It's really a strange and wondrous feeling when you suddenly gain access to data not meant for you, isn't it?

That's really cool, though. I can imagine 17-year-old me trying to contain my ebullience had I performed a hardware data hack like that.

You should see what you can see running a tool called Wireshark near an open wifi hotspot, though. Yikes. You can sniff basically all unencrypted traffic between the router and whomever is accessing it. In the years since I've been working in network security, there are a number of similar eye opening moments I've had. The scary part is most of these tools are free and not that challenging to use.

While smartphone security has improved by leaps and bounds, especially in the last 3-4 years, its still shocking what you can do when someone leaves their bluetooth/wifi radios on. I'll say no more here, except issue a gentle recommendation for all to turn those off if you're not actively using them.

Now I really want to see a true, functioning tricorder like in the original Star Trek. There's been a decent attempt or two, but I want something that does more than report temp/pressure or other basic trivialities. I want to see active scanning, 3d mapping, x-ray type vision through solid objects, basically the kind of magic that those devices did on the TV show. That would make me feel like I'm living in the future. Kickstarter, anyone?