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Mark Bao tracks down his stolen laptop and has the last laugh
- alphadog 16y agoMark needs to do my PR. He always seems to find a way to get into the news.
- dstein 16y agoMark should try to hack it so it broadcasts live without the thief's knowledge. It could be a huge inside joke where nobody tells him, kind of like The Truman Show.
- pavel_lishin 16y agoI wonder what the legality of profiting off something like that would be.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- geoffw8 16y agodonate to japan
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- OstiaAntica 16y agoIt probably violates wiretap law to knowingly tape this guy, even on a stolen laptop.
- tptacek 16y agoMassachusetts is, in fact, a two-party consent state. The stolen laptop thing might get you off the hook, but probably not without legal bills.
- pavel_lishin 16y agoI think it also only pertains to conversations, right? Even in a single-party consent state, you can't just record someone without their knowledge when they're just gettin' their dance on to some shitty music alone in their room.
- scott_s 16y agoThat's not this situation, though. The thief knowingly recorded himself.
- edj 16y agoIt seems like the two-party rule applies to video only if audio is captured.[1] [1]http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/massachusetts-recording-law http://www.citmedialaw.org/legal-guide/massachusetts-recordi...
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- garyrichardson 16y agoAs someone who's had plenty of things stolen in the past, these stories make me happy. The vengeful part of me hopes this jerk gets laughed out of every job interview he ever has for being the guy who stole the computer and had his dancing video put on youtube.
- theklub 16y agoSadly if it became popular enough he may profit from it.
- pavel_lishin 16y agoI didn't dig deep into the story, but I'm guessing that a guy who records himself dancing around like a jackass probably doesn't have too many job interviews - and the ones he does have are probably not with people who read about news items like this.
- nakkiel 16y agoWhat kind of unnecessary elitism is this exactly?
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- forensic 16y agoDancing is for unemployed people!
- billybob 16y agoYikes. Somebody needs to buy himself a pair of Silly Pants and have fun once in a while.
- ZoFreX 16y agoI can assure you I had no shortage of interviews when I was looking for work despite having over 1000 hits on Youtube for my terrible, terrible dancing. My current employer even found some of my more embarassing videos and brought it up in the interview!
- charlief 16y agoThe detective work reminds me of an old great (p-p-p-powerbook): http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/ http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/
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- rokhayakebe 16y agoThis story made my day.
- chaosmachine 16y agoUnfortunately, that story has a rather bad ending[1], but I guess most people don't read that far. "Finally, and most disturbingly, Jeff was not heard from again. I personally e-mailed him for permission to run his story on ZUG, but after an initial response, I never heard from him again. All of his Web sites have come down, and he is nowhere to be found." [1] http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/index04.html http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/index04.html
- evilduck 16y agoIt appears that he's alive: http://www.myspace.com/iameljefe http://www.myspace.com/iameljefe http://twitter.com/mynameisjeff http://twitter.com/mynameisjeff
- bcrawford 16y agoBeing on myspace hardly qualifies one as "alive" ... it may even indicate the contrary.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- alias8 16y agoThe thief could also very easily find Mark, punch his face out and see who has the last "lulz"
- acangiano 16y agoAnd then go to jail for even a longer time. I don't doubt that it could happen, but it would be a pretty stupid plan.
- gcheong 16y agoCriminals aren't usually known for their intelligence and foresight and by definition they don't operate under the same code of ethics as most people. I imagine also in some circles your first trip to the joint is a rite of passage. So unless you know who you are dealing with it makes sense to take a cautious approach to any response to criminal behavior you make on your own.
- pavel_lishin 16y ago> see who has the last "lulz" My bet would be "the one who isn't in prison".
- pedrokost 16y agoI preferred the story of Zoz. He provides a detailed explanation of how he recovered his lost Mac. http://hackaday.com/2010/12/25/a-hackers-marginal-security-helps-return-stolen-computer/ http://hackaday.com/2010/12/25/a-hackers-marginal-security-h...
- noodle 16y agoas an update, he got his laptop back (thief turned it in, perhaps because he knew he was caught). because he now has 2 airs, he's going to auction off the original and donate proceeds to japan efforts.
- biggitybones 16y ago"The thief has since returned the laptop, in hopes of clemency in the form of the YouTube video being pulled. Bao has indicated, though, that he's not interested in cutting a deal. Instead, he's content using backup service Backblaze—which syncs changes made to the laptop in the cloud—to find access the guy's Facebook page, dig up PhotoBooth pictures he took, and generally let him stew in his internet humiliation for a while." - http://gizmodo.com/#!5784633/laptop-thiefs-ridiculous-dance-video-posted-by-tech+savvy-victim http://gizmodo.com/#!5784633/laptop-thiefs-ridiculous-dance-... Now he's just turned it into a plug for his startup. Smart guy.
- citricsquid 16y agoMark has no connections to Backblaze does he?
- markbao 16y agoNo, no. I just used the service to find out who it was. And inadvertently sent Backblaze a lot of good press.
