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Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

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Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#51

Post by stcredzero »

What should we as a community do about this? Honeypot Laptops.

Laptops modded specifically as honeypots. They could be modified to maximize battery life, and pass muster as an ordinary laptop under casual observation. However, their real purpose is to sit there in extremely low power mode, waiting for someone to move them, at which point, they fire up their radio and gps, and signal cameras and security personnel on-site to start watching.

Are onboard accelerometers good enough to do dead reckoning positioning of the device within the building, provided they have good data to work from?

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#52

Post by serf »

stcredzero wrote: post #51

What should we as a community do about this? Honeypot Laptops. Laptops modded specifically as honeypots. They could be modified to maximize battery life, and pass muster as an ordinary laptop under casual observation. However, their real purpose is to sit there in extremely low power mode, waiting for someone to move them, at which point, they fire up their radio and gps, and signal cameras and security personnel on-…

>Are onboard accelerometers good enough to do dead reckoning positioning of the device within the building, provided they have good data to work from?

Sort of. Dead reckoning with accelerometers is only as good as the error correction. Accelerometers tend to gain error factor very quickly without using a form of sensor fusion such as a partnership with a magnetometer to cross reference things like yaw with.

"indoor gps" is a point of intense interest right now it seems like for in-shop marketing and other (evil) things.

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#53

Post by ranman »

georgemcbay wrote: post #23

Unless I was specifically informed that it would be safe to leave my belongings in any area, I would assume that it is not safe to do so, and if I left my laptop unattended and it were stolen under these circumstances I'd be pissed off, but I wouldn't expect the event organizers to take any responsibility for it at all. The idea being kicked around to take a collection from attendees is okay in theory but I'm not con…

you could build a venmo collection jar!

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#54

Post by CrankyPants »

mindslight wrote: post #12
shawnreilly wrote: post #4

I've never been to a PennApps Hackathon, but from what you describe (1000+ people), I'd imagine that it's pretty much impossible for event organizers to prevent this. I think the key here is the 'left unattended' part of the scenario. The solution would be to tell the teams not to leave the equipment unattended. It's unfortunate, but a reality of life (even at a Hackathon with a great community); There are bad people…

> The solution would be to tell the teams not to leave the equipment unattended Please no. Don't contribute to this cover-your-ass culture of information clutter by disclaiming the obvious with braindead notices that nobody is expected to read. It's common sense to maintain responsibility for your stuff to the extent you'd like to avoid having it mucked with through malice or ignorance.

Agreed, but there's a way to do it and there's a way to do it.

There's a world of difference between: "Don't leave your equipment unattended, boys and girls" and "heads-up: we've had stuff go missing in the past."

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#55

Post by nandemo »

kolinko wrote: post #30
larrys wrote: post #26

"Someone left a laptop unattended, and it was stolen." Never been to one of these so could you elaborate as to how a laptop was left (and for how long) so that it was stolen? (I'm curious about the details). As an example is this like being at an airport terminal with your laptop, turning around for a second, and turning back to see your laptop missing? Or more like leaving the laptop and going to the bathroom? Or le…

On hackathons it's quite common. You leave a laptop on your workplace, go for lunch, or for a walk, or whatever. Usually there are only other hackers there, few bystanders, so the environment is quite secure. That's why it's so sad when situations like those happen - it undermines the trust within the community. On Airport, or at the coffee place I wouldn't expect my laptop to be there if I left for an hour. On a hac…

You have a point, but in this case it's a hackathon with over 1000 people. It can hardly be called a "community" thing.

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#56

Post by diminoten »

stcredzero wrote: post #51

What should we as a community do about this? Honeypot Laptops. Laptops modded specifically as honeypots. They could be modified to maximize battery life, and pass muster as an ordinary laptop under casual observation. However, their real purpose is to sit there in extremely low power mode, waiting for someone to move them, at which point, they fire up their radio and gps, and signal cameras and security personnel on-…

That's arguably entrapment, and not your job.

Leave the detective work to the cops, Bruce.

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#57

Post by stcredzero »

diminoten wrote: post #56
stcredzero wrote: post #51

What should we as a community do about this? Honeypot Laptops. Laptops modded specifically as honeypots. They could be modified to maximize battery life, and pass muster as an ordinary laptop under casual observation. However, their real purpose is to sit there in extremely low power mode, waiting for someone to move them, at which point, they fire up their radio and gps, and signal cameras and security personnel on-…

That's arguably entrapment, and not your job. Leave the detective work to the cops, Bruce.

I had heard that the police in Washington state in the 90's used to leave sets of rims in the back of pickup trucks parked on the side of the road as a means of honey-trapping thieves. I also heard the cops referred to it as a time-saving measure. "Entrapment?" That's stealing, plain and simple!

Anyhow, how would that be different than someone walking out of a building with any other piece of a school's or a hackerspace's equipment? What are they going to tell a judge: "It was an unattended laptop. I had to steal it!"

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#58

Post by cel »

ranman wrote: post #53
georgemcbay wrote: post #23

Unless I was specifically informed that it would be safe to leave my belongings in any area, I would assume that it is not safe to do so, and if I left my laptop unattended and it were stolen under these circumstances I'd be pissed off, but I wouldn't expect the event organizers to take any responsibility for it at all. The idea being kicked around to take a collection from attendees is okay in theory but I'm not con…

you could build a venmo collection jar!

hackathon idea there. pivot!

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#59

Post by andrew_gardener »

frostmatthew wrote: post #41

As much as it sucks to have a laptop stolen if you're hosting an event with 1000+ people I think you need to adapt the policy of not being responsible for lost or stolen items. Many of the comments here mention a certain level of trust in the [hacker] community...sorry but not every single developer is a saint who would never consider stealing someone's laptop. The larger the group the more people you'll have willing…

Also don't forget that at an event that size outsiders could potentially get in or maybe some staff/security did it.

Best bet is to think about it as being a completely public place at that point. Would you leave your laptop unattended at the corner of a busy street?

Hopefully the laptop ends up being misplaced or reported to lost&found and the organizers just don't know about it yet.

Re: Ask HN: Running a hackathon and someone's laptop got stolen, what should we do?

#60

Post by diminoten »

stcredzero wrote: post #57
diminoten wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's arguably entrapment, and not your job. Leave the detective work to the cops, Bruce.

I had heard that the police in Washington state in the 90's used to leave sets of rims in the back of pickup trucks parked on the side of the road as a means of honey-trapping thieves. I also heard the cops referred to it as a time-saving measure. "Entrapment?" That's stealing, plain and simple! Anyhow, how would that be different than someone walking out of a building with any other piece of a school's or a hackersp…

The key word in your first sentence was "the police".
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