Imagine a loudspeaker that...
• does not use a magnet
• is ultra-thin (nanometer thickness)
• does not vibrate
• is transparent
• is flexible (enough to be made into clothing)
• can be integrated into a computer or TV screen
Welcome to the world of the Transparent Carbon Nanotube Thin (CNT) Film Loudspeaker.
"Ok, so how does it work?" I hear you say.
When AC electricity courses through carbon nanotubes, it creates heat. Unlike conventional speakers which bump air molecules to create a sound wave, CNTs don't move; they change temperature. It is this temperature oscillation which bumps the air molecules, thus creating sound. Heat is soooo cool!
New idea? No, the thermophone was invented before 1886 and was upgraded in the 1920's. It worked, but not very well. Right idea, wrong materials.
It took 21st Century carbon nanotubes to make this flag sing. (flag)
Why are we interested?
Well, hot cool technologies are always intereting. But, our interests are more sinister. Did you know... many conventional speakers can also be used as microphones. This has made for some interesting eavesdropping installations for us to discover. If nanotube speakers have the same capability... the future will be even more interesting for us. Can't wait to test one! ~Kevin
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
FutureWatch - GPS Tracking to be made illegal?
GA - It is now legal for anyone to track someone with a hidden GPS device on a car. Now, one Georgia lawmaker is introducing a new bill to make the practice against the law.
Georgia State Representative Kevin Levitas said after watching a FOX 5 special report, he decided to take action to stop people from following others with a hidden GPS device.
"My law would prohibit a stranger from going up, or even somebody that knows that person, from going up to their car without their consent whether in a public place or private place and placing a GPS tracking device," said Rep. Levitas. (more)
Private Investigators and spouse-spies will be the ones affected most. Corporate espionage types won't care. Doesn't matter. Businesses hire specialists like us to find these things for them.
Georgia State Representative Kevin Levitas said after watching a FOX 5 special report, he decided to take action to stop people from following others with a hidden GPS device.
"My law would prohibit a stranger from going up, or even somebody that knows that person, from going up to their car without their consent whether in a public place or private place and placing a GPS tracking device," said Rep. Levitas. (more)
Private Investigators and spouse-spies will be the ones affected most. Corporate espionage types won't care. Doesn't matter. Businesses hire specialists like us to find these things for them.
Three Very Amazing Video Cameras
• Fog Penetrating,• X-Low Light,
• Car Key Fob CamCorder
View the short movie clip of this tricky fog-busting CCTV camera. Amazing!
Now, take a look at their extremely low-light level camera. Sit down... 0.00009 lux F1.4, 570 lines resolution, B&W. Basically, this is a camera which allows you to 'see in the dark' as long as it is not totally dark. Add a few IR LEDs in the area and voila, it's daytime!
Their latest... A car key-fob covert camera which records (3.1 megapixels still and 460x480 movie) up to 90 minutes (with time/date stamp) then downloads into your computer via USB. Yes, it records the sound, too.(more)
Security Source Tip #207 - CCTV Made Easy
Have a CCTV equipment question on Sunday?Need a wide selection?
Need a decent price?
Need all the correct parts and pieces at your door by Tuesday?
"Who you gonna call?"
Welcome to Surveillent!
Surveillent was created to provide small businesses and the non-typical low-voltage installation companies (electrical contractors, IT cabling companies and installation-only firms) an opportunity to take advantage of our security-industry knowledge and expertise. All of the highly visible security brands we offer are available on eBay and if you do not see what you are looking for, contact us and we will try and get it for you.
Through our store on eBay today, businesses and resellers who do not have the in-house security staff can take advantage of Surveillent's expertise to make those buying decisions the right ones, the first time. Many small businesses and low-voltage contractors simply cannot afford and do not have the resources to hire an outside security consultant or engineering firm to help them make those purchasing decisions.
This is where Surveillent makes a difference. We are not here just to sell you parts. Our greatest value is to provide you with the smarts necessary in order to make the right decisions from the start.
I saw this scenario in action this week.
The system worked, and worked well.
