Eideard

February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011

When a burglar stole Joshua Kaufman’s laptop, the police wouldn’t help him find it – so he turned to the Internet.

“I came home late on a Monday night in March, and someone had broken into my apartment through my window,” Kaufman, an Oakland, Calif. resident, told the Daily News. The thief made off with his MacBook, his Kindle, and a few pieces of jewelry, stuffed into a computer bag.

Kaufman called the police who filed a report on the incident, but they quickly shelved the case as a low priority. Luckily, he also remembered he had installed a security program on his computer called “Hidden,” which works to track a stolen device by triangulating its location and taking photographs with the computer’s camera.

He didn’t see anything for a few days after activating the program, but then he hit the jackpot.”The following Thursday I started getting images and location information,” he said. “I was amazed. I was like, this thing actually works!”

“Hidden” captured a series of images of a man using the stolen computer – snapping him riding in a car, browsing Middle Eastern YouTube music videos, changing the device’s administrative profile, and even typing in his work email address to access a Facebook account.

Using this information, Kaufman was able to tie the man to a cab company affiliated with the email address he entered, and pinpoint his location to within just a few blocks. “I was excited, honestly,” Kaufman said, thinking he’d cracked the case and police would be able to “nail him.” But they brushed the evidence off, explaining they didn’t have the manpower to pursue it despite the leads.

Frustrated, Kaufman posted the pictures online to a Tumblr blog called “This Guy Has My Macbook,” which quickly drew thousands of fans and Twitter followers. “It feels like the power of the Internet is on my side,” he said.

Soon he was flooded with requests from media outlets who also contacted the police, forcing them to take a second look. “They said, we’re really sorry you fell through the cracks,” Kaufman said Tuesday night, after he was finally contacted by Officer Holly Joshi, the Oakland police department’s director of public relations…

After two months of ignoring Kaufman’s information, Oakland police kicked the search into high gear on Tuesday night and were able to nab the man caught on camera.

The police department’s excuse is the same everywhere. Mostly crap.

The information provided was sufficient for an arrest. There was nothing additional needed when they finally got round to grabbing this punk.

When an American woman recently traveled to Jerusalem, she was allegedly questioned by border security guards about content on her MacBook. Lily Sussman said her computer was confiscated, and returned to her with three bullet holes in it.

She documented the experience and provided photos on her personal blog. Although the MacBook was completely destroyed, Sussman said she was able to remove her hard drive intact and retrieve all of her personal data.

She said she was provided with a form that included phone numbers and addresses of Israeli government officials that might help her get a replacement for her destroyed laptop. Officials she reached said she could expect compensation deliverable only to an Israeli bank account within a month.

If the nutballs ever succeed in gaining complete control of the United States…this is the way Dick Cheney would run the TSA.

CNC machining is nothing new. But, Apple has stepped past their competitors not only in design; but, in manufacturing technology.

The whole product contains the expected unpredictable that is Apple’s Hallmark. Steve Jobs and Jony Ives are two of my favorite madmen. I do love seriously thoughtful, useful industrial design.