- biggitybones 16y agoAhh sorry about that - strong coffee this morning has my mind on overdrive and completely read that quote incorrectly.
- ugh 16y agoDoing that would be very much illegal in Germany. Isn’t it in the US?
- grav1tas 16y agoWhich part? I don't think he actually logged in under the guy's Facebook account?
- tyhjmhytgfv 16y ago
- JacobAldridge 16y agoThree words for the thief: Wrong victim. DANCE!
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- Refringe 16y agoAre you serious? Is he serious?
- alex_c 16y agoI also heard you can predict criminal tendencies simply from cranial measurements[1]. This guy may be onto something. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniometry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniometry
- pavel_lishin 16y agoOf course you'd say that. You have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter!
- tzs 16y agohttp://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA14/liarliar.php http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA14/liarliar.php
- OoTheNigerian 16y agowhat was said by whom?
- huhtenberg 16y agoIt'd be nice to know why the guy captured on video is in fact the theif (and say not someone who got the laptop off Craigslist).
- mklappstuhl 16y agoAm I the only one that thinks that this could be a contrived story?
- fuzzmeister 16y agoAs I said above, I can absolutely vouch for the veracity of this story. I talked to Mark the day he got his laptop stolen, and I was talking to him when he realized that it was still backing up to Backblaze.
- blhack 16y agoI absolutely hate this sort of vigilantism. How does anybody know that the guy in the video is actually the guy that stole the laptop? How do we know that he isn't just some guy who bought it on craigslist?
- skunkworks 16y agoYes, what a cosmic coincidence that this guy, who lives in the same building as Mark Bao, happened to purchase what he thought was a legitimate laptop on Craigslist!
- philthy 16y agoOr some guy who lives in the same building as Bao (his friend) was used as an actor in a viral promotional video for Backblaze. Mark Bao goes to Bentley College, chances are most of the residents of his building do to, probably even the "thief". Waltham Mass isn't exactly Compton.
- varjag 16y agoA guy living next door to the victim, possessing his laptop, is not a thief, but rather got it off Cragilist.. mm. Possible? Yes. Likely? No.
- jemka 16y agoInnocent until proven guilty, no?
- warrenwilkinson 16y agoThis isn't a trial. It's just digital insults. There is no evidence criteria for that =).
- jemka 16y agoSo we expect our legal system to work one way, but don't practice what we preach? We're hypocrites.
- klbarry 16y agoMark Bao has really not made a single mistake in his PR execution. I have to congratulate him and learn from him, as others here have also said.
- philthy 16y agowhen i told a friend about this he said "35 pass erase followed by OSX on a portable drive, resell immediately at a good distance for a good keep quite discount" when i responded with "what about some kind of advanced government software or computer forensics kit" his rebuttal "only going to get you if its laden with child porn" i chuckled
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- thematt 16y agoThis is the perfect situation where Prey (open source), would have come in handy: http://preyproject.com/ http://preyproject.com/
- markbao 16y agoWhat the hell. I was hoping that this wouldn't hit Hacker News and was satisfied until I woke up this morning. :p I'm actually slightly embarrassed that this is on Hacker News right now.
- bendmorris 16y agoYeah, after you posted a video of the guy on YouTube, you're the one who's embarrassed. You hate publicity that much, huh? Does anyone else not buy this?
- markbao 16y agoI'm embarrassed because this is the second time that I did something that, to me, was trivial, and it gets a bunch of press and hits Hacker News. I'm embarrassed because there is a disproportionality between {interesting things that I do} and {dumb things that I do that somehow get a ton of press} and I feel like doing the stuff in the latter category (and getting publicized about it on HN) bins me in a category of people who do trivial and noninteresting things. And I'm embarrassed because an article about PG is currently second to this one. I don't hate publicity. I only do when it's for stuff like this and it's on HN, which I think should be for more intelligent news than this.
- david927 16y agoIt's a funny hacking story and perfect for HN. Plus, as you can see with that your name is written out -- it's about someone most of us here know, or at least know of. Mark, you've got a star over your head. That's a great thing to have and this kind of thing is something that comes with it, so start learning not to sweat it.
- pgbovine 16y agoyes, but look at how many people on this thread have accused Mark of being a fame-whore and maybe even faking this whole incident just for publicity. I can't speak for Mark, but I doubt that this is the kind of publicity that he's looking for.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- markbao 16y agoThe laptop was swiped when I was still logged in and the screen saver hadn't kicked in yet. They created a new account: http://i.imgur.com/o6TK8.png http://i.imgur.com/o6TK8.png
- reneherse 16y agoThanks for letting us know. I'm going to delete the parent comment if I can. It's more snarky in tone than I like to be and based on your comments in the this thread I believe the story now :)
- nakkiel 16y ago"Don't steal computers belonging to people who know how to use computers" Implying using a data sync service turns one into one of the chosen few who "know how to use computers".
