April 14, 2008 The Kalashnikov has been the common man’s rifle for sixty years and has been responsible for more misery and wasted humanity than any other invention of history. Now an in ingenious Afghan inventor, Hanif Molavizadeh, has built one into a burglar alarm - a highly effective, seat-of-the-pants mash up that includes a cell and speaker phone, sensors, and armed response. Trigger the alarm by waving a hand outside the window of Molavizadeh's one-room home and the alarm sounds. It also calls Molavizadeh's cell phone so he can have a conversation with the would-be burglar via a speakerphone in the alarm, and if he doesn’t like the answers he gets, he can fire the Kalashnikov remotely. He’s working on an equally punitive anti-theft system for his car.
In a lawless society such as prevails throughout much of Afghanistan, there are no alarm monitoring companies and police can be unresponsive, so the Machiavelian overtones of Molavizadeh's inventions can at least be understood.
He has also built an equally punitive car alarm that gives car thieves a painful but non-lethal electric shock. If an intruder doesn't heed an automated warning via the same type of cell-phone arrangement, Molavizadeh can remotely trigger the jolt via his cell phone.
Via NPRwhich has a much fuller story.