Let the backlashing begin... (satire)

NY - Officials with the Lincoln-Edison Charter School have proposed establishing a middle school with the theme of "Homeland Security." Students would receive instruction in emergency response, computer security and other issues related to "Homeland Security." ...
(one course mentioned)
ADVANCED INTEL 201 - Basic Wiretapping: What'd Daddy Say About That Lady? - Students will hone their wiretapping skills by listening in on their parents' phone calls. Students will learn how to properly interpret statements such as "Junior's acting kinda weird lately" and "What's that clicking noise?" (more)

"Hole-y wallet, Batman!"

A six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to a soldier in real time.

The bat robot's body would be about six inches long. It would weigh about a quarter of a pound and use about 1 W of power.

That's the Army's concept, and it has awarded the University of Michigan College of Engineering a five-year, $10-million grant to help make it happen. The grant establishes the U-M Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology, called COM-BAT for short. The grant includes an option to renew for an additional five years and $12.5 million.

U-M researchers will focus on the microelectronics. They will develop sensors, communication tools and batteries for this micro-aerial vehicle that's been dubbed "the bat." Engineers envision tiny cameras for stereo vision, an array of mini microphones that could home in on sounds from different directions, and small detectors for nuclear radiation and poisonous gases. (more)

409,686 – available today for the same price!
The Vamp differs from most other flying toys because it’s an ‘Ornithopter’ – which means it flaps its wings to fly through the air – just like a real bat. The flapping wings and glowing red eyes give the eerie illusion that it’s a living (or undead!) thing, swooping through the darkness. (more)

"See, I’m a man of simple tastes. I like gunpowder…and dynamite…and gasoline! Do you know what all of these things have in common? They’re cheap!" – The Joker

SpyCam Story #466 - CERN PARTICLE ACCELERATOR

Watch scientists create Black Holes. (more)

NSA Wiretap Rooms Cartoons

Cartoon - what went on in the NSA's wiretapping room at AT&T
Frontier Foundation designer Hugh D'Andrade sez, "I did a 'live-painting' last Friday at a gallery -- a mural-sized cartoon depicting the goings-on inside the "secret room" at AT&T's Folsom Street facility. My EFF co-workers created a time-lapse video with an awesome ska soundtrack!"
If you like this, you'll LOVE this... >NSA<

SpyCam Story #458 - CCTV Tee

From artist Ross Robinson...
"Your government is watching you. All. The. Time."
...now buy my tee-shirt.

Security Oddballs - Airplane Trap Door and More

Some security inventions are truly useful and will undoubtedly save lives, whereas others are so bizarre that one wonders how in the world they got patented. This list is about the latter...
Behold the Top 10 Strangest Anti-Terrorism Patents! (more)

The New Jersey Ninja
Officials in Barnegat briefly locked down five schools in the township Wednesday because... a librarian said a man dressed as a ninja, carrying a large sword, was running through the woods... the man (a camp counselor) wearing a karate gi, was carrying a plastic sword and was attending a party at a local middle school. (more)

"Don't have a karate gi?
How about a nice tie?"
The Walking Timebomb Tie
"This is our first in a series of 'Concealed Weapons' neckties. They are each double printed - a more subtle graphic is on the front only giving a slight clue to a more "loaded" graphic hidden on the back. The second image is concealed on the reverse until the wearer pulls it out for show and tell - or keeps it a secret to his/her self." (more)

George Carlin on Airport Security (Not safe for work.)

Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella Splits Watermelons, Defends Presidents
The entourage of the Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has an unusual secret weapon. Her security team defends the head of the government with umbrellas. Not ordinary umbrellas, but unbreakable fighting umbrellas. Watch the video to see the combat-brolly in action, and marvel as Thomas Kurz ("the world's foremost expert on flexibility training") viciously splits a watermelon in two. (more) (more)

FutureWatch - Coming to a cubicle near you.

Time to A-ppeal!!!

We work in The Big Apple.
We see a lot of weird things;
everything from terrestrial Victorian borescopes to the Naked Cowboy.

Naked Cowboy drives to work each day between 11 and noon, in costume, with his female companion. 'Naked' parks in the same 43rd Street garage we use, jumps out and gets right to work. Doesn't matter whether it is 95 degrees and sunny, or 20 degree with snow. He is there. He makes millions smile. Want a photo with him; just stuff a buck in his boot and click away.

Whattaguy! Hard working. A real Robert Lampf 'dare to be different' original.

Here is the outrage...
"A judge said a Times Square entertainer who wears just enough to justify the name the "Naked Cowboy" can continue a lawsuit he brought against a blue M&M.

Federal Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan on Monday stripped Robert Burck of some of his claims that a blue M&M wearing a white cowboy hat, cowboy boots and underpants violates his trademarks.

But the judge left intact one strand of that lawsuit. Mr. Chin said Mr. Burck might be able to prove that Mars Inc., which makes M&Ms, unfairly gave the impression that he had endorsed its advertising campaign.

For its part, Mars says the ad campaign was a parody and is protected by the First Amendment." (source)

I wonder how M&M would take it if Naked Cowboy took Big Blue, x'ed out his eyes, cracked his shell, and propped him up in a 42nd St. doorway with an empty whiskey bottle??? Parody? Art, perhaps?

Naked Cowboy will survive – and ride off into the sunset in a big black Cadillac SUV.
Go Naked.

