101 Spy Gadgets for the Evil Genius

Doesn't matter what your interest is, you can learn something from this book. I had no intention of building any of the projects, but after reading the book through, and realizing how easy and honestly fun some of them are, I just have to give them a try. Great pictures, and easy to read text not only help you build your projects but also include detailed explanations of why it actually works and what could be changed to fit your needs. Unlike some of the other Evil Genius books authors, Graham actually uses parts from old electronics that normally cost you next to nothing. And his website and forum will help you with any problems you have, as well as update anything new he wants to add. Easily the best book in the Genius series. Much enjoyed!

I've had this book for a couple of weeks and already had some questions. I went on the Atomic Zombie support spy gadgets forum and found the answers to my questions right away. It's nice to know that the authors do provide support and answer your questions in a day or so. There are some others on the forum that also help. It's a great community so if you buy this book make sure you also join the forum. There's a great section on where to find parts used in the projects. What more could a person ask for!? A great book and great support right from the authors. I'm very impressed.

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

I just got my copy and read half of it already. It's easy to follow with tons of pictures and diagrams. By the time you get to the end of the book, you will learn alot about many different types of gadgets and valuable tips about video, audio, lasers, photo editing software, some computer technology and much more interesting stuff that you would have to read many books to understand. Doesn't assume that you're an expert in various types of technologies but leads you into each project explaining every step until you build and test the final project. You can find all of the parts needed for each project anywhere online, in retail stores, electronics stores, and so on. Try eBay - you can get great deals on mini cameras. That's where I buy alot of my electronics parts, and yes, there are lowcost mini black and white cameras for sale on eBay and all over the Internet. I have several! It ain't "rocket science" finding the parts needed for these projects! Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ask.com - any search engine will yield results. If you like to tinker, hack and learn new stuff, then I highly recommend this book.

I bought this book at the University book store, and it has paid for itself many times over. The information on hacking video senders is right on the money, and for $20, I turned the VCR sender bought at a department store into the $150 spy transmitter that many websites are selling. Oh, and the taser gun made from the disposible camera.... Yah, it hurts! I would never try the two battery model > at least not on myself ;) <br /> <br />Anywho, thanks to the author, I enjoyed the way the book lays out each project as it is being made so there is no confusion, and the underground feel of this book reminds me of the old anarchist cookbook files that used to be available on dialup BBS sites. <br /> <br />I wonder if the author is on a no fly list now?! <br /> <br />Thanks. <br />