96 of 99 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating addition to the Evil Genius series of hobbyist books, July 19, 2006
This review is from: 101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius (Paperback)
At first I thought that this particular book in the Evil Genius series might be a bit too cheesy for my taste, but it does have some very interesting content. As with all of the evil genius books, you should not expect a deep amount of theory on the inner workings of the various electronic devices discussed, but there is enough theory and construction detail that you will learn much about how to modify and control devices and be able to produce some interesting projects. The book does spend quite a bit of space on the operational details of cameras including digital photo enhancement, hooking up a web cam, and long range digital photography. This book has the quality and attention to detail in the instructions, diagrams, and photographs that, quite frankly, have been missing from recent entries in the Evil Genius project books.
Since in many ways this book is aimed at teens that want to learn by being mischievous, if you are a parent you need to look through the book carefully to make sure nothing dangerous is going on before turning your teenager loose with it. Oddly enough, the chapter on laser gadgets was fairly innocuous. It mainly consisted of using laser pointers to control devices remotely. The chapter that worries me is the chapter on "Protection and Countermeasures", since there are several projects that are variations of remote shocking devices using tasers. The most interesting chapter is the final one that is basically just one big project - building a spy robot - that is broken down into eleven smaller projects and builds on all of the material presented in the previous chapters. I especially recommend this book for adult hobbyists as well as parents and teachers who want some material on electronics that will likely hold a teenager's attention and teach them something at the same time. The table of contents is as follows:
Section One: Introduction
Section Two: Audio Eavesdropping and Recording
Project 1--Microrecorder Hacking
Project 2--Ultrahigh-Gain Microphone Preamp
Project 3--Bionic Stereo Spy Ears
Project 4--Parabolic Dish Microphone
Project 5--Working with Audio on Your Computer
Project 6--Filtering Out Background Noises
Project 7: Wiring Your Body to Record Audio
Section Three: Hard Wired Telephone Devices
Project 8--Telephone Audio Interface
Project 9--Automatic Call Recorder
Project 10--Sound Activated Computer Call Logger
Project 11--Super Stealth Line Tap
Project 12--Telephone Input/Output Box
Project 13--Using Computer Effects to Disguise Your Voice
Project 14--Simple Digital Voice Disguiser Circuit
Project 15--Ultimate Telephone Voice Changer
Project 16--Let Your Computer Do the Talking
Project 17--World Wide Telephone Tap
Section Four: Digital Camera Hacking
Project 18--Enhancing Digital Photos
Project 19--Hacking the Digital Camera's Trigger
Project 20--Covert Handbag Digital Camera
Project 21--Time Lapse Camera Trigger
Project 22--Motion Sensing Camera Trigger
Project 23--Digital Camera Gun Sight
Project 24--Long-Range Digital Photography
Section Five: Video Cameras and Recording
Project 25--Video Signal and Camera Basics
Project 26--Recording Video Signals
Project 27: Hack a VCR for Time-Lapse Recording
Project 28--Motion Controlled Audio Record
Project 29--Multiple Camera Auto Switcher
Project 30--Working with Video on a Computer
Project 31--Web Cameras as Security Cameras
Section Six: Covert and Hidden Spy Cameras
Project 32--Working with Microvideo Cameras
Project 33--Classic Nanny Cam
Project 34--Night Vision Fire Detector Cam
Project 35--Covert Marker Cam
Project 36--WYSIWYG Sunglasses
Project 37--Long-Range Video Camera
Project 38--Microscope Video Camera
Section Seven: Video Camera Pan and Tilt Control
Project 39--RC Servo Pan and Tilt Camera Base
Project 40--Remote Controlled Servo Base
Project 41--Manual Controlled Servo Base
Project 42--Microcontroller Controlled Servo Base
Project 43--Motion Tracking Camera
Section Eight: Night Vision Devices
Project 44--Using Low Lux Cameras
Project 45--Infrared, the Invisible Light
Project 46--LED Night Vision Illuminator
Project 47--Pulsed LEDS for Higher Output
Project 48--Outdoor Night Vision Illuminator
Project 49--Infrared Laser Illuminator
Project 50--Long-Range Laser Illuminator
Project 51--Night Vision Headgear
Section Nine: Audio Bugs and Transmitters
Project 52--Hacked Baby Monitor Bug
Project 53--FRS Radio Long-Range Bug
Project 54--Simple FM Room Bug
Project 55--Ultrasensitive Room Bug
Project 56--Micro Stealth Transmitter
Project 57--Telephone Line Transmitter
Project 58--Invisible Light Transmitter
Section Ten: Video Transmitters
Project 59--Hacking a Video Sender
Project 60--Micro Spy Transmitters
Project 61--Simple TV Transmitter
Project 62--TV Transmitter with Audio
Project 63--The Movie That Watches You
Project 64--Wall Wart Video Bug
Project 65--Cover Hat Cam
Project 66--Wall Clock Camera
Project 67--Kamikaze Video Transmitter
Section Eleven: Computer Monitoring
Project 68--Where Have You Been Today?
Project 69--Resurrecting Deleted Data
Project 70--Installing a Software Key Logger
Project 71--Build a High-Tech Hardware Key Logger
Project 72--Computer Screen Transmitter
Section Twelve: RF Scanners
Project 73--Scanning the Neighborhood
Project 74--Scanner Auto Recording Switch
Project 75--Scanner-to-Computer Interface
Project 76--Better Reception
Project 77--Bug Detection
Section Thirteen: Protection and Countermeasures
Project 78--Intruder Sentinel
Project 79--White Noise Generator
Project 80--Infrared Device Jammer
Project 81--Spy Camera Killer
Project 82--Shocking Device
Project 83--Ultra Small Shocking Device
Project 84--Motion Activated Shocker
Section Fourteen: Laser Spy Gadgets
Project 85--Lasernoculars
Project 86--Laser Beam Transmitter
Project 87--Laser Beam Receiver
Project 88--Laser Microphone Experiment
Project 89--Laser Perimeter Alarm
Project 90--Remote Control Sniper
Section Fifteen: Build a Mini Video Controlled Spy Robot
Project 91--Hacking a Remote Control Toy Base
Project 92--Creating the Weatherproof Shell
Project 93--Adding a Panning Camera Head
Project 94--Video Camera and Night Vision System
Project 95--RC Receiver to Servo Bridge Circuit
Project 96--Adding an Ultrasensitive Audio Preamp
Project 97--Payload Delivery Function
Project 98--Payload Delivery Hardware
Project 99--Creating a Portable Base Station
Project 100--Base Station Wiring and Installation
Project 101--Spy Robot Mission Testing
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