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Ask Slashdot: Starting From Scratch After a Burglary?
New submitter sc30317 writes "My house got robbed on Friday, and all of our electronics got stolen. Everything. Now, I have to go out and buy all new electronics with the insurance money. We had five TVs (don't ask), three laptops, a Bose Sound dock with iPod, a digital camera, and a desktop stolen. It's looking like I am going to get around $10K from the insurance company to replace everything. What would you do if you had to replace ALL of your technology in your house at once? I'm thinking:
replace TVs; nice Desktop; new speakers; and new, cool stuff I don't know about (suggestions welcome). I already added a DVR security system, so hopefully the new things won't get burgled! Looking for suggestions to utilize my money in order to get the best stuff. Also, no Windows computers allowed in my house."
Buy a mean dog.
Have gnu, will travel.
They wouldn't have stolen your shit. Just saying...
>> What would you do if you had to replace ALL of your technology in your house at once?
Go on Craigslist and buy all your old crap back for ten cents on the dollar.
buy something other than Bose
...However, I would be worried about how to replace the content that was lost. Going to work on cutting a backup copy this weekend myself.
If they have your desktop then they likely have all of your personal information. I would be rather worried about that portion of the theft and would be curious how one would work to make sure that the information they stole would be useless.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
Buy nothing. Wait for a need; then research what fits it best.
You've been given an opportunity in disguise here.
Do you really want all that stuff that consumes time? Only one way to tell: wait for yourself to need it, then buy it as you determine those needs based on what you actually use.
"No Trespassing: What the dogs don't finish, we feed to the pigs."
Have gnu, will travel.
Don't replace anything right away. Wait until you know what you miss the most. When you miss 'it' the most, note why. Once you have the what and why, start shopping for the best fit, new or old.
B-)
A friend will come and bail you out of jail, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "damn that was fun!"
I wonder if he had auto-logon enabled and the burglar booted up his machine and is posting from his account. Maybe this is just a request from the burglar for additional shit he wants.
You are aware that guns are a prime target of thieves?
The dog may be a good idea, but guns are not nearly as good for home defense as people make them out to be. Especially since robbers do not rob you when you are home. They wait till you leave, then rob you.
You want to get an attacker (and everyone else) out of your house fast? Then use pepper spray.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
So you can afford, maybe two new decent Macs?
Go here, keep adding random stuff until you reach $10k.
Much better than wasting money on TVs.
I am going to get around $10K from the insurance company
What's your insurance company?
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
You should be able to get a top of the line shotgun
Why? So they can steal all of his high tech gear AND the shotgun? Guns only work when there's someone there to point and shoot them* and if there's someone there to point and shoot them, the burglars wouldn't be there in the first place.
*Cue the links to automatic, self-aiming sentry guns.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Whatever you decide on, don't buy everything all at once. They'll be casing your place again in a few days because they know you'll be replacing everything with nice NEW stuff.
Basically, would you hire him again, when it is time to do the next round of upgrades?
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Hold off because the burglar knows exactly where a bunch of new tech is going to be showing up in the next couple of weeks.
But if the burglars are too busy stealing your guns, they might skip over your electronics.
So that advice made sense after all!
"Burgled" is correct in British / International English. Only Americans use the hideous "burglarized".
Buy a pitchfork. Hysterical liberals don't have enough imagination to fear those or ban them.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
Had this happen last year. Came home late at night on Christmas 2011 to a broken basement window and saw that all my electronics had been stolen - TV, laptop, desktop, game system, etc. While it was certainly pretty frustrating (especially dealing with the police (hint: don't expect much) and insurance company), eventually I realized that it was actually a good opportunity to rebuild my tech collection from scratch.
In other words, think about what devices you didn't use much, and how to replace that functionality with other things you have. For me, this was:
- an early 40" LCD ($1200 circa 2007). It was 1080p, but it was a monster to move anywhere and too small to make watching HD content worthwhile when sitting across the room. Still, it worked fine - I wasn't going to go buy another one. I also don't watch much TV to begin with, so it went days without being turned on. So, I replaced it with an Epson HD projector ($800). Sure, the lamp life is less, but I don't use it more than a few hours/week anyway.
- a Blu-ray player (bought in 2008 for $160) replaced with a PS3 ($200 on eBay).
- an Apple time capsule ($300) replaced with FreeNAS (in virtual sandbox) on desktop computer (free, since I was replacing the desktop anyway).
