I heard about this little gadget from my parents a few weeks ago, but almost couldn’t believe it:

It’s the Mosquito — a device designed to drive away loitering teenagers by emitting a high-frequency sound that is audible only to people in their teens and early 20s. According to the AP, whether or not you can hear the noise depends on how much your hearing has deteriorated. The noise has been likened to an extremely annoying mosquito or nails scraping against a chalkboard, and has been turned into a ringtone by some young people to use in class or when parents are around.

Can you hear the tone? Click here to find out. WARNING: It is painful! And be wary if you have a dog in the room.

A description on the web site of Kids Be Gone, the exclusive North American distributors of the Mosquito, advertises the device as en effective deterrent to pesky young people who may be hanging around neighborhoods and stores “making life unpleasant”:

The Mosquito ultrasonic teenage deterrent is the solution to the eternal problem of unwanted gatherings of youths and teenagers in shopping malls and around shops. The presence of these teenagers discourages genuine shoppers and customers’ from coming to your shop, affecting your turnover and profits.

… Acclaimed by the Police forces of many areas of the United Kingdom, the Mosquito ultrasonic teenage deterrent has been described as “the most effective tool in our fight against anti social behavior”.

But, the AP reports that the Mosquito has enraged civil liberties groups in England, Australia and Scotland who say the device is tortuous to the ears and infringes on the rights of young people. They also point to possible long-term negative effects on health. About 1,000 units have been sold in the US and Canada, and proposals to install them in some American towns have met opposition in the last year.

The AP also quotes James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, who says making a crowd-monitoring device available to private businesses and citizens could lead to inappropriate use and could be “dangerous.”

Others call it “a miracle” that is astoundingly effective in preventing loitering and fights in their neighborhoods without law enforcement or confrontation. They say the sound is not harmful, just annoying.

If the devices are installed near public places like sidewalks, I could see how there would be a problem with the noise repelling not only unwanted teenagers, but upsetting others who walked by. Does it infringe on the rights of young people, the only ones who can hear it? I’m not sure.

Of course, if the sound is emitted only at odd hours in places people shouldn’t be hanging around anyway, then it seems like a fairly acceptable and effective solution.

Then again, I don’t know — that sound is pretty painful. I’d consider it cruel to be subjected to it for more than 30 seconds.

photo: www.kidsbegone.com

I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather the last few days, so going to bed by midnight is my attempt at getting to sleep early. Here are a few things that caught my eye today:

Mark Bowden’s ‘The Point’. I had the opportunity to meet Black Hawk Down author and journalist Mark Bowden and interview him for an article while working at my college newspaper five years ago. Black Hawk Down is one of my favorite books and a masterpiece of journalistic work, which Bowden researched partially in Mogadishu (he flew there in 1997 with a photographer sitting on sacks of khat). A national correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, he also has a column that appears in The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Currents section and has written about US policies at Guantanamo, gangs in Columbia and a shield law for journalists.

His June 2007 column about the future of print journalism is particularly interesting … he predicts about newspaper web sites:

I suspect news sites will open with a bang, displaying the most powerful video image of the day in the way editors have long chosen the day’s most dramatic or informative still images to anchor Page One. In that sense, they will look more like TV news than a newspaper - with this difference: All these production values will lead into detailed written stories.

Unlike with TV and radio, which are stuck with people reading out loud, customers of digital journalism will get the best of all media forms. They can wade into any story that attracts them as deeply as they wish. Readers will gravitate toward prose, while those who prefer sounds and images can simply watch and listen.

But do they vote? Young people are among four groups of voters The Wall Street Journal’s Gerald Seib believes will be key to the election in November. Although this election has generated amounts of interest among the 18 to 30 crowd not seen in years, the question remains: will young voters show up on Election Day?

Seib writes:

The rise in both registrations and primary-election turnout by young voters certainly suggests the possibility of a big showing this year. In a sign of that potential, turnout by voters under age 30 four years ago rose faster than among any other voting group, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan group Rock the Vote.

Yet even with that uptick, young voters turned out in lower proportions than any other age group. Turnout among those under 30 was 49%, compared with 73% of those age 60 to 74, the Rock the Vote data show.

