Gourt Home::Gourt :: Microdot
- ''Alternative meanings: A microdot is a form of LSD.
Microdots are text or photographic images that are reduced in size to prevent their viewing by unintended recipients. A microdot is usually shrunk down to the size and shape of a period or the dot of a letter i or j and sent by writing an innocent-looking letter containing periods, i's, or j's. This technique (a type of steganography) was invented by the Germans during World War II and then later used by many countries to pass messages through insecure postal channels. Later microdot techniques used film with aniline dye, rather than silver halide layers, and were even harder for counter-espionage postal inspectors to find. A Professor Zapp in Germany is claimed to have been the inventor of the technique, and a WWII spy kit for microdot production was sometimes called a Zapp outfit.
After the erection of the Berlin Wall, special cameras were used to generate microdots which were then adhered to letters and sent via normal means. Owing to the extremely small size of the microdot, these messages often went unnoticed by inspectors and information could then be read by the intended recipient using a microscope.
British mail censors sometimes referred to microdots as 'duff' since they were distributed here and there throughout letters rather like raisins in the British steamed suet pudding called Plum duff, also known as spotted dick.
Microdot Identification
Microdot identification is a process where tiny laser discs etched with the vehicle's VIN number are sprayed onto the car's major mechanical parts and under body areas. The technology was developed in Australia in 2001.
Since then, car manufacturers began using microdot identification. About 10,000 identifying numbers are sprayed on with a clear adhesive that cannot be seen by the human eye. This process, while quick and cost effective, deters car thieves who would have otherwise been able to rebirth vehicles as well as sell stolen vehicle parts as legitimate ones. It is estimated that current cost to manufacturers of implementing the microdot technology is approximately USD75 per vehicle. This cost is expected to drop as volume increases.
http://www.carsafe.com.au/images/BMW-DOT.jpg
List of currently known manufacturers utilising microdot technology
See also:
References
- White, William. The Microdot: History and Application. Williamstown, NJ: Phillips Publications, 1992.
External links
"Microdot"