Note on NSA fiber optic snarfing: they undoubtably had one of our national laboratories figure it out. I remember a long time ago an URL to Los Alamos National Labs, where it was a project for getting past locks. ---- Will cops be more likely to ask people to identify themselves? (Identification wanderlust.) http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/24/technology/24COP.html # # May 24, 2001 # # Patrol Officers Soon to Carry # Minicomputers on Gun Belts # # By THOMAS J. LUECK # # Weighing five ounces and closely resembling the ubiquitous black # pocket pager, it might be overlooked on the overstuffed gun belts # of police officers on foot patrol. But the device, a $3,500 # minicomputer, will let the officers check whether a car has been # stolen or someone they stop on the street is trying to conceal # an arrest record. # # After putting 15 of the gadgets through their paces in housing # projects, stolen vehicle "chop shops" and crime scenes in the # last year, senior police officials said yesterday that they # planned to buy 200 more this year in the first phase of a plan # to equip a larger segment of the patrol force with the devices. # The decision to give officers the new computers was first reported # yesterday in The Daily News. # # "It works discreetly, without creating a fuss," said Rafael # Pineiro, the assistant chief in charge of the department's # Management and Information Systems Division. He added that the # New York Police Department would be the first in the nation to # use the minicomputers on routine street patrol. [snip] (yes, 'minicomputer' is the wrong terminology)