To be fair, I'm American and I use the word burgled as buglarized is such a hideous word. I have no idea how long it's going to take to convert the rest of the country though.
Because pitchforks are tools, mainly made to shovel manure. They are only clumsy, makeshift weapons. Guns are built to propel projectiles at high velocity against a target, which makes them quite clumsy, makeshift tools for anything else.
Buy less junk to steal. Spend your money on 'experiences'. Travel, art, fun, whatever...
And this helps against a burglary when he's away exactly how? (Except that this gets more guns in the hands of criminals in the case of a burglary.)
Actually, computers are a lot more valuable to criminals than to people on Craig's list. I'm guessing that if they stole the computer, they were probably hoping to get ID information and log ins off the HDD and didn't have time to disassemble the computer to just get at that.
Still, I'm a bit surprised that they would risk that given that they already took laptops.
Really just commenting to undo mod. I feel that parts of the second half of your comment are flamebait, while the first half is spot on.
21st Century Renaissance Man
Just pull up to your nearest Best Buy and get what they have in stock. Can't go wrong there. Just make sure to buy all Monster Cables and buy the extended warranty.
Why? If he pays the same premium on insurance, then he actually has a disincentive to secure his place. He should just secure his personal information through some kind of encryption. Then let burglars steal his stuff again. Then he can buy new stuff...like a free upgrade.
I would say the opposite.
You can't always be home to shoot people in the face, but you can always count on the vast wealth disparity and a societies that makes it impossible for criminals to reform to generate new robberies.
5 Vizio 60" tvs - $5k
5 Nexus 10 Tablets with Keyboard Folios - $2.5k
Vacation to the Bahamas - $2.5k
Come back after it's all been stolen again and repeat.
Really just commenting to undo mod. I feel that parts of the second half of your comment are flamebait, while the first half is spot on.
Please explain which parts are flamebait? I do not propose a solution, only state a fact. We know that poor people commit more crimes, some to survive and some to make themselves feel better about themselves (empowered.) That's not an indictment of poor people, it's an indictment of a system that creates poor people.
Now, if I declared that I had a solution and that it was the only solution, that would be flamebait. It would also almost certainly be bullshit.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Why only 5 TVs ?
"Burgled" is correct in British / International English. Only Americans use the hideous "burglarized".
I thought American English was the only important version for International use....
For the future, consider inventorying, photographing, and valuating as many possessions -- no matter how seemingly negligible. Then ensure that your insurance policy actually covers the cost of replacing as much as possible at full retail value.
There are apps, applications, and web apps which enable you to realistically valuate your possessions, to ensure that your insurance company is giving you a fair amount for theft.
You're free! Don't put your chains back on!
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
If you re-read the comment above, he didn't mention assalut weapons or a gun registry and you didn't respond to the issues he raised.
It would be pleasant if people on both sides of an issue could actually understand each other and agree that they actaully agree on some things. I guess that would be too much damage to people's world view where one side is "bad" and the other is "good".
Well.. maybe. Or Maybe not. But Definitely not sort of.
Well, it just follows the pattern. Burglars don't burgle, they burglarize. Murderers don't murder, they murderize. Etc.
Actually American English in key respects is the most divergent in spelling, and you will find that most other countries where English is dominant (ie. Canada, the UK, Australia) or very common (India) tend towards British spelling. I notice this is changing in Canada where the "u" in words like "colour" and "neighbour" is being dropped.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
That's the part I disagree with. I like to think that it's not my fault that some guy is out robbing. I like to believe that it's his fault he turned to a life of crime.
It's not all your fault, you only bear a tiny slice of the blame. But it's equally not all his fault. He didn't choose to have people treat him unfairly. We've collectively created a system (which includes you, but it also includes me) which increases disparity of wealth. Average citizens contribute to it by paying their taxes, by giving their money to soulless corporations, and by not asking enough questions which leads to more of the same kind of behavior. We seldom ask the questions whose answers we fear, but those are the questions we must ask if we are to move forward.
Figuring out where to place the blame is useful in fully describing the problem, but it's only the first step. Even if it were all his fault, we would still have the responsibility of finding a solution if we want the problem solved.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Get ready to be robbed again. A lot of burglars wait a few weeks and because they know you will replace your stuff, hit you a second time.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Put 40% of the money into the bank/investments/retirement. Spend 40% on amazing international trips and vacations. 20% on replacing the minimum of physical things y'all really need. Lighten your load and enjoy life.
