Furby conspiracies, autopsies etc, page 1

[QUOTE=Grey;1211483]*shakes head* having taken apart and rebuilt furbies I can tell you there is not secret pentagon equipment in them. In fact the feds were scared of the same thing wich is why you dont see them for sale anymore.[/QUOTE]

Superstitions aside the government hadconcerns of the Furby.. not because of superstitious beliefs, but because word had it that furbies in a few cases had been hacked into and or completely new high tech hardware and software could be installed having a high tech spying devise Made to look like a furby.

The programing was changed and things were added to them like surveillance equipment and cameras in the eye sockets, Trackable RFID microchips, and apparently they were sent to homes targeting children whose parents someone had interest in.. and the Furby would have it's regular programing, but then it could be remotely overridden by someone controlling the Furby with a computer and when the parents were around a guy could speak through the microphone in a furby voice engaging the kid in role playing games which might include the kid reveling information about their parents,and the Furby could be used to influence the young suggestible child into doing certain things... Also the possibilities of bombs in furbies promoted caution around them when they were found in sensitive areas not only would the bombs serve the purpose of hurting people, but destroying the chip which the signals could be traced.

I could imagine how fun it would be to have remote control Furby to play pranks on people and even spy on them and pretend you can read their mind latter LOL : )

CNN - Furby a threat to national security? - January 13, 1999
Furby is embedded with a computer chip that allows it to record words. ... Furby resembles an owl, with tufts of hair between its huge pink ears. ...
www.cnn.com/US/9901/13/nsa.furby.ban.01

They are still popular with many hackers as they can be dissected and made to do interesting things. In particular, their advanced audio capabilities and various sensory interfaces make them popular with the circuit bending community.

www.makezine.com/blog/archive/robotics/

www.spybusters.com...

World: Americas

Furby toy or Furby spy?

The Furby, a highly sought-after Christmas toy in 1998, is now a high-ranking public enemy and has been banned from National Security Agency premises in Maryland.

news.bbc.co.uk...

eecue.com...
New Furby Hacking : Part 1 : Skinning

New Furby closeupYesterday I went and bought the New Furby which just came out in October this year. The new Furby is a pretty darn advanced toy for only $30, if you haven't seen one before they are basically armless Mogwais with beaks. New Furbys are powered by the Sensory Inc's RSC-4128 which is a multi-purpose microprocessor that does everything from voice recognition to text-to-speach to IO to DTMF output. After reading through the white paper for the RSC-4128 I was pretty sure that the Furby would be quite the hackable robot, so I decided to take a look inside and see what hacking would entail.