Cell Phone Sound Hacks
On NPR’s All Things Considered last Friday, I enjoyed the story about the “Adult-Proof” Ringtone. A British inventor created a device called the “Mosquito teen repellent,” a device which emits a very high pitch sound that can only be heard by people under the age of 20. This device was put into place by a shop owner who was having trouble with unruly teenagers hanging around the front of his store. It didn’t take long for some of these kids to figure out that the same frequency could be used as a ring tone for cell phones. This gave high school students the ability to text message each other during class, and everyone (but the teacher) was able to hear the ring. Despite one’s opinion on whether students should be texting each other during class, this is a great hack. Even Howard Stapleton, the creator of the original device, had to admit that this story “brings a smile to my face.”