Besides everybody else saying what to security equipment(dogs, guns, CTVs, etc) & how you are a snob for not wanting Windows or some other OS, how about some real suggestions.
I'd first start with the non-PC related tech. TVs, cameras, game systems, etc. Those usually have a fixed cost involved, and there usually isn't too many ways you can cheap out on them without getting screwed buying crap. Figure up what you want & how you want it arranged in your house, then go from there.
Next I'd look at your PC related tech & networking equipment. What do you want to do with your PCs & how do you want to integrate them into your entertainment setup?
Personally, I have a media server and then a media system hooked up to each of my TVs for media sharing. I run MythTV for my DVR needs. Since MythTV is WAY easier to setup on a Linux system, that fits nicely with your no Windows rule. But others don't like Myth or are unable to utilize its DVR service and there are better media sharing services out there, so use what works best. Then I have Samba shares setup for out of Myth media additions & viewing. One of the shares is monitored by my torrent service, so I can drop torrent files there from any PC & have it automatically add them. My total media PC equipment costs are only about $1500 - $2000.
In continental Europe it seems to be moving towards some kind of hybrid, with Americanisms more common than they used to be. I assume this is because all the kids who learn English as a 2nd language are influenced by the internet and U.S.-produced television/movies/games.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Some other words do fit the pattern. Antagonists don't antagon, they antagonize. Capitalists don't capital, they capitalize. But, communists could either commune or communize, with somewhat different meaning.
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
That is all.
"Burglars generally show up when the house is empty...."
If you're home, it's robbery.
I've been there myself and the number 1 advice I can give is "don't rush".
Getting a big chunk of money to replace is really great but be a bit more tactical. You can live without all of it for a little while so bone up on whats current and upgrade cycles and spend wisely. Also as someone wisely mentioned above - re-evaluate if you *really* need everything back like for like!
Personally if it was me, if it's cash and not receipted value I'd replace most kit with nearly new via ebay / gumtree / whatever and save the leftover money for a rainy day. It's a recession after all and chunks of cash are hard to come by! Also, being harsh but logical - lots of people hit hard by the recession sell off expensive kit cheap when they need the money desperately. It sucks for them big time but for you it could be a boon.
This is slashdot. Recommend buying a Boston Dynamics Big Dog.
This might lead to the expansion of the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine to include Slashdot users in addition to children.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
I stopped reading comments after a while. Nothing but suggestions on security, windows jokes, and shotguns. I probably missed some good comments but let me add my own.
Personally, the first thing I would do is pick the "ecosystem" you want to play in. You a Google, Apple, MS person? For all the convergence devices, this is important to decide right away. I'm personally an Apple guy and like how all the devices sync up and it works for me...but the price is I bought in and know the limitations (For example, If I want Amazon prime on my Apple TV, I'm out of luck).
One of the nice thing is you can start standardizing on a brand for TV's and other audio/visual electronics. Most of the brands have some sort of link (proprietary?) that allows their TVs, receivers, players to work together fairly well without using universal remotes. Unfortunately, I bought most of my gear over time and many brands and only a few things are happy working together :(
Sorry that I can just suggest "the" brand to go with. I've had a robbery before and it sucks to have to rebuild. My own funny little story: I had a robbery in 1991 that told me that albums were going to die at the hands of CDs. The thief took my receiver, tape deck, 6 CD player and the heavy speakers....but left the turn table.
I love the sound of distortion in the morning -- webcommando
The stress isn't worth it. I had my house burgled once and the police tried to bring my wife down to the station to interrogate her for insurance fraud and take a lie detector test (I told them no thanks, of course). Also, it took nearly two months before the insurance money even arrived.
Apparently wizard is not a legitimate career path, so I chose programmer instead.
When the enterprising burglar's not a-burgling
When the cutthroat isn't occupied in crime
He loves to hear the little brook a-gurgling
And listen to the merry village chime
"He's lost in a 'floyd hole"
Burgled just sounds too cute, like something a baby does when she's happy. "Oh did my wittle sweetums burgle a house? Yes he did!"
When I was in graduate school about 30+ years ago, I came home to my apartment only to find it ransacked, my stereo missing and my roommate's camera equipment gone. I called the cops. "I've been robbed", I said. "Were you there at the same time as the person taking your stuff?", they asked. "No", I replied. "Oh, you haven't been robbed, you've merely been burglarized. That's different. Not nearly as serious." Darn. The police came over and looked around for a few minutes and then left. I never heard from them or my stereo again.
