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Comments: 424 +-   Tracking Thieves With 'Find my iPhone' on Monday June 22 2009, @10:11AM

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 22 2009, @10:11AM
from the because-you-can dept.
macbook
security
hardware
An anonymous reader wrote in to say "A friend of mine who just got an iPhone 3GS and has Mobile Me just used the "Find my iPhone" feature to track down his lost and subsequently stolen iPhone. This story involves three nerds wandering sketchy streets with a MacBook, and ends with a confrontation at a bus stop."
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  • Walking around "sketchy streets" a Macbook? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MiKM (752717) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:14AM (#28422689)
    I would have been somewhat amused if their laptop got stolen as well. Yes, I know I'm a terrible person.

  • LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Lucas123 (935744) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:15AM (#28422707) Homepage
    In other related news, the number of deaths among tech nerds increased this month, some officials believe as a direct result of iPhone owners attempting to retrieve their stolen phones from violent thugs.

    • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Funny)

      by Tubal-Cain (1289912) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:18AM (#28422739) Journal
      And here I thought it was exposure to sunlight.

    • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mveloso (325617) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:22AM (#28422831)

      It's this mentality of urban fear that shows how screwed up US cities really are.

      • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by happywaffle (664189) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:40AM (#28423117)
        Yeah, that's kind of what I think with every "You're glad you didn't get shot!" comment. It wasn't that bad a neighborhood. There was a kid's birthday party going on on the corner, for God's sake. And the number of thieves who are packing heat and ready to use it is relatively small. Not saying I wasn't acting a *mite* imprudently - we were just acting in the moment - but I still don't feel particularly foolish in retrospect.

      • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Funny)

        by JCSoRocks (1142053) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:51AM (#28423317)
        Mom says it's dangerous to leave the basement.

      • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by mcgrew (92797) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:58AM (#28423461) Journal

        Indeed. I live about three blocks west of 11th street, anything east of that is the ghetto. My favorite bar is on 15th street, and I walk there frequently. Aside from hookers and dope dealers soliciting me, I've had no problems despite my hazel eyes. Now, if I were to "go off" on one of these folks, I'd probably be in trouble.

        • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Funny)

          by kalirion (728907) on Monday June 22 2009, @03:33PM (#28428279)

          Aside from hookers and dope dealers soliciting me, I've had no problems despite my hazel eyes. Now, if I were to "go off" on one of these folks, I'd probably be in trouble.

          I'm confused, what else are you supposed to do with hookers?

      • Re:LoJack for your iPhone? (Score:5, Informative)

        by jcnnghm (538570) on Monday June 22 2009, @12:17PM (#28424841)

        It's this mentality of urban fear that shows how screwed up US cities really are.

        Perhaps they just aren't as naive as you. Here's [crimebaltimore.com] a neat map showing crime reported in Baltimore over the last 11 days. You'll notice all the fists and cross hair icons. Those are assaults and shootings. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that cities aren't overrun with dangerous thugs. The ghetto is a dangerous place.

  • Memo to self (Score:5, Insightful)

    by davidwr (791652) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:21AM (#28422795) Homepage Journal

    When stealing electronic equipment immediately disable all radios or remove all batteries.

    While I'm at it remember to never plug it into any network until I'm sure it's not going to phone home.

  • Fiund my iPhone, Now Go Get It (Score:5, Funny)

    by rodrigoandrade (713371) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:21AM (#28422815)
    Yeah, the tech works alright, until you find out it's in the hands of a drug lord in the ghetto. Go get it tiger!!

    • Re:Fiund my iPhone, Now Go Get It (Score:5, Funny)

      by BitterAndDrunk (799378) on Monday June 22 2009, @11:31AM (#28424049) Homepage Journal
      GHETTO DRUG LORD
      (eating with chopsticks, to iPhone owner)
      Grab a seat there, boy. Want some dinner? Grab yourself an egg roll. We got everything here from a diddle-eyed-Joe to a damned-if-I-know.

      IPHONE OWNER
      No thanks.

