important “notice”
I received a forwarded email today. An email supposedly of goodwill, pertaining some hard lesson learnt by a not-so-fortunate bloke at Tesco Penang (Tesco’s a hypermarket if you don’t know that already). Apparently, somebody broke into his car at the car park and snitched his notebook computer. Feeling angry and discontent, this guy sent a complain email to the security director of Tesco … probably with a tirade of angry speech about his misfortune and the insecurity of the place (it was not included in the mail).
The security director replied (in the email) long windedly detailing his sympathy and some general comments about car break-ins. Kinda professional I would say, as he is quite modest and polite with plenty of apologies. But that guy chided the security director with a reply (though in a diplomatic manner) - which he lamented more about the insecurity of the place… and proposed what they (Tesco management) COULD HAVE DONE TO PREVENT car break-ins. Here’s what he suggested :
- Assign MORE security guards to patrol the car park
- Put up NOTICES/SIGNS to warn the motorists about the RISKS of car break-in’s in their premise(s).
And he duly added a phrase right at the end of his reply :
“If I have seen such a notice, I would not have left my laptop in the boot - not even for the 15 minutes when I was there. In that sense I feel that Tesco should be partly accountable.”
I was like - WHAT THE FUCK ??
Put up NOTICES to warn people about car break-in’s so that they ACKNOWLEDGE it’s UNSAFE to put their valuables inside their car ?? So… theoretically, if you lost your notebook in a break-in right in front of a nightclub, it’s morally sane to “partially” blame the pimp/bawd for failing to put up a notice to disclaim that it’s unsafe to put your valuables inside your car ??
Well then, why not put up heaps of notices all over the city telling people to beware of snatch thieves, rapists or ignorant motorists ?? Or perhaps notices to tell the thieves that it’s illegal to break into someone’s car ?? Or how about expecting your fuck buddy’s parents to put up notices that it’s UNSAFE to hump their daughter without condom ?? And blame them for any bastard child you happen to conceive ???
Yeah, that’ll solve all our problems.
If you’re thinking what I’m thinking - yes, it’s ridiculous. It’s all common sense. You don’t fucking leave your valuables inside your car… no matter where you are and you do not need any notices to remind you that. Period.
The security forces are hired to primarily safeguard the property of the premise owner - like preventing looters from stealing their goods, hooligans from vandalizing their facilities, etc etc. It’s of their SECONDARY CONCERN to guard your ass from getting mugged/messed-up. That means - if it’s within their jurisdiction to help, they’ll do it out of their goodwill. If it’s not, well.. too bad, settle your score ELSEWHERE.
That guy, no doubt wasn’t very bright. I won’t call him stupid because I felt compassionate about his situation… for I have fell prey to car burglars for a couple of times. (I’ve lost a 16K notebook in the first incident; a 1.5K car stereo, 600 over bucks Oakley sunglasses & a few original CDs in the second). It’s all myself to blame, and I lived another day with a dear lesson learnt - NEVER TO FUCKING PUT ANYTHING VALUABLE INSIDE MY CAR, WHEREVER I AM.
I do not intend to send that guy an email to insinuate my opinion about his “ideas” … since it’s not my obligation to make him a wiser person. (that privilege only goes to my blog readers… *wink*). Besides, it’s none of my business. I’m blogging it here because I think it’s something good to share with you people with notebooks out there - always remember to refrain from keeping your notebook (or anything valuable) inside your car. It takes very little to lug that bag of notebook along, but a lot lot lot more to recover the data/stuffs you may lost along with that notebook … like the bookmark to my blog… the wonderful porn links that brought loads of sentimental values to your hands… and so on…
Take care people.
I think he will be ok. The notebook was not his. Definitely. With his level of intelligence….Nah.
i heard the damn thieves have a new device for scaning your car to see if you have a laptop hidden in your car’s buntut. so dont think that leaving it of sight is safe as well.
heck, these fuckers even have devices to scan our cars for computers, and yes i need to carry even to movies after work, sigh.
i usually dont comment on your posting but this i have to say…. one word… MALAYSIAN…
blames it on anyone and anything they can point their fingers on… simple as that.. end of discussion..that freak’s ego is probably bigger than his brains to admit his fault..
Or drive an old crumpy car as camouflage.
beef stew - Belongs to his company. If it’s his, things would have gotten ugly with swears and cusses.
kiddo - Part of it was taken over by frustration I guess… and yes, Malaysian are beginning to adopt that kiasu behavior…
moo_t - Thieves nowadays are desperate enough to sapu anything lar … you can’t hide. To be safe, I would still say - do not leave your valuables inside a car.
matakecik/december - Yes, it’s mentioned in the email as well, some device that purportedly be able to “detect” a computer inside your car trunk. But I think it’s a hoax… as I don’t think there’s such technology that is capable of determining the presence of an idle computer. An xray scanner will be too expensive and too heavy to be moved around… The best they can go for is probably a metal detector (which would be useless against a notebook).
If there’s any of you out there who have information pertaining this “computer detector”, I would love to learn about it.
