TECH FROM BACK IN THE DAY

This week, the CES (Consumers Electronic Show) in Las Vegas had its run in full capacity for the first time since 2020. This is the convention where just about anything and everything in high tech was on display in Sin City’s biggest trade show in terms of size and attendance.

On occasion, we have been covering various news about what’s been going on in terms of gadgets, trends, and various forms of bits and bytes (pun intended) since we have been churching out this new service. And instead of letting you readers know what’s new, we thought we would reach into our vast archives to give you insights of what came and went. And one of these things was something called “Mosquito Ringtones” that were meant for kids’ cellphones.

To give you an idea of what we were writing about, here’s the original article with the headline Mosquito Ringtones for Kids Only that appeared within the annals of ALOL back in Vol. 12-No. 2-Week of January 8th, 2007…

Ask any parent who has kids aged ten or older if their youngins’ have or want their own cell phone. A good sized number of them will answer a whole hearty “yes” to this fact. It’s no surprise that one of the most common devices anyone from “tweeners” and up possesses is a device that can take pictures, send messages via text, play MP3 sound files and oh yes…send and receive phone calls!

One of the many aftermarket elements of a phone (read: something that is part of the phone device but was obtained after the phone was purchased) is a custom ringtone. Sure, every phone will have some built-in sound programmed within a phone that will give off some kind of sound that’s outside of the standard “rrriiinnnggg” that such phones tend to give off. Usually, custom ring tones consist of the first few seconds of some popular tune–usually some hip-hop number or some other song that is favored by the under 21 crowd, though custom ringtones are mostly favored by this youth demographic, many older folks- that is, adults-use custom ringtones of songs that are of their interest and tastes.

One of the more annoying elements of somebody’s cell phone ringing is the fact that the phone will make noise in an unwanted time and place, such as during a movie in a theater, while class is in session, or when one is in conversation with another and then somebody’s phone goes off! (Note: a conversation is usually considered an annoying time for a phone to go off, but since many are so used to having their phones ring whenever they ring, sometimes this is no longer labeled as uncouth!) Yes, there is such a device on a phone where one can place their phone to “vibrate”, making a soft buzzing sound while vibrating like a …well…vibrator! The user of the phone can feel the phone “ringing” while not making a loud sound for all to hear. Alas, many of these phone users do not bother placing their phone on vibrate when they should, or they simply “forget” to do such! So when their phone rings, it makes a noise or plays the first twenty seconds of some tune that was downloaded from somewhere!

There is a solution to this problem, especially for you folks under the age of 30!! One can download something called “Mosquito Ringtones”. Available on the ‘net (of course), these special ringtones are selected high pitched “beep tones” that are “..ultrasonic ringtones that ADULTS CAN’T HEAR!!!!” (A direct quote from Mosquito Ringtone’s home web page!) And according to the same website, a Mosquito Ring tone is “..a tone outside the audible range of hearing of most people over 30. This means that you can get phone calls and receive text messages in class or school without teachers hearing it…”

Well, the so-called “silent” ringtones consist of an assortment of high pitched tones that range from a 8khz tone that “everyone” can hear, to 10khz (age 60 and younger), 12khz (50 and younger), 14.1khz (49 and younger), 14.9khz (39 and younger), 15.8khz (30 and younger), and an assortment of tones in the 16.7khz, 17.7khz, 18.8khz, 19.8khz, 21.1khz, and 22.4khz sound spectrum for those up to 24 years old.

To see if such tones really work, this writer who is “north of 35” tested some of these sounds judging if one can hear the tones. It was more like a hearing test as some tones were louder than others. Some of the tones, such as the 22.4khz and 21.1khz, could not be heard, (ditto for the 16.7khz, 17.7hkz, 18.8khz, and 19.8khz tones). For the 30+ tones, the 15.8khz tone was barely heard. The same story applies for the 14.9htz and 14.1 khz tones. However, the remaining three tones designed for the 49 and up bunch was heard. Of course, the “everybody” tone was the loudest.

Now this writer cannot judge from this web site if such tones really work as intended. The best way to find out if such tones actually work is to check out the web site for one’s self at http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org. Again, no guarantees if these ringtones will work are given or implied. This “hearing test” is for entertainment and informational purposes only.

The best solution to the annoying cell phone ring situation is to place the phone on vibrate or even on silent at all times! OK…maybe you can’t hear that Fall Out Boy tune that’s programmed when your best buddy calls, or that rap jam when your main squeeze gives you a call! (Perhaps for the 15th time that day? That hour??) But at least only you, the cell phone owner, will know if somebody’s calling you! Besides, does one really want to use a cell phone ring that sounds like the soundtrack of a TV test pattern? Then again, it’s your cell phone!!

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