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Using Your Computer to Repel Pests

circletimessquare writes "A Thai guy wrote a program that uses your computer speaker to repel mosquitoes, cockroaches, and rats! Just when you thought you heard it all before (pun intended for no good reason). " Thats nothing- CowboyNeal can repel all known lifeforms just by playing his massive collection of boy band MP3s.

3 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. Download by Betelgeuse · · Score: 5, Informative

    The software program they talk about can be found on (an almost all Thai) web site here.

    --
    I couldn't tell if you were experimenting with poor-man's cryogenics or looking for the orange sherbet.
  2. How gullible are you people by sam_handelman · · Score: 5, Informative

    According to a colleague at Rutgers:
    Hand-held electronic devices that rely on high-frequency sound to repel mosquitoes have become surprisingly popular in recent years .... Scientific studies have repeatedly shown that electronic mosquito repellers do not prevent host seeking mosquitoes from biting. In most cases, the claims made by distributors border on fraud.

    While your downloading this software, if you buy a NYC landmark from me, I'll throw in a set of Mr. Chiu's immortality rings at no extra charge!

    --
    The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
  3. Re:Engineering Question by Zone5 · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not so much that they're designed to emit sounds humans can't hear, as it is that they can't really be designed *NOT* to emit sounds humans can't hear.

    No matter what you do, you're going to be producing harmonics that may well lie outside the human range of hearing, and what with materials being imperfect, you could never perfectly limit the sound emissions to the normal human-audible range no matter how hard you tried. Even if you wanted to (and why?), there'd be the small matter of cost-effectiveness.

    Paying an extra $500 per speaker just so your dog doesn't get to hear something you can't isn't really a good investment.

    --
    "So on one hand, honey is an amazingly sophisticated and efficient food source. On the other hand it's bee backwash."