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GPS Devices Lead Authorities to Thieves' Home

Posted by Zonk on from the please-put-the-stolen-locatermabob-down dept.

Radon360 writes "A trio of not-so-bright thieves in Lindenhurst, NY stole 14 GPS position reporting devices used on public works equipment from a nearby township garage. Authorities didn't have to look too far to locate him or the devices, as one of them was still active and indicated the location of his home when it was queried. From the article: 'Town officials said the thieves didn't even know what they had: they thought the GPS devices were cell phones, which they planned to sell.'"

12 of 124 comments (clear)

  1. ahh yes... by Bananatree3 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    how sweet, the ignorance of youth. They're almost begging for police to come get them. Kind of like the dimwhit students who posted their vandalizing a school on youtube for the whole world, including police to see.

    1. Re:ahh yes... by rob1980 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Those whippersnappers wouldn't know a GPS from the GPL. In my day when we wanted to code we had to walk uphill both ways through six feet of snow to get to the computer science building on campus. These damn kids. Get off my lawn!

    2. Re:ahh yes... by JustOK · · Score: 4, Funny

      You had buildings that you went to? We had to build new buildings out of punch cards EVERY DAY.

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    3. Re:ahh yes... by uglyduckling · · Score: 4, Funny

      Punch cards? We had to strip bark from the trees, make out own paper then punch it with our teeth before we could even begin to make the punch cards into a building.

  2. Let me get this straight by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    So if the thieves had stolen one less GPS tracking device (as only the one was still on and functioning), the headline would have read:
    "Idiot Thieves Somehow Manage to Make Off With Armloads of Location Trackers"?

  3. Not news IMO by Jack9 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Digg and Fark cover general stupidity.

    --

    Often wrong but never in doubt.
    I am Jack9.
    Everyone knows me.
  4. It reminds me... by gooman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My dad likes to say, "If they were smart, they wouldn't be crooks, they'd have real jobs."

    --
    "Kittens give Morbo gas!"
    1. Re:It reminds me... by ColaMan · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If they were smart, they'd still be crooks, just at large.

      Smart crooks are not identified - you hear very little about them apart from statements such as, "Police are appealing for help from the general public to help catch a criminal who did X."

      --

      You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
      There is a lot of hype here.
    2. Re:It reminds me... by Cyberax · · Score: 5, Funny

      The smartest crooks do not violate laws. They MAKE them.

  5. Re:what ever happened to bold thefts. by Phil246 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone in southampton, UK not too long ago stole a urinal from a pub; http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/62344 45.stm
    Bottom line is , people will steal anything. Expecting them to do it in style is a bit much to hope for.

  6. Re:Subject by theshowmecanuck · · Score: 4, Funny

    Like diarrhoea.

    --
    -- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
  7. Re:So what if they were cell phones? by ForestGrump · · Score: 4, Informative

    The phone has a GPS receiver, but it's primarily designed to take a "snapshot" of the satellites and send that off to an assisting server for the actual number crunching. I'm pretty sure these assisting servers aren't cheap and the phone company wouldn't spend money buying these servers if they could sell you a new phone instead.

    Now, if you implanted one of these phones in your baby called 911 saying I LOST MY BABY! Then I'm sure they wouldn't hesitate to use the gps on the phone to locate the baby.*

    But what do I know, it was my roommate who worked in a cell phone shop. I worked on emergency dispatch equipment instead.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

    Grump

    *If child protective services comes after you, I didn't seed the idea!

    --
    Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.