Combating Harassing Use of Mosquito Noise Device? 1059
amicold asks: "For a while now my neighborhood has had to deal with an elderly neighbor who has displayed a slightly paranoid attitude towards myself and the fellow younger-adults of the neighborhood, believing us to be attempting to harass him in our day-to-day activities. Recently, he installed a Mosquito ultrasonic noise device as an apparent attempt to 'get back at us' for our harassment. As the Mosquito emits a sound that's well out of his hearing range, he can't hear it, while most of the rest of the neighborhood is under 40 and can; at which point it's causing everyone a great deal of discomfort. Unfortunately, because the police also can't hear it, we can't get the authorities to do anything about it, leaving us empty-handed in our attempts at getting some peace and quiet back. What can we do to either help the police realize how disturbing this device is, or counteract it so that it's no longer disturbing us? And is this the first of what may be a growing trend of civilians using high-tech discomfort weapons as a method of neighborhood warfare?"
right back at them (Score:5, Interesting)
Fix the problem without him knowing (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Informative)
Use 2 directional low frequency drivers pointed at his house that would cause him to have a bowel movement.
"Strong infrasonic or ultrasonic sound waves passing through the head, neck, or chest can cause gasping for breath, head pains, or a choking effect. The firing point of the weapon could be from inside of the house next door or the inside of the house across the street. Since the weapon is hidden inside of a house and no damage is done to either house, it is virtually imp
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Insightful)
Remember: two wrongs don't make a right.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Insightful)
That Jesus crap doesn't work when you're dealing with senile dickheads who go out of their way to make other people's lives a misery.
Remember that vigilantism is necessary when the police and relevent authorities refuse to do their jobs.
Re:We don't live in a perfect world (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:4, Insightful)
Or people have young children who can't sleep with crap blaring; or older people who can't sleep with crap blaring; or, just for fun, how about your friendly emergency room nurse or doctor, who happens to pull a night-shift. When THEY can't do their job effectively because of some asshole neighbor, good luck to you.
Perhaps your neighbors did escalate things a bit much when they called animal control. However, you certainly didn't help things by keeping the whole damned neighborhood awake and crabby. Nice job.
I'm glad that police here take noise complaints seriously, no matter what time of day they're reported.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess if you're completely amoral and sociopathic...
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Informative)
Try asking for a younger police officer... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Did you ever consider that maybe because he can't HEAR it he doesn't know there is a problem? Can you talk to him about it calmly and respectfully, or have you already become such bitter rivals that you would/could never do that..
Like WTF would putting glue in the door locks accomplish? Nothing..because if you are smart you wouldn't get caught..and he wouldn't have a CLUE that the reason you did it was because of the "ultrasonic jammer". He would just get more irrate and do something MORE irritating. MATURE adults try to talk out their problems..assuming that you aren't living in redneck-city or something.
Signed Sincerely,
Your local naive anonymous coward.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Informative)
According to the products page [compoundsecurity.co.uk], the purpose of the Mosquito is to drive teenagers away from an area by producing high frequency sound only they can hear. Older people cannot hear it. The device has no other purpose, and is certainly not a mosquito repellent device as some posters have assumed.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Interesting)
"The effective range is between 15 and 20 metres. " = That's 65 feet
That's a pretty long distance in the majority of US neighborhoods.
From reading the website and the $937 price (UK£ 495) it's pretty obvious it's not designed for individuals looking to annoy your neighbors. It does effect your neighbors rather than just their children since the page says "the majority of people over the age of 25, have lost the ability to hear at this frequency range" so if you have any
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's only wrong if you get caught.
(I don't actually buy into that attitude, but humor me for a moment.)
Consider for a moment what the poster said - it's well out of his hearing range. So...2 am, wear earplugs. Go over to the unit, if you can, simply short one of the wires running to the speakers. If that's unreasonable, a few drops of super-glue down into the cone of the unit might just do the trick.
