Rhode Island has a hard-drive-sniffing dog to combat child porn

Scorpus

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You might have thought that police dogs are only good for sniffing out drugs at the airport or in the field, but as it turns out, their noses are also suited to track down the location of gadgets.

The Rhode Island state police in the United States have recently been showing off a dog trained to do just that: sniff out hard disks and flash drives that might contain illegal child pornography.

Thoreau, a golden Labrador trained to identify the scents of the components in storage devices, is sent to the houses of suspected criminals to locate hidden drives. He is so good at sniffing out the components that he can hone in on the location of drives down to the exact drawer they're hiding in, even if they're in zip-locked bags.

Out on an assignment last month, Thoreau has already found his first flash drive after a lengthy period of training. In return, he gets tasty food that forms his meals every day.

Dogs are also capable of sniffing out polycarbonate optical discs to detect the locations of pirated DVD farms. The MPAA has used special sniffer dogs for such tasks in the past, but as online piracy is now by far the most widespread form of piracy, disc-sniffing dogs aren't being used as frequently.

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This is the 2nd article in the past week (atleast) that Techspot has posted that is complete BS and completely untrue. I'm pretty sure their source is The Onion.

This is impossible. Completely and physically IMPOSSIBLE.

This article is a hoax.
 
I agree, scent is a physical trait were as porn is a digital media which does not have basic scent, smell or any biological trait
No way a dog can scent porn or pirated moves..
may be it can smell the electronic device cause hard drives or flash drive do leave a residue the silicon chips we use etc
 
From the TechSpot article (emphasis added): "Thoreau, a golden Labrador trained to identify the scents of the components in storage devices, is sent to the houses of suspected criminals to locate hidden drives. He is so good at sniffing out the components that he can hone in on the location of drives down to the exact drawer they're hiding in, even if they're in zip-locked bags."

From the Providence Journal article (emphasis added): " The recent arrival of golden Labrador Thoreau makes Rhode Island the second state in the nation to have a police dog trained to sniff out hard drives, thumb drives and other technological gadgets that could contain child pornography."

He doesn't sniff out kiddie porn: he sniffs out the devices.

Read, ladies and gentlemen! It could save your life one day.
 
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Guys hes train to find drive and ect. dosent matter whats on them. the point is to find hiddend drives in a home

, is sent to the houses of suspected criminals to locate hidden drives.
 
I agree, scent is a physical trait were as porn is a digital media which does not have basic scent, smell or any biological trait
No way a dog can scent porn or pirated moves..
may be it can smell the electronic device cause hard drives or flash drive do leave a residue the silicon chips we use etc
You didn't read the article did you?
 
But I don't want to read. :)
maybe techspot should also do an article regarding dogs sniffing cancerous tissues.

If I'm the dog, I'd go for more false positive detections:
Out on an assignment last month, Thoreau has already found his first flash drive after a lengthy period of training. In return, he gets tasty food that forms his meals every day.
 
*shakes head* .... a word to the wise guys...when you're sitting down to your next exam/test paper, read the rubric and the questions carefully! You'll be pleased you did. :)
 
Chill out guys, that was the best thing I read all day!

"I agree, scent is a physical trait were as porn is a digital media which does not have basic scent, smell or any biological trait "

Gold.
 
Look out all you politicians, judges, top level police, FBI, NSA and all you other sicko kiddie fiddling perps! Rover will sniff out your secret stash if he gets near your homes!! Go Rover.....we salute you!!!
 
Sniffing out devices that may contain child pornography! Utter BS.

The purpose is to find components that could contain data that is offline. NSA,CIA want to know everything.
 
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