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Someone stole my Mac Pro!

On a personal note…

If you follow me on Twitter, then you likely know about this already. But while I was vacationing in the midwest with my family, someone broke into my house and stole my Mac Pro, two displays, and a printer. The police fingerprinted several places in our home, so who knows? Maybe they’ll catch the thief.

Anyway, the story is getting some attention on the local news because there’s a chance the criminals knew we were gone because I twittered about my family’s trip. The media is very interested in Twitter right now.

Of course, the burglary may also be a random crime — which unfortunately is becoming more common in my neighborhood.

Do I plan on quitting my use of Twitter? No.

Will I be more cautious about what I tweet? Yes, certainly.

I’ll update this post with links to news stories as I discover them.

Here’s one from 3TV: http://bit.ly/RlJ67
Here’s the one from ABC14 (embedded above): http://bit.ly/QdLXj
Here’s the one from 12 News.

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  • Don Juan

    Guess you’ll think before you go telling everyone your going out of town next time!

    DOH!

  • Don Juan

    Guess you’ll think before you go telling everyone your going out of town next time!

    DOH!

  • Michael Smith

    Sorry to hear about this, but I suspect that since twitter is a big thing right now, they’re after a story to make it look bad.

    News station, always report the bad new, first, and all the good news comes last.

    I hope they catch the people who knicked your stuff.

  • Michael Smith

    Sorry to hear about this, but I suspect that since twitter is a big thing right now, they’re after a story to make it look bad.

    News station, always report the bad new, first, and all the good news comes last.

    I hope they catch the people who knicked your stuff.

  • http://www.stephenkilkie.com/ Stephen

    What a downer…really sorry to hear this happened, Izzy. I’d be gutted if my editing equipment was stolen. But good for you for not letting it stop you use Twitter. And you even managed a wry smile on one of the news clips – respect!

  • http://www.stephenkilkie.com/ Stephen

    What a downer…really sorry to hear this happened, Izzy. I’d be gutted if my editing equipment was stolen. But good for you for not letting it stop you use Twitter. And you even managed a wry smile on one of the news clips – respect!

  • http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net Quintessential Studios

    I’m sure it was random or else a highly specialized thief. Kind of a stretch to go with the Twitter angle IMHO.

    Keep up the good work and don’t let the bumps in the road deter you!

    We love your stuff!

  • http://wordpress.quintessentialstudios.net Quintessential Studios

    I’m sure it was random or else a highly specialized thief. Kind of a stretch to go with the Twitter angle IMHO.

    Keep up the good work and don’t let the bumps in the road deter you!

    We love your stuff!

  • http://www.vimeo.com/channels/omni Trond-Atle Johansen

    Sorry to hear that. I experienced something similar way before twitter and facebook. 10th og may, 2004 I woke up at 0530 that my car started and drove away. I got up and in my Studio/editing suitte. Everything was gone. My HiFi, TV, and everything else as well. Everything happend while I was asleep. My howntown is very little (26 000) and since Im in the TV/film buisness people have talked about the equippment av facilities I have.
    So when the rumours of all the values came to the wrong people I was robbed.

    People called me a fool that I everyday talk about my facilities and showed it to everyone. This was a very important way for me to marketing myself.

    The endof the story:
    I´ve beein editing the whole night a presentation DVD for a friend of mine. A videoCV he made for a TV job.
    Ive just made One copy for viewing on my DVDplayer (that a couple of hours later was stolen). We thougt the videoCV was history.

    One night I was out taking a beer, somone commmented this DVD. Great Work she said!
    Ive stopped her and aske where she have seen that DVD… And the Thief was cought…
    Nearly all of the equippment was sold, but my trusty Powermac G4 500mhz was not… And with firewire and a new sonyPD150 I was upp running again.

    Ive not stopped with ths marketing, and use facebook and twitter as an importat way og inform an marketing myself.
    Insurance is very important. One thinh is burglary another is tha its easy to break a camera. looes a laptop etc. etc.

    Keep on going Israel! Youre doing a great job, and I hope you´re back up running soon!