The power light still comes on, the old man feels more safe, and the rest of the neighborhood has peace. Win-win.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Bash me if you like, but unless you can suggest a better course of action than "return fire!", I would appreciate a bit more levity. I'm not heartless here.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Beter try to
1. Talk the guy out of this
2. Just destroy the moskito repeler in a fashion that is not apparent to the owner. After all if he doesn't hear it, you just have to take the first opportunity, open the box, and cut the alimentation to the speaker. Your problem is solve. The owner is happy because the nice blue led tells him that the device is working. And after all, if the guy is really paranoid, teens are not *really* invading his property, so he will never realise that the device is not actually working ( like garlic neclace to repel vampire )
Off course if the guy has a real reason because your kids (neighbourhood kids) are drinking in his lawn every night, you have to solve that problem first. In that case, if you destroy the mosquito before, you can be certain the owner will call the police and unlike the sound, they will be able to see that you detroyed you neighbour property.
Hat pins work wonders. (Score:5, Interesting)
Find the noise device, find its speaker, and stick a hat pin in through the speaker grille to pierce the speaker. Then remove the hat pin and walk away. The hole will cause the speaker to tear itself and will cease making any meaningful volume of noise, and the old coot won't be able to hear the difference. More importantly, he can't really do anything with the police about it because to explain how it's broken he'd have to explain what it's supposed to do in the first place, and then he'd be admitting that your complaints about him were true. He can hardly complain "hey, they broke my illegal noise making machine!"
Re:Hat pins work wonders. (Score:4, Funny)
I remember watching an episode of "Cops" once where a guy called to report a robbery, but was very vague about what was stolen. Eventually, he told them that the guy had stole a few grams of marijuana or something from him, which the officers found quite entertaining, to say the least.
Re:Well, you could start by... (Score:5, Insightful)
Ask Slashdot? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ask Slashdot? (Score:3, Insightful)
An annoying neighbor is not there yet (as a first step) unless they start to build fences on your side of the property or something of that level.
Have you tried... (Score:5, Insightful)
They would but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Have you tried... (Score:5, Insightful)
This new friend could be someone a bit older than all of you, in which case he may sympathize with them more and stop this particular annoying behavior.
Alternately, you might get a friendly and attractive female to go and do the asking. It's amazing how frequently that can resolve a situation with a grumpy old man. I've seen it work more than once.
Re:Ask Slashdot? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Ask Slashdot? (Score:5, Informative)
Most other legislations around EU (and many other countries outside it) are not any different. All you need to do is find the relevant local council address and send a complaint. They will send an engineer with measuring equipment at your site ASAP. The mere appearance of the van with the measurement equipment may be enough for the idiot Meldrew clone to take his Mosquito and shovel it where sun does not shine.
Re:Ask Slashdot? (Score:3, Insightful)
And now that the Soviet Union is gone and the West no longer has any reason to keep up its image, the West is fast becoming the new Soviet block, at least as far as legal system and people's rights are concerned. Isn't historical irony wonderfull ?
Simple (Score:5, Funny)
Try this (Score:5, Interesting)
Take pictures of it. Print out the link you have in your post and any other documentation you can find on the thing. Ask a community service officer from the police to come out. She will probably be a she. She will probably be young, and since not carrying a gun, will not have spent a bunch of time on the firing range ruining her hearing. She will hear it, and since the docs clearly show it is designed to be annoying, she will be on your side. Probably. Maybe. You can try it and hope, anyway.
Plan B. You like Hendrix, right? With breakfast. Early. Turn it up to eleven.
Re:Try this (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Try this (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Try this (Score:5, Interesting)
They even had the ringtone as a downloadable ringtone there (you can't of course hear it at all if you're over 25 or so, as you age you lose the ability to hear in those outlier frequency ranges).
