PDA rocks for British spies

[caubeck]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4639782.stm

It may start a fashion.

[Don't Panic!]

That looks like a PALM device to me.

[pocketpcadmirer]

It doesnt look like a pocket pc or a palm to me. May be a custom designed PDA for 'special' needs

Sunny

[Constant Caffeine]

Why would they advertise something like this? Wouldn’t this type of information be classified? Leave it to the media to blow the cover on something that should not be known.

But now that it is out in the open, imagine finding something like this when your geocaching. :lol:

[martin_ayton]

It's a set-up. FWIW, I reckon it's all to do with the Russian government getting upset about foreign funding of Russian NGOs. These are just about the last aspect of Russian public life that the Russian government does not own or control and so they're taking steps to 'correct' that.

The rock thing - if it really happened in this case - is no more than a tech. update to the age-old 'dead-letter' box and, I believe, fake rocks containing hidden compartments have been used for dead letter boxes before. The clever thing about this is that no physical contact is required between the box and the people using it.

The thing that shouts 'fake' about all this is that the Russians say they caught four people handling the box in addition to the Russian informer. Four?! Nobody is stupid enough to risk that proportion of their local personnel handling one box :roll: . You risk one person, so that if the thing is discovered, you lose one person, not the majority of your local team. That has to be espionage 101 - so simple even I can work it out. British Intelligence Services have been playing the game a long time and they don't make mistakes that basic. Like I said - it's a set-up.

Actually though, I can see all sorts of potential for wardriving-type competitions here: Hide a bunch of clues in bluetooth units disguised as all sorts of the stuff you find lying about in cities and fields. Leave messages for your opponents to find, including a tally of how many clues you have found already. Buy your own units, hide them and add your own clues to others and see how many people find what you hid. A reason for geeks to get out of doors and try out those Scotevests in the wild!

[Cybrid]

Actually though, I can see all sorts of potential for wardriving-type competitions here: Hide a bunch of clues in bluetooth units disguised as all sorts of the stuff you find lying about in cities and fields. Leave messages for your opponents to find, including a tally of how many clues you have found already. Buy your own units, hide them and add your own clues to others and see how many people find what you hid. A reason for geeks to get out of doors and try out those Scotevests in the wild! And here I thought that's what geocaching was for. :lol: Adds a whole new dimension.

[Steven Cedrone]

Yeh, I actually first saw a link to this on a local Geocaching site:

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/24/wspy24.xml

[martin_ayton]

And here I thought that's what geocaching was for. :lol: Adds a whole new dimension.

I'd not heard of geocaching before, and I didn't go and look it up before posting my last :oops: . I have done so now. Being able to get to caches using the BT 10+m range probably makes it all too easy and spoils the fun. On the other hand, having the BT rock in range and not being able to distinguish it from all the other rocks could drive you nuts.