I received the following message from a friend and thought it would be just as valid for our mongering bros as it is for ladies. You wouldn't want to be the star of a porn movie without your knowing, would you?

>> Subject: FW: Beware of two way mirrors
>
> Please take a minute to read this valuable article.Beware of two way mirrorsCan you tell when you are in a room, restroom, motel etc. with a mirror or a 2-way glass?Here's how:I thought it was quite interesting!And I know in about 30 seconds you're going do what I did and find the nearest mirror...Do you know how to determine if a mirror is 2-way or not?This is not to scare you, but to make you aware.A policewoman who travels all over the U.S. and gives seminars and techniques for businesswomen passed this on.When we visit toilets, bathrooms, hotel rooms, changing rooms, etc., how many of you know for sure that the seemingly ordinary mirror hanging on the wall is a real mirror, or actually a 2-way mirror (i.e., they can see you, but you can't see them)?There have been many cases of people installing 2-way mirrors in female changing rooms.It is very difficult to positively identify the surface by just looking at it.So, how do we determine with any amount of certainty what type of mirror we are looking at? Just conduct this simple test: Place the tip of your fingernail against the reflective surface and if there is a GAP between your fingernail and the image of the nail, then it is a GENUINE mirror.However, if your fingernail DIRECTLY TOUCHES the image of your nail, then BEWARE, FOR IT IS A 2-WAY MIRROR!'No Space, Leave the Place' So remember, every time you see a Mirror, do the 'fingernail test.' It doesn't cost you anything.Remember: 'No Space, Leave the Place'Ladies: Share this with your girlfriends, sisters, daughters, etc.Men: Share this with your wives, daughters, daughters-in-law, mothers, girlfriends and friends.

This has to be an urban myth??  One of those chain emails, let's see how many times it can get sent on.

Anyway, why the "mirror", small cameras attached to fibre optic cable can see much more and are more easily concealed anywhere.

I don't believe we should carried away on this sort of info, it just doesn't make sense to be paranoid.

Okay, this "snopes" site is a great place to check potential hoaxes. They list a lot of stuff circulating the net and label them as "true", "false" or "maybe", along with some proof and history of the result. This link will take you straight to the "Mirror" and it's labelled as False:

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/mirror.asp

Yeah that article seems a lot more logical than just merely the "finger nail test".  Tapping on the mirror to see if there is hollow space behind it would be the most logical along with investigated how a mirror is fitted to a wall; though I don't see how a standard looking mirror that appears to have been glued onto a wall or screwed onto couldn't be a transparent mirror.

Christ you bunch of frickin pansies.....has anyone here been caught with a 2 way mirror? Who here has been videotaped and blackmailed?

HK is WAAAYYYY safer than most countries, why dont you just put the paranoia in a bag and ship it somewhere else....

Agreed Bro Hamsupgwai, as I said in my first response to this "myth"  - "I don't believe we should carried away on this sort of info, it just doesn't make sense to be paranoid."     

However "snopes" is a useful site when someone (a friend?) sends you one of those stupid chain emails, allowing you to correct them. I have had a few friends send these on and it's a nice way to educate them to stop this annoying practice.  http://www.snopes.com

I'm neither a politician nor rich. So these things don't bother me. But always nice to learn something new. Thanks Froddo for the correct info. I'm going to use the info on snopes and see if I can design a better, and detection-proof, 2-way mirror.

Maybe not now bro but, 20 years down the road, who knows? It's good to be careful; just don't become
so careful that it gets in the way of your enjoyment of life.  

We are being watched everywhere in our lives.  Why would you not think we are being watched banging a WG?  Get over it and get on with life!

I had never heard of this 'Fingernail Test', but the reasoning behind it makes perfectly good sense. And tho the Snopes post states that the test is false, it then goes on to explain that the theory is correct but impractical. If you read the Snopes post carefully, it states that the Fingernail test will work for the kind of inexpensive mirror (what it labels second-surface mirrors) likely to be used as two-way mirrors. The test only fails when a first-surface mirror is used as an ordinary mirror, in which case it gives a false positive; but since first-surface mirrors are very expensive, it is very unlikely that anyone would use one as a two-way mirror. The Snopes post, rather than debunking the "myth", states that it "isn't necessarily a very good one" because depending on ambient conditions, such as poor lighting, etc., it can be difficult to see if there is a gap.

