. <grin> If this makes your life easier or more fun, please make a donation to my beer fund via PayPal. TIA.
* Remember kids: MP3 files use lossey compression unlike WAV files. Your cell phone's frequency response may not reproduce 17000 Hz. Always go for quality. Heather is a high school teacher who can hear the mosquito ringtone. She suggests FreeRingers to creat your own ringtones. Alex S recommends mobile17 for converting MP3s to ringtones. I haven't tried it yet mostly because my Sidekick is such a pain to hack. What site(s) or tools do you use to convert sound files into ringtones? Lemme know and I'll link to them here.
Truth is, I'm 53 and I can't hear it but my three teenaged sons all can. This page is the most popular page on this site by far. Interest has continued to run high long after this story broke. Thanks to Colleen for pointing me towards the original NPR story the day it aired, which prompted me to throw this modest page together.
Looking for cell phone tips? Now that you're here, take a minute to look around. There's lots of toys to play with including replacement sounds for Windows events. Learn hacks & tricks for your Sidekick II and Sidekick 3. You may find that JetCityOrange has a lot to offer. There's information on meditation, barcode tattoos, and tons of movie suggestions (trust me, I watch a lot of flicks). New wallpaper images anyone?
