If you spend enough time browsing eBay for interesting electronic gadgets to take apart, you're bound to start seeing suggestions for some questionable gadgets. That's how I recently became aware of these tiny GPS jammers that plug directly into a 12V socket in the car. Delivered to your door for less than $50, it seemed like a perfect device to rip up in the name of science.

Now you might be wondering what legitimate use such a device could have. Well, as far as I know, there aren't any. The only reason you should jam GPS signals in and around a vehicle is if you're trying to get away with something you shouldn't be doing. Maybe you're driving a tracked company car and want to enjoy a quick two-hour nap in a parking lot, or maybe you want to disable the just-stolen car's built-in GPS long enough to get it to the car chop shop. You know how to do it.

But we won't get into the potentially nefarious reasons this device exists. Hackers have never been too picky about the devices they probe and experiment with, and there's no reason we should start now. Instead, let's take this piece of gray area hardware for a test drive and see what makes it tick.