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Repel Bugs With Your Cell Phone
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Thu Jul 10, 2003 06:13 PM
from the making-the-mosquitoes-quit dept.
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
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Regular ringtones repel me (Score:5, Funny)
Mosquito Repel Software (Score:4, Informative)
So... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://osrin.net/)
Re:So... (Score:5, Funny)
(http://irc.macintosh.efnet.com/ | Last Journal: Sunday July 04 2004, @07:33PM)
CowboyNeal Joke Repellant (Score:4, Funny)
So... (Score:5, Funny)
Which will be stronger? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why a ringtone? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why a ringtone? (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.unixnetworking.net/ | Last Journal: Wednesday December 04 2002, @05:55PM)
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.
Re:West Nile (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/I'myourman | Last Journal: Monday May 26 2003, @05:34PM)
I live in Ontario and get to watch the constant commercials and news stories about the great threat of the mosquitoes. I do understand that certain segments of the population (the old, the young, the sick) should take precautions, but I don't like the fact that people are dumping chemicals in all of the standing water around to cut the mosquito population. My neighbour was dumping misc chemicals into the rainbarrel that he uses to water the lawn that his children play on. Paranoia kills common sense.
I've decoded the mysterious sound (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.networkmirror.com/ | Last Journal: Thursday July 05, @04:34PM)
Re:I've decoded the mysterious sound (Score:5, Funny)
Violation of the DMCA!!!
Re:I've decoded the mysterious sound (Score:5, Funny)
Repel Bugs with my Cell Phone? (Score:3, Funny)
Has Microsoft heard of this technology?
Battery Life? (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:Simple test (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.littleblur.com/ | Last Journal: Saturday November 24, @01:52PM)
Inaudible to humans hmm? (Score:5, Funny)
(http://bryan.bearscanfly.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday July 17 2003, @12:29PM)
Now if they could only... (Score:3, Funny)
Has anyone come up with... (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.kajmereso...io/journey_in_BB.ram | Last Journal: Tuesday May 18 2004, @10:41PM)
-- Sig
After Bush posed for photographs with his hand on an elephant tusk in Africa and climbed back into the truck, one of the elephants mounted his mate. That prompted the president to whisper something to his wife. The first lady responded by slapping him on the leg. [yahoo.com]
hype. (Score:5, Informative)
(http://annmariabell.com/ | Last Journal: Monday May 07 2007, @03:33PM)
What I want to see (Score:5, Funny)
(http://www.meeplesugar.com/)
Spanish Fly Ring Tone (Score:3, Funny)
(Last Journal: Monday January 08 2007, @07:53PM)
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!!!
Marcelle Marsoe Calling.... (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://www.jediknox.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday February 26 2003, @05:09AM)
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.
Read the article... (Score:3, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Monday July 04 2005, @08:34PM)
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!
"The Company Claimed..." (Score:5, Informative)
Just FYI (Score:5, Funny)
Ringtone storage format? (Score:5, Informative)
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. :)
Crapola (Score:5, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Thursday November 01, @12:01PM)
The Straight Dope has the full scoop [straightdope.com] on ultrasonic insect repellents. In short, they're a scam.
Forget that (Score:3, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Monday October 22, @04:01PM)
Mosquito Repellant Tests (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Re:Mosquito Repellant Tests (Score:4, Informative)
Comparative Efficacy of Insect Repellents against Mosquito Bites [nejm.org]
and here is a table that shows the results: Protection Times of Insect Repellants [nejm.org]
Seems Soybean Oil(2%) can protect for 90 minutes, Citronella(10%) for 20 minutes and DEET(24%) for 5 hours.
there's something wrong here... (Score:3, Insightful)
from the defeating-the-original-purpose-of-actually-hearin
Brilliant, guys. Simply stellar.
Don't work (Score:5, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Tuesday September 16 2003, @03:44PM)
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.
inaudible ring tone (Score:3, Funny)
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?
A quick google search... (Score:3, Funny)
(http://www.wingedpower.com/ | Last Journal: Monday June 09 2003, @07:18PM)
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)
(http://sharpy.xox.pl/ | Last Journal: Wednesday September 14 2005, @02:12PM)
This is absurd (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://www.hyrdra.net/ | Last Journal: Sunday March 31 2002, @04:05AM)
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.
Slight problem here... (Score:3, Interesting)
This doesn't work... (Score:3, Interesting)
"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.mos