[ voice coming over radio, wind blowing ] And in fact, I don't even know how good Mario's improvisational skills are,
but I bet if you name one subject right now
[engine revving] he can make a power chord ballad based on it. >> Brian: Here we go!
>> Jason (radio): Grilled cheese sandwich!
>> Brian (radio): All right, grilled cheese sandwiches, let's take it away!
♫ guitar plays ♫ Grilled Cheese!
♫ You mean so much to me! ♫
♫ Grilled Cheese, you're so mean. ♫
[music fades out as wind picks up] ♫ You bring my cholesterol to my knees. ♫
He does not remember what today's episode is about.
I should have, should have said "grilled cheese" again.
♫ 'Cause I'm a Modern Rogue! ♫
[robot voice] "Surveillance Tools"
Nowadays with technology, I think most people
assume that if they're under a federal investigation or something, they're carrying microphones
in their phones and they're looking at webcams on their computers.
They have to just think that everything's going to be cyber-style, right?
And I think that's reasonable, but there's gotta be a situation where law enforcement
just uses low-tech surveillance.
Or, not law enforcement, criminals!
Or criminals.
Because that's the other thing, if you don't have the tech know-how, you don't have the
ability to penetrate a virtual private network, then old school bugs still work!
Well, we're not law enforcement, Brian.
So, this is an experiment?
That we're doing on our own property?
For demonstrative purposes!
For science?
Yes!
All right, what do we got here?
This is an FM transmitter, I got it off of Amazon for about 12 bucks.
This is like I'm touching a holy relic right now, because like, this was the trope that
fueled so many fantasies and dreams of knowing what other people were up to.
Well it's antiquated technology, but it's so simple!
This is straight-up just a power source.
Which we've plugged in a nine volt battery.
So you've got an antenna on there, you've got a microphone, and I don't see any controls on here.
So what I assume happens is, you plug in the battery and it just starts transmitting as
long as the battery has power and that's that?
That's that.
How far do they go?
I don't know how far they go, but the fidelity is surprisingly good under the right conditions.
So, here's what I've heard, is when it comes to bugging you either need to have a very
strong transmitter to blast the signal a very long way, or you need to have a finely-tuned
antennas and maybe be close to the location.
So this is the kind of thing that you would plant on property, and then you would have,
that's the trope of the van parked around the corner with people listening in live at
all times. >> Exactly.
Those people listening in are going to have an FM receiver, just like your regular radio.
You were saying that nowadays a lot of them will be encrypted.
My guess is that the days of high-end intelligence using unencrypted, analogue FM transmission
are probably over.
I don't know!
I mean, some of them now are wifi driven.
You tune in on this one to 100.0 or around there.
Yeah.
And you'll hear what this is broadcasting.
I'm going to turn it back on.
>> Radio: "Frequency mode."
[descending cascaded pitch of feedback]
Hello. Hello.
Holy cow!
Hello hello hello.
Can you hear how about this?
Perfect.
What?!
So, even if I'm really super quiet over here.
Yep.
And I'm talking about cutting off your fingers.
Yeah, don't do that.
I'm just talking about it, I would never do that.
I use all of them.
All right, here.
I'm just going to hide this in here.
So this is just a bug...
[whaling feedback]
Ah!
So the antenna placement matters, for sure.
Yeah.
I cannot believe how clear that is!
It's better when you're quiet, I think if you weren't as close to it we would get much
better fidelity.
Well here, so I guess the idea is, you set one of these in a lamp or in a smoke detector
or something, and the microphone is sensitive enough that, like, can you hear me right now?
Yeah. >> On there?
Mm-hmm.
Holy cow, that's a little scary.
Yeah, you sound great.
Wow! >> Yeah.
This is shocking to me, that this is 12 dollars and is top of the line cold war era bugging.
Yeah, and it works great, it's super cheap, you can get it off of Amazon.
So, audio -- I'm totally screwed.
Anything I ever say or do, whether or not I think I'm alone, somebody can be peepin'.
Let's talk video.
Yeah.
This is actually simpler, and a little bit more modern.
And it's a little USB rechargeable, and it just shows up as a thumb drive, you grab the
footage right on over?
Exactly!
When you first held this up, I thought like, it's a USB thumbdrive.
And I'm like, well that's not a very good disguise, and then you pointed out that you can replace
the button and actually set it up as a button on your shirt and then I became terrified,
because I realized I can be dashcam'd at all times.
Exactly.
This is the one that we actually shot the opening segment on, right? >> Yeah.
That footage of you in your car signing about grilled cheese came off of that camera.
I'm just a very big fan of grilled cheeses.
I get it, you're a very big fan of your own voice is what it was.
In fact, when we were doing Hacking the System, we found a keychain that has similar stuff.
Not quite as good of fidelity as this, though.
I know there's best practices to defend against the high-tech stuff, you know, people taking
over your phone and so on.
But, is there any defense against an FM transmitter?
You always see in the movies how people search for bugs?
Yep.
This is how.
This is a real thing?!
It's a real thing!
This is something that I think runs about 10 bucks, again on Amazon, super cheap.
I'm going to guess that there are fancy ones and less fancy ones, wait.
Why are there LEDs on this? What is that?
I'll explain that in just a second.
Why is there a compass on this?!
I don't know why there's a compass.
This is 10 dollars, this is amazing!
Yeah, it's crazy, and all it is, is a radio frequency detector.
Okay.
So it's picks up the FM transmission from this, it will pick up wifi signal coming from
your router, or a wifi-enabled bug.
And it has various levels of-- >> Oooh, aaah!
It's freaking out with our mic packs and everything!
Oh yeah, we've got the mic packs too.
