DEAD DROP SPRINGFIELD

If you know where to look in an alleyway across from the downtown post offi ce in Springfi eld, you’ll fi nd something familiar in an unfamiliar place. Sticking out of a wall near a gutter downspout is the business end of a USB memory stick. It was cemented into two bricks by an unknown person, and it’s one of three such “USB dead drops” in Springfi eld. Dead drops have historically been used by spies and criminals to pass goods or information without being detected, but USB dead drops are simply a way to share digital fi les in a fi xed public space. Anyone with a laptop or other mobile computer can download fi les from the USB drive and upload their own. Besides the dead drop near the post offi ce, there’s one in the alley behind the Black Sheep Café on South Grand Avenue, as well as one on the east side of The Pharmacy art gallery, also on South Grand Avenue. But beware of viruses and other malware. Any unknown USB drive may contain malicious computer code, so use dead drops at your own risk. For more information and a searchable map of dead drops worldwide, visit www.deaddrops.com.