Here's a link to the story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?stor
Re:Try this (Score:5, Informative)
I can. It's the flyback transformer in your set making that noise - a very loud 15.75 KHz tone. I'm almost 40 years old and haven't taken real good care of my hearing, and it still bugs the hell out of me. One solution to the noise problem is to get a non-CRT television set (plasma, LCD, DLP, etc.).
Re:Try this (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Try this (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Try this (Score:4, Interesting)
No chance of it being an artifact. It's a single-frequency tone, so the MP3 version is loss-less. MP3 throws out the quieter frequency bands to get a file down to the desired bandwidth or "size." This sound has no quieter frequencies, just the one, so nothing is thrown out, hence no artifacts.
Re:I call bullshit (Score:5, Interesting)
That sound is only 15 KHz, and the mp3 has 48Khz sampling rate. And the buzzer in the mobile is perfectly able to reproduce high frequencies, it's the low freqs that cannot be reproduced.
Re:I call bullshit (Score:4, Informative)
We run that site at work, so of course, we've tested them all. Most of us back in Operations can hear the first 4, with the exception of 3 guys - 2 in their late 30's, and one in his mid-20's. Those of us that can hear it (8 of us) range from early 20's to late 30's. About half of us can hear the 5th one. A couple of us can at least tell that the 6th one is doing something (including me at 32), and only the mid-20 year old guys can hear the 7th one.
Re:Try this (Score:5, Informative)
Re:OUCH! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:OUCH! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:OUCH! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Try this (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Try this (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Try this (Score:5, Interesting)
Screw that. I'd just head over there at 3 in the morning and smash it with a hammer (and I'm dead serious for those looking to mod this funny). I've had to deal with people of this sort in dealing with my condo association and let me tell you, there are certain segments of the elderly who literally hate everyone. Given that the police will do nothing about this, the only option is to take things into your own hands. These units are fairly expensive and some one on a limited budget (such as your typical elderly neighbor) will likely not have the resources to replace such a device. I would Hop the fence at three in the morning and anything that looked like it might be emitting the sound would be either stolen or smashed.
For anyone who has moral concerns over smashing the property of an elderly person, said person should take into consideration the fact that this elderly person has installed a device which targets young neighbors regardless of their actions or behavior. Punishing all individuals of a given group regardless of guilt is certainly immoral. Furthermore, said elderly neighbor has plenty of options through the local police department in dealing with disturbances and has no right to take things into their own hands
Given that the police will do nothing about this, one has no option but to take things into ones own hands.
Of course if you choose this course of action you should be careful in doing so and recongnize the fact that it is illegal. I'm really just saying what I would personally do and not necessarily what you should do.
Re:Try this (Score:4, Funny)
The old are rumored to favor shotguns loaded with rock salt.
The old are generally sympathetic figures to those of us who don't deal with them every day.
You are a snot-nosed young'un who's hopping a fence at 3am with a deadly weapon, and just stupid enough to admit that you were planning to vandalize a particular old person's house.
This could go very, very badly for you.
I should know. I'm 35 and I already own the shotgun.
Re:Try this (Score:5, Insightful)
But you just advocated vigilante actions when it doesn't appear that all legal options have been exhausted. Not only did at least one poster suggest other options through the police, there is the community government as well.
Re:Try this (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Try this (Score:3, Insightful)
Only for those who disregard the consequences.
Creating a bigger monster to fight a monster will work for fighting the monster.. Only problem is you are now left with a bigger monster then what you started out with, hence having made the situation worse, not better, despite the original 'monster' being gone.
ObSimpsons (Score:3, Funny)
Quit bitching (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Quit bitching (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Quit bitching (Score:3, Informative)
PLL (Score:3, Insightful)
He could use microphone and amplifier to pick up the signal and a phase locked loop to divide the frequency by two, then feed the lot into a really big speaker. The only hard part is convincing people that the bad noise is really coming from over there.
OTH how about using the stereo effect? If the neighbour on the other side can go along with it bracket his place with speakers and feed the signal in so it appears to be coming from the original location? I like this article. Lots of hacking potential.
