The e-mails about this circulating are like those retarded chain e-mails that tells you if you forward this e-mail on, u will find the love of your life/wont get cursed bad luck for 10 years/some poor or disfigured kid somewhere will get 3c per email forwarded by Microsoft. Gotta love those e-mails.
Apparently there is a booming business in Asia that starts with the purchase of a small device that can detect the presence of a laptop.
Thieves use these devices to determine laptops left in cars or any other unsupervised areas and quickly grab the laptops. Obviously, the monetary value of the device is of concern, but much more important is the proprietary data on the laptops.
This is a good reminder for all of us anywhere in the world, but especially important to those travelling to the Asia region. Make sure your laptop is with you at all times. I know this is difficult when we go to lunch or dinner immediately after work, but never leave the laptops in a car; even locked cars are being broken into if the presence of a laptop is detected.
FYI, in Malaysia , lots of laptops are being stolen from time to time. Too bad....be carefull...
Laptop detector does really exist.
For those who have never heard of it,
here are the pictures of the detector:
http://images.google.com.my/imgres?imgurl=...l%3Den%26sa%3DN
Even the wifi, bluetooth or the entire notebook is completely off,
it can still be detected via radio frequency,
so never leave your laptop, pda, handphone ...
in the car coz PEOPLE KNOW.
These devices are not expensive,
it costs less than RM50 for the thieves to start the "business
RADIO FREQUENCY? Really? Do you tag your laptop with RFID? If so, you deserve to get your laptop stolen. Don't know whats a RFID is? Then you probably dont have one!
If your laptop is properly turned OFF and not kept on standby or sleep mode, no wifi no bluetooth and even your main battery is turned off. The only battery left is the one that keeps your system clock in place, and that little thing can't power a light bulb, much less be detected through a metal trunk filled with wires and circuits.
Stop the retarded fear mongering about such a device, if exist, I'm sure it's called the magical fairydust detector wand. Anything thats magical enough to detect a laptop will also detect a tonne of other electronical components in the car and trunk.
And I quote from this forum post: http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/poptech-for-you/post.htm?id=63011266
The Sun paper in Malaysia continously generates gripping headlines. But this time, its headline about having caught a gang of car thieves equipped with laptop detectors was just too much! This is an URBAN LEGEND! The tech and geek community have to confirm or disprove this urban legend once and for all.
Some background on this article. Gang of car thieves was caught and this induction amplifier was a piece of "equipment" they had on them. THe Sun paper proceeds to label it as a laptop detector. This is professional equipment for finding live wires in concrete. We can all agree on that. It was most probably used by the car thieves to look for the car alarm wires, and suitable places to drill in the body of the car to cut the alarm wires.
I've discussed ths with a retired electrical engineer fomerly working with law enforcement. He doesn't think this gadget can find a notebook in a car. To be precise, it will never be able to find a laptop which has been powered down and lying in the trunk of a car.
The scientific basis: Induction amplifiers detect alternating magnetic fields. Meaning it detects only magnetic fields generated by alternating current. If the hard drive has hibernation mode on, it is possible to detect the notebook in the car. But considering the car trunk lid is metal, it would shield the notebook. If you leave a hibernating notebook on the car seat, it may be able to detect. Then again, the detector would be unecessary as you can just look through the window anyway. The range of the detector? In an open space, possbily up to 3-4ft. In the confines of a car with its metal framework? None?
Anyone want to discuss this or have scientifically based opinions as to the existence of a gadget which can detect notebooks in the trunk of your car? OR should we all just dismiss the Sun's headlines as sensationalism?
Or should we just consider this another myth about a gadget which can detect notebooks in your car trunk BUSTED?
The most probable cause of thieves scoring direct hits on car trunks with notebooks in them is, I firmly believe, surveillance. They watch unintelligent people who park their cars and then open the trunk to keep their notebooks "safely" in there. I cannot bring myself to believe that laptop detectors exist.
The only piece of advice I have for anyone who likes to keep their laptops in car trunks is put them in the car before your journey, and to switch it off and not leave it hibernating.
Before your even start believing in everything you read, like "news" like this and medical stuff, look it up, find the logic and science behind them. If you don't know how it works, then u should not believe it. If anyone has any prove that such a stupid device exist, buy it, show me how it works and explain the science behind it. Thanks.
I stand my ground and say that fearing such a stupid device is like fearing bigfoot will appear in your backyard and eat you for dinner. Leave that 3kg dumbbell in the car.
Logging off,
Lawy3rz
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