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· Pin Down a Location. Using photos recovered from a stolen phone, you may be able to find where those shots were taken. When a cell-phone camera takes a picture, it's encoded with data (called exif) that records the details of the shot, including time and—if your phone has GPS—place. "When that photo is posted online, you can often uncover the latitude and longitude of where the photo was taken," says Rob Spitler, director of Forward Direction, a computer forensics company. To do so, you need to download an add-on for the Firefox browser called Exif Viewer. "When you point to the pictures, it can pull up the exif data for you," he says. Of course, just knowing the coordinates of where a photo was taken doesn't mean you can start banging on doors in that particular neighborhood, but the information can be helpful when filling out a police report or looking to locate a specific destination in the photos.

· Involve the Accessory. Access your account information via your carrier's Web site. Here, you'll be able to see the most up-to-date copy of your bill. Taylor suggests that you call the last number dialed from your stolen phone and tell the person who answers that you've found their friend's phone. The person you're calling probably won't know that their friend is using a stolen device. With luck, the friend will give up the name and an alternate contact number of the thief.

· Enlist the Cavalry. The Internet is full of bored browsers with a thirst for justice. If you do recover photos from your missing phone, posting them online can help you identify and contact the perpetrator. One reader sent photos and e-mails from his father's stolen iPhone to the customer advocacy blog Consumerist.com. Later that day, the thief was identified and arrangements were made to return the phone. And when someone stole his friend's Sidekick, a New York City man created a Web page with photos, detailing his attempts to get the phone back. The viral interest created by the site lead to the phone's recovery by police. But beware—Net vigilantes can get nasty, and revealing the thief's identity online could be an invitation for the public to harass the poor fool who snatched your cell, and perhaps take matters too far.

© 2009

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: KristinaBrooker @ 06/30/2009 11:02:36 AM

    "The intentional error"

    People who are in media are a business and they have this
    pattern of statement; they realize the error in the statement,
    and know all the possible responses.

    For example: Lets complain about the new addition to your
    household electricity system, the smartmeter. Lets make the
    complaint: "I expect a backstop for this product." or "I expect
    this product to improve and both versions worth the investment."

    (If you don't know "backstop" means replacing a product because
    of environmental improvement.)

    The company knows the responses, they are accepting criticism in
    this way:

    The initial consumer ranking game is "comfortable marriage"

    1) Who is your assigned male?
    2) Explain why he was employable?
    3) Does your memory indicate that your finances want to fit in?
    4) Are you changing the system?

    The purpose of ranking consumers though marriage-ability is the
    next obviously important "personal comfort". Personal comfort
    is obviously important to pricing, the economic lingo that is
    usually used in it's place is happiness or satisfaction. I
    really want to point out that the consumer ranks those
    qualities arbitrarily, it is your personal taste, style,
    attitude, your cool, that you fit in the same as years ago.

    Personal comfort is exactly why their are twenty times the number
    of raw resources that go into a car vs. a computer, yet the pricing
    is what the consumer will pay for comfort or satisfaction.

    So who's "personal comfort" changes the company, by setting
    consumer trends, changing prices, effecting shares changing the
    CEO. The people who at the same time claim approval of a respected
    male income.

    The fact that the person running the business changes but follows
    the same systematic conversation running the company, indicates
    their is simply a pattern to running a company, they change the
    company like most other consumers, they simply bring their
    "marriage comfort" hence "personal comfort" for the consumers
    preference, relating to the important consumers preemptively.

    So is my only response to media, "dad had a perfect death".

    Kristina Brooker 126 395 086
    maiden name Thomas (1942, 2002 interference)

  • Posted By: biblebeatersliterally @ 05/15/2009 1:50:11 PM

    whats that thing we used back in the day that uummmmmm. o yeah paper in a metal walt with my 12 gage shot gun next to it. dont want people stealing whats more important to you keep it where no one will touch. not your pocket. just some advice but good freaking idea thou. keep up the good work my youth of the technical world. hopefully by the time im 90 ya'll can find me to as much as people worry about a phone. smart people

  • Posted By: KristinaBrooker @ 05/03/2009 2:58:27 PM

    Hey I control the interest rate. I did put the oil to $147, then $40,
    not $200 -it was a choice I made.

    Kristina Brooker (126 395 086)

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