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Handhelds Hardware

Repel Bugs With Your Cell Phone 276

Posted by CowboyNeal from the making-the-mosquitoes-quit dept.
telstar writes "Starting Monday, SK Telecom Co. in South Korea will begin offering a ringtone designed to repel mosquitoes for the one-time price of $2.50. The ringtone, inaudible to humans, has a range of three feet, and functions just like any other ring-tone from your cell." Now if only there was a ringtone to repel bugs in code! Sorry, I'm full of bad jokes today.
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Repel Bugs With Your Cell Phone More

Repel Bugs With Your Cell Phone

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  • Regular ringtones repel me (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:13PM (#6410822)
    I try to stay as far away as possible from someone with a cell phone.

  • Mosquito Repel Software (Score:4, Informative)

    by l810c ( 551591 ) * on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:14PM (#6410829)
    Anyone use this software? [thaiware.com] Does it work? Seems like it could be apdapted to a PDA.

  • So... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Osrin ( 599427 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:14PM (#6410830) Homepage
    ... if you're troubled by a bug you need to quickly find a payphone and call yourself? How will it work?
    • Well quite, strikes me as like listening to a walkman and hearing that buzzing clicking sound and knowing your phones about to do something. So when you stop slapping yourself you know to be ready to answer it... great!

    • Re:So... (Score:2, Informative)

      by dreadnougat ( 682974 )
      "Customers can then play the sound by hitting a few buttons on their mobile phones." come on, it wasn't anywhere close to being a long article, and even the basic concept is kind of common sense :(
    • I'm arranging with my G/F to have our phones call each other every 10 minutes when we're together. We never answer the phone, but it will keep the bugs away.

      If that doesn't work (i.e. you don't have an SO), you can set up a cron job to have your computer do the same thing for you.

      while sleep 500 ; do dial 604-555-1234,,,, ; done

      ( dial is my own shell script that I use to have my computer do the dialing for me. It integrates nicely with my qick and dirty phone-number finder. )

    • Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)

      by MrLint ( 519792 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @08:29PM (#6411327) Journal
      Why dont they crank up the broadcast power on the cellphone like 50x and give all the bugs cancer:)
    • you need to quickly find a payphone and call yourself? How will it work?

      Easy. Use a second cellphone with a ringtone that sounds like this [ppchq.org].

      (Of course, you could just call yourself directly with THAT cellphone, but hey, we're trying to be convoluted here, right?)

      W

    • Re:So... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by ADOT Troll ( 687975 )
      Mosquitos find their targets from the trail of carbon dioxide left behind by exhaling. So I have heavy doubts about this Korean invention working at all. What does work so far are those traps with their own CO2 generators. (But even then it is not perfect.)

      Those high frequency sound generators may repel mice and rats, but only for a short period of time. What happens is that their offspring will come back to re-infest the area. The difference between the off-spring and the parents is that the kiddie rodent

  • CowboyNeal Joke Repellant (Score:4, Funny)

    by VudooCrush ( 220143 ) * <draino@@@echo...kirenet...com> on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:14PM (#6410831)
    "Now if only there was a ringtone to get rid of CowboyNeal's bad jokes"

  • So... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mgcsinc ( 681597 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:14PM (#6410833)
    So how long until sharper image releases the bug-b-gone 2200, a $3999 DRM-crippled cell phone capable only of playing the mosquito-repelling ringtone and serving you warm Colombian java.

  • Which will be stronger? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by I Like Swords!!! ( 668399 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:15PM (#6410838)
    This ringing sound.... or the odors that attract them to you in the first place?

  • Why a ringtone? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Edgewize ( 262271 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:15PM (#6410839)
    "Hey, Mike. Thank god you called. The mosquitos are really something out here, you should see them. Yowch! God dammit! Hey, do me a favor Mike? Hang up and call me back!"

    • Re:Why a ringtone? (Score:5, Funny)

      by SquadBoy ( 167263 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:23PM (#6410905) Homepage Journal
      I'm married to a Korean girl and love her so take the following with that in mind.

