Bogus. GPS? First of all GPS is a receiver, not a transmitter. I am tired of all this "It has GPS, so we know where it is" stuff. It would have to have some way to transmit its location back to you for that to happen. GPS does not do that by itself. It knows where IT is; it just usually has no way to send that information back.
Laptops have GPS? A rare few do, but not all, or even many. Perhaps in one particular milieu a company required all of its machines to have it, but it by no means is a "requirement" across the entire industry. Artistic license? That's just a euphemism for "not the truth." The IP address schemes, coupled with the MAC (Media Access Control) address of the network card in the computer, would be sufficient to get a general location for the missing machine. You can even buy software that alerts you to what network it's plugged into when you report to a central office that it is stolen. Kind of a "LoJack" for laptops. Hey, there's even a product out there by that name (LoJack for Laptops), but I found a free open-source one that has a Mac version: <http://www.macnn.com/articles/08/07/17/adeona.asset.protection/> ...Google: outsourcing your brain since 1997... j. On Jul 29, 2008, at 10:19 AM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Message: 3 > Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:29:40 -0400 > From: "Harry Jacobson-Beyer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [MacGroup] GPS and computer question > To: Macusergroup <macgroup@erdos.math.louisville.edu> > Cc: "Jacobson-Beyer, Sherry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII > > Ok, I'm sure some of you out there will know the answer to this > question: > > I was watching an episode of the tv program Numbers. In it a laptop > computer was stolen. The police found the computer because it had some > kind of GPS chip/device in it. > > The FBI guy in the tv programs said that since 2005 all computers > (maybe > that's all laptop computers) are required to have a GPS locating chip/ > device in them in case they are stolen/lost etc. Supposedly this will > make them more likely to be found. > > Is this accurate / true or is it a fabrication of the script writers > to > provide a neat ending to the story? > > If it's true, can you explain how it works and how one would know what > to look for if one's computer were stolen, lost, or misplaced? > > And how can I get one for me so my loved ones can find me when even I > don't know where I am? :-) > > Thanks. > > Harry -- Jonathan Fletcher [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project Foreman NewMedia Construction Co. _______________________________________________ The next Louisville Computer Society meeting will be September 23 at MacAuthority, 128 Breckinridge Lane. Posting address: MacGroup@erdos.math.louisville.edu Information: http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup
