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I worked in NYC coffee shops on a daily basis for 2 years (and Toronto and SF for more years). Whenever I went to the bathroom, I just asked a random person ne

I worked in NYC coffee shops on a daily basis for 2 years (and Toronto and SF for more years). Whenever I went to the bathroom, I just asked a random person nearby if they would make sure no one walked off with my stuff. I never had anything stolen, and the people I ask don't seem bothered in the slightest. It's a very small burden, and I think there's something pleasant about having someone put their trust in you.

mcast 7y ago
This is the standard I've encountered at coffee shops and school libraries, no one seems to mind. However, it would be easy to build an app that alarms when the battery becomes disconnected (i.e. someone walks away with your stuff).
- reroute1 7y ago
  > It would be easy to build an app that alarms when the battery becomes disconnected (i.e. someone walks away with your stuff). Wait what? How does this work?
  - keiferski 7y ago
    This is already a thing: https://beepify.com https://beepify.com
    - jessriedel 7y ago
      $19.99...
      - nicky0 7y ago
        Seems a reasonable price.
  - davemp 7y ago
    If laptops/phones have power events that you could hook into for when charger is unplugged. Just start blaring the speakers when you detect such an event without the alarm being disarmed first.
  - JakeTheAndroid 7y ago
    on OSX or Linux you could grep the logs every few minutes or seconds or whatever and see the battery status that includes AC power. From there you could have it alert you via whatever method you want. On OSX: pmset -g rawlog Output: $ pmset -g rawlog pmset is in RAW logging mode now. Hit ctrl-c to exit. * Battery matched at registry = XXXX 01/15/20 XX:XX:XX No AC; Not Charging; 75%; Cap=5490: FCC=XXXX; Design=XXXX; Time=X:XX; -752mA; Cycles=14/1000; Location=XX; Polled boot=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX; Full=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX; User visible=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX I expect there are more elegant solutions, but this would theoretically work, as I used to use this among other things to track my daily laptop usage to see how on task I was any given day. If the lid is closed but unplugged then I was probably going to/in a meeting, if the lid is closed and charging then I was likely afk, not working. Worked pretty well to give me a ballpark of my productivity.
peterwwillis 7y ago
If you just want to talk to someone, I get it, but otherwise there's no point. Nobody's going to fight a thief to safeguard a stranger's stuff (and shouldn't because they could be sued by the thief). And it's a crime of opportunity, thiefs are not sitting in cafes waiting for a laptop user to go to the bathroom; high risk, low reward.
jborichevskiy 7y ago
> I worked in NYC coffee shops on a daily basis for 2 years (and Toronto and SF for more years). Whenever I went to the bathroom, I just asked a random person nearby if they would make sure no one walked off with my stuff. Used to do this as well (NYC) till I realized nobody was going to be pulling John Wick stunts to keep my five year old laptop from being taken away. Now I just make sure I'm not right near an entrance and leave my stuff with reasonable confidence. YMMV of course.
- asdff 7y ago
  Personally I'd pipe up if someone asked me to watch a laptop and another person made a move on it. In a crowded store full of witnesses, that's all it would take to deter a thief.
  - jborichevskiy 7y ago
    Fair point. Especially given such a crime would be pretty opportunistic. That being said, this does remind me of the stunts pulled to get Ross Ulbricht's laptop: > To prevent Ulbricht from encrypting or deleting files on the laptop he was using to run the site as he was arrested, two agents pretended to be quarreling lovers. When they had sufficiently distracted him,[30] according to Joshuah Bearman of Wired, a third agent grabbed the laptop while Ulbricht was distracted by the apparent lovers' fight and handed it to agent Thomas Kiernan.[31] Kiernan then inserted a flash drive in one of the laptop's USB ports, with software that copied key files.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht I do think if anyone was that determined to get my laptop they probably deserve it.
    - magduf 7y ago
      Wow, this guy got a double life sentence plus 40 years for "money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics"? He could have gotten a lighter sentence if he had carried out a mass shooting. And how did the flash drive trick work? Was he running Windows on that laptop? Very bad idea.

mcast 7y ago

This is the standard I've encountered at coffee shops and school libraries, no one seems to mind. However, it would be easy to build an app that alarms when the battery becomes disconnected (i.e. someone walks away with your stuff).

reroute1 7y ago
> It would be easy to build an app that alarms when the battery becomes disconnected (i.e. someone walks away with your stuff). Wait what? How does this work?
- keiferski 7y ago
  This is already a thing: https://beepify.com https://beepify.com
  - jessriedel 7y ago
    $19.99...
    - nicky0 7y ago
      Seems a reasonable price.
- davemp 7y ago
  If laptops/phones have power events that you could hook into for when charger is unplugged. Just start blaring the speakers when you detect such an event without the alarm being disarmed first.
- JakeTheAndroid 7y ago
  on OSX or Linux you could grep the logs every few minutes or seconds or whatever and see the battery status that includes AC power. From there you could have it alert you via whatever method you want. On OSX: pmset -g rawlog Output: $ pmset -g rawlog pmset is in RAW logging mode now. Hit ctrl-c to exit. * Battery matched at registry = XXXX 01/15/20 XX:XX:XX No AC; Not Charging; 75%; Cap=5490: FCC=XXXX; Design=XXXX; Time=X:XX; -752mA; Cycles=14/1000; Location=XX; Polled boot=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX; Full=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX; User visible=01/15/20 XX:XX:XX I expect there are more elegant solutions, but this would theoretically work, as I used to use this among other things to track my daily laptop usage to see how on task I was any given day. If the lid is closed but unplugged then I was probably going to/in a meeting, if the lid is closed and charging then I was likely afk, not working. Worked pretty well to give me a ballpark of my productivity.

peterwwillis 7y ago

If you just want to talk to someone, I get it, but otherwise there's no point. Nobody's going to fight a thief to safeguard a stranger's stuff (and shouldn't because they could be sued by the thief). And it's a crime of opportunity, thiefs are not sitting in cafes waiting for a laptop user to go to the bathroom; high risk, low reward.

jborichevskiy 7y ago

> I worked in NYC coffee shops on a daily basis for 2 years (and Toronto and SF for more years). Whenever I went to the bathroom, I just asked a random person nearby if they would make sure no one walked off with my stuff. Used to do this as well (NYC) till I realized nobody was going to be pulling John Wick stunts to keep my five year old laptop from being taken away. Now I just make sure I'm not right near an entrance and leave my stuff with reasonable confidence. YMMV of course.

asdff 7y ago
Personally I'd pipe up if someone asked me to watch a laptop and another person made a move on it. In a crowded store full of witnesses, that's all it would take to deter a thief.
- jborichevskiy 7y ago
  Fair point. Especially given such a crime would be pretty opportunistic. That being said, this does remind me of the stunts pulled to get Ross Ulbricht's laptop: > To prevent Ulbricht from encrypting or deleting files on the laptop he was using to run the site as he was arrested, two agents pretended to be quarreling lovers. When they had sufficiently distracted him,[30] according to Joshuah Bearman of Wired, a third agent grabbed the laptop while Ulbricht was distracted by the apparent lovers' fight and handed it to agent Thomas Kiernan.[31] Kiernan then inserted a flash drive in one of the laptop's USB ports, with software that copied key files.[30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht I do think if anyone was that determined to get my laptop they probably deserve it.
  - magduf 7y ago
    Wow, this guy got a double life sentence plus 40 years for "money laundering, computer hacking, and conspiracy to traffic narcotics"? He could have gotten a lighter sentence if he had carried out a mass shooting. And how did the flash drive trick work? Was he running Windows on that laptop? Very bad idea.