Absolutely do not buy anything of real value for at least 2 months. Burglars frequently try to double-dip and snatch all your nice new stuff about a month after their first visit.
:(
When you do buy new stuff don't put the empty boxes out - the bar-stewards will be waiting to see those too
Dang, Where are all these soulful corporations when you need them?
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Well, one of the concerns is...that there is NOT anything being mentioned in the 'common sense' discussions pertaining to federal, national background check databases being mandated to not keep and retain citizen information about said checks and what guns they are buying. This could too easily turn into a national gun registration, anyone should be able to see this concern, and I'm pretty sure many on the far left would be assuming this information would be collected AND saved.
These background checks might be a bit more palateable to the gun rights advocates if this type of specific language requiring that no information after the check would ever be retained were put into the argument for this.
If it was assured that once a check was completed, that all information was, by law, irrevocably deleted...and that somehow the law was such that future legislation could not remove this restriction on the govt without removing the entire law and requiring it to be re-argued...I think many more people could get behind this.
One other personal concern of mine tho...is how this would affect private individuals selling their guns. I'd hate to see this requirement put in a middle man to sell the guns. I've always bought my guns used from friends and some strangers with cash and never have had to register any of my guns sales with any govt entity (except one state where I registered some for my concealed carry license). If I'm a lawful gun owning citizen, the govt has no need to know what or how many weapons I own.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
Except for hipsters. They likely already stole his turntable and cassette deck!
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Here in lies the problem.. All you are doing it making it annoying for LAW ABIDING CITIZENS while criminals don't give a hoot. And a registry is a TERRIBLE thing.. Here in lies problem #2. That is one of the MOST unreasonable suggestions, but the other side thinks it's reasonable. Hence my point. We have to come up with solutions that the majority thinks is reasonable.. Right now nothing will get done because the dems want a 10,000 page crazy bill to move through and it's just not going to happen. So instead of solving something we solve nothing because the focus is on the wrong things. Guns are here, guns are queer, get use to them.
Crime is as low as it's been in 30 years, violent crime even more so. This image that our society is crumbing is one that is produced by the media and backed up by the human instinct to remember 'the good old days'.
Indeed, in your case hiring an exterminator might make more sense than hiring a security guard.
Because it is a free country and I want one for whatever legal purposes I like to use one.
Collector
Target practice (some of us just like to drop a few hundred rounds at the gun range or on private land from time to time for entertainment).
Home protection.
Aside from that, however, are the broad definitions being used for "Assault Weapon".
From reading the Feinstein bill, it appears most any semi-automatic weapon could potentially be banned, allowing only single shot, bolt action (rifles) or revolvers (handguns) weapons.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
If they're robbing you, you're there. If you're not there, they're burgling you.
If I see someone like that held at gunpoint, I would assume the situation was already beyond just robbery...and I'd unload on them if given the opportunity. I'd not even stop to ask questions till I was changing clips and the criminal was laying still in a pool of his own blood.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
And you would have known to go to her kitchen how, precisely? Presumably it's not visible from your driveway.
I've lived in high-crime areas. The bad guy chooses when to strike, and he's gonna make a point of striking when your gun ain't around.
Background checks are fine, but not for private sales. We have lots of tough gun laws on the books that are not enforced.. If you are caught selling drugs with a gun in your possession it's an automatic 5 year sentence.. That is not happening. Why? Because our jails are full of non violent drug offenders. We can afford to lock this many people up. Bottom line the problems starts with the parents, continues with our jacked up school system, fueled by the prohibition, and bleeds onto society. Doesn't start with guns. Wont be solved by banning them or putting a limit on magazine size lol.
It seems like almost all dogs can get really protective when they feel the need, even when you wouldn't think so.
We had a really doofy standard poodle. She was an idiot, even on the demeaning scale of dog intelligence. If dogs rode buses, she'd ride the short one. The most loving dog you ever saw. Just wanted to be petted and cuddled and lay on your lap (despite being 90 pounds, she thought she was a lap dog) all day, every day. The least fearsome beast I'd ever met.
Then one day I'm taking the dogs on a walk. A friend of mine is biking by and decides to try and scare me, so he yells as he rides by. The poodle goes in to attach mode. Fangs bared, loud, menacing barks, back down on her legs ready to lunge. She then recognized him and turned in tot eh friendly teddy bear she usually is.
I never thought she had it in her, but she was ready to kill.
