We normally go in for thin and streamlined wallets ’round this blog, but Scottish researchers suggests a (cute) baby photo is a seriously worthy addition to any wallet. It might just pressure your wallet’s finder into mailing it your way.
Your laptop is missing. You’re completely out of luck, right? Not if your laptop can phone home. Prey is a cross-platform security application that sends home pictures and location data when your laptop goes missing.
A few years ago, blogger Jimmie Rodgers’s camera was stolen while volunteering in an impoverished Brazilian community, so he did what any sane person would do: He bought an new camera and made it ugly.
The safety and security of our laptops—and all of the important and sensitive information they hold—are of the utmost importance. Let’s take a look at several free and cheap methods you can (and should) use to keep your laptop safe, secure, and out of the hands of thieves. We’ll also take a look at software that tracks and even snaps pictures of the thief in the event he did get away with your precious gear. Photo by presta.
The DIY hackers at Make magazine detail how to deter thieves from targeting your prized cycle by uglifying your bike. The idea: The less desirable your bike looks to a thief, the less likely they are to steal it from among the throngs of other potential victims. Starting with ugly paint and faux rust and ending with a few tacky stickers, the author suggests several tried and true methods for making your bike appear as undesirable as possible. Keep in mind that the article is also quick to point out that this is not theft prevention—a bike lock is still necessary—but considering how easy it is to steal a bike in broad daylight, a lock plus some skilled uglification could make all the difference. U-G-L-Y Your Bike [Make via Hackszine]
Windows only: Free computer-tracking application LocatePC is a lightweight application that can save you a hefty amount of money if your laptop, or even desktop, falls into the wrong hands. Running as a nondescript background app, LocatePC can quietly email you at regular intervals or, more helpfully, whenever your IP address changes. That could be a pain for those behind cable connections and the like, but with a simple email filter or a little router-tweaking, you’ll only be bothered by those emails when you really need them. LocatePC is a free download for Windows systems only. For more laptop lock-down tips, check out Adam’s quick guide to thief-proofing your laptop.
LocatePC [via CyberNet]You just sat down at the internet café, you’ve got your coffee, your scone, and your laptop all plugged in and ready to roll, but—you need to hit the head. What do you do? Wired’s Lore Sjöberg discusses this situation—what he calls the laptop dilemma—in detail, offering five options: Leave your helpless laptop alone, ask a neighbour to watch it, take your laptop with you to the can, take everything with you, or lock it up. Obviously, for safety’s sake, you should either lock it up tight or—ideally—bring it along, but we don’t always do what we should. On that note, we’d love to hear how you hack the laptop dilemma in the comments. Photo by scottfeldstein. Workin’ at the Internet Cafe: Laptop Dilemma [Wired]
PC World magazine rounds up eight tips to stop thieves from stealing your laptop, the most obvious-yet-effective of which is simply locking it up. Apart from their suggestion that you encrypt your hard drive (we’d recommend the cross-platform TrueCrypt for that), all of their suggestions require you to throw down a bit of cash. If you’re not up to spending any money but you still want to beef up your laptop security, hit the jump for a look at a few no-cost solutions for guarding your laptop against thieves.
If time were no object, we’d all live a more secure computer life—we’d beef up our browsers, use complex passwords, and keep our data locked up with encryption Skynet couldn’t crack. But that kind of stuff requires obscure software, tricky command line work, and most of a free weekend, right? Nope. Anybody can feel more secure about their systems with the help of some free software and easy tweaks and add-ons. We’ve rounded up a good deal of these swift and simple security fixes for Windows, Mac, and Linux, so bust out the tinfoil hats and check ‘em out after the jump. Photo by ul Marga.
Inventory all of your home or office furnishings and bolster your theft or disaster recovery plan with web site StuffSafe. The obvious idea behind the service is that any on-site inventory is no good, since you’ll very likely lose the inventory materials in the event of a disaster or theft. StuffSafe asks for pictures, descriptions, serial numbers, and even allows read-only access to your account for your insurance agent or other third parties. Finally, you can create a backup of your account and cancel it at any time. I can’t say how acceptable a method like StuffSafe would be to your insurance agent, but it seems like a wonderful way to document your stuff in case of theft. If you know more about it or have your own preferred methods, let’s hear about it in the comments.
StuffSafe [via 43F]