      Korean's are *paranoid* about mosquitos I mean freaking irrational. *Anything* that cliams to get rid of mozquitos will sell like hotcakes over there does not matter if it makes sense or not. Think about it a ringtone you can't hear. In any case that is why an anti-mosquito ringtone.
      • Do you think there a chance for an massless invisible insecticide, without odour or any visible sensation, to fly over there? I mean, I think I know a country where we can buy lots of empty used spray cans...
      • Think about it a ringtone you can't hear. Stops those pesky calls getting through too.

      • Korean's are *paranoid* about mosquitos I mean freaking irrational.

        Yeah, malaria(along with a dozen other various mosquito-born illnesses) can tend to make you that way.

        The difference between here and there is that most of the mosquitoes ARE carrying something- I remember there was a travel advisory about it at one point. Here in the US, you have a greater chance of winning the lottery than catching, say, West Nile disease, which the press has been beating to death("dead bird found!" "dead bird has we

      • "Korean's are *paranoid* about mosquitos I mean freaking irrational."

        Hah, they should come to Minnesota... Our other state bird is the mosquito.
        • Try living in the swamps of Louisiana... I've been in places where you can *literally* be covered in them. Stick your arm out and have about 100 fly on you. And since it doesn't snow here, we still have mosquitoes in January. ;)

          When I used to wait for the bus in the morning it was still dark sometimes when I was in high school, and since I read that mosquitoes are attracted to the high concentrations of CO2 that you release out your mouth/nose, I used to breath out in one spot, then dash to the other si

  • I've decoded the mysterious sound (Score:5, Funny)

    by winkydink ( 650484 ) * <sv.dude@gmail.com> on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:15PM (#6410841) Homepage Journal
    By carefully re-adjustng the frequency of the tone down to a level that humans can hear and slowing the playing speed down 300 times, I have been able to determine that it's a guy's voice saying, "this person tastes like crap"

  • Hum (Score:2, Insightful)

    by lvdrproject ( 626577 )
    Ehh... why would i buy a ring tone that i can't even hear?
  • Most bugs are found by pesky users who don't use applications the way they're meant to be used. For this reason I always specify Sony Vaio laptops for my end users so that when they complain of a bug I can send them that special ringtone to repel the buggar.

    [So convoluted *I* lost track of the joke]

  • Repel Bugs with my Cell Phone? (Score:3, Funny)

    by TWX ( 665546 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:16PM (#6410851)
    Maybe I should just leave it on top of my computer then...

    Has Microsoft heard of this technology?

  • Uhh.. (Score:2, Funny)

    by grub ( 11606 )

    That's just stupid.

    Alice: Damn these moquitos are eating me alive. Someone call me.
    Bob: I would but I'm waiting for Carl across the table to call me first, I'm almost out of blood.
    Carl: Just a sec Bob, I'm calling Dave.
    Dave: ahhhh..

  • Battery Life? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by retto ( 668183 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:17PM (#6410854)

    What good is this if it would run your battery down quickly? Better keep an eye on the meter so you have another power to call someone and tell them to bring you a can of 'Off'

    Another case of mis-applied technology.

  • Inaudible to humans hmm? (Score:5, Funny)

    by oiper ( 575250 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:17PM (#6410861) Homepage Journal
    So I guess the only time you know you're getting a call is when you aren't getting bit.

  • Now if they could only... (Score:3, Funny)

    by lily2skippy ( 666831 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:18PM (#6410866)
    develop a sound to repel Cell phone users.
  • Personally, I'd buy bugs that would repel cellphone users first -- especially if they could be released into traffic!

  • hype. (Score:5, Informative)

    by urbazewski ( 554143 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:23PM (#6410901) Homepage Journal
    I bought several little devices that suposedly emitted an inaudible tone to repel mosquitoes to take with me to Indonesia, which I ordered from a catalog of "environmentally sound" products (they were solar powered, if I recall). I chucked them after a week, after watching a mosquito land on one. I've heard similarly bad reviews of other "inaudible" products...