That, might be a problem.
So there's two different settings on there, there's one that just makes a sound.
Got it.
Oh, oh! >> Yeah.
Oh!
It works just like in the movies.
And if you switch it up on the next setting, it'll just do vibrations.
Oh that's surprisingly sensitive.
Yeah, and the red lights on there is the signal strength.
Yeah yeah yeah, okay so like right there, if I turn it on sound.
Okay, this one, the battery's plugged in so it's transmitting.
Yep.
You can adjust the sensitivity on here, right?
Oh, got it, got it, got it.
Okay perfect.
So you can set the squelch as it were.
Yeah.
And it goes just by proximity?
Yeah, now the problem is that with so many wifi-enabled devices, so many routers that
are just ubiquitous in our everyday lives, it's going to pick up that too.
Yeah, sure sure.
So you've got to set the sensitivity really low, and be very thorough when you're searching.
I am very glad that I have one of these now.
Super cool, right?
Yeah!
Now, take off the video camera.
Yes.
Now the video camera doesn't even have to be running, right?
Okay.
For you to find it, this is actually a super low-fi trick.
You've got your lens on there, push the laser button.
It's just a blinking red light, and you look through there and you can see the reflection of the lens.
That's how you find the camera.
Oh my god!
Oh wow!
Super low-fi, right?
Yeah, so just an array of LED lights, and looking through it.
Boy, it really does just pop.
The lenses on that, oh my god, look at the lenses on the cameras.
Oh wow, yeah, it just blinks!
That's brilliant because when I see a pinhole like this, I don't bother to think there's
a lens on the inside.
That's a brilliant trick.
Super simple, right?
So you can understand why this thing is so cheap.
So we have to test this, what's the scenario?
The year is 2021.
Oh, the future?!
President Kardashian is visiting the Modern Rogue warehouse.
My goodness, Madame President, what an honor!
I bet, I surely hope nobody has bugged the place!
Let's hope not, but guess what?
They totally have.
I did.
I know, but you work for who?
Uh, I, I'm an-- TMZ.
>> TMZ. >> Cobra.
Cobra/TMZ, it's a joint TMZ-Cobra operation.
Yes!
And me being secret service for Madam Kardashian.
Uh yeah, no, in.
All right.
It's good, it's a good narrative.
Hide'em good.
[the sound of general milling about and quiet maniacal wiretapping installation]
♫ "Me 2 You" by QSTN ♫
[music interrupted by heavy bell]
This is Delta Echo Foxtrot 27-5 DNA 2, calling the President.
Hello Madam President.
The motorcade is on its way?!
Aah, Bizarre Magic Inc Headquarters, it won't be prepared in time!
I've got to sweep the area.
Of course, you hired the best.
I'm Science Man.
[laughter]
♫ ♫
[chains rattle and corrugated metal rustles]
Murphy!
Mister Brushwood.
Mwuahahahah-hahahahahahaaaaaaahhhhh...
aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh...
Today!
President Kardashian will rue!
Today, that she crossed Cobra!
... and TMZ.
And TMZ!
Well I'm going to find the bug, but where is it?
Is it like, is it in the... right.
No, it's in the other room.
[laughter]
[rattling of chains and laughter in the distance]
What are the only hints I got?
You have 30 seconds!
Or you'll murder-30 seconds?!
Jesus!
Uh, okay.
Just somewhere in the room?
Somewhere in the room.
Yeah, this is going to be hard.
We're going to be here all night.
Well, oh look at all this sound equipment, appears to be emanating radio signals.
[shrill manic cackling]
[laughter]
Where we done doing that?
There's definitely, I wonder if I'm picking up the camera equipment.
Oh, the mic?
Probably.
Hmm?
Man, having the mic packs makes this hard.
Yeah, I think the mic pack is really throwing you off.
Is that code for I'm not close?
Oh wait, hold on.
Okay, oh!
So if you use this as a wand, if I turn up the squelch a lot.
Oof, dude, it's just screaming at me.
It's very ineffective right now.
Okay.
Hold on, is it not over here?
It seems to think something's over here.
Oh!
Hey!
Well you weren't supposed to find it that way!
I just found it!
But here, let me, let me see how, whether I would have caught it.
You succeed only through your incompetence, Brushwood!
Oh, you'll not get us today, Cobra!
I like make-I gotta make more fists when I talk.
It's really only from one angle that you can see the uh, the lens.
It's very, very narrow.
That's one, nice try Cobra.
I'm going to, here.
I'm going to go off-mic.
All right.
I'm going to turn off my mic pack.
[room tone floods in]
[a steady rhythm of dot matrix-esque squawks]
[screeching intensifies]
I think it's picking up these phones.
Yeah, that's the phones.
[the steady rhythm resumes]
Wait!
Maybe it wasn't the phones.
[screeching intensifies]
Aaaah- hahaha!
Is it just the one?
Oh no!
[laughter]
But you have not found them all...
Mister Brushwood.
You got two out of three!
Uh, turn that one off.
Oh yeah.
[screeching intensifies]
Oh my god, I found it!
I never would have found, that was amazing!
Curse you, Brushwood!
Curse you!
Finally, President Kardashian will be spared the indignity of a public scandal.
You win this time, Brushwood.
That was awesome.
That was legit badass.
You like that?
It was cool, right?
Yeah, and it totally worked, it totally worked.
I don't think it was as effective for the cameras as we would have liked, I got lucky
on the camera, but the other two I definitely found purely based on this reading.
10 dollars!
Yeah, you can find them super, super cheap on there, and there are so many of them that
are the same thing but with different labels.
Go with the cheap one.
Yeah, right on, man.
-- CC BY BIZARRE MAGIC --