Re:Quit bitching (Score:3, Funny)
Are you trying to say the phase-shifted noise of a Mosquito annoyancebot sounds like a viola?
Re:Quit bitching (Score:5, Informative)
The wavelength of, say, 14KHz sound is very, very small [google.com] -- about 2.5cm.
Therefore the "shadow" cast by a cancelling device is also very, very small unless the out-of-phase canceller is right next to the noise source. The phase of the canceller will reverse (making things louder rather than quieter) every 1.2cm of distance difference between (the listener and the sound source) and (the listener and the canceller).
So, if you're say 10 meters from the canceller, and 20 meters from the guy's noisemaker, and the devices are in line (the best case) with your present position... you just need to go about
Not really a practical solution.
Re:Quit bitching (Score:5, Funny)
And then there's people who lack the fundamental understanding that sound waves do not propagete at lightspeed.
Get a young police officer... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Get a young police officer... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Get a young police officer... (Score:5, Funny)
Dispite the redundancy in there, I think that's a great idea! If you keep complaining about the damned thing after you've disabled it, he won't even know it's broken.
Re:still out of luck, time for plan B or C. (Score:5, Informative)
If you follow the link in the story, you'd see that the neighbor in question did not install an insect control device (bug zapper) but rather something specifically designed to annoy young people and drive them away. (Mosquito is the brand name). From the link:
Did he tell you he was out to get you...?
Based on the device the guy installed, I think it goes without saying.
Observation (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Observation (Score:5, Insightful)
Only if the poster stops complaining. So if the device has an accident with a pair of wire cutters in the middle of the night one should continue to act outraged for a while.
Re:Observation (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah I had that problem until about six months ago. The most anoying thing is that occasionally the receptionist who pages people would key the microphone, inhale prior to speaking, get distracted and forget about saying anything.
There seems to be a low level mute switch in all of us which waits for the other person to speak, after hearing them inhale. Its like those DOS tricks where you initiate a connection and don't complete it.
Skip the police. (Score:5, Insightful)
Then, all you need to do is be annoying enough that he moves to Florida. (Unless you already live in Florida, in which case you're screwed.)
Re:Skip the police. (Score:5, Insightful)
Beat frequency (Score:5, Interesting)
Build a similar device to emit noise at a slightly different frequency. The result will be horrible sounds as the two waves interfere. The horrible sounds will seem to come from both your source and the original source. You may get the blame but at least the cops/etc will believe that an issue exists.
ideas (Score:3, Funny)
Egg 'im (Score:5, Funny)
Hmmmm (Score:5, Interesting)
How many of you thought "hmmmm. I could use this to really annoy xxx"?
And note that the link goes to a specifc supplier of such items. Not a generic link.... say a wiki. I mean, who really believes that some guy cannot get a cop under 40. Cannot figure out that he should talk to the police and explain more, or maybe go to see a lawyer... or maybe sneak into his neighbor's year with a baseball bat and a ski mask?
Re:Hmmmm (Score:3, Informative)
Do an end run around him. (Score:5, Funny)
1) Get a sound meter (dB meter, noise level meter, or whatever it's called where you are) and call the cops again. Show the meter to the officer.
2) Buy big speakers and send some noise his direction that he CAN hear. I recommend NES chiptunes.
3) Disconnect the device without his knowledge. He can't hear it, so he can't tell if it's working or not.
4) Kick the neighbor in the nuts. If he gets angry, kick him in the nuts again. If he threatens you, proceed to #5.
5) Shoot him. You didn't need the curmudgeonly bastard anyway. Take his stuff and tell his family he went on vacation to BFE. Be sure to dispose of his body properly - through a wood chipper, then burn the chunks. Invite other young neighbors over for BBQ. Display a big cookbook with a cover that says "To Serve Annoying Old Neighbors".
