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Mac Security Alarm System
RogueAce writes "A program named iAlertU sounds a screeching siren when someone attempts to steal your Macbook. Thanks to the sudden motion drop sensors that Macs use to park the hard drive, iAlertU can detect when your Macbook is being picked up, moved or closed. Also, by using the handy remote that comes with the Macbook, you can turn the alarm on and off like you would a car, which the Macbook responds to by making the all too familiar chirping sound and a flash and flicker of the screen. The code behind it is from a guy named Christian Kleins."
What happens if say.... the computer isn't turned on? It's a neat idea, but it has a severe shortcoming. People don't steal computers (usually) while they're still on. They make off with them when you leave the bag unattended.
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
Car alarms are useless enough. Do any of you run to see if a theft is in progress when you hear one? Neither do I, because we've all heard too many of them.
And people can't even remember to turn off their cell phone ringers. What makes you think they're going to remember to turn off their laptop theft alarms?
How many people are going to want to lock and unlock the laptop everytime they walk away? I know a lot of people barely want to do the WinXP windows+L everytime, much less lock and unlock with a remote control.
...unlike a car. When someone tries to steal a car and a car alarm goes off, the car itself isn't going anywhere (although you may have a broken window or two.) Unfortunately, when someone tries to steal a Macbook and the iAlertU alarm goes off, I don't think the Macbook will fare too well as a result. Most likely it would be dropped out of sheer surprise, or dropped/thrown in the process of trying to escape the irate Mac owner and the local security guards.
Still, I suppose even an inoperable Macbook with the hard drive intact is better than having all your corporate and personal data stolen.
Probably not until you've heard it for the thousandth time. So the one guy in your office who keeps coming back from lunch and forgetting to turn it off the alarm, will as usual, ruin it for everyone.
Make an audible alarm that only goes off when the patented magnetic power cord is detached (accidental or otherwise).
* or remotely trigger a second magnet -- hidden in a backpack -- to pull your new $25/ounce toy out of the wrong hands.