Word: bugging
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...turning them away from delinquency and toward something that Music describes as "better than beating up old ladies with bicycle chains." MODERN LIVING spots another trend in entertainment-the rise in the U.S. of the discotheque, a highbrow version of the juke joint where dancing Americans are doing the Bug, the Wobble, the Push, the Pop.ye, the Barrel and other exercises...
While miniaturization is now limited by the battery, which must be big enough for adequate power and duration, Bertsche believes that nuclear-energy sources may solve even this difficulty. Already in hand are means to switch off a bug by radio from a distance to save its battery during dull periods. Another battery-sparing device works by sensing the electrical capacity of the human body; it can turn on a bug when people come into a room or climb into...
...sleuth cannot get into the target room, he will usually work from an adjacent room or corridor, where he may be able to slip a bug into an electrical outlet or heating duct, which are often back-to-back. Otherwise, he may drill a small hole through the wall and poke a thin plastic tube into it, just short of the far surface, so as to siphon sound waves into a microphone next door...
...last resort for frustrated bug planters is a special mike attached to a sharp spike; driven through the wall, it vibrates with the surface on the far side. But, like esoteric radar beams that pick up the vibrations of distant window glass, spike mikes are apt to be defeated by stray noise unless conditions are perfect...
Smart victims can fight back. One fairly effective weapon is a broad-band radio receiver that gives a squeal if a bug is transmitting near by. Another anti-bug is carried around the room while the occupant keeps talking loudly; if he hears his own voice in the earphones, he is listening to the output of a hidden bug. The best defense is a thorough, periodic search by an electronic exterminator. Otherwise, anyone who suspects he is being bugged should talk in low tones and keep a radio or TV squawking loudly. One spy fiction dodge, turning on the shower...