My wife went to visit me at work this past Friday to have lunch after doing some shopping.
She had been out of the house no longer than 3-4 hours.

She gets home to discover our front door to our apartment bashed in. She knows better, she didn’t touch nothing.

They stole:
linksys wireless router
HP all-in-one printer
20” 2.0GHz iMac with 4GB Kingston RAM
15” Gateway Vista Ultimate laptop
old custom build XP Pro desktop tower
MyBook Western Digital 500GB hard drive
all accessories for my new T-Mobile Shadow phone (all i have is the phone with an old compatible charger)

They passed up our jewelry (after having our Baby, my wife can’t wear her rings any more due to swelling, and often i don’t wear mine to work to avoid damage/scratches), roll of quarters (following day was laundry day), TV, DVD player, cable box, etc.

We have the original packaging, receipts, and serial numbers for everything except old XP desktop. Total value equals about $3,800.
:(

But I could care less for the possessions. We worked hard to attain these items, but the most important thing:
Baby videos and pictures.
Since the day were found out we were pregnant (yes, we, it was/is as much my experience as it is hers ), we have been recording every baby shower, every moment of joy and bliss throughout our pregnancy and beyond. We even have our DELIVERY!
Yes I recorded it all my friends!
Baby Isabella (see my avatar?) is 7 months old now, so 7 + 9 months of pics & vids = 23GB of lost memories.

BACKUP?!
They stole that too! I did not transfer my MyBook to an off-site location.
That was/is on my forever delayed TODO LIST.
:(

QUESTION for my Mac users:
(This is the first time I’ve been online since the incident, using a friends PC. Be back in a few days to check responses.)
My logon password for my Mac is a 10 character alphanumeric annnd punctuation password. From what another friend tells me, Mac encrypts all its data?!
Is that true?

I’m highly concerned about our precious moments on my MyBook (I used TimeMachine). Can they view them from another Mac?

I’m assuming they can’t guess my password. I have properly registered with Apple (I have the resulting email confirming registration). What does/can Apple do to prevent use of my new Mac?

We are skipping on the idea of getting a gun. There is too much room for error and danger there. Instead we want a dog. Going to check out some kennels this week.

Also, we want a wireless home camera system.
I recall seeing something in a magazine a while back, it was the type that would activate off motion? and would submit still images every few seconds to a specified FTP site? And I could view them from my smartphone with data package.
Anyone know where I should look for more information regarding this type of camera system?

My renters insurance kicked in, and we should be getting reimbursed within a week of them getting all our paperwork. If our hardware should be found AFTER we cash the check, we have the option of buying back some or all the hardware. All I really want is the MyBook.
:(

So sorry for the long post. Limited time, using a friends computer.

I feel some of your pain, I had a MacBook-Pro stolen!

My logon password for my Mac is a 10 character alphanumeric annnd punctuation password. From what another friend tells me, Mac encrypts all its data?!
Is that true?

They’d need your password to get at your keychain which is encrypted. The rest of your stuff isn’t encrypted unless you have FileVault enabled, it’s not on by default. But, if they know what they’re doing, they can remove the hard drive, put it in a different machine and probably get at everything. That said, they probably will just insert an install disk, wipe everything clean and sell it.

I have properly registered with Apple (I have the resulting email confirming registration). What does/can Apple do to prevent use of my new Mac?

From my discussions with Apple, nothing unless you report it stolen AND it comes in for repair, then the serial # would match the stolen computer list.

Sorry to hear that…

A friend of mine had a break in at their business and had everything stolen. They didn’t back up off site so they lost everything. After I heard that I put a off site backup in place straightaway. For personal files I’ve been using Amazon S3. If you are on a Mac you can use Jungledisk. For a few dollars a month it is cheap insurance for me.

If you can bear it I would change all your passwords as a precaution.

We are skipping on the idea of getting a gun.

I think a burglar alarm would be a better idea!

Hope the insurance money comes through and you are back up and running soon.

Grrr,

I just want to throttle thieves. They are a complete pain in the proverbial. You have my deepest sympathy on this. Luckily (touch wood) I have never had any of my computers stolen apart from a place where I used to work and I’m pretty sure that was an inside job as we had over 300 computers go missing and no alarms went off!

