pocket spy

in george orwell’s 1984 hidden microphones embodied big brother’s constant surveillance:

’Yes. Look at the trees.’ They were small ashes, which at some time had been cut down and had sprouted up again into a forest of poles, none of them thicker than one’s wrist. ’There’s nothing big enough to hide a mike in. Besides, I’ve been here before.’

who knew that today we would all carry miniature microphones in our pockets and radios capable of transmitting sound? i guess the news that the FBI can remotely control cellphones and transform them into ‘roving bugs’ to listen in on anyone’s personal conversation is no surprise. what’s worse, the phones can be listened to even when they’re off – the only solution is to take out the battery.