Source: Surveillent, Inc., Presales Support, Chris Jahnke, (612) 275-1401, surveillent.net
Real Thought Police at a Real University. Whowouldhavethunkitwouldreallyhappen?
via the National Post... Canada - Just who is Queen's University trying to kid? The school may call its new political-correctness cops "facilitators." It may insist they will not be eavesdropping on private conservations, "preaching" to students they overhear using "offending terms," serving as "disciplinarians" or being judgmental. But administrators are simply deluding themselves with euphemisms if they swallow their own tripe.
The half-dozen speech monitors employed by Queen's dean of student affairs to wander campus and listen for mentions of racist, sexist, homophobic or other "non-inclusive" language, are nothing more than thought police.
The simple act of determining what terms are and are not "offending" is judgmental. Singling students out for "a respectful and educational dialogue" about how their "derogatory terminology" might lead to "marginalization or exclusion" of identifiable groups is the epitome of judgmentalism. Intruding on students' chats with dorm mates or interrupting their joke telling in the cafeteria is the very definition of eavesdropping, even if Queen's wants to insist it is not. (more)
From Queen's University website...
"Queen's is one of Canada's leading universities with an international reputation for scholarship, social purpose, spirit and diversity."
Monday, November 17, 2008
US Court Orders Halt to Sale of Spyware, and then changes their mind...
United States of America - At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court has issued a temporary restraining order halting the sale of keylogger spyware.According to the FTC’s complaint, the Florida-based CyberSpy Software, LLC marketed and sold RemoteSpy keylogger spyware to clients who would then secretly monitor unsuspecting consumers’ computers. The FTC seeks to permanently bar the unfair and deceptive practices and require the defendants to give up their ill-gotten gains.
According to papers filed with the court, the defendants provided RemoteSpy clients with detailed instructions explaining how to disguise the spyware as an innocuous file, such as a photo, attached to an email. When consumer victims clicked on the disguised file, the keylogger spyware silently installed in the background without the victims’ knowledge. This spyware recorded every keystroke typed on the victim’s computer (including passwords); captured images of the computer screen; and recorded Web sites visited. To access the information gathered and organized by the spyware, RemoteSpy clients would log into a Web site maintained by the defendants.
Defendants touted RemoteSpy as a “100% undetectable” way to “Spy on Anyone. From Anywhere.” (more)UPDATE (12/3/08 - from a RemoteSpy press release)
RemoteSpy is once again available for sale and users of the popular software can once again access their accounts. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (case no. 6:08-cv-1872-ORL-31GJK) to issue an injunction to:
(1) stop the sale of RemoteSpy, the best remote computer monitoring tool on the market;
(2) prevent current RemoteSpy customers from using the product;
(3) freeze the assets of the company and its CEO, Tracer Spence; and
(4) prevent CyberSpy and Spence from operating any other business without the FTC's consent.
The Court refused to take such punitive actions, instead simply requiring CyberSpy to do what it had already offered to do: change its promotional materials and advertising practices to make it clear that the software is not designed or intended to be used to monitor any computer without the owner's knowledge and consent. (more)
For Sale: TSCM instrumentation. Bargain prices.
Ever wonder what happens to last generation professional eavesdropping detection instruments? Find out, here... The Ultimate TSCM Sale.
PIs Allegedly Plant a Bug They Were Hired to Find
A cautionary tale...
Australia - Lesley Broadbent did not feel safe anywhere... she believed she was under constant surveillance... To try and put her mind at ease she hired a private eye company, with the help of her daughter, Cheryl Metcalfe.
Two female private investigators and a man allegedly claimed they found a "listening device" in Ms. Broadbent's roof, after a bug sweep of her Nambour house.
The trio was yesterday committed to stand trial in Maroochydore Magistrates Court, accused of planting the device.
The court heard Kathleen Joan Kitchner, 53, and Corinne Martell, 46, first went to the Nambour home on June 4 this year, and went back with Shane Martell for a second bug sweep a couple of days later.
After climbing into the roof, Mr. Martell emerged with a device he said had been found somewhere above the kitchen, the court heard...
