The Cricket That Refuses to Leave

AnnoyingPCB is a small blue noise-making circuit designed to emit a beep, high-pitched screech, or cricket chirp at random intervals between about five and forty-five minutes. A button changes the selected sound, and the compact board can be attached beneath or behind an object. The listing claims the included battery can continue the intermittent routine for as long as three years, which makes this materially different from a quick sound-button joke: it is built to be difficult to locate and persistent.

That persistence requires a responsible recipient. The device is best given as a novelty to someone who can demonstrate it briefly, reveal it promptly, and remove or disable it when the joke is over. Hiding it in a neighbor’s home, workplace equipment, shared ceiling, or another person’s property without consent can turn a gift into harassment or a maintenance problem. The selectable sounds and irregular timing are clever electronics, but they should be enjoyed with clear boundaries rather than used to maximize distress. For a prank enthusiast who values the mechanism and respects the reveal, it is an unusually committed little circuit; for an unwilling target, it is not a gift.