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coffee house casual theft protection

^^

what he said

it seems like there is no elegant ':apple:' like solution to this basic and universal need...

I would go ahead and invent that thing zendog, then laugh out loud at the baiting louts when you drive past them in the ferrari you bought from the proceeds of your MBA locking utility kit

;)
 
zendog said:
But I only wear a scarf (old school) in the winter.
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:eek: Don't you get cold? ;)

I am very wary about where I use my laptop. Bad things happen to people who assume they're safe just because their local coffee house is decorated up all "cozy" inside. They're easy targets. I've seen a laptop disappear out the door and down the street in seconds just while the owner was leaning over to fish something out of his bag.

If it were me, what I really want is a nine-inch length of steel chain with a Kensington lock on one end and a handcuff on the other. Or just not to take my laptop into places where people are likely to try to steal it.
 
I've had to do a cleanup in this thread. Let's keep things civil, thanks, otherwise there will be tears before bedtime.
 
Bs

kkat69 said:
On the topic of coffee houses, starbucks etc, IMO, if you leave your laptop (ANY LAPTOP) on the table to go take a piss, you deserve to have it stolen. It's more open than any office etc and a wandering person can take 2 steps in there with a pair of wire cutters he bought at lowes for 10 bucks and walk out a rich man or woman.
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I hate responses like this. BS he deserves to have it stolen. We should be able to leave stuff around without some jackass walking off with it.
 
appleretailguy said:
I hate responses like this. BS he deserves to have it stolen. We should be able to leave stuff around without some jackass walking off with it.
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leaving things that are known targets of theft in public places is acting carelessly. you pay the consequences for your actions. if its important take it with you or lock it up. since the air has no lock, take it with you. simple as that.
 
I don't think of a laptop sitting alone in the middle of a public area theft, I think of it as a gift from a rich stupid human. ;)

Though the kidney punches from police officers sitting there on the sting operation watching the laptop sort of make it painful to pee later.
 
yep...

PlaceofDis said:
leaving things that are known targets of theft in public places is acting carelessly. you pay the consequences for your actions. if its important take it with you or lock it up. since the air has no lock, take it with you. simple as that.
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I agree it's acting carelessly, but no one deserves to have something they rightfully own stolen no matter what. I love how the burden is placed on the victim here.

I DO agree they should lock it up or take it with them, but failure to do so doesn't mean they shouldn't be allowed to own it anymore.

Would you take someone's computer if they left it unattended?
 
have you tried not being a tool and leaving it sitting in a public place while you are gone? i hear thats a good anti theft method.


btw, hanging out in a coffee shop EVERY morning on your MBA for hours, is kinda sad. Real job maybe? I know you want EVERYONE to see your hot computer, but seriously?


and it so funny how everyone is getting in a moral debate on the ethics of stealing. that isnt the point. if you are worried about theft, dont be stupid. end of story.
 
Huh?

Lebowski said:
btw, hanging out in a coffee shop EVERY morning on your MBA for hours, is kinda sad. Real job maybe? I know you want EVERYONE to see your hot computer, but seriously?
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Maybe he's independently wealthy, or works for himself, or is a writer...

Why the hate? I'd love to have a coffee shop as my office.

A real job? Like one where you sit in a cubicle while your soul slowly dies? yeah, no thanks.
 
mac jones said:
My concern is hotel rooms. I travel a lot and usually leave it in my hotel room as i've never had a laptop stolen.
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I use the safe, and if there's no safe, then I lock it in my suitcase with the power cord and any other evidence that a computer may be in the room. Certainly not foolproof, but it beats leaving it out...

To the OP, I would NEVER consider leaving my several-year-old powerbook out in any remotely public location. To leave a highly desirable MBA out (even if it was cabled to something) is just plain foolish.

Yes, it's unfortunate that we have to assume the worst in people, but that's life. Better to accept that now vs. after you get jacked.

I used to be more willing to trust people, but then I came home from work one night to find that someone broke into my apartment and robbed me. House was locked like it should be, it was a safe, quiet street, and my neighbors who lived there for 30+ years had never heard of anyone ever getting burglarized in the area (before me of course).

Most people are good, but some are just plain @$$holes. You can do everything the way you should, and (unfortunately) still get robbed/have stuff stolen. But c'mon, don't make it easier for anyone...
 
mac jones said:
just close it and take it with you .. that's what it's made for.

It's not like it's heavy... ;)

My concern is hotel rooms. I travel a lot and usually leave it in my hotel room as i've never had a laptop stolen. But just today (coincidentally) I got a strange felling that this might not be a good idea; sort of a premonition.

