Score one for smart technology. A New York woman whose laptop was stolen in a break-in was able to use another computer to activate the built-in camera on the laptop and snap a photo of the thief.
The laptop was stolen in an apartment break-in, along with a flat screen TV, iPods and computer game DVDs. It belonged to Kait Duplaga, who works at the Apple store in White Plains. She thought it was gone for good. Police had few leads.
Then, she got a text message from a friend who congratulated her on getting her stolen laptop back. Puzzled, Duplaga asked what her friend was talking about. The friend replied that the instant messaging application the two used to communicate showed that Duplaga was logged on to the computer.
Correctly figuring that the thieves were then using her stolen computer, Duplaga signed on another computer and using the "Back to My Mac" remote access feature she had on her MacBook laptop, immediately gained access to her stolen computer, which was turned on and connected to the Internet at that exact time.
Duplaga then turned on the built-in camera on her laptop. It showed the image of an empty chair and a smoky room. She waited. Soon, a tattooed man came and sat down. Duplaga, remotely opening an application on the stolen Mac called PhotoBooth, then snapped a picture. :roflmao
As the thief looked up, a countdown began on the screen and, apparently realizing what was happening, tried to cover his face with his hand. Too late. Duplaga had the photo. She showed it to a roommate, who immediately recognized the man as having attended a party at the apartment a few weeks before.
The cops were brought in and ... case closed. The man, and an alleged accomplice, were arrested. :metallica:
Duplaga's story is all over the Web today, after the New York Times picked it up on Saturday. So far, she's not doing interviews.
Neither is Apple, though the case just gave them a major selling point for the "Back to My Mac" service it sells as part of a $99 a year .Mac subscription that allows users to access their computers remotely over the Internet from anywhere in the world.
I LOVE IT!!!!! iSight saves the day!
Mac :wub
Rather than start a new thread, I figured this should probably go in here...though I suppose it is more comedy than actual tech talk?
Platform Wars - Lyric Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZkt5wm5vEg#)