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Tracking Thieves With 'Find my iPhone'
An anonymous reader wrote in to say "A friend of mine who just got an iPhone 3GS and has Mobile Me just used the "Find my iPhone" feature to track down his lost and subsequently stolen iPhone. This story involves three nerds wandering sketchy streets with a MacBook, and ends with a confrontation at a bus stop."
This service is not just an app though. Find my iPhone requires a MobileMe account ( the new branding of .Mac) which will cost you $99/yr. As a questionably useful insurance policy on finding your phone, not really a good deal, however MobileMe does have many other great features that make it worth the money, but I wouldn't sign up the service just in case I ever lose my phone and want to confront a thief.
ymmv though.
I tend to agree with you, but I live in Chicago a few files from the area he's talking about. I been there a few times. Generally in our big cities and Chicago for sure, race or ethnicity can matter - more so in some neighborhoods than in others. It's a fact relevant to the story. I suppose he dwelled on it a bit to heighten the drama for his readers - playing on their own fears/prejudices. If he were a black man writing about 3 black geeks in a white or hispanic neighborhood would you have been offended?
Very often, people confuse simple with simplistic. The nuance is lost on most. - Clement Mok
Just so the G1 doesn't feel left out, this is very possible and free on an Android phone. With Latitude enabled on the phone it is simply a matter of signing into iGoogle and checking your Latitude location.
Author here.
First, I was being self-deprecating, since I felt like the opposite of a badass iPhone tracker as we walked up and down this block.
Second, ethnicity is completely relevant to the story in that we were out of our element and quite visible prowling up and down the street with our laptop. The stares of the local residents confirmed this.
Third, other than the self-deprecation, I don't believe I said a single negative thing about anyone's race.
Lifting from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost,_mislaid,_and_abandoned_property , which is quoting Michael v. First Chicago Corp., 139 Ill. App. 3d 374, 382, 487 N.E.2d 403, 409 (1985):
A finder of property acquires no rights in mislaid property, is entitled to possession of lost property against everyone except the true owner, and is entitled to keep abandoned property
This is likely a clear cut case of mislaid property.
It's this mentality of urban fear that shows how screwed up US cities really are.
Perhaps they just aren't as naive as you. Here's a neat map showing crime reported in Baltimore over the last 11 days. You'll notice all the fists and cross hair icons. Those are assaults and shootings. Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that cities aren't overrun with dangerous thugs. The ghetto is a dangerous place.
You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill
You might like the song "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist" from the musical Avenue Q.
The default view is for the past 2 months, not 11 days.
The default view is for the last 300 records, which only covers the last 11 days.
You don't make the poor richer by making the rich poorer. - Winston Churchill
I stand corrected.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
From same wiki page, ...Under common law principles, the finder of a misplaced object has a duty to turn it over to the owner of the premises...
Mislaid property
If the true owner does not return within a reasonable time ... the property becomes that of the owner of the premises.