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."

Comments

First purchase

[PPH]

Buy a mean dog.

Re:First purchase

[ArcadeMan]

This is slashdot. Recommend buying a Boston Dynamics Big Dog.

Re:First purchase

[silas_moeckel]

Na get a nice lovable dog.and protection training an aggressive dog is useless / dangerous. That said a nice female defending her home will ripe the face off anybody not supposed to be there.while your newborn can grab yank and otherwise harass her and she will just look at you for help.

Re:First purchase

[arthurpaliden]

No, motion activated mini-gun.

Re:First purchase

[Niris]

This.

I had a female huskey while living in an apartment growing up, and we could be rough with that dog to our hearts content and she'd either love to play, or would just get annoyed and run off. One day someone jumped the fence and broke the glass door into the apartment, and all we saw when we got home (other than the glass) was a nice bit of blood and a trail going back towards the fence.

Re:First purchase

[Anonymous Coward]

++ if you train the dog to use it.

Re:First purchase

[Vicarius]

Barking dog is good. Don't need mean.

My friend's house was broken in twice. Their barking dog didn't help at all. First time she was thrown out of the window and was found wandering outside later, and the second time she was locked up in a closet.

Re:First purchase

[MightyMartian]

A dog will let the members of his pack do a lot to him. Some stranger shows up on the scene, and watch out.

We had a little dog (terrier poodle cross), friendliest and silliest little dog you could imagine, and one day we had a building inspector come over to the place we were renovating for a surprise inspection. Our little dog picked up on our stress, and stood between us and the inspector bearing his teeth. He knew this was an unwanted stranger, and despite his small size, his instincts to protect the pack from danger kicked in.

Re:First purchase

[CannonballHead]

A large dog with a protective streak (like a Great Pyrenees!) make amazing guard dogs. When they "stand" (e.g., put their front paws up on something)... well, ours gets close to 6' tall when he's upright. 30" at his hind quarters right now, and he's about 8 months old... over 90lbs probably. He is not a nice looking dog when he thinks you are a threat and barks to tell you so. On the other hand... he's remarkably gentle, especially with kids (livestock guardian dog by breed - we do live on an acre and will have some livestock), loving (if rather independent and sometimes resents being told or forced to do something), and is more or less like a giant teddy bear that gets really upset when something is on his property that isn't supposed to be. Really upset... though, in general, they try to bark/scare off, not attack.

Re:First purchase

[FrankSchwab]

A gun isn't necessarily the best approach for home protection for someone who isn't comfortable with the moral and legal ramifications of the decision to actually use it.

A can of Bear Spray (a spray-paint sized can of strong pepper spray) will disable just about anyone short of a meth-crazed psycho (and almost all burglars simply aren't meth-crazed psychos). For someone who might hesitate using a gun, or keeps the gun safely locked up (and hence unavailable) at home, this is probably the superior solution - there's generally no need to hesitate on it's use, you can leave it unlocked, and if you are faced with a meth-crazed psycho you're probably not going to get your gun unlocked, loaded, and fire an effective shot in time anyway. If your kids get their hands on it, the worst thing that'll happen is a very unpleasant experience; no ones gonna blow anyones head off.

Re:First purchase

[cayenne8]

Sure, if you kill him, any family he has can try to get you into the "justice" system on a manslaugther charge, but *most* civilized states (Texas, I'm looking at you..) have laws based on the "Castle" doctrine and that lawsuit won't go anywhere..

Hell, here in New Orleans, if you shoot the bastard and he somehow makes it out of your house to die in the front yard, the cops here are usually nice enough to help you drag the body back indoors before they take the pics, etc....to help keep things 'neater'.

:)

Re:First purchase

[h4rr4r]

Actually that would be how kids fight. Adults generally limit themselves. Probably because of the whole civilized and laws thing.

Re:First purchase

[wed128]

You're never going to talk a hardened criminal or a desperate junkie out of hurting you to get whatever they want. At some point, it's you or them.

Civilized people must be prepared to abandon their civility when the time comes.

Re:First purchase

[Runaway1956]

Barbarian? That is quite telling. You can't tell the difference between a person defending his home, and the barbarian who broke into his home. No wonder our "justice system" is so messed up.

Shoot the thief dead, dead, dead, and hope that he hasn't bred yet!

