All the Better to Hear You With, My Dear

Have you heard the buzz about the Mosquito ring tones?

Or more to the point, can you hear them at all?

U.K.  inventor Howard Stapleton originally developed his Mosquito technology—a high-pitched, nails-on-blackboard sound that can only be heard by youngish ears—to repel teenagers from loitering at a storefront.

But turning the idea inside-out and using the frequency as a cell phone ring tone that goes undetected by teachers has a lot more currency with the kids—and is a handy end-run around anti-phone school policies. There’s no defined cutoff point, but most adults of a certain age hear dead silence when the tone is played.

Outgoing Student Program President Mandy Plucker is eight years out of high school and downloads ring tones from the Dixie Chicks and the Clash—but not the Mosquito. “It sounds like at the end of the night, when the TV goes off—bzzz,” says Plucker. “It’s high-pitched, almost like a continuous cricket, but long and steady. It reminds me of when they test your hearing.”

Want to know if you’re losing your hearing? Listen in (or try to) at: www.freemosquitoringtone.com. (Note: Site offers a free mp3 download to your computer, but may require registration or fees to download the ringtone to your phone.)