RelicMan

If we are to be precisely accurate, then yes, I agree: if the attacker had physical access to the phone, and that phone had Internet access or an appropriate interface for uploading the program, that attacker could install the software without having to the dupe the owner into doing it. For what it's worth, the scenario you describe is probably a lot easier to pull off (no social engineering attack needed on the victim), BUT it would require that the attacker know or associate the victim well enough that he/she is able to get 15 minutes alone with the device.

Bob, that is a fantastic find. Thanks for educating us as well on the history behind these types of artifacts. Pretty amazing to think that holding one of these in your hands, you may be grasping a piece of centuries-old armor.

Um, unless you are the government hacking through the actual wireless networks to force software onto someone's phone, the phone's owner would still have to be tricked into downloading and installing it. This could involve a link sent through text, or whatever, but the point is, the phone's owner has to respond that first time. As for GPS data appearing in photos, well that goes back to a thing called EXIF tags. Big brother didn't invent them, they've been part of digital photos for quite some time. The difference is that for a long time, digital cameras that actually had GPS capabilities to enable stamping the longitude/latitude tags were rare. This has all changed now with smartphones. By default, many of these models of phones store the lat/long data in EXIF. SO, it is up to you, to disable this, or prior to posting a photo, remove these attributes from the EXIF tags. You could do this with an EXIF tool, but much simpler, run the image through any kind of image program, then re-save it. Programs like Photoshop basically create a brand new image file, and all EXIF data is stripped. I'm not saying all programs would behave this way, but you could check the results with an EXIF reader just to be sure...and by the way, all modern operating systems can read those tags. Just examine the properties of the file, and you can view it all -- make sure your image is clean before posting something sensitive. JC

That's an insane amount of mineral down there. That's a shame it's so hard to get to, but I'm sure someone's going to be up for the challenge. JC

Hey, nice ring, not bad for under an hour's work! JC

Looks like an amazing day in the field for those guys. You can't go wrong with an E-TRAC!

Nice shooting, Christopher. Looks like your persistence has paid off. JC

Very nice job Terry. Nice silver there, but watch out for the spoon from Japan (http://www.dailymail...West-Coast.html). That picture of the beach has me wishing I wasn't landlocked! JC

Wow, you sure know how to pass the time when you go on errands with your spouse! Congratulations on the pistol, that's amazing! JC