      GHETTO DRUG LORD
      No thanks? What does that mean? Means you ate before you came down here? All full. Is that it? Naw, I don't think so. I think you're too scared to be eatin'. Now, see we're sittin' down here, ready to negotiate, and you've already given up your shit. I'm still a mystery to you. But I know exactly where your ass is comin' from. See, if I asked you if you wanted some dinner and you grabbed an egg roll and started to chow down, I'd say to myself, "This motherfucker's carryin' on like he ain't got a care in the world. Who know? Maybe he don't. Maybe this fool's such a bad motherfucker, he don't got to worry about nothin', he just sit down, eat my Chinese, watch my TV." See? You ain't even sat down yet. On that TV there, since you been in the room, is a woman with her titties hangin' out, and you ain't even bothered to look. You just been starin' at me. Now, I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties.

      IPhone Owner takes out an envelope and throws it on the table.
      IPHONE OWNER
      I'm not eatin' 'cause I'm not hungry. I'm not sittin' 'cause I'm not stayin'. I'm not lookin' at the movie 'cause I saw it seven years ago. It's "The Mack" with Max Julian, Carol Speed, and Richard Pryor, written by Bobby Poole, directed by Michael Campus, and released by Cinerama Releasing Company in 1984. I'm not scared of you. I just don't like you. In that envelope is some payoff money. MyiPhone's moving on to some greener pastures. We're not negotiatin'. I don't like to barter. I don't like to dicker. I never have fun in Tijuana. That price is non-negotiable. What's in that envelope is for my peace of mind. My peace of mind is worth that much. Not one penny more, not one penny more.

      (with NO APOLOGIES to Quentin Tarrantino)

  • No remote shutoff (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Norsefire (1494323) * on Monday June 22 2009, @10:23AM (#28422845) Journal
    Something that occurred to me while reading was that if they hadn't found it, while there is a way to remotely wipe the data there isn't a way to remotely lockdown the phone.

    A way to remotely set the phone to full volume and play a siren-tone non-stop would be nice too.

    Or a remote self-destruct feature.

  • Single Best Story I have read on Slashdot (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gubers33 (1302099) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:24AM (#28422867)
    This is probably one of the more intriguing stories I have read on Slashdot recently. It was both amusing and informative. The best part is that this is pretty much free advertising for "Find my iPhone". Not only free advertising, but great advertising. I would bet money that half the people who read this article are going to download this app when they are done reading for the exact reason they want to be able to find their stolen iPhone.

  • Dangerous and Stupid (Score:4, Insightful)

    by RandomUsername99 (574692) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:42AM (#28423139)

    Being one of the people that has spent a considerable amount of time living in one of those neighborhoods I can definitively say that what this guy did was extremely dangerous and stupid. I wouldn't pull that kind of BS with someone I sorta knew while they were standing in public, let alone in a neighborhood I've never been to before. I'm surprised that the guy who had the phone wasn't using it to call his friends to get down there and kick their asses, if for no other reason than to not appear to have been rolled by 3 scrawny nerds armed with a laptop in broad daylight.

    If he stole the phone in the first place, he probably wasn't the most savory character in the world. What if he was on parole/probation/suspended sentence for something serious and could have been locked up? What if he was on some crazy uppers? What if he was actually meeting a large group of his buddies on that street corner? What if he was any of the above *and* armed?

    Not trying to be a troll here, but I'm guessing that those guys have never really had their asses handed to them before.

    • Re:Dangerous and Stupid (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Archangel Michael (180766) on Monday June 22 2009, @11:39AM (#28424191) Journal

      "I can definitively say that what this guy did was extremely dangerous and stupid."

      Really? If that were the case, then we've already lost. Our country is filled with cowardice, like yours. As the powers continue to take away your freedoms, one at a time, in the name of peace and security, you sit back and cower in fear of losing more if you "act up" and stand up for yourself.

      I'm reminded of the quote ....

      All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

      So, do nothing, be nothing, as cowards usually are. Hide behind your computer screen in anonymity whining about how bad the world is knowing that by being a coward, you have contributed to exactly what you fear most.

  • Tell his boss please (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Absolut187 (816431) on Monday June 22 2009, @11:37AM (#28424147) Homepage

    This thieving scumbag deserves to be fired.

