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Sunday, 06 December 2009 00:00 |
As we've just got our hands on a lovely new Macbook Pro for our 'Made In Nevada' project we've been wondering how to keep it safe from theft and looking at software which could help us locate it should it be stolen. As we're going to be using it in and around the store, as well as taking it on the road and using it everywhere in-between we thought it would be a wise move.
Quite amazingly we seem to have found two apps which are both free and together form quite a formidable team.
iAlertU
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/21282
iAlertU is a cool free application which basically acts as an alarm for your mac. Ever been in a pub or cafe with your laptop on a table and just need to go back up to the counter to collect or order another coffee? Well it can be a pain taking the laptop with you, or looking over your shoulder the whole time. With a quick activation from it's dropdown menu, iAlertU will go into alarm mode and let out a piercing alarm noise through the laptop's speaker if anyone so much as moves it - it looks out for movement and keystrokes so you'll know the moment someone touches it.
Not only that it'll take a picture of the culprit through the laptop's built-in camera and email to an address you specify, so even if they do make off with it you'll instantly have a picture of what they look like. But what if the thief makes off with it completely? Well then you can resort to the next free software service...
Prey
http://preyproject.com/
Prey is once again free and consists of a website and software. Registering at the Prey site is simple, and once the Prey software is installed on your machine you have a simple way of finding out where your laptop has gone by using the Prey website. By simply logging in and activating the Prey tracking device you can activate it's suite of laptop surveillance services.
It will takes screenshots of your desktop so you can see what the thief is using, will take snapshots via the built-in camera at regular intervals and send them back to you, gather wifi and location data so you can get some idea of where the machine actually is, and if you want you can set off alarms and messages on the machine while the thief is sitting there! (Probably only useful if you're resorting to making the guy so paranoid he'll happily leave it in a pre-arranged place with 'no questions asked'!)
So with these two free applications you should feel a lot safer taking your laptop out and about. I know we are! Unfortunately it does make you feel like a bit of a vigilante - resist the urge to see if this stuff works by leaving your laptop in tempting locations!
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