- mncolinlee 16y agoBest cloud backup sales pitch ever! Then again, I wonder how much data gets stolen from badly-designed cloud apps.
- johanh 16y agoSwedish thieves send you a backup. http://bit.ly/ha6dmq http://bit.ly/ha6dmq
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- techiferous 16y ago"The best part is that the person currently in possession of Bao's machine has no idea that the victim has access. For now, Bao's just having his "lulz," and doesn't seem terribly concerned with reclaiming his property." This is not true. The thief has offered an "apology" of sorts: http://bostinnovation.com/2011/03/23/dont-steal-a-computer-from-a-nerd-and-record-yourself-making-it-rain http://bostinnovation.com/2011/03/23/dont-steal-a-computer-f... And Mark Bao has his laptop back and "plans to sell the returned Apple and donate the proceeds to the Red Cross Japan fund." http://blogs.forbes.com/kashmirhill/2011/03/22/to-catch-a-computer-predator/ http://blogs.forbes.com/kashmirhill/2011/03/22/to-catch-a-co...
- gojomo 16y agoUltimately, the same sort of self-help Mark has used for recovery could be used by criminals for identity-theft against others. How? Preload a cheap laptop with software to let you monitor it. (This could be made way more sophisticated, and hard to eradicate, than a online backup subscription.) Leave it somewhere to be stolen. Monitor its later use for information that could allow stealing many times the initial laptop value from its later users. (Those later users may in some instances be the laptop thief, but could more often be others who thought they were buying a cheap used laptop.) This is a good reason to beware deals that seem too good to be true, when purchasing used computer goods.
- mnutt 16y agoThis doesn't make much sense. Why not just sell the laptop, instead of allowing it to be stolen?
- gojomo 16y agoIf you sold a bunch of laptops like this, and every buyer gets their bank/credit compromised, you'd be found. Allowing them to distribute via theft gives superior untraceability at scale, though it means the people receiving the laptops might not be as 'fat' targets as people who buy laptops through traceable transactions.
- lwhi 16y agoActually, I think this describes the business model behind many of the software products that are pre-loaded onto laptops before they're sold. I.e. bloatware.
- SriniK 16y agoWhy is it #1 HN entry? It's a sincere question.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- rgbrgb 16y agoThis happened to me with a cabbie! I tracked mine down through web history as well. A friend made a short radio story about it: http://thebarkandthebite.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cab-for-web.mp3 http://thebarkandthebite.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cab-for...
- esad 16y agoI'm not sure Mark is the smarter one in this one. If the thief has been able to auto log-in as him and fill his browser history, this probably means that he can also read Mark's history and the rest of his home directory is lying there unencrypted, with his identity wide exposed.
- AbyCodes 16y agoHere is a similar video cum presentation ( and its better in my opinion ) : Defcon 18 : Pwned by the owner - What happens when you steal a hackers computer -- zoz part http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4oB28ksiIo The Presentation is really funny, but some may find the "invasion of privacy" a little disturbing. Its kinda on the extreme side ( warned! ) but is very informative and funny nonetheless.
- geoffw8 16y agoI've seen this before, epic, well worth a watch. man likes booty
- pmikal 16y agoI tracked down a stolen laptop using Prey (http://preyproject.com/ http://preyproject.com/) and Live Mesh's remote desktop. Upon having the laptop stolen, Prey notified my it was online. I remote connected, installed a keylogger and used that along with Prey's camera images to identify the thief and have the person arrested.
- Stormbringer 16y agoOn the stolen laptop theme, I recently saw a youtube video by an Australian chap which went like this: Tenant/house-guest (who is wanted for fraud in several states) ran off, leaving several thousand dollars in rent in arrears and in the process stealing three laptops. FAB (the victim) gets some reports from friends a couple of weeks later that the perp is staying in a nearby motel. FAB goes around early-ish in the morning, knocks of the perps door, and the perp opens the door and the discussion gets heated. FAB is 'forced to defend himself' cough and after he finishes bouncing the perps head off the walls and is waiting for the police and ambulance to arrive (perp is un/semi-conscious), eh enters the motel room, recognises the three laptops, and puts them in the boot of his car. Police arrive. Ambo turns up and hauls perp off to hospital. Police insist that FAB give the laptops to the motel manager, and they tell the motel manager to await further instructions. Later that day perp checks himself out of hospital, goes back to motel, asks for laptops, manager gives them to him, and then high-tails it off to Victoria (the other end of Australia). Moral of the story: police are useless no matter what country you are in.
- Andys 16y agoAs an aussie I can't say I'm surprised. The police hardly have time for a stolen car anymore, let alone a laptop.
- albahk 16y agoThis is way overblown. A guy steals a laptop and gets caught red-handed so you post a video to embarass him. He's lucky he didn't get his hand cut off like in other countries.
- montydad5000 16y agoThat is some epic revenge there. Kudos to the victim!
- teyc 16y agoWhy is it that the last comment on every blog that features this story calls it a hoax?