The "Get Smart" Surge Protector

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What would Agent 99 say about this one?

I have seen it all now. Some fool has not only invented, but is now marketing a surge protector that doubles as an eavesdropping device.

Huh?

Yes, it's a surge protector with eavesdropping capability. The "SIM Card Spy Reader" is a mere $66 and offers a SIM card you pop into the 8 holer protector, dial a special number via mobile device assigned to that SIM card and then you can listen in remotely within earshot of the, ahem, device.

My question: why a surge protector? Why not a toaster or clock radio or your kid's Webkin plush toy? If you're going to sink to an all-time low, then do it right I say.

Perhaps someone can create a Twitter app that will translate all the juiciest bits to text and then tweet them as they are overheard. Or how about an iPhone app, so that paranoid husbands and bosses can listen in from their bling bling smartphone at the touch of a touch screen.

How silly of me that I thought the Cold War ended 20 years ago. The KGB has nothing on what consumers can do these days.

For employers finding themselves tempted to listen in on employee conversations around the coffee pot in the break room or elsewhere; just remember that if you get caught recruiting will be dicey in the future. Retention may also prove to be a problem. You almost may regret what you hear.

Snoops usually get more than they bargained for in the end.

One can only hope that the eight devices plugged into the surge protector create such a deafening white noise cacophany of electro-hum that you can't hear $%^% anyway.

My respect for the ShamWow just went up exponentially by comparison.

Renee Oricchio

Renee Oricchio is a technology writer and former supervising news producer for CNN Financial News. She has been covering the computer industry since 1987. @oricchio