The court heard Ms. Metcalfe began to get suspicious when the investigators failed to hand the device in to police and refused to return phone calls.
Ms. Martell said the company, Private Eyes 007, seemed perfectly legitimate at first. "They were professional, they had credentials and professional equipment with them, I wouldn't have thought anything else," Ms. Metcalfe told the court. (more)
Tricks of the trade...
While most private investigators are sincere and honest, a few are fraudsters. The "plant a bug, to find a bug," trick is fairly common. Combined with other scare tactics, it is used to assure unnecessary additional inspections and sales of countermeasures gadgets, CCTV cameras, etc..
Even sincere private investigators can provide ineffective eavesdropping detection services, inadvertently. Eavesdropping detection is a specialty. When handled in a Jack-of-all-trades fashion, it is rarely successful, no matter how good the intentions.
Please, if you are seeking assistance to solve a personal electronic surveillance matter, hire a specialist. To find candidates in your area use google.com; search term: TSCM [+ your city or state]. Carefully evaluate your candidates. Trust your instincts.
Businesses and governments have an even greater need for a specialist – the issues are more complicated, the stakes are higher. Finding a bug is not the goal; discovering an espionage attack while there is still time to prevent damage is the goal.
Employ the most experienced specialist you can find. Ask fellow security directors for recommendations, and don't be afraid to 'fly in' the best people. Importing security consultants is commonplace. High stakes demand the best preventative measures.
Resource for locating information security consultants, eavesdropping detection specialists and counterespionage consultants:
• International Association of Professional Security Consultants
Still need help, or a second opinion? Call me. ~Kevin
Australia - Lesley Broadbent did not feel safe anywhere... she believed she was under constant surveillance... To try and put her mind at ease she hired a private eye company, with the help of her daughter, Cheryl Metcalfe.
Two female private investigators and a man allegedly claimed they found a "listening device" in Ms. Broadbent's roof, after a bug sweep of her Nambour house.
The trio was yesterday committed to stand trial in Maroochydore Magistrates Court, accused of planting the device.
The court heard Kathleen Joan Kitchner, 53, and Corinne Martell, 46, first went to the Nambour home on June 4 this year, and went back with Shane Martell for a second bug sweep a couple of days later.
After climbing into the roof, Mr. Martell emerged with a device he said had been found somewhere above the kitchen, the court heard...
The court heard Ms. Metcalfe began to get suspicious when the investigators failed to hand the device in to police and refused to return phone calls.
Ms. Martell said the company, Private Eyes 007, seemed perfectly legitimate at first. "They were professional, they had credentials and professional equipment with them, I wouldn't have thought anything else," Ms. Metcalfe told the court. (more)
Tricks of the trade...
While most private investigators are sincere and honest, a few are fraudsters. The "plant a bug, to find a bug," trick is fairly common. Combined with other scare tactics, it is used to assure unnecessary additional inspections and sales of countermeasures gadgets, CCTV cameras, etc..
Even sincere private investigators can provide ineffective eavesdropping detection services, inadvertently. Eavesdropping detection is a specialty. When handled in a Jack-of-all-trades fashion, it is rarely successful, no matter how good the intentions.
Please, if you are seeking assistance to solve a personal electronic surveillance matter, hire a specialist. To find candidates in your area use google.com; search term: TSCM [+ your city or state]. Carefully evaluate your candidates. Trust your instincts.
Businesses and governments have an even greater need for a specialist – the issues are more complicated, the stakes are higher. Finding a bug is not the goal; discovering an espionage attack while there is still time to prevent damage is the goal.
Employ the most experienced specialist you can find. Ask fellow security directors for recommendations, and don't be afraid to 'fly in' the best people. Importing security consultants is commonplace. High stakes demand the best preventative measures.
Resource for locating information security consultants, eavesdropping detection specialists and counterespionage consultants:
• International Association of Professional Security Consultants
Still need help, or a second opinion? Call me. ~Kevin
Sunday, November 16, 2008
F/S Used Car w/ slight water damage, £80,000+
The white 1976 Lotus Esprit 
from the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, will be sold by the international auctioneers on 1 December at its annual motoring Auction Sale at Olympia, in West London.
