Top secret tech in the toy aisle.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Walking past the toys in [mumble]mart the other day it occured to me that many of the toys we buy for our kids could have been Darpa projects in years past.

Consider spy toys. Here we have Q’s lab.

Night vision. Laser communications. Parabolic mikes. Palm sized digital cameras. Remote controlled car with remote IR camera.

007 eat your heart out.

Definately mundane and pointless, but how much stuff do we ignore or take for granted these days that could have turned the tides of wars not all that long ago.

2

I had a spy mic as a kid in the 70s. Of course, miniaturization has come a long way. My toy had a set of stethoscope ear plugs and was something like three feet long. The end was a satellite-dish looking thing about 10-12 inches in diameter. It took a 9v battery and turned on with a power/volume knob. To use it, you pointed in the direction of what you wanted to listen to and pulled a trigger.

Not subtle, but it got me lots of good blackmail info on my older sister.