High-frequency Ringtones - The New Notepassing

A high-pitched alarm which cannot be heard by adults has been hijacked by schoolchildren to create ringtones so they can get away with using phones in class.

The technology exploits the degraded hearing of the neoteny-impaired (read: anyone over, say, 30). Apparently, once you're over a certain age spread, you can no longer hear sounds in the 18 to 20kHz range.

I guess we now have a destructive to the ego test for whether or not one is Too Old^TM. Here's a sample of the actual sound for your amusement if you can hear it (and pain if you can't :D).

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Some dumbass at the end of the article actually asked why the kids don't just set it to "vibrate." Have you *heard* "vibrate?" That bidness is loud!