Interesting article in the Times on the detectives who pose as 14-year-olds in Internet chat rooms. As the article points out, it isn't easy for a grizzled cop to impersonate an Amanda Bynes-loving preteen:

Detective Smith keeps his antennas aligned toward teenagers and their culture, although, he acknowledged, it is sometimes a torturous duty. "The other day, he made me watch `American Idol,' " he groused about Detective Rapp.

They know, for example, that "Britney is finished," and that Avril Lavigne has become too popular to be used as a favorite music star. "You can't say your favorite artist is Eminem," Detective Smith said. "You can't say the obvious one."

Then there are the times, he said, when they have to forget who they are entirely. "What if someone asks, `Who's your favorite Beatle?' and I say, `Paul McCartney'? Why would an 11-year-old know who Paul McCartney is?"

"One of the hardest questions I got was how many tampons in a box," Detective Smith said. "I didn't know. Nobody knew."

Those questions ("Who's your favorite Beatle?" and "How many tampons are in a box?") suggest that some pedophiles actively try to ask trick questions to make sure that their chart room buddies aren't really vice cops in disguise. I find this amusingly reminiscent of the Turing Test.