The Quinnipiac survey of Pennsylvania shows Sen. Obama leading among Democratic voters under the age of 45 by a 57%-to-41% margin. But the real turnout test will come in November.

The other three groups that matter? Working-class white males, rural voters and Hispanics.

A measure of racism in America? Roger Simon of Politico writes about an issue that’s been on my mind about the general election: How much will race count in November if it comes down to Sen. Barack Obama vs. Sen. John McCain? Simon tries to quantify just how much the race vote will matter:

There is a percentage of the American electorate who will simply not vote for a black person no matter what his qualities or qualifications.

How big is that percentage? An AP-Yahoo poll conducted April 2-14 found that “about 8 percent of whites would be uncomfortable voting for a black for president.”

I don’t know if 8 percent sounds high or low to you, but I was amazed that 8 percent of respondents were willing to admit this to a pollster. And I figure that the true figure is much higher.

The same poll also found that 15 percent of voters believe Hawaii-born Obama is a Muslim (he’s actually a Christian). I am not sure how that matched up with the people who said they would not vote for him because he is black, but I’m sure whatever rumors are circulating about Obama being a Muslim are not working in his favor.

Yes, she can! Sen. Hillary Clinton emerged victorious in the important Pennsylvania primary today, besting Obama by 10 percentage points (55-45). Good news if you can’t get enough of the excitement swirling around this primary race. Bad news if November is six months away and you already feel like you’re getting sick of election coverage.

I think a lot about tattoos whenever I go to concerts in Hawaii. On Saturday afternoon, I was cruising on the lawn at the Waikiki Shell for Kokua Fest, checking out the amazing, amusing and — occasionally — downright awful array of body art around me.

Names of loved ones, tribal art, hearts and stars, plumeria, koi, depictions of Jesus, kanji, variations of ohm, the Hawaiian Islands — you name it. It was like going to an art show where all the exhibits were “ink on flesh.”

I was 19 when I got my first tattoo. It’s a small item that I hand-drew, and which most people aren’t even aware that I have. And — I realize the irony of writing about this in this space — but personally I’m OK with keeping it that way. The tattoo was something that I did more for myself personally, not for anyone else, and I’m fine with not having it on display for the world to see.

It’s partially this reasoning, but also because I realize that there are still stigmas attached to individuals with tattoos — especially females — that I keep mine covered.

As the popularity of tattooing has grown, so have social ideas about tattoos changed. Fading is the notion that tattoos are things reserved only for prisoners or gang members. Tattooing enjoyed a resurgence in the late ’90s as more artists and celebrities were seen with “tatts” and shows like A&E’s “Inked” and TLC’s “Miami Ink” sprang up on TV.

According to a 2006 survey conducted by the American Academy of Dermatology, 36 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have at least one tattoo. The study also found that nearly one in four Americans between 18 and 50 are tattooed. (link to the AP article about the survey) Today, tattooing has become so popular, especially among women, that I can think of only a handful of female friends who do not have one. Most of theirs are kanji or small, delicate decorations like flowers, often on the hip, waist or lower back.

If tattoos are so common, then why cover up?

For one, young people might accept their inked-up friends as the norm, but in many workplaces, tattoos are still taboo. At the restaurants I worked at in Hawaii and New York, men were required to cover sleeve tattoos and women placed Band-aids over any visible ink. Hotel workers and others in the service industry are also required to cover up. Many other professional workplaces have similar policies, and many employees in the ones that do not conceal their tattoos anyway as a matter of professionalism.

Women also face a social stigma associated with having a tattoo. Females with tattoos are unfortunately often perceived to be, well, a bit on the wild side. I’m sure there is a little of the same connotation for men, but for the nice girl who just wants a cute plumeria on her hip, it could be frustrating.

While an event like Kokua Fest might make you feel like NOT having a tatt makes you the oddball in the crowd, the culture on Bishop Street is a little different. Quarterlifers might embrace this explosion of body art, but remember: the Mid-lifer interviewing for an accounting position might not be so thrilled with that huge dragon covering your arm.

