From the Are You Paranoid Enough Dept.

CNN is running an AP story on Canadian coins with hidden radio transmitters found on American contractors. I can't find any pictures, though.

This story reminded me of the "Thing" found in the Great Seal of the United States presented to the US ambassador in Moscow, where it hung for nearly a decade without detection. For contemporary pictures of its discovery and more details of its history, check out this nice long article. Oddly, the incident's only a footnote on the Wikipedia entry on electronic bugs. The NSA has a replica of the Seal on display at the National Cryptological Museum, which must be full of scary and fascinating devices.

Passive and undetectable spy stuff is A) cool and B) not new.