(And just for the humor impaired, options 4 and 5 are not serious. I am not the voice in your head telling you to assault or kill your neighbor. That voice is named Larry. I'm Matt.)
£495 ...? (Score:5, Informative)
Or, even if you don't like that, just find something with real spleen shattering bass and just blast it.
Also, for those interested, I found a link to the mosquito sound here [bbc.co.uk] from an article at the Beeb here [bbc.co.uk], also, another interesting turn-around:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/24/kids_turn_te
Quite fascinating...
Noise Cancelling (Score:5, Funny)
Noise Cancelling won't work (Score:5, Insightful)
Imagine throwing two stones into a quiet pond. The two expanding waves will intersect and cancel at some points - but half a wavelength further on they will be in phase and so double. So it will be with the sound - varying from silent to twice as loud depending where you are. As the wavelength will be small, moving your head will be very uncomfortable! You can try the effect if you play the clean MP3 sample you'll find at http://www.star94.com/shows/index.cfm?show=cr&cid
Meanwhile - IGNORE the idiots here suggesting various illegal measures. Those WILL get the police involved, but not in the way you want. However, if you could get the authorities to recognise the problem (get the neighbours to all complain to your local councillor as well as the police), you may be able to persuade them to take out an ASBO against the offender preventing him from continuing the nuisance. (For our US friends, an ASBO is an "Anti-Social Behaviour Order", and ignoring it becomes a criminal offence).
Apply System Engineering: Full Analysis (Score:5, Insightful)
If either you or the neighbor doesn't want to deal: since you've already alerted the authorities that the device is an issue, I'd pass on petty crime or felony-based solutions you likely suspect, you. You and your neighors should keep a running record of your complaints to the police. You might try borrowing/buying a meter that'll measure the dB of the frequency in question. Then, while you can ask for a younger officer that can hear the noise, if you get someone my age, at least the officer will have something to go on.
If you get the device taken offline without dealing with what's pissing your neighbor off, you may just be trading one headache for another.
I can relate... (Score:5, Funny)
Two years ago, the building next to mine was being totally renovated (they gutted everything but the outside walls).
And they had that big honking alarm that would go off each time a cat or a bird would go inside the structure.
Of course, it went off at 2 in the morning many times.
After a few weeks, we got to get pretty pissed at it, so I started to grab a pair of cutters, and enter the place despite it being barricaded (from the third floor, the balconies of the respective buildings are only 2 feet away). Then it's just a matter of finding the wire and snipping it.
Of course, they would fix it, until the next snip...
The last time I did it (at 3 in the morning), I was so pissed that I cut the wire in about 200 one inch long little sections. This must have drove the message home because that's the last time we heard the fucking alarm...
Re:I can relate... (Score:5, Insightful)
I live in a city, and I think most alarms are simply pacifiers that serve no real purpose. Think about it; If the alarm went off numerous times and nobody ever came, then there obviously wasn't any enforcement. Someone could do whatever they want anyway. An alarm that doesn't summon a person around is next to useless. It won't stop someone from breaking your windows (nobody's going to come), and it won't stop them from burning the building down (can be done from outside). If the alarm summoned the cops every time it went off, it would at least provide some security, and I'm sure the construction company would have fixed its sensitivity, since then it would cost them money for all the false alarms.
If you don't like the alarm tell the guy about it and that it is bird and such setting it off so he can take actions to prevent entry to those birds and such.
You're assuming he didn't ask them already. He very likely did ask them, and they "didn't see a problem" (since they weren't there at night). I would also like to know the fantasy city you live in where construction companies care what "the neighbors" think anyway. Where I live, they run jackhammers first thing in the morning, large generators all day (often away from where they work but next to someone else's place), and pour excess concrete in the gutter, partially ruining the street.
Re:I can relate... (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, no, alarms are serious business.
For example, when a car alarm goes off, that means someone is trying to steal it. It might have scared them away temporarily, but they'll certainly be back to steal the car.