Re:First purchase

[mabhatter654]

You pipe over a loudspeaker
"there is going to be a test. You probably won't pass."

In GLaDOS voice!!

Re:First purchase

[barc0001]

"That means you'd get 2 shots. Hope you don't miss or your ass is dead."

This isn't nearly as stupid advice as you'd think. Any competent person only needs 1 shot with a 20 gauge shotgun loaded with the appropriate ammo, especially inside a house or other structure. On top of that, a wound from a single shot of a weapon like that is far worse than a couple of rounds from an AR-15. I shoot you in the hip twice with an AR-15, you're in a lot of pain and probably down for the count. I shoot you once with a 20 gauge at less than 10 yards in the hip, you're going to need reconstructive surgery assuming you don't bleed to death on the spot. Plus, I guess you've never fired a shotgun indoors. They are LOUD. Like bowel-voidingly loud. If there are multiple burglars I really don't think they'll be sticking around to see how many rounds you've got after the first shot deafens everyone and puts one of their number on the floor with a fist sized hole in them.

Re:First purchase

[SimplyGeek]

People miss under the stress of a life or death situation. The LAPD fired 120 rounds into that truck recently and missed all of them. Remember the Empire State building? They fired plenty of rounds and all they hit were bystanders. Same goes for most police shootings. People miss when shooting under stress. Why would you bet your life on not making a common mistake? It's negligent.

Re:First purchase

[DamnStupidElf]

Put out a sign saying "Already burgled" and don't bother buying any replacement items.

Re:First purchase

[ajlitt]

or insist that your burbclave invest in a Rat Thing.

Re:First purchase

[barc0001]

Even more reason for a *double* barreled shotgun. Your fancy AR-15 with the 30 round clip isn't going to do much if the first round in the chamber misfires and jams, but the chances that both barrels of a shotgun will not work is pretty tiny.

Re:First purchase

[PPH]

they're just going to shoot the dog, or kill it with the crowbar they used to get the door open.

That's why you don't want a yappy dog. You get one that just stands there, in the dark. And then tears the throat out of the intruder once they walk around the corner in the hallway.

Joke:

This burglar breaks into a house. After walking around in the dark for a few moments, he hears a voice, "Jesus is watching you."
Looking around, he sees a parrot, and sees it repeat, "Jesus is watching you."
He chuckles and says, "Really? What's your name, parrot?"
The parrot replies, "Moses."
The burglar says, "Who would name a parrot Moses?"
"The same guy who named the Rottweiler Jesus."

Re:First purchase

[styrotech]

Where the hell do you live? Soweto? Nuevo Laredo? Aleppo? Kabul?

Re:First purchase

[AmiMoJo]

Your reasoning is flawed. In the US you are far more likely to get shot during a robbery, precisely because people keep guns in their homes so burglars bring their own too. Armed robbery is pretty rare in countries where you can't easily acquire guns.

The problem perpetuates itself. Robbery-murders increase so more people buy guns, so more criminals start to carry them for protection too. It becomes impossible to get rid of all the guns. The US is now screwed because everyone is locked in to an arms race.

Re:First purchase

[Coolhand2120]

Any competent person only needs 1 shot with a 20 gauge shotgun...

Competent? One shot? People miss, and miss a lot, for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it's because they are not competent. Sometimes it's just because they are nervous and miss. Sometimes the bad guy is moving. Sometimes there is more than one bad guy. Sometimes the bad guy is shooting back and they have to return fire from cover. The number of reasons that more than one shot might be needed is very high.

On top of that, a wound from a single shot of a weapon like that is far worse than a couple of rounds from an AR-15.

Well, that's a very subjective statement. A single shot from a 20 gauge shot gun to the pinky finger is far less critical than an 5.56 between the eyes or through the heart. A shotgun, especially a lower powered one like a 20 gauge, is far less likely to kill someone than an AR-15 when shot from the same distance to the same area. Add any kind of ballistic armor and now the 20 gauge is almost useless. Not that bad guys rock bullet proof vests a lot. The point is, an AR-15 is actually a lot more deadly than a 20 gauge single shot shot gun. And if you're worried about shooting through the walls with an AR-15 you can always use hollow point bullets.