    Best regards
    T.A Johansen
    Norway

    Bur

  • http://www.vimeo.com/channels/omni Trond-Atle Johansen

    Sorry to hear that. I experienced something similar way before twitter and facebook. 10th og may, 2004 I woke up at 0530 that my car started and drove away. I got up and in my Studio/editing suitte. Everything was gone. My HiFi, TV, and everything else as well. Everything happend while I was asleep. My howntown is very little (26 000) and since Im in the TV/film buisness people have talked about the equippment av facilities I have.
    So when the rumours of all the values came to the wrong people I was robbed.

    People called me a fool that I everyday talk about my facilities and showed it to everyone. This was a very important way for me to marketing myself.

    The endof the story:
    I´ve beein editing the whole night a presentation DVD for a friend of mine. A videoCV he made for a TV job.
    Ive just made One copy for viewing on my DVDplayer (that a couple of hours later was stolen). We thougt the videoCV was history.

    One night I was out taking a beer, somone commmented this DVD. Great Work she said!
    Ive stopped her and aske where she have seen that DVD… And the Thief was cought…
    Nearly all of the equippment was sold, but my trusty Powermac G4 500mhz was not… And with firewire and a new sonyPD150 I was upp running again.

    Ive not stopped with ths marketing, and use facebook and twitter as an importat way og inform an marketing myself.
    Insurance is very important. One thinh is burglary another is tha its easy to break a camera. looes a laptop etc. etc.

    Keep on going Israel! Youre doing a great job, and I hope you´re back up running soon!

    Best regards
    T.A Johansen
    Norway

    Bur

  • Al

    Wow. Cool! Lotsa free promo! Get rid of outdated equipment! And the insurance pays for new stuff! You’re a genius! Who cares if everybody thinks otherwise?

  • Al

    Wow. Cool! Lotsa free promo! Get rid of outdated equipment! And the insurance pays for new stuff! You’re a genius! Who cares if everybody thinks otherwise?

  • Chris

    Wow, I just thought about this the other day. I’m going to a wedding in a few weeks and was thinking that I shouldn’t say when I’m going so people don’t know that no one will be home for a few days.

    I’ve already had people figure out where I live based on the photos I posted of near my house. It’s almost impossible to keep this type of stuff hidden anymore.

  • Chris

    Wow, I just thought about this the other day. I’m going to a wedding in a few weeks and was thinking that I shouldn’t say when I’m going so people don’t know that no one will be home for a few days.

    I’ve already had people figure out where I live based on the photos I posted of near my house. It’s almost impossible to keep this type of stuff hidden anymore.

  • Trevor Ford

    What i want to know, how the hell they know your address it’s not like they can get it of the top their heads, But i’m sorry for your lost, if that was me, i would be crying in the corner some where if some one took my computer/laptop? Thank god it’s all they done

  • Trevor Ford

    What i want to know, how the hell they know your address it’s not like they can get it of the top their heads, But i’m sorry for your lost, if that was me, i would be crying in the corner some where if some one took my computer/laptop? Thank god it’s all they done

  • http://www.ker.com Joe

    Sorry to hear that this happened to you – I’d be really upset if someone stole my high value camera equipment next week while I was out of the country and my house was empty. Where I live (72 Park Road, London SW15), break-ins are all too common!

  • http://www.ker.com Joe

    Sorry to hear that this happened to you – I’d be really upset if someone stole my high value camera equipment next week while I was out of the country and my house was empty. Where I live (72 Park Road, London SW15), break-ins are all too common!

  • http://www.epicfoto.com @epicfotoguy

    Oh man.. that totally bites! I hope you get your stuff back!

  • http://www.epicfoto.com @epicfotoguy

    Oh man.. that totally bites! I hope you get your stuff back!

  • evan

    It would be interesting to post about a vacation when you’re actually just planning on staying inside with the lights down for a few days… set up some cameras or something, see if anyone takes the bait.

    I’d go over your follower list, odds are it wasn’t just 100% random- it wouldn’t be worthwhile to comb through every single “Leaving for vacation ;)” post to find someone whose home could be identified when the same thief could just go look for overflowing mailboxes, unkempt lawns, empty trash cans on pickup day, etc etc etc…

  • evan

    It would be interesting to post about a vacation when you’re actually just planning on staying inside with the lights down for a few days… set up some cameras or something, see if anyone takes the bait.