In cases like antagonist, capitalist, and communist, the root word is a noun, not a verb.
According to vocabulary.com, antagonize is from Greek and shares the same root as agony. Agony is a noun, so antagonists are people who cause agony. Like wise, the root of capitalist is capital. In this context, capital is money invested for profit. So a capitalist is a person who invests money for profit. In the word communist, the root is the noun commune, as in " a group living situation where people share everything" (also from vocabulary.com). The other definition of commune, as in the phrase "commune with nature" is not related to communism or communist.
"Burgle", on the other hand, is a verb. "Burglar" is one who burgles. Technically, "to burglarize" is to make someone a burglar.
While it seems really pedantic, it makes all the difference to police and lawyers. A robbery is a theft that also involves an element of assault (you were physically threatened or physically harmed in the course of the theft). Burglary is just a theft that involves breaking into a home or a car. A person who is robbed is usually much more traumatized than a person who is burglarized, and sentencing reflects that. Assault can carry penalties as stiff as lesser murder charges or manslaughter.
Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
I suggest a dictionary.
Didn't you read the summary? They took EVERYTHING.
More Twoson than Cupertino
This wasn't a smash and grab if they got this much stuff. Five TVs alone would be too much for a smash and grab to get. The really good guys, know where people typically store jewelery and valuable items and would likely have stuck with just a few high value, easily fenced items.
If their arms weren't too full for the desktop, it's a fairly good bet that they knew what they were doing.
Indeed. Without training, how is the dog going to know how to use the AR-15 safely?
I'd assume the DVR and all would be 'hidden' somewhere outta the way like the attic?
I'd think concealing the cameras would be a good idea too.
I don't understand how a DVR will prevent a burglary. At best it might provide evidence to convict someone. If they're caught. If the police can be bothered to look at it.
More Twoson than Cupertino
No no, antagoners antagle. Capitaners capitgle.
signature is pants
It's a perfectly cromulent word.
signature is pants
I always have to laugh at the assertion that the US should go metric. Apart from scientific measurements, the metric system provides far less benefit than most people suggest.
I've lived in the US and China and honestly, it makes very little practical difference whether you use imperial measures or metric ones in day to day life. You don't generally translate a km into m and you don't generally translate mi into ft. In fact, I can't recall the last time I did that which wasn't a contrived exercise to make the metric system look good. If you've got a distance of miles, it's unlikely that you need the precision that can be had from using feet. Likewise, if you're giving feet, it's unlikely that changing that into miles is going to be very helpful. And on the rare occasions where you need to, you can use a calculator.
Which is moot as you generally don't really care about how far things are in terms of distance, you're generally more interested in how far things are in terms of time, and converting mph to hours and kmph to hours is a wash, neither is better than the other one is.
With temperature, you have a sense of the temperature when you're comfortable and you compare it with the current temperature. The end points make very little difference in terms of ease of use.
When all is said and done, apart from contrived examples that one never encounters in the real world, the metric system has no benefit for normal everyday life. There, I said it. And certainly not enough to justify throwing out an entire country's infrastructure or replace it.
The thieves know that you buy expensive electronics, and that you will have a house full of brand new stuff soon. They quite often will rob a house a second time about 3-4 months after they robed it the first time because of this. Make sure your ready this time.
My cameras aren't discrete, but finding the DVR itself would actually take them awhile even with a sledgehammer and drywall saw. I would be getting an email shortly after the break-in anyway, so even if the cops are slow to get there, I very much doubt they'd have found my DVR by the time they have my house surrounded.
There's actually two different schools of thought when it comes to cameras - many stores have big obvious camera installations even today because they believe the camera's visibility to be a deterrent. It reminds potential thieves that they're there. A hidden camera might record everything, but if the person doing the stealing is generic scumbag #5, they may not have enough information to track him down and charge him. In order to be effective at catching him, somebody would have to be paying attention to the camera and be ready to intercept at the door.
So - Visible cameras are more likely to deter a crime while Invisible cameras are more likely to record a crime
Which one do you want? Personally I'd rather just not deal with the hassle of catching the crook, I'd prefer they just went elsewhere to begin with. One interesting setup I saw was an attempt at both worlds - they had big visible fake or otherwise inoperable cameras placed in various spots, with a number of discretely hidden cameras to do the actual recording - the idea being that if somebody was trying to hide some activity from the visible cameras, they'd actually make themselves highly visible(on average) to the real ones...
I don't read AC A human right