The phrase, "National Technical Means" came about during the Cold War and referred, essentially, to spy satellites used to verify compliance with strategic arms treaties. I prefer to broaden the scope of the phrase and have it refer to any "James Bond" sort of stuff used to covertly gain knowledge, influence events, or provide for personal defense. With that broadening of scope in mind, Personal Technical Means probably doesn't need much explanation, except that personal satellites are not involved! The technical means discussed here barely touch on obvious solutions that would occur to anyone or employ readily available commercial devices, but, instead, pays more attention to the more unusual approaches, especially novel, simple projects. Included are odd and interesting ideas and projects for enhancing one's own technical arsenal for combating the numerous threats posed by the cold, harsh world.
Remote sensing is the best kind. It means you don't have to be there and you get to play with computers. The problem is that it is really easy to run afoul of the law if audio or video is involved. The key to a truly good remote sensing operation is for the sensor to be performing a useful and legal function. If I mount a camera and microphone in the front of my car to record any traffic mishap, I'm probably on safe ground. Now, if the system runs when the car is parked with the camera pointing in a particular direction, well, that's a design oversight. Same goes for "security" cameras, as long as decency is observed. Other variables like temperature, light levels, etc. won't raise eyebrows as long as FCC rules and trespassing laws are not violated. Recording sound is particularly risky, but people have been getting in trouble for simply taking pictures of the wrong things, typically potential terrorist targets. If you take a picturesque shot of a locomotive in the station, you just might have your camera confiscated!
Video and Optical : Projects for Light Sensing.
Audio: Sound-related Projects
Also see Karen's "Notoof" Remote Telemetry Device