It really annoys me as it is never really the hard-ware that matters so much but the data as that is totally priceless. I have always backed up my data though from the very first days of getting a Mac when they first came out, albeit on floppy disks and the like. Nowadays I back-up to DVD using Retrospect and also to an external hard-drive which is completely synced with the Macintosh. There is a background process running all the time on the computer so that when I hit ‘backup’ it just does it, it doesn’t have to first find which files to backup as it already knows and just gets on with the backup. This saves me literally hours of time.

I really do feel for you on this one as having all your images and videos stolen is the worst thing ever. It’s as if someone has stolen part of your life. Don’t let it get to you or your family though as you will take more and no-one can ever take away the memories from you. That is something that no thieving low-life can ever take.

Hope you get everything sorted out soon and I really hope that somewhere along the line they catch the little tyke that took your equipment, at the very least I hope they end up with a really bad rash and they can never go outdoors again!

Best wishes,

Mark

PXLated - 25 March 2008 10:56 PM

From my discussions with Apple, nothing unless you report it stolen AND it comes in for repair, then the serial # would match the stolen computer list.

What about when the Mac connects to the web for Software Updates?!
The night before the incident, I had a popup thingie for software updates, but I kept avoiding it. heh.

Shape Shed - 26 March 2008 04:05 AM

... If you are on a Mac you can use Jungledisk. For a few dollars a month it is cheap insurance for me ...
I think a burglar alarm would be a better idea!

Hope the insurance money comes through and you are back up and running soon.

i just looked into JungleDisk, and it seems really cheap and reliable! Since its backup data securely to Amazon.com’s S3 ™ Storage Service, I would trust them wholeheartedly!

My wife wants to look into the local alarm company. $30-$40 per month seems reasonable for the peace of mind!
I’ll have to ask about guarantees and shtuff like that.

Mark Bowen - 26 March 2008 04:14 AM

... I really do feel for you on this one as having all your images and videos stolen is the worst thing ever. It’s as if someone has stolen part of your life. Don’t let it get to you or your family though as you will take more and no-one can ever take away the memories from you. That is something that no thieving low-life can ever take ... I really hope that somewhere along the line they catch the little tyke that took your equipment, at the very least I hope they end up with a really bad rash and they can never go outdoors again ...

Thank you Mark!

My wife surprised me by having told me last night, she had BACKUP ALL THE PICS AND VIDEOS IN JANUARY!
My precious wife! WOW! Man was I thrilled.
We are in the process of moving to a different apartment, she feels to nervous now. Can’t sleep. I don’t blame her - neither of us can sleep. Knowing that this person is still out there.

Worse yet!? We have been told by the management staff that the suspected thief lives in our building!
We have two local law enforcement officers living at our apartment complex, and one of them heard about what happen. He took it upon himself to talk to the suspect.
I’m friends with the night security watchman, and he says he has news to tell me tonight when I get home from my friends house!
So ... I pray that my hardware hasn’t been sold to some low-life.
I live in the Dallas Fort Worth region of TEXAS. Crime is high in some regions.
The investigating Detective called my wife today and told her that the serial numbers for all my hardware has been entered into a state-wide database for stolen property. So now, it can’t be sold to any pawn shop.

That bothers me?!
If the thief has been doing this long, he/she should know/anticipate this, and have sold it to some third-party, not a pawn shop?!
I dunno. I hope not!

I just can’t wait to get home and hear that the security watchman has to tell me.
I hope I can let you all know tomorrow!

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND IDEAS!

What about when the Mac connects to the web for Software Updates?!

Nope. There are a couple of software/services you can get/install where if the computer is stolen you report it and they track any connections. The software checks in regularly against the stolen list. They can then call the local police, etc. based on the IP address. The software also takes pictures and slowly degrades making the perp think it’s a hardware failure. They’re hoping the perp will take it in for repair and get caught through the serial number.

There’s also a freeware app called iAlertU that will set off an alarm, take a picture of whomever is in front of the computer then email it to the server of choice.

the serial numbers for all my hardware has been entered into a state-wide database for stolen property. So now, it can’t be sold to any pawn shop

At least not at any real reputable ones, the others sell them or ship them out of state. We have that same thing here and the police told me less than 10% are recovered Told me not to hold my breath. Also told me Macs are the most desired.

