Mosquito Ringtone
 

A ringtone that emulates a high pitched noise, usually only audible to people aged less than 20. Teens have been using it in order to receive calls in front of adults!

Thought you guys woudl be interested in this. One of the most interesting things i've heard all year...
Anyone have it or try it? I'm gonna do it :)

http://news.com.com/A+ring+tone+mean...3-6082685.html

I wonder if the Kroger stores in Flint use this technology. I can never go there for much longer than it takes to buy a few items because of the nauseatingly painful effects it has on me. Interestingly enough, none of my other friends who go there can hear it, and they are about the same age as me (20).
The tone seems to be the same or similar pitch too.

I'm 18 and the noise made me cringe and made my ears spaz out. Ouchies. Stupid high sounds. .__________________. The thing is, it was like it was loud as well, because my hearing sorta went "whump" back to normal after the sound stopped.

I clicked on the sound sample. Damn! Not only could I hear it, but it felt like a horrible pressure on my ears.

This only goes to show you how decietful kids are these days.

Would kids actually use this? It's pretty unpleasant and imagine having this go off in class a number of times a day and even from multiple cell phones. I think kids would get annoyed with this pretty quickly.

That is SO freaky! I was scared to click on the sound sample after the last few comments. It reminds me of a dog whistle now that I've heard it. I can't possibly picture people using this as a cellphone ringer, since if multiple people used it, they'd probably be confused.

This actually explains why I hear a high pitch from my computer sometimes :S I was scared that I was going deaf.

It started out as being something unpleasant. Look up the origin of it, it's a box design to 'move on' groups of kids hanging around causing trouble, just crafty kids used the idea to create adult/teacher-proof ringtones.

I heard about this on the radio. Please explain this stupid logic to me.

What exactly does an inaudible (to adults) ringtone accomplish? Are you somehow going to pick up the phone and then TALK to this person without a nearby adult hearing you either? What the heck is the point?

And what exactly does this accomplish over vibrate mode?

You can hear vibrations.
The high pitch tones are merely a way for people to avoid having to turn off their phones. There are a lot of obsessive-compulsive people who hate it if they don't know that they missed a call or text message.

In other words, it doesn't accomplish jack squat, except feed the teenage compulsion to defy the rules merely for the purpose of defying the rules.

Supposedly, this can hlp u 2 txt msg some1 wo any1 hearing u. Or something like that.

But seriously, I think this is pretty stupid, and it's more a media darling story than it is actually significant to real life. Blame the press and the internet.

Well I'm just happy that at 25 I can still hear it. Although I'm not suprised because I can always tell when a TV is on even if the volume is off [which is probably the same effect].

The noise is INCREDIBLY annoying. The long burst that was on the page would only serve to kill your hearing. It'd make more sense to just have a quick *beep beep* because with a sound like that students' classmates would start to get pissed.

Curiously, I can detect television screens as soon as I enter a house, yet I'm unable to hear this mosquito noise. Evidently, the two modulate on somewhat different frequencies.

But I'm 30 and expected to hear empty space.

I was able to hear it. The sound was clear, but wasn't too irritating. Even if teachers may be unable to hear the ringtone, taking a call during class is more disruptive. Some of my college classes still don't allow that.

If only I had a few of my friends over. They routinely blast thier ears with loud music. Especially when they're wearing MP3 players. I bet they wouldn't be able to hear this. Which brings me to my point. Alot of kids blast thier ears every day with the volume too high. How many people at those ages can actually use this?

It was straight. Facing my speakers, I could hear it very well, but if I turned my ears towards the speakers, or turned away from the speakers, it dulled out a little.

Hmmm.....

Haha, both of my roommates hate me for that. I can hear when they've left the TV on (they never remember to turn off the TV after playing the PS2 and it just leaves a blank screen) when I'm still a floor away from our room (which is halfway down the hall from the staircase, too).

I can hear the sound pretty well (much easier than some of the sounds on those darned hearing tests) and I don't think it's that irritating. Not nearly as bad as the whine of a TV or old monitor.

Heh, I remember when people made a thread here about the Mosquito being tested in various stores and how terrible of an idea it was.

I'm over 20 and the sound made me cringe. I accidently threw my headphones too. Yuck. How can someone listen to this noise and call it a ringtone?

I think my ears bled a little. I hear a similar, but not so irritating, sound when everything is quiet. But it's not constant as the sample, it fades in and out if I try to focus on it.

Honestly, is there something so important that can't wait until after class? I mean, how hard is it to turn off your phone or put it on silent? It's just being considerate. With that being said, my phone is for the most part on silent.

Well, I could hear that I'm on the borderline age. I even brought my mum upstairs to see if she could hear it, which she could. So I guess it doesn't really work then?

Hey, I'm able to hear that tone. Aren't tones like that the tones which are used in ear diagnostics tests?

From all the reactions here, I'd say the sound sample isn't the actual mosquito noise or frequency. There's a couple of shops in town that have the devices and it's fucking funny when they turn them on. The off-licence use it almost constantly and you see kids having to cross the road to get past it whilst people my age are blissfully unaware. We're thinking about getting one for the pub.

Here's the direct link to the ring tone:

http://download.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3...c_teenbuzz.mp3

And....GO!!

lol sounded like my Tinnitus. not that bad really.

dear god, when i play it and then stop it... it continues to echo in my ears. I can still hear it...