The vehicle is one of two Lotus cars driven in the film by Roger Moore’s James Bond character. It turns into an amphibious car for the movie, driven both on land and underwater. (moore) relax, it's a jokeClick here to read an article first published contemporarily in Road and Track Magazine by Doug Nye, renowned motor historian and Bonhams consultant.
For further information please contact: Tim Schofiel, +44 (0) 20 7468 5804
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Spy gear used to cheat immigration test
UK - Two men have been jailed after using hi-tech hidden cameras, transmitters and surveillance gadgets to tell candidates sitting the exams the right answers.
The Life in the UK test is the last step towards earning citizenship and those who pass are then entitled to apply for a British passport.
But there are fears unsuitable candidates may have earned the right to settle here thanks to a highly sophisticated scam to cheat the questions.
Participants, who did not understand English, went in to a test centre in Wimbledon library, south west London, armed with a hidden shirt buttonhole camera, microphone and earpiece. In a scam akin to a scene in a James Bond movie, two fraudsters sat outside in BMW car packed with hi-tech equipment and a laptop and directed them to tick the right answers via the secret link.
When police first came across the pair they thought they were running a cashpoint fraud, skimming the cards of unsuspecting users.
But it emerged they were helping Chinese nationals undertake the multiple choice immigration tests in the nearby building. (more)
The Life in the UK test is the last step towards earning citizenship and those who pass are then entitled to apply for a British passport.
But there are fears unsuitable candidates may have earned the right to settle here thanks to a highly sophisticated scam to cheat the questions.
Participants, who did not understand English, went in to a test centre in Wimbledon library, south west London, armed with a hidden shirt buttonhole camera, microphone and earpiece. In a scam akin to a scene in a James Bond movie, two fraudsters sat outside in BMW car packed with hi-tech equipment and a laptop and directed them to tick the right answers via the secret link.
When police first came across the pair they thought they were running a cashpoint fraud, skimming the cards of unsuspecting users.
But it emerged they were helping Chinese nationals undertake the multiple choice immigration tests in the nearby building. (more)
FutureWatch - Rise of the Franchise Spy
from their press release...
The Spy Place LLC is now developing its Business Model for a Franchise System.
Raymond Huck, President and Founder of The Spy Place LLC, has just announced that the new company, The Spy Place Franchising LLC., has contracted with Scott C. Kern, ... to prepare and register a Franchise Disclosure Document to allow the franchising of The Spy Place.
"Since we opened here last October, the ft. Wayne business community has received us very well", Huck said... The Spy Place, is a retail operation that sells and installs affordable Remote Viewing Video Surveillance Systems...
The Spy Place, also sells, through its retail store, and soon on its Web-Site, www.thespyplace.com computer tracking software... Vehicle tracking software is something that is also very popular today. The Spy Place sells and installs these units as well... The Spy Place, even sells some "James Bond, gadgets too. Take for instance the neck tie or ball point pen that is a camera, or the pen that is an MP3 voice recorder...
We intend to educate all potential Franchisees with one week hands on training at our flagship store located in ft. Wayne, and continue with a second week of training at The Spy Place University, located at our world headquarters, also here in ft. Wayne, Indiana.
Upon the successful completion of The Spy Place University, the graduate will now enjoy the use of, and the excitement generated from the use of our 'The Spy Place' name.
Spy Shops, have been around for a long time... kindalike adult bookstores. Even the previous attempts at franchising missed the mark: either too self-important, pricey and megalopolitan, or too strip mall-ish. Both came staffed with people who didn't get the used car sales position they really wanted.
The Spy Place, LLC may be different. Even though their debut press release could give a 7th grade English teacher angina, and 'surveillance' is spelled wrong on their youtube video entry, these folks may be the Paul Revere's of their craft. (Paul was a spy and a craftsman.) When heartland America, Indiana, sprouts an out-of-the-closet Spy Shop, you know "spy" is no longer a dirty word.
