Celebrity GoldStarz

If you’ve ever watched a James Bond movie, you’ve probably thought, “I wish I had some of those cool toys.” You know, intellectually, that you don’t really need spy gadgets to live a normal, happy life. But you’re sure, nonetheless, that you could live a more normal and much happier life if you had at least one or two spy gadgets. Right?

As technology advances and prices of electronic components go down, spy gadgets get cheaper, and tools that used to be considered too expensive or technical for the ordinary person have become just another consumer product.

For instance, look at the most basic of spy gadgets, the spy camera. Not too long ago, small, concealable cameras were expensive and hard to find. The cameras that were available to consumers weren’t all that easy to hide, and didn’t work that well. Now, anyone can buy a mini spy cam and hide it on their person, in a book, or on a shelf in their office.

Listening in on conversations once required very sensitive equipment, used by a skilled and experienced operator. Now kids can buy toy listening devices that rival the capabilities of some of the best spy gadgets in use just twenty years ago.

Take a trip to your local spy shop, and you’ll gain a real perspective on what’s available in terms of spy gadgets that you can take home and use today.

If you’ve ever used a red laser pointer to emphasize your bullet points in your business presentation, you’ve used one of the most popular spy gadgets. More powerful lasers can point out objects in the sky, cut like a knife and light things on fire. While you may not need spy gadgets to burn and cut your way out of trouble, they’re very cool.

Spy gadgets don’t have to be just fun; they can also be useful. With a gps tracker, you can put a small tracer box on anything, from your car to your suitcase, and track its location using GPS technology. The tracer box is smaller than a cigarette package, and you can locate your “lost” item wherever it may end up.

You can even get various types of intrusion tools, which are not technically spy gadgets. From metal rope ladders to grappling hooks and suction cups, you can find almost anything to get you almost anywhere.

Your selection of spy gadgets is nothing without biometric security. Lock anything you want and allow access only to people who pass the biometric tests (fingerprint or retina scan). Like many spy gadgets, biometric devices are probably more cool than necessary, but they are very cool.

And don’t forget the original, and ultimate, spy gadgets, video and audio surveillance. You can now get cameras that will record almost anything without being detected, and you can bug a room or a car with very little effort and expense. What movie spies dreamt of 50 years ago, you can do on your own.

As you collect spy gadgets, you may also want to spend some time and money investing in counter-spy gadgets, such as laptop locks and government-grade computer protection systems. And if you’re the one relocating the car or suitcase with the GPS tracking system attached, you can even buy anti-tracking devices that block GPS tracking.

For most people, spy gadgets are generally more fun than practical, but there are some spy gadgets that are both fun and practical, like video and still cameras, audio bugs, and GPS tracking. And as for the more fun uses of spy gadgets, why not? Not everything you do has to have a practical application. Fun is good for you.

Tags: gadgets | cool | spy | gps

If you think or know your employer is using hidden cameras to watch you and your coworkers, your first question is probably, “Can they do that? Is it legal for them to watch me secretly?” The short answer is yes, it is legal for employers to use hidden cameras in the workplace.

There are restrictions, and employers can’t put hidden cameras in restrooms or dressing rooms, where employees have a right to an expectation of privacy. There may also be local ordinances restricting the use of hidden cameras.

In general, though, your employer can place hidden cameras in any public area of the workplace, and they can use the material recorded by those hidden cameras in employment-related decisions, including terminating employees for theft or attendance violations (like leaving work early on a regular basis).

What does this mean for you, as an employee? In a general, legalistic sense, it means you should be aware that your employer can place hidden cameras wherever the managers feel they’re necessary, except private areas of the workplace. They can tell you there are cameras and the general locations, or not tell you. Because it’s their property and you’re on their time, they have a lot of legal latitude regarding hidden cameras.

If you discover, either through the grapevine or through your employer’s disclosure, that your employer has hidden cameras, what should you do?

You may feel angry if you find out your employer is using hidden cameras and has not told you and your coworkers. You may have a right to feel angry, depending on the situation, but unfortunately, feeling angry doesn’t get you much. No matter how you may feel about hidden cameras in the workplace, you need to find more productive ways to approach it.

What is your employer’s reasoning behind the hidden cameras? If your employer has experienced a lot of employee theft, or if employees regularly leave the premises early, your employer may feel hidden cameras are the only way to document this behavior and end the losses.

Some employers install hidden cameras as a security measure, not so much against employees, as to protect both employees and customers. This is particularly true in very small stores and offices with walk-in traffic, where robbery is a real risk. Most employers will tell their employees about hidden cameras in a situation like this, but your employer may feel it’s best to keep quiet.

If your employer seems to be aiming hidden cameras at problem employees, it may be easy to resent the intrusion into your own life, because you are not stealing company property or leaving work early. You may agree that other employees should stop doing that. Having a video camera trained on you may be a little harder to take.

If you generally feel your employer is fair and reasonable, and you would rather keep the job than quit over hidden cameras, acceptance is the best policy. You don’t have to like having hidden cameras in the workplace, but if you’re willing to accept, and tolerate, the cameras, you will be able to keep your job and keep the peace with your employer. You know you’re not the target of the hidden cameras. You also know your boss won’t be scrutinizing your every move, but looking for problem behavior from problem employees.
When hidden cameras are used to find, and stop, abusive or criminal behavior, you and your coworkers will benefit as much as your boss. Think how hard you have to work to make up for people who leave early, and how much more your boss could afford to pay in salary and benefits if shrinkage, or theft, stopped. These are the benefits of hidden cameras in the workplace, and they’re well worth the inconvenience.

Tags: employer | cameras | hidden