The biggest problem with Joe's plan of shooting warning shots, and his problems are numerous, is that if you have a double barrel shot gun and you shoot two shots into the air you're left with an unloaded weapon. If the bad guy has a weapon you're now in a shootout with an unloaded gun. Not only will the bad guy now be shooting to kill, but you'll have to reload, While being shot at.

Using a shotgun is a double edge sword. The good part is that is doesn't shoot through walls so you're not going to hit anyone in other rooms. But that's also a bad part, if the bad guy has a gun and is shooting at you through the wall, you can't return fire with a shotgun. Shotguns are easy to aim, but they lack the ability to choose what you're shooting at. If someone you don't want to hit is near someone you do want to hit, you're kinda out of luck. A bad thing about a shotgun is that it's quite long, and turning around inside a narrow hallway can be a pain, but the same can be said for an AR-15.

Double barrel and single shot shotguns lack a pump, so there's no way to "warn" the bad guy that you might be sending a cloud of buckshot at him. As mentioned before, double barrel shotguns only have two shots, which is really not enough. If you miss twice, for whatever reason you're in trouble. Using the pump on a pump shotgun is probably enough to scare off even armed bad guys, after all, they want to live just as much as the next guy. However, when you're actually shooting at an armed bad guy, that's a whole other story, you leave the bad guy no choice but to return fire.

Why the fuck does Joe's wife need a god damn shotgun, or any gun? They live at the US Naval Observatory and have a full time contingent of heavily armed marines and secret service agents! All of which are armed with AR-15s, 9mm, G36's, Hand grenades etc.. If Joe's and his wife still have a need for guns, than certainly it can be argued that those of us without heavily armed guards need weapons.

And of course the grand overriding argument is that we don't maintain weapons to fend off crooks, that's just a useful benefit. The real reason we have gobs of high powered rifles with large magazine capacities is so we can stand a chance if ever a need rises to water the tree of liberty. Once you give up a freedom for "public safety" or any other reason, it's almost impossible to get it back. We do not need to overthrow the government we have today, but we are always only one generation from a complete Soviet style tyranny. I've heard the argument "what's an AR-15 going to do to a tank or an F-22". Well, the tank crew doesn't live in the tank, and the

If you had a Windows computer

[Anonymous Coward]

They wouldn't have stolen your shit. Just saying...

Re:If you had a Windows computer

[PolygamousRanchKid]

Modded funny . . . ? I just got back from a business trip to Brussels. The folks there told me that their office was recently burglarized. The thieves took valuable iPads, but didn't touch worthless ThinkPad W520s.

So there is value, in having something, that doesn't look valuable.

Re:If you had a Windows computer

[larry bagina]

Microsoft was recently burglairzed (or burgled, if you will). iPads were stolen but not the surfaces.

Craigslist

[Anne_Nonymous]

>> 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.

Re:Craigslist

[gl4ss]

why the fuck you would like a projector in 50-60" size? only get a projector if you really need 100"+..
cellular hotspots suck ass if you compare them to decent wired internet - and if you have data and smartphone you already have one.

save your money..

[kcmastrpc]

buy something other than Bose

sorry about your loss

[Anonymous Coward]

...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.

Personal Information

[Jeng]

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.

Re:Personal Information

[ArcadeMan]

If someone wants all the information to become useless, they would need to:
- close all credit cards and get new ones from different companies
- close all bank accounts and open new ones to a different bank
- get a divorce or get married, whatever changes your marital status
- change your name, race, hair color, eye color, sex, religion and language
- move to another country so that all details of the address are obsolete
- close your Facebook account and open a Google+ account

Now, I know that last step seems impossible to do, but don't give up, you can do it!

Re:Personal Information

[Hatta]

He's posting to slashdot. Chances are he runs encrypted root.

Re:Personal Information

[JBMcB]

Everyone asks why on earth you'd want to use Bitlocker or Truecrypt. Here's the reason.

Wait to see what you need based on use.

[concealment]

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.

Re:Wait to see what you need based on use.

[RedShoeRider]

I second that!

We had the remarkably unpleasant experience of having a house fire two years ago. While the structure itself was alright, just about everything in the house was destroyed due to the smoke and heat, including almost all of our electronics. 3 desktops, 2 laptops, an old Proliant server, 2 UPS's, Printer, 2 TV's, fax machine, scanner, DVD players, 3 cameras.....you get the idea. When we moved back in, electronics wise, we bought only what we missed. The 3 desktops were replaced with one that was faster (and cheaper) than the ones it replaced, the printer by a print/fax/scan combo unit, the 2 TV's were consolidated to one, blah, blah.