Hear Hear!!   

I just need to know where the camera is so they can get my better profile (right side).

[ Last edited by  Froddo at 6-9-2008 08:01 ]

Mars, the real point to "snopes" is not just for "mirrors", their purpose is to debunk as hoaxes, if warranted, the large number of chain emails that people breathlessly send around the net warning of all types of dire consequences, "pass on this email to warn all your friends........".  

It has many categories, like the sick little girl who if enough people send her story email to their address book, a foundation will somehow miraculously know the number of emails generated and give her the money for her operation / last trip to Disneyland / etc. Or the modus operandi for some new serial rapist, so warn all your female friends, etc.

Sometimes these are more than a nuisance and downright dangerous. I had a hoax email a couple of days ago from an American friend titled "General Eisenhower Warned us",  saying the UK Government had removed the  Holocaust from the school curriculum as it offended the Muslims:   http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/holocaust.asp   This was straight from the loony, far right, white supremacy types trying to breed fear and provoke discrimination. The sad thing it's probably landed in millions of  USA inboxes by now and a large number will believe it, and think they better not vote for Obama or it will happen over here.

Of course the easiest way to kill this crap is to immediately delete any email which ends with the call to "send this urgently to all your friends!",  99.99% of the time they will be bogus.

One doesn't have to open chain emails to be buried in bullshit - it's everywhere. And I've no doubt that web sites that try to clear the air and talk a little sense are doing the Lord's work. However, my post was not about snopes.com per se, but the reasoning underlying this issue of mirrors and the Fingernail Test.

A assume people who design 2-way mirrors are not totally stupid and all they have to do to pass the
'fingernail test' is put another layer of glass over the reflecting surface. That would also have the added
benefit of protecting the surface.

Anyone know where I can buy a 2-way mirror?

The Fingernail Test works precisely because there is a layer of glass between the reflecting surface and the fingernail. It's that layer of transparent glass the produces the gap. There will be no gap only when the reflecting surface is the most external layer so that the fingernail touches it's own image, and those types of mirrors are very expensive to make.

That's exactly my point. A 2-way mirror needs the reflecting surface on the front of the glass and that means the fingernail
would touch it's own image. This is a simple check and if such a mirror were to be found in a bedroom, bathroom, public
waiting room, police station, whorehouse, etc., it's almost certainly a 2-way mirror. But the makers could easily solve that
problem with a second layer of glass so that the fingernail won't touch its own image. I.e. the fingernail test would no longer
work in identifying a transparent mirror.

That's quite ingenious Jake! But now I'm confused. The snopes article is unclear on this point. Does the difference between the two types of mirrors lie in just the type of glazing, or is the position of the reflecting surface relative to the clear glass layer also important? The article implies that two-ways mirrors are necessarily first-surface glazes (probably because a two-way glaze must be laid down on top of the glass substrate?). If it were possible to place an additional, clear layer of glass on top of a two-way mirror glaze, why not just make the mirror that way in the first place. As you say, it would have the added benefit of protecting the reflecting surface from scratching. You seem to know a lot about this Jake. Very suspicious!

Well Brothers, if its not a problem, why do my post keep getting deleted when I ask if there is a "hidden camera" problem in Hong Kong and if any brothers have info on places to avoid .

I think the mirrors are sometimes used so that cameras can get better angles rather than the mirrors being two way.
I think the problem is small but it would be stupid to ignore.
Any brothers know anything for sure ?

If you bother to check the index of Q & A, you'll find your 'hidden camera' thread is still there ... so stop moaning
that all your threads on the same have been deleted !   

You made another post asking the exact same question on the same day and it was deleted (by me)
as it was a repetition ...

just a bit of advise ... when you ask questions - like the one in your 'hidden camera' - please be a bit more specific
in what you're asking otherwise we need to ask you what you're asking about  

... they have MIRROR tints for cars now and you apply the tint inside the car windows, therefore the mirror surface is behind the glass when looking from the outside in.  So the warning here doesn't hold water.