So, at least until ink-loving Quarterlifers overrun the working world, better bust out the Band-aids and concealer.

More tattoo-related sites:

US Food and Drug Administration: Information on tattoos, temporary tattoos and henna products
Nisha Ramachandran in US News and World Report: “Career Spotlight: Tattoos are showing up all over”
HanziSmatter.com: The site is “dedicated to the misuse of chinese characters in western culture” and goes through a lot of painful (but hilarious) mis-translations and wrong characters in kanji tattoos. Britney Spears is in there somewhere…

Like any growing social trend, tattooing has received its fair share of ridicule, including a skit on Saturday Night Live about a middle-aged mom with an embarrassing lower back tattoo (”Turlington’s Tattoo Remover“) and a tongue-in-cheek book, Mommy Has a Tattoo.

Photo: With some brave friends at a tattoo parlor in Shanghai. They did a beautiful job on a tattoo of a phoenix for my friend, who had spotted the image on a vase in the Shanghai Museum a few days before and brought the artists a digital photo of it.

Hi Folks –

As you probably noticed, we’ve been having some issues with a pesky survey that pops up as you try to navigate the Advertiser blog sites. The page has been disabled, but we’re still having problems — as one editor put it: it’s “like getting gum off your shoe.” Be assured that our tech guys are working as quickly as they can to fix the issue this afternoon.

In the meantime, please try to follow these instructions to the best of your ability:

If you are experiencing difficulties accessing our blogs due to the our “ZAG” survey form, please clear your browser cache and cookies and restart your browser session.

This feature has been disabled and should no longer be an issue. If you continue to see the survey popup after clearing your browser cache and cookies, please e-mail feedback@honoluluadvertiser.com and include your browser type, version and operating system information so we can continue to troubleshoot this issue for you.

Thanks for your patience, and I hope you’ll keep reading.

Happy Aloha Friday –

Kim

No, I’m not talking about posting your resume on LinkedIn. I’m talking about joining a professional organization, putting on dress clothes, going to a dinner or convention or fundraiser, shaking hands, chatting with people who might intimidate you, putting your best face forward even though you may not feel like it that day.

Networking. Lots of people hate it. They’d rather sit at home and scroll through endless lists of jobs on Monster or CareerBuilder. Essentially, no human interaction is involved with many online job search sites — you can just *click* and send in your cover letter and resume.

In my limited time spent in the post-college working world, I’ve come to realize the colossal importance of networking. I used to think that I could get a job based solely on my super-organized resume and academic prowess. But during the search for summer internships in college, I quickly discovered that neither of these meant diddly squat to future employers. There was an entire ocean of aggressive overachievers out there and I was just lost in the crowd.

The Chinese have a word, “guanxi,” a complicated social term that roughly translates to a relationship between people, often where one person can prevail upon the other to perform a service or favor, or vice versa. It’s like “having connections.” In the business world in China, it’s all about the guanxi.

It makes some people uncomfortable to think that their basis for hire can be as much about whether the hirer knows the applicant as whether the applicant’s resume is stellar.

But there’s a reason why networking exists. It seems guanxi is especially important in Hawaii, which is a pretty small town. Each local industry seems very tight, making it both easy and difficult to move between jobs in your profession.

I was thinking about this while preparing for tonight’s “College Night,” hosted by the Hawaii chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, which I’ve been a member of since returning to Hawaii after graduation, and which I believe ultimately helped me to get a job at the Advertiser. The event is a chance for college students interested in journalism to meet professionals in the media industry, talk about their careers and receive feedback on resumes and clips.

It is odd to find myself on the “professional” side and not the student side anymore. I hardly feel like I embody everything that the word “professional” connotes. Heck, I’m still psyched about having company BUSINESS CARDS.

I wish that I had seized on more opportunities to attend networking events like College Night while I was still in school. It feels good to help plan an event for people who are not too much younger than I am. And I’m excited to meet young people who are interested in journalism and eager to get into the field. Meeting people, having good conversations about something you’re passionate about — it goes both ways.

And … I’m still working on building my guanxi.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net