And, remember, it is legal to commit a lesser crime to prevent a larger one. For example, to stop felony grand theft auto, feel free to commit misdemeanor vandalism by slashing the tires of the car, keeping that pesky car thief from making off it with it. You might want to slash two of them, as most
Do this (Score:5, Funny)
1. Spend the next 30-40 years breeding and training vicious attack dogs
2. Now you're over 40 and can hear it any more. (Plus, everyone loves dogs -- bonus.)
It's foolproof.
A sound level meter won't help (Score:3, Informative)
Why don't you try... getting along? (Score:5, Insightful)
Why don't you try talking to the guy-- listen to him-- this simple act will make him more comfortable with you. Apologize to him. Buy him a gift. Show kindness.
Which is of more value to you-- an empty, hollow sense of victory that will bring you no satisfaction, even if it does occur, or peace?
"Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love." -Mahatma Gandhi
"Suppose someone, to annoy, Provokes you to do some evil act. Why allow anger to arise and thus Do exactly as he wants you to do? If you get angry Then maybe he will suffer, maybe not. But by feeling anger yourself You certainly do suffer." "For in this world, Hatred is never appeased by more hatred; It is love that conquers hatred. This is an eternal law." -The Buddha
Re:Why don't you try... getting along? (Score:3, Insightful)
"Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you." - Jesus.
If I had a friend come to me asking advice on this subject, I'd loan them one of my copies of Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People. That book has helped me resolve quite a few conflicts, and is definitely worth a read.
Great idea! (Score:3, Funny)
The population is too large to limit yourself to peaceful solutions. Do what you feel!
Re:Why don't you try... getting along? (Score:4, Informative)
An economic war really... (Score:5, Interesting)
Betcha if you inject in some epoxy or expanding foam into said cone in quantities that won't be visible from the outside, the horn tweeter will stop making said annoying tone or at least attenuate the sound output or alter the frequency so that it won't be as bad.
Do it right and it'll probably still look like it was still working this way too. Much faster than trying to disassemble something and disable it while making it look like it's still working. The old fart can't hear it anyways, so he'd never know that you'd broken the horn tweeter as many others have pointed out.
You can also just go for a brute force/economic war approach:
Your cost: A couple of bucks for a tube of quick setting epoxy with syringe type applicator. Or, if you don't want to do this manually or the unit isn't readily accessible try some home made/customized paint balls filled with acid/epoxy/superglue/something nasty His cost: $600-$750 + shipping per unit disabled.
Just how many times do you think this guy will be able to afford to replace this device repeatedly? He's probably on fixed income so it's either the Mosquito or the Heart Medications/Doctor's Visits/Food/Heat/etc. The problem will soon go away given enough cheap paintballs I suspect.
War after all is really a matter of economics. Does the damage you cause cost more to your opponent than it does to you and which of you can continue spending money while racking up damage/cost the longest? The guys with the biggest budget or the ability to do massive damage to the other side for cheaper usually wins.
Dave
Try not being a dick? (Score:3, Interesting)
Ok, so he's probably an annoying old paranoid crank. He's not going to stop being annoying. If you go over and break his stuff, he'll just become more annoying.
So don't go starting a neighborhood war.
You might try... oh... I don't know... TALKING to him about it? You know, person to person? And leave your attitude at the door.
If that fails, and it may well do so, go talk to your neighbors. Get about 20 of you. go knock on his door together and POLITELY state that his little toy is driving the entire neighborhood nuts and you'd all really appreciate him turning it off. Bring food. Make it an event. Hell, throw a neighborhood barbecue while you're at it.
Don't consider the situation an obstruction to be overcome. Instead, consider it a chance to meet your neighbors. Who knows, you might find out they are actual people, with lives and interests and stuff. Who knew?
And shame on those of you who immediately decided the best course of action was to go on a shadowrun against an old man. Sheesh.. People...
