iPod: This Season's Must-Have for Muggers
KH writes "West Midlands police have issued a stark warning to iPod users: ditch the white headphones or pay the price." Apparently, muggers recognize the headphones and target passersby for muggage.
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
Well people will kill each other over sneakers so to mug for an Ipod doesn't surprise me. From the article: "The Sun quotes one iPod representative as saying: "There are guys who?d rather be robbed than change the color of the headphones." " = Darwin strikes again.
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
thats how i got mine :)
I keep the mini-iPod in a ... hidden place... that's very snug. Muggers never look there, and really, who wants to pull the cord out of there?
Like my mother used to say: "Can't we have nice things!"
This iPod-carrying bon vivant isn't going to hand over his beloved music player without a fight.
I've hacked my iPod to shoot pepper spray! Ha!
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
iPod -- with LoJack!
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
let a mugger have it and have your insurance buy you a replacement.
Dude, I'm, like totally understanding of your verbage, but, like, there might not be others, that, like, know.
But rock on, Dude! Awesome!
How about an iMace accessory?
That's why I clip mine to the back of my belt. Right next to my HK .40 USP.
target passersby for muggage
:)
eh? 'excuse me sir, I noticed you passing by and wondered if you'd like some hot, sweet muggage. only $1 a bowl.'
Mugger: "Your I-Pod or your life..."
Mr Benny: ...
Mugger: I SAID, your I-POD or your LIFE!
Mr Benny: Hold on! I'm thinking!
buhbumpbump...
Now that we know this our social lives will improve, since getting mugged is better than no social life at all.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Even muggers recognize that the higher price of Apple hardware goes into quality.
Most muggers don't realize they'll be replacing that little battery for $99 in a couple weeks' time.
I think that repeat theifs should be killed. They aren't stealing just property but really they are stealing a part of their victim's life. Say it takes me 30 hours to earn the money for the iPod, if I get mugged and they steal my iPod, they just stole 30 hours of my life. It's as if they tied me up for 30 hours. I just think that people who steal life from others should have their life taken away from them.
and aren't just wearing white earbuds to make yourself look cool.
The mugger may get pissed and pop a cap in your ass when he find you only have an old walkman.
Mugger: so is that an ipod you got there mate? ::mugger takes out knife:: ::mugger takes ipod and runs off:: ::mugger comes back::
Guy: uh, yeah.
Mugger: alright, hand it over.
Mugger: uh, you haven't had this for 18 months or so by any chance?
Putting a sticker that says "Don't mug people." on the headphones won't work?!?!?
"Most muggers don't realize they'll be replacing that little battery for $99 in a couple weeks' time."
:)
Then YOU apparently don't realize they'll just be mugging someone else in a couple weeks' time. Duh
Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.
I wonder if the RIAA will sue these muggers for stealing copyrighted music? Knowing the RIAA, they are more likely to sue the victims for distributing copyrighted material.
_____
Thank you.
Use the headphones but plug them into an old, big-ass, tape deck that's playing "Wham" (George Michael) on it. Realizing what's going on the mugger should shit his/her pants and run for his/her life...
You aren't free to do anything, until you've lost everything.
I really wonder how they steal it from you WHILE you are wearing the headphones and listening to it and not be aware when the sound's gone... :-)
Sure they sound better than most earbuds[...]I've yet to take the white ones out of package they came in.
You listened to them while they were still in the package?
Anything worth doing is worth doing badly -- G.K. Chesterton
One fake iPod case: $50.
One receiver: $50
One transmitter: $50
One kilo C4: $150
One mugger exploding when he runs more than 50 feet away from you: Priceless.
www.eFax.com are spammers
This opens up the market for 3rd-party iPod cases with exploding dye packs, like banks use when they get robbed. Good luck trying to sell a bright-pink-stained iPod! ;)
sudo eat my shorts
for stealing mp3's ....
"He must have known I was wearing an iPod because of the white headphones."
Or... because you responded in the affirmative when he asked you if you were listening to an iPod?
HOW ELSE COULD HE HAVE KNOWN?
or else meet certain death...
This is a Slash-mugging! Close your browser and give me your laptop!
Now!
Letter
Oops, nevermind...
Though I'm sure there's a Soviet Russia post to be made out of this...
Scenario:
---
Frankfort, Kentucky, makes it against the law to shoot off a policeman's tie.
I want to get an Ipod and use my old pair of big ass 70s style radio shack headphones. big and bulky with the 1/4 inch jack and cover up your entire ears.
