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Hi Chicagoist,
My roommates and I hosted a super fun party last weekend. Good times were had by all. Until my laptop and my roommate's ipod walked off. Who does shit like that? Obviously, we don't think one of our friends stole these things - we're thinking a friend of a friend who showed up later in the night? I filed a police report over the phone, and called the Apple people to tell them my laptop's serial number (they said they'd "flag" it, in case someone brought it in for repairs or whatever).
Is there anything else I can do? I'm so sad/mad/frustrated/confused. Who the fuck would go to someone's house, enjoy their hospitality, and then steal their laptop. PLUS, it's a laptop. I mean, it takes some balls to unplug it and walk off with a laptop, right? My lesson was don't get so drunk at your own party and leave the room where expensive things are lying around. But should we have to be so paranoid? What are the chances that my lovely Powerbook will come back to me?
Any advice would be great. Or if you could find the jerks that stole our stuff and kick them in the balls, that would be great, too.
Julie
Oh, Julie!
We're so sorry. Honestly, our entire lives reside on our laptop, and reading your letter made us break out in a cold sweat and rock back and forth in a dark corner for awhile, whimpering. Stealing from a gracious host is really unfathomable to us, and taking someone's laptop is akin to pure unadulterated evil.
Unfortunately though? The FBI says the number of stolen laptops that are never recovered is 97%. While we hope that you get to be one of the fortunate 3%, chances are probably more on the side that it's time to upgrade the Powerbook to a nice shiny new MacBook Pro.
We think when there's a chance there's going to be anyone you don't know in your home, it's a good idea to secure valuables, or at least hide them out of sight. Should you have to be so paranoid? We wish you didn't, but we imagine after losing your Apple products, you will be for now on. Same thing goes for electronics as would go for any kind of personal information, credit cards, cash -- whatever is super valuable to the point that you could imagine why someone else would want it, keep out of the hands of strangers and borderline pals.
Still, assuming everyone at the party was a friend of a friend, and not a random wandering in off the street, sounds like it's time to make some phone calls (luckily they didn't steal your phone too). Pretend you're Veronica Mars, Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Angela Lansbury, or some other super smart detective woman of your choice [Ed note: Olivia Benson!], and call up everyone at the party. Make a list. Who was there? Ask the people you know who the people you don't know were. Ask if anyone noticed someone acting weird, wandering into rooms no one else was in, or walking around with a laptop bag and a burglar mask. Now we don't suggest accusing people (you could be wrong) or taking the law into your own hands or asking people offensive questions about their friends, but maybe a little detective work could help. Chances are you'll come up knowing nothing, but if TV has taught us anything, it's that you never can tell who saw something and will confess on the spot!
Well that probably won't really happen, so consider keeping an eye on ebay and Craigslist (borrow someone's computer?). Especially for sellers with both a used Powerbook and iPod up for sale.
As for the data on your computer, we hope you had backups. There's no reason everyone shouldn't invest in a cheap external hard drive (which you'd also want to hide during parties) backup their data (since you're a Mac user, we think Leopard's new Time Machine feature is a nice, no-brainer way to go). Avoiding the pain and suffering when your laptop gets stolen or your system fries is well worth the $150 price tag.
Also, if you're worried about the security of your personal information and data, here are some tips (password protection, laptop locks, data encryption, questionably valuable laptop tracking software -- smart pilferers will wipe the hard drive ) to help secure yourself against thieves. Again, won't help Julie out much, but might help someone in the future. Although who knows -- what your computer does when you're not using it might help recover the stolen computer too.
Oh and next time? Not only hide and lock up your (new) laptop, but maybe also have a designated sober and responsible person to keep an eye on things. It's the safe thing to do even when you're not overly concerned about things getting stolen. And maybe keep the friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend invitees to a minimum, if at all possible.
"laptop lock" image via sethw
Want to kick some laptop-thieving ass? Need some advice? Email ask(at)chicagoist(dot)com.
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Indeed, who knows what your computer might do.
If you get a new Macbook or MB Pro, get coverage beyond the one year included. Unless, of course, you enjoy paying for flickering display repairs and the like out of pocket. (Hugh G Rection is a bitter MacBook owner.)
Since Macs run on a form of UNIX you can write your own and run those scripts to sound off its IP address whenever it changes.
So, if you use your laptop at home - your IP address will never change. However, when you go to the coffee shop or change location with your laptop, it'll have a new address (since now you're on a different network). So, at that point, you just have your trusty mac look for that change and then send an e-mail to your e-mail account or phone and keep you updated whenever it notices an IP address change.
You can then use an IP address to help locate where the computer is. These scripts are called Cron Tabs.
Your home IP address never changes, unless you specify (and pay for it).
Here's a decent article on using cron tabs to track a laptop - don't install anything you don't feel completely safe about, just fyi.
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060903051225347
i'm a hypocrite for saying this, since i never manage to get around to getting any, even after one of my roommates burned his room down ... but would this have been covered by renters' insurance? it's so cheap for the security it gives.
Having a sober person at a party is the worst advice ever. Who would want the job of "looking after valuables"?
Better just to put shit all in one room and lock it, or lock it in your car for the night.
Sober at a party equals no fun equals someone who can remember all the crazy shit you did and judge you for it. No thanks.
renters insurance was my first thought too... i have it and my apt was broken into the year before last.. boy was i glad i had it! it's kind of a pain, but at least i got some $$ for what was taken... not that any amt of money would make up for lost data. bleh, that just blows!
I remember reading somewhere that there is software that will wipe the harddrive if someone connects to the internet with it if you've reported it stolen. Now I can't find anything in a Google search, but it seems to me that this would be a fine idea if you keep personal/financial information on it anywhere (tax returns or bank statements).
Renters insurance would cover this, less the deductable. Though if a replacement is, say, $800 and the deductible is $500, then you're only getting $300 but with a rate increase. If the replacement is $2000, obviously, time to make the phone call.
There is also software that will connect to the internet and transmit useful information like the thief's IP address back to you. Of course, it will only help you if you install it BEFORE your stuff gets stolen.
I threw a NYE party at my place and discovered in the morning that my girlfriend's cellphone was missing. We spent hours cleaning the place and calling the phone, figuring it was under a couch cushion or something.
A few hours later, her mother calls me and asks why she was hung up on and never called back. At that point we realize that some walked out of the house with her phone and had been ignoring all of our calls and texts.
At this point, I started calling everyone that had brought any unknown friends and told them the situation. Within 5 hours, someone had "found" the phone.
Good luck.
Don't bother with laptop locks either - they're the sort of thing that offers the illusion of security, without actually providing much.
I used to work in a computer shop, and I had to move a couple machines that had been locked, and the keys misplaced. 30 seconds and a plain-old pair of scissors later, all the security cables were gone.
So lock 'em in a room, folks!
Who the fuck would go to someone's house, enjoy their hospitality, and then steal their laptop
This doesn't really help anyone, but you'd be surprised. I don't think I know anyone who's thrown a party that involved drinking and people bringing guests and they didn't get something stolen. One of my friends used to have shows in her basement and eventually stopped because people broke into the locked house and stole a bunch of their shit, and another one of my friends let a band stay at his house once, to wake up the next morning and find the band AND his iPod gone.
Lesson learned: people are douchebags.