Disclaimer at parking lots not absolute. read this:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/20050802091800/Article/indexb_html
errr… parking at hypermarts are free lar …macha…
this malaysian thingy of blaming the whole world but themselves is not only at car parks, but anywhere else wherever they leave their stuffs, especially handphones!! i always get idiots who leave them at the table and then they accuse anyone and everyone of taking the damn phone!! malaysians…
For all you know, the security guards are the culprits. Frumpy cars or not, they still get broken into. They’ll take anything - coin purse, glasses, touch-n-go cards/smart tags, teddy bears, heck! They even take shopping bags containing lingerie!
The scanner stories are technologically possible, but I believe they are a myth…. if the thief are so bright, that they could know how to triangulate bluetooth signals, then why are they wasting their talent on petty thefts? Intel was hiring last weekend… go work there…
summer - I guess it’s the easiest way out for them, to just blame blame blame. Like, why take the trouble to feel remorseful when you can blame ? Wrong upbringing, i’d blame.
primrose - Yeah, when I went to report my lost, had a chat with a policeman. He told me there are even cases where someone’s car got broken into just for a pack of pickled plums. No kidding. (drug addicts i suppose…)
kew - Can you really triangulate a bluetooth when it’s dormant ?
Sure enough, when a notebook is not being switched on, there are a few power signals (the ALW signals and some of the power sources)… but a bluetooth is usually controlled directly (some protection circuit in between) by the ICH, which will only be active when a power switch is being triggered. So, when the computer is not switched on, that bluetooth device is as good as dirt. My humble opinion - there might be some rocket science out there that may make it possible to detect a bluetooth device even when it’s not powered… would appreciate info on that if there’s any…
i wish the damn thieve would concentrate on stealing ‘pink panthers’, ‘orang utan’ or any stuffed toys that are hanging on the windscreens so that they will no longer be an eyesore.
These thiefs are there waiting and observing. They will immediately know that you have something of value if you take the time to remove an item from your car to be placed in the boot.
If you need to place an item in the boot, place it inside before you start the journey. Doesn’t work if the thief saw u doing that and tailed you all across town.
Oh yeah, and power down / hibernate your notebook and not put it on stand by. Laptop’s on stand by can be awaken by anything, keyboard, mouse etc. It is possible to then wake up the blue tooth device remotely. Maybe Micheal can confirm this possibility. Below is an article relating to this.
http://www.southmanchesterreporter.co.uk/news/s/200/200981_alert_over_hitech_thieves_who_scan_cars_for_laptops.html
Nolar, he should blurdy put a note on his car -
“My car got laptop ar, don’t steal, can?”
spanker - In that case, I would wish the thieves would prey of those giant exhaust pipes instead. They’re both ear and eye-sore…
w3s - Only the notebook cannot steal … but it’s perfectly ok to steal everything else inside ?
southernlight - There are a few types of suspend/standby/hibernate (i always mix them up). One is through the shutdown function, one is exercised through the OS/BIOS control during low power - both can only be “revived” with a press to the power switch.
There’s another one activated through the reed switch (close the lid of LCD)… which can only be “revived” if the switch is in ‘open’ state ie. lift up the LCD lid.
Then there’s this type of “suspend” that functions just like screensaver… move your mouse, and it’s back. I think that’s not really a suspend … but merely a power conservation mode (sleep mode?) by switching off the display/HDD by the OS’s ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface … older notebooks are controlled through the BIOS, but those do not have Bluetooth) *corrected APM to ACPI - coz I’m damn outdated like that…
I think what the article mentioned is not really plausible ler … because :
1) who in their right mind would put their their notebook in that “sleep mode” when they’re heading somewhere with their notebook in their car ?
2) and what more, with an external mouse intact running on battery ? (no way a touchpad could revive a suspend when the lid is closed).
That’s really stupid. I think the thieves preyed on their victims by dress code. You know, people with office attire tend to have notebooks inside their car (less likely an ah beng with blonde Jay Chou hairstyle would own a notebook… porn dvds got larr…).
Or simply, they would observe if you’re transferring any notebook bag into your trunk before you go off… and pry your trunk with a crowbar…
hi, this is the first time i’m posting a comment on ur blog. After reading, i do agree with you, that fella who left his laptop inside his car is a dumb ass!
sometimes i wish my laptop will be taken. its provided by my office *devilish grin* so no holes in my pocket and i get to bum around for a week or 2 in the office till they get me a replacement and I can give excuses like, “cant help you, i lost that file.” BEST!
Holly Shit! , I put my laptop in the back seat “EVERYTIME” I go somewhere during work and after work…including Tesco……Not only laptop…all my “valuable” junk is sometimes in the car….
This is a link that explains the difference between standby and hibernation.
There are different levels of standby. One level just powers down the display, disk drives and CPU. You can customise the power button or lid button to either shut down, standby or hibernate in the control panel power management option. Hence people can just close the lid and the OS will do the preinstructed orders associated to it.
This makes sense as the laptop on standby mode can be awaken by moving the mouse attached to it or a touch pad. This shows that other devices attach to the laptop can also trigger it to wake up. (Some BIOS allows changes such as Wake Up on LAN/USB/Modem etc). If I’m not mistaken, bluetooth mouse can also wake up the laptop/pc in standby mode.