'Get Smart' Reviews, Smart

"GET SMART" is a film mistaken about its own identity. As a reworking of one of the great 1960s TV comedies, you'd think being funny would be its main goal. But you would be wrong. Very, very wrong. Like its protagonist, in-over-his-head secret agent Maxwell Smart, "Get Smart" yearns to be something it's not. Unaccountably eager to walk in the footsteps of James Bond, "Get Smart" neglects the laughs and amps up the action, resulting in a not very funny comedy joined at the hip to a not very exciting spy movie. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. (more)
However, in the back of the DVD bin...
Peter Segal’s top five 'Get Smart' episodes
Would you believe we asked Peter Segal, the director of the spy comedy "Get Smart," starring Steve Carell as Agent 86 Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, to name his top 50 episodes of the classic TV series on which the film is based?
Would you believe we asked him his top 25?
How about his top 10?
All right, we settled for his top five. (more)
Get Smart - The Complete Original TV Series

Eavesdropping Movie - "Monte Rouge"

Title: Monte Rouge
Writer/Director: Eduardo del Llano
Time: 15 minutes
Plot: Electronic eavesdropping.
Setting: Cuba.
Humor: Dark, subtle; like Monte Rouge.

"...two plain-clothed security agents knock at the door of a young man, Nicanor O'Donell.

"Good morning, my name is Rodríguez. This is comrade Segura," they tell him. "We're here to install the microphones."

"Our mission is to install microphones in your home to listen directly to the anti-governmental comments you make," the SDE (state security) agent says.

Nicanor can't believe. To him it is a bad dream or a bad joke.

The agents explain that they run a pilot scheme to make their work "more inclusive." No longer will the SDE break in to the houses of suspects to place microphones, they will just knock on the door and ask the house owner to let them install them. All in the name of "more openness."

In exchange they ask that Nicanor accepts the "obvious limitations" of having only two microphones placed in the house (one in the bathroom). And, to ensure that all subversive conversations are held in that place, offering to install a free mini-bar in the bathroom to get guests to go there for these conversations.

In a mild mannered conversation (with some dark undertones), they explain they know all about him: his black market dealings (exchanging a table from a museum with a guard of the museum for a VCR), the conversations he has had with friends in bars, ... The say he was selected for this test program because of his "excellent analysis" that goes beyond "more bitching" (and the fact that he lived close to the station while they had no access to a car).

They also ensure him that the devices are independent of the electricity grid (Cuba is known for its blackouts) as it "hardly would make sense to make eavesdropping dependent of the electricity." The young man is also warned that it is known to them that he also makes some positive comments about Cuba, but that he is to refrain from that "crap" as doesn't interest them and is a waste of their time.

The author stresses that he did not mean to indict Cuba's state security system, he just wanted to create and describe an present absurd Kafkaesque situation. He succeeded.

In Cuba and abroad there is a lot of speculation that del Llano and the other participants in Monte Rouge, could face reprisals for the irreverent clip. Let's hope that the popularity of the clip will protect them."
(en español: video Part 1 video Part 2)

Reel Camp for the Really Stupid

Worst Security Ad of the Year Award

This plopped into my mailbox this morning...

- To whom would this ad appeal?
- Is that the type of person you want carrying a gun?
- Why are the 'Super Heros' standing in a police line-up?
- What did they do wrong?
- Hey, these aren't Super Heros. Real Super Heros are big and strong!
- Are 'Crime Fighters' out there rounding up fake Super Heros!
- What a waste of tax dollars.
- I getting scared now. This is creepy. I give up.
It is only February and we have the Worst Security Ad of the Year.

But they do say, "Don't leave stuff in boxes under your desk marked SHRED."

(more)

Snuggly, The Security Bear speaks...

to... apparently, anyone who can be persuaded by a talking cartoon bear whose head is filled with fluff.

Let's join Snuggly now as he she it explains why a new federal wiretap law is being passed. (video)

Spy on Guam News Junkies

Ever wonder what the News Hounds on Guam are craving?

This is your chance to spy on them. (more)

If you loved the...

• Radar Detector Zapper!
• Cell Phone Zapper!
You will also love the...
(watch the movie first)
(movie)

Get yours here.

How To Create A Fake Google Earth Spy Video

Got some free time?
Want to amaze your friends and surprise your enemies?



This video is designed to demonstrate how to make a fake satellite spy video using Google Earth. Big Brother Is Watching You. (video)

Spybuster's Movie of the Month

Charlie Wilson's War
Tom Hanks and Philip Seymour Hoffman turn in their greatest performances in years in this historical thriller riddled with hilarious one-liners.

Hanks stars as Charlie Wilson, a congressman from Texas ... Upon returning to the States, Wilson immediately calls for a meeting with a U.S. security bigwig. CIA Agent Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman) ends up at his office door.

After a hysterical sequence of events during their brief meeting that includes a cocaine scandal, a bottle of wine and a bugging device, the two pair up to try to covertly help the Afghan war effort. (more) (trailer) (reality check)

Rat Race - Art Immitates Life

Rat Race, an episodic comedy adventure (Sony PS3 computer game) set in a crazy sitcom styled office. ... Rat Race is described thusly: "Sometimes we describe Rat Race as an interactive sitcom, but that doesn’t do it justice. There’s more to the experience than funny dialogue. Along the way you’ll sneak, sprint, solve puzzles, eavesdrop, steal..." (more)
...not to mention your kids will learn sarcasm, wisecracking and generally poor workplace etiquette.
Out just in time for the holiday season.
"Ho, ho, ho!"
Hey, who you callin' a Ho?!?!

Break Time - Play Security Problem Excuse Bingo

Please come back after your BINGO BREAK.

"To help vendors focus on their obligations here, Jutta Degener and I present Security Problem Excuse Bingo. Usual bingo rules apply, with vendor press releases, news interviews, and legal notices used as source material. Cards can be generated and downloaded from www.crypto.com/bingo/pr

Because we follow all industry standard practices, you can rest assured that there are no bugs in this software. We take security very seriously." ~ Matt Blaze