    I'd call the cops too, now that you know who did it.
    He deserves an arrest on his record also.

    • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:5, Insightful)

      by conspirator57 (1123519) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:29AM (#28422941)

      perhaps because you have a self deprecating sense of humor?

      amongst other things, i'm an American of predominately Scottish and Dutch descent, and i refer to myself by a large variety of slurs.

      maybe we'd all be better off as a society if everyone just took a chill pill and enjoyed a good laugh at our own and each others' shared expense without getting so wrapped up in labels that most people don't even know the origin of.

    • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:5, Informative)

      by Old97 (1341297) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:49AM (#28423271)
      I tend to agree with you, but I live in Chicago a few files from the area he's talking about. I been there a few times. Generally in our big cities and Chicago for sure, race or ethnicity can matter - more so in some neighborhoods than in others. It's a fact relevant to the story. I suppose he dwelled on it a bit to heighten the drama for his readers - playing on their own fears/prejudices. If he were a black man writing about 3 black geeks in a white or hispanic neighborhood would you have been offended?

        • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:4, Insightful)

          by conspirator57 (1123519) on Monday June 22 2009, @01:55PM (#28426477)

          or maybe he was suggesting the intimidation he and his friends felt at being out of their element and in a new, strange, and oft stereotyped setting with real, if frequently overplayed, possibilities for eruption of violence.

          maybe he over-empathized with those around him as a manifestation of his "white guilt". i know my primary inhibition with respect to new acquaintances from different American ethnic groups is my own self consciousness about the possibility of offending them. i think that sucks and we will only be able to make claims regarding the elimination of racism when *no one* has any particular feeling regarding their fellow man other than those merited by the facts of the interaction. (dude looking for a seat in the cafeteria: fine; dude robbing me: bad)

          how else would you have described the setting to portray your feelings of isolation and perception of personal risk, justified or not? perhaps, "we were in a socioeconomically depressed region of town and felt odd"? this misses mounds of social context of both the part of the neighborhood denizens and the nerds.

          racial tension is real. ignoring it and not communicating openly about these perceptions will not make them go away. in fact, lack of open communication will only stopper up and push these feelings underground where they will fester and gain new currency. on the other hand, i view this sort of description not as particularly racist, but as a step away from racism. can it be better, more harmonious, whatever? sure. gradually. as reality allows, descriptions of one's circumstances in odd situations will be based in that new reality that developed from today's which is, in turn, dramatically different from, yet traceable to our worst days as a racist society.

          on a lighter note, isn't the term nerd a pejorative assigned based on extrinsic features observed by the cool kids? yet we own the term and generally rejoice in our nerdiness. and in our interactions with the world around us, we are gradually becoming normal in society.

          • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:4, Interesting)

            by turbidostato (878842) on Monday June 22 2009, @03:30PM (#28428227)

            " i think that sucks and we will only be able to make claims regarding the elimination of racism when *no one* has any particular feeling regarding their fellow man other than those merited by the facts of the interaction."

            I remember a South African adverstisement on the early days post apartheid: it was about a school bus full of angelical blonde boers fitted to play soccer, I think they were green shirts, let's accept that being the case. When they get to destiny they get out of the bus, see the team they are going to play against and suddenly all their faces sadden. Camera points were they were looking at and we see the other team is made up full of black children.

            Then, one of the white boys, still saddenned, asks his trainer: But, but... they wear green shirts too! How will we distinguish between us???

            Finally one of the teams go playing with shirt and the other without to resolve the problem, both teams laughing with the joy of sports.

            I *never* have seen a better presentation of what racism is and what the goal to achieve should be.

    • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:5, Informative)

      by happywaffle (664189) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:53AM (#28423347)
      Author here.

      First, I was being self-deprecating, since I felt like the opposite of a badass iPhone tracker as we walked up and down this block.

      Second, ethnicity is completely relevant to the story in that we were out of our element and quite visible prowling up and down the street with our laptop. The stares of the local residents confirmed this.

      Third, other than the self-deprecation, I don't believe I said a single negative thing about anyone's race.

      • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2009, @12:40PM (#28425247)

        "We parked along Medill and hopped out. It was a Puerto Rican neighborhood. On the south side of the street, an outdoor birthday fiesta was convening, and some of the participants eyed us three honkeys questioningly."

        I live about a block from where that party was going on. Calling that particular portion of Logan Square a Puerto Rican neighborhood is inaccurate (despite there being a Puerto Rican credit union there, many of my neighbors are from Mexico or are descendants of Swedish and Armenian descent).

        The party that was having a birthday celebration had turned into a street soccer game around 9 PM. (Did you see the pinata with the big CA on its chest?) You had jack-shit to fear from that party other than them wondering what the hell good could come from three goofs who clearly didn't live there wandering up and down the street. Overall crime in that section of Logan Square is pretty low---at the point you passed the birthday party, you were about a block from Goethe Elementary's schoolyard. You would have raised a few eyebrows---not because you're white ( there were plenty of your cousins around that night, myself included) but because you were clearly doing something strange. When people who look confused walk through there it's usually to get to the Congress theater, and they may have figured you got a bad batch of X and forgot where your car was parked.

        Honestly, it's a phone. If you lose it, you lose it. I see this story as just being a self-congratulatory geekoff. Had you entered a really, really sketchy neighborhood, I'm sure this story wouldn't have happened--you would have all turned around and walked out before things got weird. You felt comfortable enough whipping your hardware then, but after the fact, after a couple beers and with a few retellings i'm sure this all sounded like quite the adventure, the skintones of the participants got darker, the streets narrower and your courage only deeper.

    • Oh no! A ticket from the PC police! (Score:5, Interesting)

      by SuperKendall (25149) on Monday June 22 2009, @11:12AM (#28423725)

      I'm not sure what your problem was given the account was factual.

      Would you rather they have said "Uniquely singular ethnic neighborhood"? Would that have actually served to illustrate what they did was kind of a bad idea?

      Why should people be forced to lie because you feel uncomfortable with the truths of how some areas of a city are? Is it not true there are some ethnic areas of a city that are a bit dangerous to wander around in if you are not of that ethnicity?

    • In the future history of Star Trek, mankind was only able to evolve beyond petty political correctness with the Zephram Cochrane's 2nd most famous invention: anti-wadding panties. When no one was able to get their panties in a wad, everyone was finally able to relax and stop being personally wounded by silly words. See also: Zephram Cochrane's business rival, the invention of Skin Thickiner. Never made it to market because the FDA wouldn't approve over the counter DNA therapy. Some say Cochrane used a portion of his crazy warp-drive money to bribe FDA officials. We may never know.

      • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:5, Insightful)

        by clone53421 (1310749) on Monday June 22 2009, @11:29AM (#28423985) Journal

        Confronting known thieves should always include the implicit assumption that there is danger of violence.

      • Re:Please Drop the Us V Them Mentality (Score:5, Insightful)

        by sbeckstead (555647) on Monday June 22 2009, @12:05PM (#28424659) Homepage Journal
        While on a business trip to New York, actually just Long Island, I drove back to the airport down the Long Island Expressway. My Memory is not exact here but I needed to re-fill the rental car with gas and never having been in this particular area before I waited until I could see a gas station from the road. That was not an easy task but I think I was somewhere in Queens (near Kennedy airport but not too close) when I pulled off the road. Assuming that there was no danger of violence I pulled into said gas station and when I went to pay for the gas I was told by the attendant, "get your gas and get the hell out of here fast if you want to keep your hide in one piece" , and so I did and so I did. But making assumptions of no danger of violence has gotten people into trouble that don't know the character of the neighborhood in L.A , Louisiana, Alabama and other places as well.

    • Re:Amazed ... (Score:5, Funny)

      by T Murphy (1054674) on Monday June 22 2009, @10:55AM (#28423391) Journal

      How much juice does one of these things consume??

      I've poured a whole gallon of orange juice on my iPhone and it still won't turn on. I've got to run to the store to get more- I think I'll try grapefruit this time. I wish they would warn me about this when I bought the phone- juice is way too expensive these days.

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