    I’d go over your follower list, odds are it wasn’t just 100% random- it wouldn’t be worthwhile to comb through every single “Leaving for vacation ;)” post to find someone whose home could be identified when the same thief could just go look for overflowing mailboxes, unkempt lawns, empty trash cans on pickup day, etc etc etc…

  • evan

    …on the other hand I just tried real fast and found two people who were near me, on vacation, and posted their real names… which could probably be traced to a physical address without much trouble.

  • evan

    …on the other hand I just tried real fast and found two people who were near me, on vacation, and posted their real names… which could probably be traced to a physical address without much trouble.

  • http://www.contestqueen.com Carolyn Wilman

    Intersting. I was on a business trip, tweeting away, and that thought did cross my mind. People now know I am not home. However, my mom & daughter were. We do have an alarm, but I think if people really want to steal, they will. Heck, that other fellow was asleep in his own bed!

    Yes, we must be careful about what we say online…

  • http://www.contestqueen.com Carolyn Wilman

    Intersting. I was on a business trip, tweeting away, and that thought did cross my mind. People now know I am not home. However, my mom & daughter were. We do have an alarm, but I think if people really want to steal, they will. Heck, that other fellow was asleep in his own bed!

    Yes, we must be careful about what we say online…

  • http://www.thetotaltransformation.com Child Behavior

    I followed iJustine for a while now and heard about this from her. Did they have any idea what kind of a set up you had at your place? Like did you ever twitter about it or blog about what you were using? Someone smart enough might put the 2 and 2 together and pull it off. I’m very cautious about what I twitter about. I even make sure my GF doesn’t twitter something too intrusive.

  • http://www.thetotaltransformation.com Child Behavior

    I followed iJustine for a while now and heard about this from her. Did they have any idea what kind of a set up you had at your place? Like did you ever twitter about it or blog about what you were using? Someone smart enough might put the 2 and 2 together and pull it off. I’m very cautious about what I twitter about. I even make sure my GF doesn’t twitter something too intrusive.

  • http://www.izzyvideo.com Izzy

    Thanks for the kind words everyone!

    Child behavior — Yes, everyone who watched my videos knows what my setup was. And many of them follow me on Twitter. It’s certainly a possibility.

    That said, the news is making it sounds like an absolute connection, and the truth is we’ll never know unless they catch the person.

  • http://www.izzyvideo.com Izzy

    Thanks for the kind words everyone!

    Child behavior — Yes, everyone who watched my videos knows what my setup was. And many of them follow me on Twitter. It’s certainly a possibility.

    That said, the news is making it sounds like an absolute connection, and the truth is we’ll never know unless they catch the person.

  • MJL

    search the word vacation or trip and youll find a list of peoplr on twitted I

  • MJL

    search the word vacation or trip and youll find a list of peoplr on twitted I

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  • Steve

    Really sorry to hear about your loss and hopefully your important business data was backed up off site somewhere. That’s way more valuable than any hardware stolen and good reason to invest in a security system. Hopefully the press coverage will bring in some additional business and thanks for posting the lesson for your viewers to learn from.

  • Steve

    Really sorry to hear about your loss and hopefully your important business data was backed up off site somewhere. That’s way more valuable than any hardware stolen and good reason to invest in a security system. Hopefully the press coverage will bring in some additional business and thanks for posting the lesson for your viewers to learn from.

  • http://www.newmusicmonday.com Tim

    I find it kind of unlikely that twitter was the cause of your robbery, but who knows. Anyway of tracking the MAC address?

  • http://www.newmusicmonday.com Tim

    I find it kind of unlikely that twitter was the cause of your robbery, but who knows. Anyway of tracking the MAC address?

  • Martin Looter King

    Please, let us know when you’ll be out of town next time. And don’t forget to remind your address.

    Thank you in advance.

    Sincerely,

    LOOter King

  • Martin Looter King

    Please, let us know when you’ll be out of town next time. And don’t forget to remind your address.

    Thank you in advance.

    Sincerely,

    LOOter King

  • Eric

    If there is a link to your twitter messages that you weer out of town, I think the fact that your home address (a residential address anyway, I assume it’s your home address) is readily available by in the whois records for izzyvideo.com probably made the situation worse.

    I’d recommend changing it.

  • Eric

    If there is a link to your twitter messages that you weer out of town, I think the fact that your home address (a residential address anyway, I assume it’s your home address) is readily available by in the whois records for izzyvideo.com probably made the situation worse.

    I’d recommend changing it.