Point being, do wait until you see what you need. You'll likely end up with a smaller, but more useful, pile of equipment in the end.

Re:Wait to see what you need based on use.

[CyberKnet]

Unfortunately a lot of the time insurance claims don't work this way. I had a lightning strike recently that took out 90% of my electronics.

My policy was "new for old", but until I bought the "new", I received only the depreciated value of the "old".

If it were only this, I would still advocate your strategy, however there was also a 6 month time limit to purchase the "new", send receipts in, and get reimbursed for the depreciation.

Long story short - you may lose out on a lot of money if you don't replace that stuff now.

Sign

[PPH]

"No Trespassing: What the dogs don't finish, we feed to the pigs."

Wait

[MeBadMagic]

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-)

Burglar?

[Infiniti2000]

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.

Re:Shotgun and big scary dog.

[Jeng]

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.

Also, no Windows computers allowed in my house.

[Isarian]

So you can afford, maybe two new decent Macs?

They'll Be Back

[brainboyz]

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.

Re:They'll Be Back

[rjune]

brainboyz is right - take your time. You can use the time to research the stuff and decide if you really need to replace all 5 TV's. Also, if you throw out the boxes, cut them up and don't advertise the fact that you bought a big new 58" TV. You don't say how they got in, but after my house was broken into (the burglars destroyed the door) my insurance company paid for a new door. As part of the project, I got a security screen door. This will not a determined burglar, but it will slow them down enough so that they will look for an easier place to hit.

How is the service?

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

How good would you rate the service provided by your burglar? Reliable? Does the job in the appointed window? Is the window reasonably short? Does not take more than what is contracted, right? What kind of fees? How untraceable is the guy?

Basically, would you hire him again, when it is time to do the next round of upgrades?

Re:Dictionary

[Anonymous Coward]

"Burgled" is correct in British / International English. Only Americans use the hideous "burglarized".

Re:Dictionary

[hedwards]

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.

Re:buy a security system + cameras

[Sique]

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.

Keep it simple?

[jonr]

Buy less junk to steal. Spend your money on 'experiences'. Travel, art, fun, whatever...

Re:Traps

[Sique]

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.)

Re:buy a security system + cameras

[hedwards]

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.

Best Buy

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Best Buy

[rwise2112]

Just make sure to buy all Monster Cables and buy the extended warranty.

Come on! He only got $10K from the insurance!

You say don't ask, but I just have to...

[Tex Bravado]

Why only 5 TVs ?

"...all of our electronics got stolen."

[John Hasler]

You're free! Don't put your chains back on!

Re:Dictionary

[pclminion]

Well, it just follows the pattern. Burglars don't burgle, they burglarize. Murderers don't murder, they murderize. Etc.

Re:Dictionary

[MightyMartian]

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.

Re:Dictionary

[Trepidity]

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.

Re:Dictionary

[Trepidity]

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.

"Aluminium"

[naroom]

That is all.

Re:buy a security system + cameras

[kermidge]

"Burglars generally show up when the house is empty...."

If you're home, it's robbery.

Attractive nuisance

[srussia]

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.

Re:Dictionary

[Sporkinum]

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

Whatever you do...

[folderol]

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 :(

Re:Whatever you do...

[DeeEff]

Double dip? I've been burgled 8 times now this past year and not once has a burglar come for a return trip!

Re:Buy All Used Electronics!

[Pope]

Except for hipsters. They likely already stole his turntable and cassette deck!

Re:MOVE OUT while there's less stuff

[MozeeToby]

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'.

Re:Shotgun and big scary dog.

[Entropius]

If they're robbing you, you're there. If you're not there, they're burgling you.

It really is surprising

[Sycraft-fu]

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.

Re:Dictionary

[Zordak]

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.

Re:Dictionary

[Applekid]

I already added a DVR security system, so hopefully the new things won't get burgled!

I suggest a dictionary.

Didn't you read the summary? They took EVERYTHING.

Re:Items for your house

[Minwee]

Indeed. Without training, how is the dog going to know how to use the AR-15 safely?

Re:Dictionary

[master5o1]

It's a perfectly cromulent word.