(youtube commercial; narrated by aSean Connery
The Spy Place LLC is now developing its Business Model for a Franchise System.
Raymond Huck, President and Founder of The Spy Place LLC, has just announced that the new company, The Spy Place Franchising LLC., has contracted with Scott C. Kern, ... to prepare and register a Franchise Disclosure Document to allow the franchising of The Spy Place."Since we opened here last October, the ft. Wayne business community has received us very well", Huck said... The Spy Place, is a retail operation that sells and installs affordable Remote Viewing Video Surveillance Systems...
The Spy Place, also sells, through its retail store, and soon on its Web-Site, www.thespyplace.com computer tracking software... Vehicle tracking software is something that is also very popular today. The Spy Place sells and installs these units as well... The Spy Place, even sells some "James Bond, gadgets too. Take for instance the neck tie or ball point pen that is a camera, or the pen that is an MP3 voice recorder...
We intend to educate all potential Franchisees with one week hands on training at our flagship store located in ft. Wayne, and continue with a second week of training at The Spy Place University, located at our world headquarters, also here in ft. Wayne, Indiana.Upon the successful completion of The Spy Place University, the graduate will now enjoy the use of, and the excitement generated from the use of our 'The Spy Place' name.
Spy Shops, have been around for a long time... kindalike adult bookstores. Even the previous attempts at franchising missed the mark: either too self-important, pricey and megalopolitan, or too strip mall-ish. Both came staffed with people who didn't get the used car sales position they really wanted.
The Spy Place, LLC may be different. Even though their debut press release could give a 7th grade English teacher angina, and 'surveillance' is spelled wrong on their youtube video entry, these folks may be the Paul Revere's of their craft. (Paul was a spy and a craftsman.) When heartland America, Indiana, sprouts an out-of-the-closet Spy Shop, you know "spy" is no longer a dirty word.
(youtube commercial; narrated by a
FutureWatch - Fingerprint 'developer' can read a letter from its envelope
UK scientists have discovered a fingerprint' “developer' which can highlight invisible prints on almost any surface – and read the text of a letter just from the envelope it was sent in. Paul Kelly and colleagues at Loughborough University found that a disulfur dinitride (S2N2) polymer turned exposed fingerprints brown, as the polymer reaction was initiated from the near-undetectable remaining residues. Traces of inkjet printer ink can also initiate the polymer.
The detection limit is so low that details of a printed letter previously in an envelope could be read off the inside of the envelope after being exposed to S2N2. (more)
Friday, November 14, 2008
FutureWatch - Micro Cameras
Sony Corp commercialized the IMX060PQ, a 12.25-Mpixel CMOS image sensor with an optical size of 1/2.5-inch, for use in mobile phone cameras.The new image sensor has a pixel pitch of 1.4μm. Sample shipments will start in March 2009 at a price of ¥2,500 (approx. US $25.75). (more)
When these find their way into the production stream it will make the cell-phone-as-a-professional-spy-tool a reality. Also, look for these new sensors in pens and other spycam housings. Yet another good reason to secure your sensitive paperwork at night. ~Kevin
Our Staff Spies a Real Busybody in Philadelphia
No surveillance device escapes the notice of our staff, not even a Busybody. This photo was taken in Philadelphia just the other day.What is a BUSYBODY, you may ask. As any resident of Old Philadelphia can tell you, the BUSYBODY is a set of three mirrors set in a black metal frame - two mirrors on the bottom and one mirror on top. It is held together by a scrolled iron bar which mounts alongside or under a window, or next to a door, usually on the second or third story of a house (first floor for ranch type houses).
By adjusting the mirrors, the home dweller can see who's at the door below, or what's going on up and down the street
or alley, without being seen himself or herself!Invented by none other than Philadelphia's most famous denizen, Ben Franklin!
Get one of your own!Attaches to windowsill with 2 screws. Overall height 21". Overall width 12 1/2". Each mirror measures 5" x 6". Sources: Busybody1 Busybody2
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