Re: Big collection
Way back when I worked for DEC, NSA Ft Meade was one of the places we'd sometimes get a call from. They'd let you in with just about anything, at least at first, being that a computer repair guy needs a scope, some spares, some diagnostics and suchlike. They didn't have a regular or preventative maintenance service contract - they did their own stuff when they could. So we got to charge them by the hour at then-princely sums.
We turned it into a huge profit center. What went in - never came out. Nothing, because at that time, no one knew what IC chip (almost all memory was core, but still) - might have held a secret picked up inside. You'd better not have a fancy zippo, even.
Pretty soon they had a real good selection of spare parts, and nice Tek 465 scopes (I learned not to take my well calibrated and very stable one in after that - the replacements were never quite as good). And once they realized that, nope, we couldn't take anything in without some real special footwork with the bureaucracy. It was fun while it lasted. It was probably a bit different if you worked there.
But other places in the intelligence community I worked after that - even if the guard knew you, they'd check your badge - no monkey pictures got in at all. They used to be serious. Now it's all probably younger punks with today's set of "IDGAF" attitudes.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