In reference to your reply:
1. There are users who use hibernate or standby modes. Refer to link for benefits of using these modes.
2. In standby mode, it is possible that devices such as a bluetooth card can wake up the laptop/computer whenever it detects another bluetooth card nearby. Depending on the level of the standby mode.
For those who didn’t look at their power management setting, might have it on stand by.
To me its definately possible for a device to wake up the OS during stand by mode.
The link mentioned in my previous comment.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techenthusiast/features/standby1127.asp
athena - yep !
matakecik - I know what you mean. I immediately got issued with a brand new (and better) notebook after the theft so… heeheheheh
gagak - Better becareful, pal.
southern - Yes, it’s possible to wake up an OS with a device. But not when the lid’s closed activating the reed switch (unless the user’s actually running the power saving mode with it’s lid-close option to remain active).
But it’s not really about “waking up” the OS… In the article (the first link by Southern), it mentioned that the burglars are just merely detecting it with their cellphone to determine the presence of a notebook…
And that… I’m not too sure if it’s practically possible… I’m gonna have to experiment with this later.
One thing I’m very sure, is that when your notebook is completely turned off, you don’t have to worry about it. (still, don’t keep it in inside your car). Better be safe than sorry.
Some people will feel better to blame it on the floor surface for being hard rather than themselves for eating the wrong kind of food when they have chronic constipation.
The same theory applies to the idiot (from your entry) who has lost his laptop because he left it in his car boot. It definitely makes him feel better to blame it on the guards and also the management of the building for being ignorant.
The same goes for the idiots who read your Blog, find something they’re not happy with and instead of leaving, they proceed to moan and bitch about it.
That guy must’ve thought that by erecting a big sign telling would-be thieves to keep their hands to themselves, the world would be a safer, happier place to be in.
Disclaimers are useless.
Alright, finished the experiment. The answer is YES. A normal cellphone with bluetooth capability IS ABLE to detect a computer in
1) standby mode
2) hibernate mode
Though it cannot ascertain the ID of the particular computer (as alleged by that UK article), but it’s good enough to determine the presence of a notebook computer NEARBY.
So, to be safe… better power off your notebook if you’re not using it. And again, don’t keep it inside your car.
Cool, you can get a job in mythbusters man..
Does it only applies to bluetooth enabled laptops? or any laptop even without bluetooth?
aiyaah… of course notebooks with bluetooth (enabled) lar brader …
*smacks head repeatedly*
eh eh eh, sorry man just had to clarify and make sure ;).
So I guess people like me who’s too poor to own a bluetooth enable laptop is safe from detection at least
Cheers.
OOPS GUYS !! I made a mistake. A further isolated test yielded NEGATIVE result…
A system in standby/hibernation mode WILL NOT be detected by a scanning cellphone.
My previous experiment was skewed due to interference from stray bluetooth signals. Sorry for the confusion.
So, you can standby/hibernate your notebook all you want… (but don’t keep it in your trunk)
Hey michael,
There is no way a bluetooth phone can detect any laptop, unless the laptop is switched on and with bluetooth broadcasting its ID. It can broadcast from a range of 10 meters all around it (or that’s what it is advertise in my bluetooth device). Lets just say 5m.. with in 5m radius i’m sure there are 10 cars all around them. I guess the only way for them to find the laptop is to jack all the car boot or just have a peek through the car window.
Seriously, device that detects laptop.. that’s some bullshit who can’t explain how his laptop being stolen. Theif these days aren’t dumb asses and these guys are street wise too. Like you and kew suggested, they use their eyes and brians.. unlike some ppl around.
Note : “Go ahead with the car stereo, Oakley sunglasses & the original CDs, NOT THE NOTEBOOK!”
Reason : You know, the porn, & the sentimental values.. *Wink..
rodney - Yeah, you’re right. I did those experiments just to confirm.
w3s - Not actually… that notebook is a work notebook. It contained heaps of shits and nothing else. I’d rather give them the notebook myself.
When I saw the mail, I really shook my head over the guy’s intelligence. Somehow I think that he just need something to blame.
Just like our customers.
Upon screwing up the software, they dare to place blame US, THE MANUFACTURER gave them a defective image.
Just show sometimes what kind of IQ level these people are having…
under common law, to some extend tesco can be liable. it relates to the duty of care- or negligence - both under Torts. there has to be a disclaimer (believer it or not) to warn customers when they park at tesco facilities. it can be assumed that a person would trust/believe that tesco would provide security facilities to their customers as well.
i do not disagree with the poor guy, because he said, tesco is PARTLY responsible. he did not put all the blame- but some blame, which is very common in the courts.
if you have notebook security cable, you just pluck the cable between the notebook and the spare tyre.. unless the thief was hulk hogan, you may loose the tyre too..
i am working on an idea that may prevent thieves from being able to scan the car boot for notebooks.Only problem is I don’t know where to get a scanner to test my idea. This baby should be hot…..if it works. Can anyone one help? No car thief is going to help me test my idea, that’s for sure