So from now on it goes with my during the day (at night it doesn't matter as much)

I had some cash stolen at a Hotel (maid took it) and when I complained they were less than helpful. So fool me once..........
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I also learned to use a very secure password and encrypt your personal information because I have caught a "maid" looking at my computer for discriminating information. :mad:
 
When you leave your laptop unattended and it gets stolen, think of Charles Darwin and then ask yourself why you're still around.

Anyway, after seeing the inside of the case, there's definitely room to have a security slot made along the sides of the MBA. The bottom casing is very thin, so ideally you'd also reinforce the slot cutout a little.

Any lock is really just a deterrent anyhow. If a thief wants your laptop they'll get it, even if it means carrying 2ft long metal shears down their pant legs.
 
appleretailguy said:
Maybe he's independently wealthy, or works for himself, or is a writer...

Why the hate? I'd love to have a coffee shop as my office.

A real job? Like one where you sit in a cubicle while your soul slowly dies? yeah, no thanks.
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1. writers that publicly write in coffee shops are not real writers

2. a real job doesnt mean sitting in a cubicle. i am in an office for maybe an hour a day.. but i am certainly not sitting in a coffee shop for hours.
 
Who cares?

Lebowski said:
1. writers that publicly write in coffee shops are not real writers

2. a real job doesnt mean sitting in a cubicle. i am in an office for maybe an hour a day.. but i am certainly not sitting in a coffee shop for hours.
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I see your point, but who cares? Save your judgment for the lifestyle section.
 
iAlertU.com seems to work the best for me, as I find myself doing the same on campus, at the nearest cafe with free WiFi or even in the library. It's cool b/c it takes a picture with the iSight camera and sends an email to one or two of my primary accounts. I've had it set up on my MBs since it came out. Use the remote to set and deactivate the alarm, just like a car alarm. Besides that, I would just take it with me. :cool:
 
real writers

Real writers DO write in coffeeshops. And restaurants. I wrote a book in 2005 at the local Baker's Square. I went there every day at 1pm, right after the lunch rush, and wrote until dinner time. If I was still in a writing mood, I ordered dinner and kept writing. I wore headphones and the wait staff learned not to interrupt me every few minutes to ask if I needed anything. Sometimes I had lunch, sometimes not. I always tipped seven or eight dollars, even if all I had was a diet coke. The waitstaff would bring me new diet cokes if they noticed I hadn't been paying attention and all the ice had melted. I sat at a table in the corner, near the bathrooms, and next to the electrical outlet, in an area that was always empty in the afternoon.

The manager of the restaurant enjoyed having me there and often treated me to the sodas. When I was done with the text portion of the book and needed to be using a larger screen than on my powerbook, she offered to let me bring one and store it there! I mentioned them in the acknowledgements, and she wrote about it for their corporate magazine.

I wrote a second book this winter and spring, but wrote it at home since the weather in Chicago was so bad I couldn't drag myself out of the house to write.

I did try Panera, where they seem to welcome people staying with their computers, but there was this other guy who was always talking on his cellphone and I could still hear him with my headphones.

The reason that writing outside of the house works, at least for me, is that when I have the day at home alone, I tend to be distracted by all the other things I could be doing, and I waste the entire day. When I have a schedule to LEAVE, I still waste time but then I leave and concentrate. It helps to have a regular writing spot, that gets your brain working in writing mode.

I learned that I was following a long tradition of very famous writers who write in coffeeshops.
 
People always say we are hard on the victim, and unsympathetic at times.

But these days leaving a thousand dollars in easy money on a table and hitting the rest room is easy pickings for a lot of people.

C'mon 1-2 minutes of work/trouble to save yourself $1-3k dollars ...

Even the insurance companies look twice at these victims and may not pay.

The victim is negligent, and the theft can be seen as a foreseeable outcome of that negligence. Heck they tend not to pay when you leave your keys in the car and the engine running. Leaving the laptop alone and walking away isn't too much different.
 
kkat69 said:
On the topic of coffee houses, starbucks etc, IMO, if you leave your laptop (ANY LAPTOP) on the table to go take a piss, you deserve to have it stolen. It's more open than any office etc and a wandering person can take 2 steps in there with a pair of wire cutters he bought at lowes for 10 bucks and walk out a rich man or woman.

If I'm sitting in the eatery at target or walmart and lock my computer to the table and walk away, I'm not practicing responsibility, I'm inviting disasster. Responsible would be to either take it with you, lock it in your car then do your business, put it in your bag and take it with you etc.
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Excellent advice. Personally, I never eat in Walmart unless I am wearing both body armor and a condom. On the financial side, one might be very surprised at the number of billionaires that got their start from lifting unsecured laptops. There's Michael Dell, of course, but as it turns out, stolen laptops have been the #3 source of new venture seed capital over the past 7 years (Source: Fast Money magazine).
 
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