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The Urban Geek As A Mugger Magnet?
CGP314 writes "I live in London and whenever I travel around, I feel like a huge target for muggers. Usually I take my laptop, iPod, cell phone and occasionally a PDA around with me. As with many geeks, these items hold within them far more value to me than anything I leave behind in my apartment. So I would like to know what my fellow urban geeks do to try and keep their valuables safe while traveling with them. I've switched my iPod headphones from the distinctive white to a boring black as a means of camouflage; are there any other suggestions?"
Red Ken is quite possibly the best thing that has happened to London in a while. You get what you vote for. London has traditionally been a Labour stronghold anyway, people elected him because he gets the job done, whether you agree with his policies or not.
As for when guns are outlawed, well the veracity of that is dubious. European nations generally have lower violent crime rates than America and much smaller gun crime rates. The difference being that you seem to think you need them, whereas strict gun legislation in our countries means we feel safe enough to travel without them.
On the other hand if I lived in a country where every other person carried a gun I would probably want one too, thats the whole point of an arms race.
Or it could be that you are just a violent country, Canada have a similar number of guns per head but far fewer gun crimes, and Switzerland has conscription which requires that all men between about 20 and 45 keep an assault rifle and 30 rounds of ammunition at home, yet their gun crime rates are so low they don't even maintain statistics.
Think about this, France does what it likes, when it likes. People in France have more holidays, better food, better healthcare and still manage to be a 'relatively' significant power (either within the EU or on its own). America on the other hand, insists on rubbing the international community up the wrong way. People in America have fewer holidays, poorer quality food, and are worried that their neighbour is about to kill them!
Who's got the better deal?
Write 'See I.D.' on the signiture panel of your credit and debit cards. This functions both as a security measure and as a social experiment.
First, cashiers are more likely to ask you for your ID when they see the phrase in front of them. Accordingly, someone who is not you will have a hard time using your plastic.
Second, if you want to see just how easy it is to spend someone else's money, keep track of how often cashiers actually ask you for your ID after inspecting your card. From my own experience, it is not an encouraging amount!