Friend of mine recommends some ‘lo-jack device or software’ for my new computer?!

What’s that about?!

LoJack is one of the software/services I mentioned in a previous post. You install the software, pay a monthly fee. If it gets stolen you call them and they activate the tracking.

OrganizedFellow - 26 March 2008 10:54 PM

Thank you Mark!

My wife surprised me by having told me last night, she had BACKUP ALL THE PICS AND VIDEOS IN JANUARY!
My precious wife! WOW! Man was I thrilled.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND IDEAS!

Excellent news. I hope they get the blighter now though and retrieve your hard-ware. I am definitely hoping for this for you.

Wives are perfect, I have no idea what I would do without mine.

Best wishes,

Mark

For a mac, check out Undercover:

http://www.orbicule.com/undercover/

Sad - its Never good news with burglars. Try Evocam for your webcam solution (I have no connection - just a happy user). You can set up areas to trigger capture and automatically ftp the image offsite. You could set up a webcam to capture the face of everyone that comes to your door for example - or comes in the hallway etc. I have it on my garden webcam and it uploads an image every 15 mins and triggers a picture if someone (you can set the sensitivity so the cats don’t trigger it) walks through a certain area. It will work with any Camera you can attach to the Mac. I did have a Logitech WiFi cam but that stopped working after about 6 months - not sure why.

Just a quick update folks!

Apparently the police investigated and arrested someone living in my apartment complex.
This individual has burglarized many tenants in the area before.

He has confessed to several robberies in the area - however, he did not confess to mine.
I do not know this person, but have seen him before around the apartments.

I suspect the pest control guy who had come into my home TWICE (the second time was the day before the break-in). The police investigated this guy and his friends, they say he is not a suspect.

I argued with the detective on my case - WHAT ARE THE ODDS I GET ROBBED THE DAY AFTER THIS STRANGER HAS BEEN IN MY HOME?!
The detective has tried to say, maybe it’s someone i know?!

1.No strangers have been to my home, except the pest control guy - twice!
2.My best friend of over 4 years (whom has his own 20” iMac, is a teacher, and whom i love as my own blood) has been in my home a few times.
3.I argued that there has to have been 2 or more people involved. The detective feels only ONE person was involved. I argue that the amount of hardware, and the fact the back door was ajar ...

arrrrgghh!!!!

WELL, TIME FOR THE GOOD NEWS!
State Farm, my insurance provider, is sending us a check for the amount of $2,800+/-
That is exactly the amount I need to recover from this loss.

Thanks to the ideas above. I’ll be looking into them shortly.

OH YEAH! Before I forget! We are moving apartments, well, same complex, but from first to second floor!
Now I only have to worry about one point of entry/exit. And with the above mentioned ideas, only need to worry about capturing video of anyone entering my apartment.

I’ll let you all know more later as things progress.

Keep checking eBay and craigslist for similar setups to yours. If you see one that matches your machine, phone the police. Apparently, this is a common way for thieves to steal and fence goods.

Good Luck.

Received our check from StateFarm a few days ago.

Rather than build a new PC, like I always wanted, we chose to buy a prefab unit from Costco (I work there).
Here is the datasheet on it http://www.costco.com/images/content/misc/PDF/11203303_a6357cb.pdf

EDIT:
Blah! I forget how overly bloated Vista is. We are returning the HP and going the custom PC route, hahaha, so here is my little WishList from NewEgg.
Whatcha think?
http://tinyurl.com/3wul9y

I know all you builders out there are gonna say we should have built. We went this route cause it was/is the quickest way to get ‘back to normal’. As an adult coping with ADHD, it is essential that we restore some sense of normalcy in my habits.

ANYHOO ... this coming May brings an extra paycheck for many of us, as the first payday of the months falls on the 2nd! w00t-w00t
We are using that check towards a new Mac. Perhaps MBP, cause we both miss the portability of my stolen Vista laptop.

@Jared
Thanks for the recommend. We will be checking in the morning both sites!

@EVERYONE ELSE
Thank you for the kind words, and suggestions.
IAlertU for my upcoming Mac, is a definite MUST!