robbed
Have you ever had stuff stolen from inside your house? If so, you no doubt understand the overwhelming desire to just get the hell out of there and go live somewhere else. Now, how about having stuff stolen from your house the day before the movers are due to come and move the rest your stuff?
We were robbed yesterday. Gone are my laptop, Amy's camera, Amy's friend's laptop (it was at our house so I could have a look at fixing it), and Amy's collection of coins from around the world. On the up side, we no longer live in the place that got robbed, and we now live in a bigger, better, safer place in another part of town.
I used my laptop mostly as a wireless terminal. I didn't keep anything too terribly important on it, but it was my only Windows machine and I was in the middle of doing my taxes for this year (with a tax program for Windows). I don't really know what else might have been on there. There might be somebody out there getting their grubby little hands into my stuff as I type this, or maybe not. I don't have any idea whether any of the info on there would make me more vulnerable to anything.
I hooked up a screen and keyboard to my FreeBSD machine, which I haven't used as a desktop machine in ages. X started, but xterm wouldn't. Looks like I have a spot of bitrot to clean up.
It's late now and we've been dealing with this and insurance and moving stuff all day, so I'm going to head to bed.
We were robbed yesterday. Gone are my laptop, Amy's camera, Amy's friend's laptop (it was at our house so I could have a look at fixing it), and Amy's collection of coins from around the world. On the up side, we no longer live in the place that got robbed, and we now live in a bigger, better, safer place in another part of town.
I used my laptop mostly as a wireless terminal. I didn't keep anything too terribly important on it, but it was my only Windows machine and I was in the middle of doing my taxes for this year (with a tax program for Windows). I don't really know what else might have been on there. There might be somebody out there getting their grubby little hands into my stuff as I type this, or maybe not. I don't have any idea whether any of the info on there would make me more vulnerable to anything.
I hooked up a screen and keyboard to my FreeBSD machine, which I haven't used as a desktop machine in ages. X started, but xterm wouldn't. Looks like I have a spot of bitrot to clean up.
It's late now and we've been dealing with this and insurance and moving stuff all day, so I'm going to head to bed.
ike. mi wile e ni: ale li pona tawa sina.
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bovineone
: pout2007-03-08T14:49:16Z
Did you have a sense of there being higher burglary in that area beforehand?
If you had Windows EFS or PGP full disk encryption enabled in advance, then you might have some greater confidence in your data not being accessed.
Maybe if you have dnetc on it, we can track if it comes online again. :)
If you had Windows EFS or PGP full disk encryption enabled in advance, then you might have some greater confidence in your data not being accessed.
Maybe if you have dnetc on it, we can track if it comes online again. :)
ghewgill
: Re: pout2007-03-08T21:51:00Z
We didn't feel that the area we were in was particularly dodgy. But the detective did say that our new place was certainly in a better area, so that's good.
I'm wishing now that I had turned on EFS, but of course that sort of thing carries its own (low, but not negligible) risk of data loss.
Finally, I don't have anything on there that might contact any external servers with uniquely identifiable information. Again, I wish I had. Maybe we can set up an "idle" task on distributed.net for those who would like only to track their computer's whereabouts. :)
I'm wishing now that I had turned on EFS, but of course that sort of thing carries its own (low, but not negligible) risk of data loss.
Finally, I don't have anything on there that might contact any external servers with uniquely identifiable information. Again, I wish I had. Maybe we can set up an "idle" task on distributed.net for those who would like only to track their computer's whereabouts. :)
bovineone
: Re: pout2007-03-09T05:39:01Z
I don't suppose your Homeland Security Threat Monitor was still installed? It might be possible scan your access logs for any New Zealand IP blocks, since there probably aren't very many such international users of it.
ghewgill
: Re: pout2007-03-09T06:56:38Z
I thought about that, but that program only starts when I log on under my own account. I don't expect anybody to just guess my password, and I don't expect them to log on as admin and change my password just to log in as me. My laptop doesn't log in by default, it's the fancy XP login screen with a menu of users. Unfortunately, some of the other users there have passwords that might not be hard to guess. :(
victriviaqueen
2007-03-08T16:21:01Z
Aw, crap.
Really, really sorry to hear that.
Really, really sorry to hear that.
thomasj
2007-03-08T19:50:13Z
Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that. :(
(anonymous)
: If you were back here in Bakersfield...
2007-03-09T00:11:58Z
2007-03-09T00:11:58Z
... I'd loan you a gun, in case they came back!
ghewgill
: Re: If you were back here in Bakersfield...2007-03-09T20:57:01Z
Not much good if you're not home, is it? There'd just be another stolen firearm out there.
amyrtw
2007-03-09T03:14:50Z
For me the thing that sucks most is that this is the SECOND time my Canon Digital Rebel has been stolen. Next time I'm getting a Pentax.
(anonymous)
2007-03-11T00:56:39Z
2007-03-11T00:56:39Z
In a world there is no coincidence, I'd say the moving company is either complicit or someone connected to it is. I'd get my own p.i. to check out everyone at that company and find the sucker. How far away could they be, you're on an island for chrissake.
Short of that, you fucked up and assumed you were safe. Noone is.
One thing I found actually works - buy stuff that is so large and so heavy, you eliminate 90% of the thieving possibilities right off the bat. My tv weights 200 lbs, my couch weighs 300, my treadmill weighs over 400. My desktop weighs 75lbs and has to have a 150 lb table lifted off it to get to it. Buy a 200 lb safe for valuables, or one big enough for your laptop. Any ancillary stuff like a dvd player can be replaced easily enough, and they wont get shit for it.
Short of that, you fucked up and assumed you were safe. Noone is.
One thing I found actually works - buy stuff that is so large and so heavy, you eliminate 90% of the thieving possibilities right off the bat. My tv weights 200 lbs, my couch weighs 300, my treadmill weighs over 400. My desktop weighs 75lbs and has to have a 150 lb table lifted off it to get to it. Buy a 200 lb safe for valuables, or one big enough for your laptop. Any ancillary stuff like a dvd player can be replaced easily enough, and they wont get shit for it.
ghewgill
2007-03-11T11:17:06Z
I don't suspect the movers actually. About a week before the burglary (and before we called the movers) we noticed a planter in the back that had been knocked over. In hindsight, we suspect that somebody had stepped up on the planter to peer in one of the high windows that you can't see in from ground level.
A safe might be an idea.
A safe might be an idea.
(anonymous)
2007-03-11T12:18:46Z
2007-03-11T12:18:46Z
dude it just bit me. Get a dog.
2007-03-08T10:30:48Z