[osxisfun]

In the old west, people would brand their cattle to show it was theirs...


So I ask, how do you mark your powerbook so that its plainly visible?

I know some people etch their name or something in it but i would be afraid of hitting the motherboard or something...

do people tape their biz card in the batter compartment and say "reward if found"?

Are there security "dots" that can be applied that have your information in nano form that can be used later as a form of identification?


thanks!

[analogika]

WHAT!?

[osxisfun]

for security purposes.. do you have an soft of identification on your powerbook...

other than the serial # of course...

[mdc]

i was thinking of something like this, but then i thought that if i lose my powerbook or it gets stolen what are the chances that i'd get it back?

due to the fact that i'd hate it if it happened to me, i return someone's laptop i found. but unfortunately not everyone would do the same, and i think that if i lose mine the unluckiness would keep on going and the person who finds it would format the drive and have a nice 15" powerbook.

[osxisfun]

>due to the fact that i'd hate it if it happened to me, i return someone's laptop i found.

me too.

>i was thinking of something like this, but then i thought that if i lose my powerbook or it gets stolen what are the chances that i'd get it back?

I am hoping there are few people out there like us...

[Voch]

I brand my PowerBook by locking it up like a fortress. Password required for login and wake-from-sleep. Firmware password. Home directory encryption. Frequent backups so if it ever gets stolen I have my data and the thief has a useless brick (or, at least, none of my data).

Voch

[osxisfun]

Originally Posted by Voch

I brand my PowerBook by locking it up like a fortress. Password required for login and wake-from-sleep. Firmware password. Home directory encryption. Frequent backups so if it ever gets stolen I have my data and the thief has a useless brick (or, at least, none of my data).

Voch

exactly what i am going to do.

[Sosa]

Hmm, I've never thought about marking my powerbook, but this is not such a bad idea at all. You could mark it inconspicously on the bottom, perhaps with an email and a "reward if returned" message. I did something similar with my password, so that if you enter it wrong 3 times it throws my phone number and reward message.

[Tantrum]

mine actually has a dent on the top left speaker. I didn't really notice it till the apple guy pointed it out to me...somehow i get the feeling it happened when i gave it to applecare.

[fisherKing]

i've got my number & "reward!" written in the battery compartment...where no one will ever look??

(plus some japanese stickers on the lid...

[Voch]

Actually, every Mac has a serial number, and I assume the one that's shown via the System Profiler can't be changed (the one on a sticker in my battery bay can, sadly, be removed) . So as long as the Mac is registered to you the ownership can be verified.

Voch

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Sosa

Hmm, I've never thought about marking my powerbook, but this is not such a bad idea at all. You could mark it inconspicously on the bottom, perhaps with an email and a "reward if returned" message. I did something similar with my password, so that if you enter it wrong 3 times it throws my phone number and reward message.

I rather like that idea.

[osxisfun]

Originally Posted by analogika

I rather like that idea.

is this possible with a log in screen?

what about an open firmware log in prompt?

[d.fine]

I hope it never gets stolen. Meanwhile if I take it with me somewhere, it is inseparable from my body, we are as one...
If someone wanted my PB, they'de have to pry it loose from my dead hands!

[tooki]

Any good jeweler could engrave the unit. There are also those "reward if returned" stickers you can get online, which are numbered and matched in a database.

tooki

[osxisfun]

thanks tooki.

i wonder if there is a liqued that stains the alu's

maybe paint my phone number - reward in blueberry juice!

that's what they use in the denture commercials!

[urrl78]

I always keep my name and number very small in a corner of the laptop wallpaper. Not much but better than nothing. Perhaps the jerk that steals it will know nothing about Macs. Good thread though, guess I should look into additional theft proofing... Still there are only three ways anyone will be able to steal anything from me (except for strongarm robbery).

Off of me.

Out of my locked room that has a top security lock on the door.

Out of the locked trunk of my car.

Any of these scenarios, although possible is highly unlikely. The last things I've ever had stolen in my life were a catchers mitt on grade school, a car battery and a motorcycle helmet, and all these things were taken due to my utter carelessness. Nothing else in the last 30 years. I never give a thief a break if I can help it.