    • I always hate all these "inaudible" products, because they never seem to be anywhere inaudible. I was at a family member's house a few months ago, and they had one of those pest repelling "inaudible" things in the family room behind the tv. Nobody else seemed bothered by the thing, but it sounded ridiculously loud and annoying to me- in fact all it seemed to accomplish was repelling me from the family room. Maybe I'm just a freak of nature for hearing those frequencies, but sheeesh... Every one of those
      • Maybe I'm just a freak of nature for hearing those frequencies

        Then so am I. I once tracked down a baby field mouse in foot tall grass from 40 feet away, from its squeaking, despite birds chirping and other background noise. My ears were way younger then...

        However, I have never used those "inaudible" devices, so who knows...?

      • Re:hype. (Score:3, Interesting)

        by bluGill ( 862 )

        I'm not a medical expert, but IIRC human ears have the ability to hear selected frequences well above the normal range. You might be able to hear everything from 20hz-14,600hz, and a few selected frequences up to 30,000hz, but others inbetween are inaudiable. The ones you can hear depend on your particular ear.

        I think I understand how to explain it better, but it is late. Besides, I'd prefer those who care to do their own research to verify it, while the rest think "That's interesting I won't if it is

  • What I want to see (Score:5, Funny)

    by dmomo ( 256005 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:23PM (#6410903)
    Is a ringtone that repels the people who are calling.

  • Spanish Fly Ring Tone (Score:3, Funny)

    by felonious ( 636719 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:23PM (#6410904) Journal
    What about a ring tone that works as an aphrodisiac? I'm pretty much the epitome of a walking aphrodisiac when it comes to women (:D) but I'm tired of playing the game. It would be so much easier to hit a button, have my phone ring, and watch her go mid-evil on my schlong.

    Maybe they could also feature an add on ring for the next moring that makes her get the fuck out of my bed, cook me breakfast, blow me, leave and wipe, all memories of what happened, out like that thing in "Men in Black"?
    I know...that is an AI-centric technology that is eons away....FUCK!!!
    • It would be so much easier to hit a button, have my phone ring, and watch her go mid-evil on my schlong.

      ... sounds cool, until your phone gets a virus that changes the ringtone, and suddenly you find yourself a love target for every pitbull in a 2km radius...
    • What you want, sonny, is a Tasp. A hort, sharp, shock to the pleasure center of the brain and she (or he, if that's your pleasure) will be yours.

      Just don't point it at a Kzin. He'll rip out your heart and eat it in front of your dieing eyes.

  • Marcelle Marsoe Calling.... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Knoxvill3 ( 578169 ) * <dan@NoSpAM.jediknox.com> on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:23PM (#6410906) Homepage Journal
    "The ringtone, inaudible to humans,....."

    Ok, I give, how am I going to know when I'm getting a call then? Move to mosquito infested parts of the land, and wait for them to suddenly scatter?

    Other than that, it's nice to see that now mosquitos will fall victim to people who just have to mess with their ringtones all the time.

  • once someone figured out how to combine this Purring Kitty Ringtone [vibelet.com] with its insect repelling counterpart, imagine what can truly be enjoyed anywhere in the dark?
  • Hey - I've stopped itching - someone must be trying to call me!

    Now, if they had a tone that would attract bugs, that could be quite useful for pranks...

  • Read the article... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Endareth ( 684446 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:27PM (#6410937) Journal
    Customers can then play the sound by hitting a few buttons on their mobile phones.

    The idea is not to use it as a ring tone, simply to play it manually when you want to get rid of mozzies. If it actually works as advertised then it sounds like a decent idea to me!
  • When you can download high-pitched annoying sounds off of Kazaa...... look up Celine Dion
  • Man, this article has worse jokes than cowboy neal.... if there's one more "call me" joke.....

