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If some guy had my MacBook, and I did this, I would generally include details like, I don't know, my name and contact email or phone number. You know, so the Ma
by JacobAldridge 15y ago
If some guy had my MacBook, and I did this, I would generally include details like, I don't know, my name and contact email or phone number. You know, so the Mayor's office or Police Department PR people could reach out to me, or others might help me ("hey - that's Joe from Flat 3") retrieve it.
Unless, this guy had my MacBook in a viral ad campaign that is.
Edit: Here's the owner of the MacBook http://twitter.com/#!/jmk http://twitter.com/#!/jmk He seems real, but he does work for an agency that specialises in interactive ad campaigns.
- d0m 15y agoYeah, my first instinct is that it's really a pure ad campaign. I'm also really surprised that hiddenapp.com didn't link to this blog on their splash page. Let's say you build an app and someone use it and popularize it, would you link to it on your frontpage? Of course; that'll give you even more credibility. It probably doesn't link to it mainly because they don't want to be associated with this ad campaign.
- ibejoeb 15y agoFTA: > I reported the crime to the police It's typically frowned upon, in a manner of speaking, to file false reports. This would be a terribly stupid campaign. edit: I suppose he could be lying about filing. Don't know if that's a thing...
- pavel_lishin 15y agoLying? Oh yeah, they came out with it last year. I've been having some limited success with it.
- brudgers 15y agoSure you have, Cretan. [edit: only on hacker news would it be necessary to post a link: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox]
- pavel_lishin 15y agoFor a second, I thought you were just doing a really terrible, misspelled job of insulting me :P
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- corin_ 15y agoIt's not a crime to pretend you filed a false report on a blog site though, as long as you don't ACTUALLY speak to the police.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- shahoo 15y agoThis has been done a few times legitimately, I wouldn't be surprised at all if someone started emulating a legitimate trend for advertising purposes... In fact I'd say we're about due for it. The 'this app is awesome' comments, and the prominent FB like / Twitter plugs kind of lend credence to the theory too.
- flyosity 15y agoJosh is a real guy, I've been friends with him for a long, long time. He's completely legit and this situation is very real, and he did file a report first thing. I think he threw the site up without knowing how big it'd get.
- kevintwohy 15y agoI also know the owner (http://twitter.com/jmk http://twitter.com/jmk) - it's definitely real, and not an ad campaign :), though I do appreciate the skeptic instinct. He's been posting off/on to his personal FB/Flickr accounts about the stolen laptop saga for a few months now, and mentioned setting something like this up to try and get some attention after he pretty much exhausted all his other avenues. Looks like that part worked :) Hope someone recognizes the scumbag (if he turns out the be the thief that is...)
- joshuakaufman 15y agoI'm the owner of the tumblelog, This Guy Has My MacBook, and the one whose MacBook was stolen. All I can say is that it's not a marketing stunt, and I'm not collaborating with Hidden in any way. I'm simply mentioning Hidden because it's the only reason the tumblelog is possible.
- JacobAldridge 15y agoThe Snopes addict in me always goes looking for the verifiable facts, which is what led me to your (very real) Twitter account. Wish I'd dug further and found your HN id as well! Now, this could still end up being marketing and the world may still Rapture on Oct 21. But if Hidden weren't your client before this, they should be afterwards.