The High Order Bit

Well – my string of bad luck culminated this weekend in getting my backpack nicked out from under me while in a pub this weekend. Literally out from under me – Carrie & I were deep in conversation (yes, this love struck absorption still occasionally happens even after 10+ years of marriage) and the pack was between us (but I think a bit under the table) so the snatcher really must have been slick. Unfortunately, it had my work laptop and various bits and bobs in it – none of which is the stuff of blog posts, really. (unless Mr/Ms Thief is reading this, in which case: keep the laptop – I’ll give you money for my old passport / visa permit & my sunglasses – the iPod is on it’s last leg & was occasionally skipping, so feel free to get 10 quid for that too).

But moving on – lesson learned for me: even after umpteen years living in large metro areas, I still need to do a better job of keeping my belongings in sight.

The positives:
First off, the laptop had been on a time machine backup for a few months – but unfortunately the backup had filled up & I had taken to just hitting cancel. Not smart. But I also keep source code checked into a subversion server & email is all server based, so there won’t be a huge problem getting back up & running w/ new hardware.

The negatives:
A few things are just a pain: first, my visa to stay in the UK was in the backpack. Dealing with that will take weeks off my life. My prescription sunglasses as you might know if you’ve ever purchased these sorts of things before, are priceless to me & useless to someone else. So I have a bit of an incentive to get these things back – and thought the stolen laptop might inadvertently come to my aid.

I have dropbox & xmarks on the computer – programs that automatically hit a server and do things (like sync a file directory & sync my bookmarks). Now chances are the thief will just drop a fresh install on to get around my login password & wipe the computer clean before selling it on. But – if – and a big if – they actually manage to get my password or figure out how to login any other way those two programs will hit & I’ll be notified of my new friend’s IP address, hopefully getting me one step closer. A long shot to be fair.

But to the point – there’s an open source project that I’ve (too late) realized would have helped me that much more: Prey is a lightweight application that will help you track and find your laptop if it ever gets stolen. It works in all operating systems and not only is it Open Source but also completely free. We like. It is now going on all my computers & recommending that my office install on all portables as well.

Also, I should have registered mobile belongings here at the UK’s property registrar which may have helped stop the person selling on the laptop on the open market.

Finally, I’m thinking of several ideas which might electronically tie items to me. Say, if my bag had a RFID chip & talked to my phone, I could program it to go off if my bag went out of range….though peripherals are in development and look half baked at the moment, it’s rumored that the next iPhone will have reader built in…here’s hoping…