  • "The Company Claimed..." (Score:5, Informative)

    by Ted_Green ( 205549 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:28PM (#6410956)
    The company claimed that the service worked during tests. ...yes. But they fail to mention that every other ring tone repels the bloodsuckers just as well. The minor EM field generated when the phone rings screws with their sensory equipment.

  • Ringtone storage format? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Patrick ( 530 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:29PM (#6410963)
    What format are ringtones stored in that they can represent tones beyond the range of human hearing? Most audio formats top out around 22 or 24 KHz tones (44.1 or 48 KHz sampling). My last cell phone only allowed the notes available on a piano, none of which is beyond human hearing.

    Even if the ringtone format can represent tones that high, can the cellphone speaker reproduce them? Again, many speakers are only rated to about 20 KHz, because that's all that's useful for human beings.

    And finally, couldn't you just make a device for about $5 that would actually do this right and last a whole lot longer on a set of batteries? Cell phones are not the right way to make a constant 40KHz (say) tone.

    I'm inclined to categorize this the same way I categorize stand-alone sonic pest-repelling devices: well-intentioned but useless. Incidentally, that's the category I put normal cell phones in as well. :)


    • What format are ringtones stored in that they can represent tones beyond the range of human hearing?

      Usually MIDI, or a proprietary format. I'm having lots of fun downloading and playing MIDI files on my SonyEricsson T310 phone. It supports up to 32 channels, and doesn't sound all that crap, actually. I wonder how long it will take for musicians to hijack mobiles and use them as fully fledged MIDI synthesizers. For that "sounds of the naughties" feeling!

      Anyone know the MIDI chip in the SE T310? The trum

  • Crapola (Score:5, Informative)

    by Reality Master 101 ( 179095 ) <RealityMaster101@gmail. c o m> on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:32PM (#6410983) Homepage Journal

    The Straight Dope has the full scoop [straightdope.com] on ultrasonic insect repellents. In short, they're a scam.

    • Some ultrasound firms say their products will also repel mice, rats, roaches, bats, fleas, spiders, and the like. The evidence to date suggests these claims are greatly exaggerated. At best they work only when used in conjunction with a concerted anti-pest program involving traps, improved sanitation, elimination of entry points and nesting places, and so on. So don't throw away that flyswatter yet.

      And one of them has gotten in trouble [ftc.gov] for making such claims...

  • Forget that (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sulli ( 195030 ) * on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:32PM (#6410986) Journal
    Use full strength Muskol [muskol.com] and you'll be bite-free! (A great Canadian invention.)
    • Muskol FAQ [muskol.com]
      "What is DEET?
      DEET (N, N diethyl-m-toluamide), developed in the 1940s by the U.S. government, is a broad spectrum insect repellent. DEET is a common active ingredient in most insect repellents and is unsurpassed when it comes to bug protection. By testing DEET against a variety of biting insects, scientists have established the superior repellent properties of DEET under numerous climatic and environmental conditions."

      More like a great American invention ;)

      What is the % DEET they use in the f
      • As I recall Muskol is pretty damn close to 100% DEET. That strength may not be sold in the US anymore - but I'm pretty sure they still sell it that strong in Canada. (Serious mosquitoes up there.)
  • How about instead, designing a cellphone that squirts out DEET when it rings?

  • Mosquito Repellant Tests (Score:4, Interesting)

    by heli0 ( 659560 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:34PM (#6410998)
    Does anything other than N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide(DEET) really repel mosquitos?

    It seems that every time they conduct these tests (just in time for mosquito season) the only products that do anything are the ones containing DEET, and the products using citronella, peppermint oil, baby oil, etc. are useless.

  • there's something wrong here... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by carambola5 ( 456983 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:34PM (#6411000) Homepage
    The ringtone, inaudible to humans...

    from the defeating-the-original-purpose-of-actually-hearing -the-phone-ring dept.

    Brilliant, guys. Simply stellar.