-T
A classic choice (Score:4, Interesting)
If you go with high tech warefare then you will stimulate the economy by propping up the companies selling sonic noise cancelling systems. And he will of course provide even more stimulation to the economy when he installs an infra-red insect repellent that fries your border plants. And then you have to invest in a cryogenic thermal redirection unit to protect your flowers, after which he will escalate with a plastic dissolving mist spray device, all great news for the high tech neighborhood armament corporations, aka, the militarized neighborhood complex.
This will be fraught with unforseen complications and collateral damage. Your paper boy will refuse delivery, the water meter reader will not dare enter the property, causing an unpaid bill, and various charges about maliciously killing pets will pop up. You can stay the course until he gives up, but just make sure you understand that you may be liable for accidents caused by radio frequency interference with passing vehicle's electronics.
Or you could just walk up to the guy and say "Hi neighbor, is there a problem, and if so, lets work it out."
Naahh, not a chance. Get out the mini trebouchet and carpet bomb the hell out of him with marbles, eggs, and anything else you have handy! Screw the bastard more than he ever thought of screwing you! Worry about the consequences later, after all you don't have to pay for it, or at least not most of it.
Re:A classic choice (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm replying to you out of many who said this, but...
The problem with this theory is that said neighbour has already invested approx £700 in a device with which to fight this war. A device which, if the war is terminated early will be useless.
Sounds to me like this investment will make resolution harder. The best time to fix this would have been before lots of money was invested in war-making machines.
See also: international relations.
Behave like a man (Score:5, Insightful)
Now if you are completely without fault, and the reason for your problem _is_ indeed just paranoia, then the easiest and best solution is to just stay away. It doesn't cost you much, he feels better, and you feel better because you have done The Right Thing.
Some idiots here suggest you should escalate the problem. The problem with that is you don't know where it will end. If you escalate enough, it can end with destroyed lives, his or yours. Think about that.
Re:Behave like a man (Score:5, Insightful)
The best suggestions here involve getting younger policemen to come out to witness the aural attack. Don't call dispatch. The submitter needs to drive over to the precinct and talk to the person in charge - whomever is on duty. Explain the technology to them, show them news printouts from NPR, CNN, BBC, etc. Bring a sample sound clip of the "mosquito" on his laptop or iPod. He'll have to convince them in person or they'll just dismiss him as a punk kid/crackpot.
If I didn't have a house filled with kids and teenagers I might like to use this "warfare" myself on an annoying neighbor myself. My next door neighbor can't seem to experience any music without a sub woofer. In fact, I swear he has a stereo with sub woofer in every room of his house. Of course, he mounts his stereos on the inside walls. Every few months I have to go over there and remind him to keep it down after 10pm. Then I have to knock on his door at 1am, 2am, 3am... He doesn't get it until I've made such a pain of myself I win for a few months. If I asked this guy earnestly why he feels the need to be so loud so late at night he'd tell me to do anatomically awkward things to myself. No. I'm better off just kindly but sternly asking him to lower the music again. He glares at me but he turns the music down.
Now he's parking his car across two spaces so nobody else can use Guest parking. I don't think he's clueless. I think he just enjoys pissing his neighbors off. It's a power trip. Talking nicely to him only makes him crankier.
Since he can't hear the thing... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Who's paranoid ? (Score:3, Interesting)
For the lazy clueless types: the mosquito noise device has nothing to do with any actual mosquitos or "mosquito problems". The purpose of the device is to annoy young peop
Re:You call this a neighbor problem? (Score:3, Insightful)
The situation can be summarised as follows:
If the X put down their weapons there would be peace.
If the Y put down their weapons there would be genocide.
And the problem is that X is always us and Y is always them, and everyone believes this to be true, and so won't put down their arms.
Matter of fact is, both sides are extremely wrong and beyond any legitimacy in the mentioned conflict. Just cut it off and start trying to actually take your obligations seriously.