[dreilly1]

I've branded my work-issued Dell laptop with a sticker of a big, multi-colored Apple with a bite in it.
Does that count?

[osxisfun]

Originally Posted by dreilly1

I've branded my work-issued Dell laptop with a sticker of a big, multi-colored Apple with a bite in it.
Does that count?

[fisherKing]

i'm sure i'm not the first person to think of this...

but i just changed my computer name (in the sharing preference pane)
from the default (in 10.4, my name's powerbook G4 12") to

reward 555-555-5555 (u get the idea).

now when i power up my powerbook, this appears on the login screen.


brilliant? either way, like it!

[shabbasuraj]

Etched with laser.

[isao bered]

Originally Posted by fisherKing

reward 555-555-5555 (u get the idea).

... hmmmmm...

... maybe not a cell...
... the person finding the book...
... will only confuse...
... the person who found the phone...

... be well and be better...

[osxisfun]

FYI. the kensignton combosaver sucks.

friggin hard to dial in the combo. switching it for a keylock later.

[Chris_G]

Originally Posted by tooki

Any good jeweler could engrave the unit. There are also those "reward if returned" stickers you can get online, which are numbered and matched in a database.

tooki

I use Stuffbak.

Don't know how well it works, as I never have had something lost that had the Stuffbak sticker on it (knock on wood).

Chris

[Kvasir]

Well, having explorer OFW, after my first post here, in the MacOS section, I've set OFW password to "full" and set an oem-banner on my powerbook that gives my name (not full) and a freebee email address (that I don't use for much anyway).

Instructions are at http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...05010300260868

My personal OFW password is a 13-character string, so should be secure, and the banner info appears at every boot/reboot. Since I have security set to full, no-one can do a thing to my machine without the passphrase, other than read the identity info (which, as I say, is crafted such that it identifies my machine as mine, and a means to contact me, but little else).

[danbrew]

This will sound silly, but after leaving mine in a lab full of Powerbooks, I finally decided to just take one of those indelible markers and just wrote my name on the top of the case next to the Apple logo. It's pretty obvious - about 3" tall and very hard to miss.

[powerbook911]

I would never brand my Powerbook, for I will need to sell it someday.

[molala]

i never really thought of that, my name and phone number appear on the login screen (requires password). though i also allow guest login. i suppose i could put a sticker with my name on it (like i have on my iPod) but it just doesn't seem right to put a sticker on the PB. i do use a Kensington cable lock when i bring it to work.

[OperaMan]

Wow I just thought of an idea. If you installed a dyndns client onto the computer, it would update its IP on the dyndns server the next time it connected to the internet. With that and a little cooperation from the internet provider, you could track down your computer. Just a little random consideration. I guess that's just one extra precaution.

[osxisfun]

thanks. forgot about that. there are programs that will do that too...(commerical)

hmm....

[TailsToo]

After a few scratches, it feels more like mine.

[Squelch11]

Wouldn't any software branding be for naught if someone just bought a new hard drive and put it into your stolen PB? I'm relatively new to Mac, but I know that I can put different HDD's into PC laptops, and it's as if it's a whole different computer. We do it all the time in the army - have a computer with a secret hard drive, and an unclassified hard drive. Just take the HDD out and switch it when you need to do secret or unclass work.

[OperaMan]

Ya I guess a new hd or reformat would erase that, but it's only another layer of security. The way I figure it, a thief is probably not the most educated or patient person in the world, so there's enough of a chance they won't bother doing either.

[yogi]

do a google search. There is software that will quietly dial the security firm if the computer is not in itts customary location.

[osxisfun]

Here is a commerical app that will phone home. They will also help with the cops i think:

http://www.pcphonehome.com/index.php

[bimmerphile]

Concentrated nitric acid could oxidize and thus "etch" the aluminum, however you'd need a stencil that wouldn't react with the con HNO3, and of course you'd need the con nitric....so really take it to a jeweler or trophy shop to get it engraved