  • Don't work (Score:5, Informative)

    by Nick Number ( 447026 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:34PM (#6411004) Homepage Journal
    Check out what Cecil [straightdope.com] has to say.

    I'm not going to answer your last question, H., because ultrasonic mosquito repellers all have one thing in common: none of them work. At all.
    [snip]
    Some ultrasound firms say their products will also repel mice, rats, roaches, bats, fleas, spiders, and the like. The evidence to date suggests these claims are greatly exaggerated. At best they work only when used in conjunction with a concerted anti-pest program involving traps, improved sanitation, elimination of entry points and nesting places, and so on. So don't throw away that flyswatter yet.
  • Just for the fun of it, someone should come up with the bluebox tone as a ringer. The redbox sounded pretty cool too.

    Not that there's any use for that sort of thing these days...unless you find youself on an old 1ESS switch...even then.
  • Now if only there was a ringtone to repel bugs in code! Sorry, I'm full of bad jokes today.

    Just today Neal?
  • Now if only there was a ringtone to repel bugs in code!"

    There is. It's called 'chord.wav'. Stupid sound plays every time there's an error in my code. I'm too lazy to go into Windows settings and change the sound, tho.

  • Oh, great I always wanted a ringtone THAT I CAN'T FREAKIN' HEAR!!!!

    It's really great the the MOSQUITOS can hear 'em!

    Bzzzzzt! [ Swats at mosquito ] Bzzzzzt! [ Swats again ] BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! [ Answers Cell Phone ]

    "Oh, it's for you..."

  • inaudible ring tone (Score:3, Funny)

    by frovingslosh ( 582462 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @07:46PM (#6411084)
    The ringtone, inaudible to humans, has a range of three feet, and functions just like any other ring-tone from your cell.

    Just what everyone needs, a ring tone that is inaudible and repells mosquitoes only when the phone rings. How are you expected to answer the phone, whit until the bugs stop attacking you and decide from that someone must be calling?

  • Shocker (Score:2, Funny)

    by FireMotion ( 227702 )
    They should combine this phone with Sony VIAO's electric shock laptop (a few articles earlier [slashdot.org].

    But it should attract insects and then shock them. Then there's no need to recall all those laptops too.
  • but annoys mosquitoes within a range of three feet

    I annoy my little cousin, it doesn't repel him

    Also, 3 FEET! That means it will protect my upper body, and leave my lower body for the wolves?
    I mean, not even the average asian is 3 feet. At least 5, meaning 2 feet are getting screwed.

  • Dog Whistle (Score:2, Funny)

    by Capital_Z ( 682911 )
    I think some smart ass cell phone employee should have all their company's cell phones emit the same frequency as a dog whistle. Just think what hell would break loose...

  • A quick google search... (Score:3, Funny)

    by digital photo ( 635872 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @08:17PM (#6411272) Homepage Journal

    Seems a quick google search is all it takes... and few do it... -_-;;

    Sound based repellers don't work. Period. End of story. Combine that with the fact that CelPhones' earpieces and speakers produce sound in the 20hz-22000hz range... this is being generous as most are more like 50hz-18000hz. Most, if not all of which is audible to humans. At the point where the volume is turned down below what you can hear, it ain't there.

    Citronella doesn't really repel insects.

    Deet does, but is cancerous. (100% deet is still sold in California, btw.)

    Carbon dioxide will lure Mosquitoes... potentially away from you. Hence the dry ice in the corner of the backyard trick works.

    Skin So Soft, from what I can see online doesn't repel and the brand which they later produced which they claim does contains citronella... so it most likely doesn't.

    Seriously, a ringtone which repels bugs? If you're willing to pay for that, I've got a special soundfile which you can play which will repel con artsists: I'm broke. I've got no money.

