Spying on a neighbor goes Bond with the Spion Orbitor Electronic Listening Device ($60). This weapon-looking device can let you hear conversations up to 300 feet away and record up to 120 seconds. It comes with an adjustable frequency controller to help with background noise as well as an on-board 10x spyglass for visually seeing the target you're spying on.
[ via Uncrate ]
A study at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has found that honeybees can be trained to detect explosives, even in tiny quantities. But it's still doubtful whether or not the bees could be helpful in the war on terror.
Bees have a phenomenal sense of smell - rivaling those of dogs. In thousands of trials conducted over 18 months, bees stuck out their tongues when they smelled explosives. When a bee has a sugar water reward, it will stick out its proboscis (which is much bigger than its antennae).
The study was funded by a grant of about $1.5 million from the Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which studies innovative and sometimes positively strange technology that could yield national security benefits.
Despite the positive results, DARPA said it does not see much of a future for bomb-sniffing bees in the military. "Bees are not reliable enough for military tactical use at this point," the agency said in a statement.
Omega brought back this classic, the Omega Seamaster 300M Limited Edition James Bond watch, for Daniel Craig to wear in Casino Royale.
Today is the birthday of the novelist who writes under the name John le Carré, born David Cornwell in Poole, England (1931). He got a job in the queen's secret service as a young man, but he found the actual work of a spy pretty boring. He described the job as "spectacularly undramatic." (See...it's not all guns and games!)
Since he was disappointed in his life as a spy, le Carré decided to entertain himself by writing novels. He had to keep his identity secret, so he used the pen name John le Carré. He said, "I wanted something three-syllabled and exotic."
Le Carré means "the square" in French. His third novel, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), was so successful that he quit his job as a spy and began to write full time.
So, Spy Jrs., in addition to learning other languages to help further your spy career, I suggest you also spend a little time improving your writing skills, so like Mr. Cornwell, you will always have a fallback career if the spy thing is not quite as exciting as you had imagined. Practice now. Write a short story about being a spy and e-mail it to me at shawn.lea<at>gmail.com and I will post it here!
[ via The Writer's Almanac ]
Based in Bogota, Miguel Caballero's eponymous company constructs clothes which help protect the wearer against bullets, knives and other weapons. The company sells a line of armored clothing that fits like Armani but deflects point-blank gunfire. Last year, the company sold an estimated $7 million worth of bulletproof trench coats, business suits, suede jackets and denim casuals.
The weight of a protective jacket has been brought down from 4.5 kilos 10 years ago to 1.2. It can withstand ammunition from weapons including a 9mm, a .44 Magnum, and a 3.57 revolver. Caballero developed and patented a weave of nylon and polyester that can stand up to gunfire.
The company held its first runway show in Guadalajara in January, featuring Mexican models sporting their new line of casual wear. This month, the company will open a high-end boutique in Mexico City - right next to Armani, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany.
The fashions cost between $500 and $2,000 each.
[ via Sibylla Brodzinsky, Business 2.0 magazine, August 2006 ]
Fujifilm recently introduced its new FinePix S3 Pro UVIR - the world’s first D-SLR camera capable of taking photographs in the ultraviolet and infrared light spectrums. It has been designed for use in the science, medical and fine art disciplines, with its most intriguing applications coming in the field of law enforcement investigation.
Law enforcement agencies have used ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) photography for years to uncover evidence not easily seen by the human eye, such as gun shot residue and blood stains, as well as to recover altered, burned or obliterated writing. IR photography is also used in nighttime surveillance.
With its digital capabilities, the FinePix S3 Pro UVIR makes the evidence-gathering process more efficient and accurate for investigators. The FinePix S3 Pro UVIR was the first D-SLR to feature a live CCD previewing feature, a significant aid to the forensic photographer. This feature enables manual focusing while dark filters are attached to the lens as well as pre-capture verification.
“Initially, the technology designed for the FinePix S3 Pro UVIR was for traditional visible wavelength imagery. But upon testing we found that the natural low noise tendencies of the Super CCD SR II sensor produced an outstanding image within UV and IR light bands,” explained Darin Pepple, Marketing Manager, Electronic Imaging Division, Fuji Photo Film U.S.A., Inc. “Fujifilm conducted a series of tests and after seeing the results, we knew instantly the immense power this camera would bring to forensic investigation.
Along with the FinePix S3 Pro UVIR, Fujifilm will bundle its HyperUtility Processing Software. This program provides investigators with side-by-side image comparisons along with metadata analysis, a useful tool when examining images of blood stains, documents or other forms of evidence.
Priced at $1,799.95, Fujifilm’s FinePix S3 Pro UVIR is available at select authorized dealers in the United States beginning September 2006.
The problem with most movie action heroes, said Alex Pettyfer, who plays a teenage secret agent in the forthcoming film “Stormbreaker,” is that they are way too old.
“He said, like, ‘Imagine your dad on an ironing board, snowboarding down a mountain with a bunch of guys chasing him,’ ” Mr. Pettyfer, 16, said recently, recounting a preproduction conversation with the screenwriter of “Stormbreaker,” Anthony Horowitz. The full horror of the image is meant to speak for itself: Mr. Pettyfer’s father is “like 47, 48.”
To open in the United States in the early fall, “Stormbreaker,” based on Mr. Horowitz’s phenomenally popular book of the same title, tells the story of Alex Rider, a 14-year-old orphan drawn against his will into the grown-up world of espionage, massive explosions and dangling from skyscrapers by one arm. Most of the adults are dishonest, incompetent or psychopathic.
For the full story from The New York Times, click here.
[ Thanks to Joe for the link ]
Moles, double agents, mercenaries and heroes. The International Spy Museum delves into the world of espionage once again, from the glamorous (Josephine Baker hid documents under her fur coat) to the notorious (Benedict Arnold plotted to surrender a fort to the British during the American Revolution). Learn from the most skilled intelligence operatives the world has ever seen in I Lie for a Living: Greatest Spies of All Time.
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