look at the pictures below, read the article, YOU DECIDE how dumb these guys are...
hopefully they won't accidentally get a .308 SMK BTHP to the head while "sniping" from a rooftop.

full article:
www.tomsnetworking.com/Sections-article106-page1.php

mirror in case it's slashdotted to death:
www.mirrordot.org/stories/5ba388d20f540cf04d66256b9c4bfa53/index.html

www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/03/building_a_blue.html

"In fact, in this two-part article, we will show you how to build your very own Bluetooth sniper rifle. A complete parts list is provided and we will document each step of the manufacturing process. We'll also report on our test "shoot" of some famous high-rise buildings in downtown L.A., namely the US Bank / Library Tower and the AON Tower.

[...]

The recent rains had washed away most of the smog from the usually murky Los Angeles skies, so we could easily see the giant high-rise buildings in the financial district. For the purposes of the shoot, we hooked up the BlueSniper gun to a laptop computer, instead of using the Gumstix computer. This allowed us to see in real-time the Bluetooth devices that were detected.

John pointed the BlueSniper at the AON building, which was 0.6 miles (just about 1 km) from our position (this distance was verified by GPS after the shoot). "

from the slashdot article text:
Jim Buzbee writes "I don't think I'd do it, but these guys built a BlueTooth Sniper rifle, went to the roof of a downtown Los Angles skyscraper and pointed it at nearby buildings. See what they found, and if you're so inclined, they'll show how to build your own and maybe, just maybe, you too can snag Paris Hilton's address book."





ETA: fixed mirror link

What the hell is that thing?

Being one, I can say definitively that geeks and nerds are book smart, but they have no fricken common sense! These dudes are gonna get shot...

Kharn

Great tool for getting credit card/personal info from the Commissary system who use a UNENCRYPTED wireless network for their Point-of-Sale systems.  Yep, if you use the commissary, your check/debit card/credit card info is free for anyone to intercept.

DUPE!!!
I posted that last year.

none of the links work for me, timmed out.

i agree that standing on a rooftop in LA with a rifle is not the brightest thing in the world.

Quoted: DUPE!!! I posted that last year.

not quite --- that guy was smart enough to know that if he took it outside his bedroom he'd probably be shot:
www.engadget.com/entry/3093445122266423/



the idiot i posted about above, well, he could very well end up dead for sitting on an LA rooftop with his "sniper rifle"...

They're going to get themselves killed..

On one of the links someone was fearmongering that it would show exactly where to point a gun in order to ddestroy a bluetooth device.. sheesh.. some people have stupid knee-jerk reactions to words and thought this was an aiming device for a firearm.

So essentially what they're doing is getting potential private and confidential information from a long distance away? Yes? Sounds like hacking and if so, sounds like they should be arrested.

oh hell, talk about asking to get a bullet in the melon.  Or incarcerated as bubbas biaatch for the rest of your life.  Holy dumb asses....

If they were in  NY they will be buried by now.

Quoted: If they were in  NY they will be buried by now.

i'm trying to figure out how long they'd have to be on a rooftop in LA for someone to notice.

Bad juju.

Well, I know this. If I did that, I'd paint it bright pink, put flowers on it and cover it in fake fur and stick a broom on the "muzzle" just to be on the safe side.

Ok, they managed to hook up a Yagi to a Bluetooth Transceiver and get bigtime bluetooth range.

Clever,

But I wouldn't point that off rooftops either.

and when the NYPD see you on the roof with that bitch........

Quoted: and when the NYPD see you on the roof with that bitch........]

i'm trying to find out if they are still alive...

ar-jedi

Quoted: What the hell is that thing?

I'm not geeky enough to understand what the hell it is either.  
I do know that those dorks would get the scaring of their life if they pointed it at me from a rooftop.

Quoted: Quoted: What the hell is that thing? I'm not geeky enough to understand what the hell it is either.   I do know that those dorks would get the scaring of their life if they pointed it at me from a rooftop.

Basically a Yagi attenna.

Quoted: and when the NYPD see you on the roof with that bitch........ www.pegatiros.com/images/cqb/swat_sniper.jpg

"some famous high-rise buildings in downtown L.A., namely the US Bank / Library Tower and the AON Tower."

WTF is the NYPD doing in Downtown LA?  Are the donuts better there?

Quoted: Quoted: What the hell is that thing? I'm not geeky enough to understand what the hell it is either.   I do know that those dorks would get the scaring of their life if they pointed it at me from a rooftop.

they are using a highly directional, high gain antenna to sniff wireless network traffic from long distances.  in order to do so effectively, these types of antennas need to be accurately pointed, hence the construction of a "sniper rifle" with the antenna mounted up front.  it's the long white tube with the coax hanging from it.  (geek note: it's a circularly polarized spiral wound antenna suitable for reception of RF in the ISM band [2.45GHz +/- about 80 MHz]).  the signal from the antenna is fed to a generic "Bluetooth" transceiver card, and from that to a PC.  Bluetooth is a wireless protocol by which devices (PC's, phones, PDA's, etc) can communicate in an ad-hoc manner.  the PC runs a program that allows it to eavesdrop on Bluetooth communications which the antenna picks up.  while these wireless communications can be encrypted, most are not -- or the encryption can be trivially defeated.  you can imagine the rest, paris hilton's address book, your bank account numbers, your past 7 orders at www.ammoman.com, and so forth.


ar-jedi

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: What the hell is that thing? I'm not geeky enough to understand what the hell it is either.   I do know that those dorks would get the scaring of their life if they pointed it at me from a rooftop. they are using a highly directional, high gain antenna to sniff wireless network traffic from long distances.  in order to do so effectively, these types of antennas need to be accurately pointed, hence the construction of a "sniper rifle" with the antenna mounted up front.  it's the long white tube with the coax hanging from it.  (geek note: it's a circularly polarized spiral wound antenna suitable for reception of RF in the ISM band [2.45GHz +/- about 80 MHz]).  the signal from the antenna is fed to a generic "Bluetooth" transceiver card, and from that to a PC.  Bluetooth is a wireless protocol by which devices (PC's, phones, PDA's, etc) can communicate in an ad-hoc manner.  the PC runs a program that allows it to eavesdrop on Bluetooth communications which the antenna picks up.  while these wireless communications can be encrypted, most are not -- or the encryption can be trivially defeated.  you can imagine the rest, paris hilton's address book, your bank account numbers, your past 7 orders at www.ammoman.com, and so forth. ar-jedi

Damn, that's unsettling.  I'm assuming it's also illegal?  Or is there some sort of loophole?

they used the Ramline Lockarm stock that i have on my 10/22 right now

Quoted: they used the Ramline Lockarm stock that i have on my 10/22 right now

don't worry --  as we speak some FBI/DHS agent is pulling that stock back out of that guy's ass, and will soon send it back to you...

ar-jedi

So they built a very directional antenna. Cool. They made a "rifle" out of said antenna. Lame. And I'm as geek as they get.

Wouldn't you have just loved seeing this guy on the roof top aiming this weapon down on the public? Talk about dialing 911!!!

Tack

Quoted: What the hell is that thing?

+1

Quoted: Wouldn't you have just loved seeing this guy on the roof top aiming this weapon down on the public? Talk about dialing 911!!! Tack

I bet he's an airsofter.

Quoted: So they built a very directional antenna. Cool.

uncool.  it's a commercial antenna designed for point-to-point 802.11b/g (WLAN) applications over long distances (say 1-15 miles).  across the hudson river from NYC to Hoboken, for example.  all ding-dong did was mount it.

ar-jedi