  • For a small fee of $2.50... (Score:5, Funny)

    by SharpFang ( 651121 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @08:22PM (#6411293) Homepage Journal
    ...I'll send you a wonder inaudible dialtone that repels mosquitos, bears and Jehovah Witnesses, attracts women and money, makes people on crowded motorway drive off your way, reduces your body fat and makes you forever young. Additionally it's not only inaudible - its presence won't be shown on your phone in any way so no woman will find out you used this to attract it, and no mosquito will be attracted to shining display. Call now! 1-900-...
  • It's CO2 that attracts them, from your exhilation.

    Dry Ice is the hot tip. Place a block in a remote corner of the area of your next outdoor grilling event, and you'll suffer nary a bite.

  • This is absurd (Score:4, Insightful)

    by hyrdra ( 260687 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @08:31PM (#6411345) Homepage Journal
    First of all, most cell phones store ringtones in a compressed PCM-like format, ADPCM, for instance. PCM sampling rates for most phones top out at around 22 KHz.

    The speakers in such phones also can't reproduce high quality sound in even the ranges they are rated in, and the quality, response and dbm it takes to drive the speakers drops off considerably as the frequency goes significantly below or beyond its rated frequency response. Piezo elements could do it but those are rated for a single frequency or set of frequencies and all but the oldest phones still have them (those don't support ring tones anyway).

    Perhaps they observed a different effect -- waving the phone in the air with the ring tone emmited will naturally rouse the insects.

    I'll stick to bug spray and avoid the swamp lands, thank you.
  • Mosquitos find their targets from the trail of carbon dioxide left behind by exhaling. So I have heavy doubts about this Korean invention working at all. What does work so far are those traps with their own CO2 generators. (But even then it is not perfect.)

    Those high frequency sound generators may repel mice and rats, but only for a short period of time. What happens is that their offspring will come back to re-infest the area. The difference between the off-spring and the parents is that the kiddie rode

  • Slight problem here... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Shoten ( 260439 ) on Thursday July 10, 2003 @09:18PM (#6411627)
    "Inaudible to humans" means one of three things...one, too low to be heard (in which case mosquitoes won't care, or two and three, infrasound and ultrasound, respectively. The problem with that is that a cell phone cannot generate sounds in those frequencies with any reliability...it's not designed to. Infrasound requires a huge driver, and if you've ever looked at those devices that supposedly drive away aggressive dogs with ultrasound you know what an ultrasound transducer looks like, and it's nothing like the piezoelectric speaker a cell phone contains for ringtones. This is just an example of what happens in countries with more relaxed consumer protection statutes.

  • This doesn't work... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by PoisonousPhat ( 673225 ) <foblich&netscape,net> on Thursday July 10, 2003 @09:24PM (#6411657)
    http://www-rci.rutgers.edu/~insects/proprom.htm

    "Products and Promotions That Have Limited Value for Mosquito Control: Electronic Repellers"

    "Hand-held electronic devices that rely on high-frequency sound to repel mosquitoes have become surprisingly popular in recent years. Prices range from $9.95 to $29.95 for units advertised in magazines. Heavy-duty repellers that claim to keep away spiders, hornets, and rats, in addition to mosquitoes may sell for more than $100.00. The manufacturer's rationale for using sound as a repelling factor varies from one device to the next. Some claim to mimic the wing beat frequency of a male mosquito. This, supposedly, repels females who have already mated and do not wish to be mated a second time. Others claim to mimic the sound of a hungry dragonfly, causing mosquitoes to flee the area to avoid becoming the predator's next meal. Most of the electronic repellers on the market hum on a single frequency. Top of the line devices allow for adjustment by the user to achieve the most effective frequency for the mosquito causing the problem. Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that electronic mosquito repellers do not prevent host seeking mosquitoes from biting. In most cases, the claims made by distributors border on fraud. Mated female mosquitoes do not flee from amorous males, and mosquitoes do not vacate an area hunted by dragonflies. Electronic mosquito repellers do little in the way of reducing mosquito annoyance."

    Plus, more mosquito info (like you care):
    http://www.njmosquito.org
    http://www.mosq uito.org/mosquito.html

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