F na me=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F007%5F003%5F004%5F0 00&product%5Fid=33%2D1176
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5
While they can be spotted at a distance, a mugger might thing I have a portable 8-track and not steal from me.
There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
my favorite part of this story is when you were arrested for failing to have a CCW permit.
I was robbed once. This guy asked me if that bulge in the back of my pants was a wallet. I said, "Why yes, it is." He then asked if it was full of money, to which I relied, "Loads."
As soon as the mugger steals one, a newer cheaper iPod comes out for mugging the next week. The vicious cycle repeats infinitely.
Wow, all you have to do to get Insightful mods is ask for them? Don't forget to say please.
Now will someone please mode me Funny.
---- Just another spud server.
Why do you lay your troubles on an already troubled mind? Can't you see we grow tired of your... malcontent - your... fearmongering?
Too long have you watched my iPod. Too long have you haunted its backlight.
Disclaimer: This comment was generated by a Flock of Trained Microsoft Programmers for Aqua_Geek.
Mugging is not theft.
It is property infringment. You can not steal atoms, neutons, or electrons.
You have done nothing wrong.
I think tonight I will go out and infringe on somebody wallet ownership rights. Then I may infringe on some convience stores "cash register contents" ownership right.
Don't cal me a thief, I am simply infringing and the person who makes the wallet only get a tiny amount of what the guy pays for it anyway.
It will distract the mugger so that he demands your hat, and you will escape with your precioussssssssss ipod intact.
This procedure also helps to hide ketchup stains on your shirt.
Step 1: choose desired sharpie color
Step 2: disguise your white earphones using said sharpie
Step 3: fear not vial muggers
Sharpie... defeats cd copy protection, thwarts muggers, what next (only time will tell). Warning - may result in slight discoloration in ear canal.
Heh, when i bought my ipod, i didn't bother using the stock earphones, granted i tried them, but i find them very good. Plus i didn't want to show the world that i owned an ipod and so carried on using my beloved Bang and Olufsen earphone ( They may cost $150 but they are the dogs ). I lent my ipod earphones to a mate who had a crappy 128MB MP3 player and he had the pleasure of people asking him if he had an ipod. Plus he looked stupid when he pulled out a battered MP3 player
Can't find the link right now (damn badly indexed megaretailer sites!), but I've seen a fry's a bulky waist-worn iPod pouch with (get this) a series of blinking LEDs on the outside that pulse their blueness to the world.
... mug wearer -- iPod enclosed... mug wearer - iPod enclosed ..."
I wonder if they blink Morse for "mug wearer -- iPod enclosed
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
But it's so sexy that I could make love to it!
In Hong Kong there are plenty of rip-off white headphones so mugging these people is likely to get you a $10 FM radio :-)
-- Sig meltdown immine...
"I'm so cool... I could've got an MP3 player that does more for less, but instead I sunk half a grand into this shiny Apple one! Marvel, peasants! Marvel at my excessive wealth!"
"*YOINK!*"
"Damn! Ah well, the battery was starting to go anyway. I'll have to buy another one tomorrow."
Set up a decoy squad of people with nothing but really twangy country and western tunes in their ipods. I doubt many muggers will try it again after they get a taste of ol' Merle in his prime.
Other than theft... It would be interesting (satisfying?) if the RIAA would bring the hammer down on these muggers for turning legit music into stolen music! Suddenly a petty crime would now get a $10,000 fine per song (or whatever the absurd fine is).
My current take is about 37 iPods from stupid-stupid college kids.
One sad fucker tried to fight back, as though his stupid toy was worth more than his life.
Of course, a couple slugs to his now bloodpudding chest convinced him otherwise.
See my e-bay auctions! iPods all capacities, even minis!
Oh, by the way, I note that some of you nerds are just
waiting for some "bad guy" to mug you so you can
fight back for the sake of American Way, Jesus, and Apple Pie.
To which I say: HAAAA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA.
If they'll send a teenager to court for offering a gig or two of mp3s, surely they'll happily beat the life out of a mugger that steals 10-20-40GB of mp3s!
>I was thinking of the classic bump and theft actually. Bump into a person, while they are stunned, take their crap, say pardon me and move on.
Don't you think they'd notice that the music had suddenly stopped at exactly the same time that you bumped into them?
"What iPod? Oh, this one in my hand? No, no, this one is mine. Uh, yeah, I always carry it around without any headphones. Yours is, um, back there on the sidewalk somewhere, I think."