Tech, electronic, gadget Discussion

One of the most famous faces on the internet at the moment belongs to a taxi driver who has been exposed as a thief in a very modern case of digital sleuthing that is helping aggrieved geeks and gadget owners to be reunited with their stolen goods.

From Surrey to San Francisco, software is doing the job of the police as vigilantes use tracking programmes more commonly seen in CIA action thrillers to locate missing computers and phones. In April, the ex-England rugby captain Will Carling traced his stolen iPad to a block of flats in Woking. He knocked on all the doors – to no avail – then traced its movement through the town while detailing the chase on Twitter. The iPad was eventually handed in to local police.

The guilty taxi driver stole a laptop belonging to Joshua Kaufman in Oakland, California, last month. What he didn’t know was that Kaufman had installed software that activated the machine’s built-in camera. When police told Kaufman they didn’t have the resources to find his laptop, he spent four weeks gathering photos and location data using a software package called Hidden. He presented this evidence to the police but got no reply so posted pictures of the thief staring at the screen to his blog, where they went viral and were viewed by millions. It wasn’t until a US news show contacted Oakland police to ask them about Mr Kaufman’s post, that they sprung into action – more than 10 weeks after the theft.

“It’s these kind of partnerships that make things happen,” said an officer to Mr Kaufman, glossing over the fact that their action was prompted largely by a national broadcaster.

Pioneering geeks realised years ago that remote access services – such as LogMeIn.com and Apple’s “Back To My Mac” – could allow them to spy on the activities of the person who had connected to the internet using their stolen machine; this idea was extended by software such as Absolute’s LoJack For Laptops and Orbicule’s Undercover, which made the process more clandestine, by regularly sending location data, screengrabs and webcam pictures.

Since November last year, owners of iPads and recent models of iPhone have had access to a free feature called “Find My iPhone”; after enabling it on the device, its location can be pinpointed by logging into a website, and it can also be sent messages, locked down, or its contents erased completely. You may have precise knowledge of where your laptop is, but if the police are are too busy to follow it up, your choices seem to be limited to knocking on the door yourself (inadvisable unless you’re a former rugby player, perhaps) or turning to the media for help.

The publicity surrounding Mr Kaufman’s laptop and, before that, Carling’s iPad, has led to a surge of interest in Hidden and similar software packages, which can only be a good thing; even if a stolen device cannot be retrieved, at least data can be protected by remote locking or erasing.

Absolute’s LoJack software perhaps offers the most sensible answer to worries about misplaced heroics or vigilante action after a theft; the company deals with the police on your behalf, and doesn’t tell you the location of the your item once it’s reported stolen.

“I read about a case recently where a person encountered someone with an iPhone in the vicinity of where their stolen one was supposedly located,” says Absolute’s general manager Dave Everett. “They beat up that person and they ended up being prosecuted. They had no idea of the forensics – but our tools are approved by ACPO (the Association of Chief Police Officers) and analyse the data in greater detail.”

The taxi driver in the Kaufman case would have been thankful for this approach; he may well have purchased the stolen machine innocently, but he’s now been cyber-branded as a thief.

Lost and found

The iPad pursuit

A former England sports star might find the public more than willing to help with a search for their stolen property, but Will Carling took matters into his own hands in February, detailing on Twitter his journey around Woking looking for his missing iPad. “Can’t believe this,” he wrote. “[It's] now showing it near the station round the back of some shops – has it been dumped???” It was handed in to Woking police.

The indestructible smartphone

In March this year, US Air Force sergeant Ron Walker accidentally dropped his iPhone out of a plane flying at approximately 1000ft. After logging in to Apple’s Find My iPhone service he was surprised to find it emitting a signal; it was eventually found, fully intact, lying next to a tree in dense forest in North Carolina. “It looked like someone had sat the phone down and walked away,” said Walker.

The stolen car

Last October, a woman in Cincinnati had her car stolen as she popped into a dry cleaners. She’d left her mobile phone in the car, and police were able to gain access to the phone’s GPS facility; the driver was tracked as he made his way through town (making purchases using the credit card as he went) and was eventually arrested.

The Twitter vigilante

Last month, Canadian web analyst Sean Power used a software package called Prey to retrieve details of a laptop thief, which he posted on Twitter; a number of his online acquaintances followed the culprit around New York, with one finally confronting him in a bar and persuading him to hand over the item. Power decided not to press charges.

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This time of year, with Father’s Day and graduation gifts on most everyone’s shopping list, electronic gadgets are front and center.

Look no further, here’s all you need to know on the latest and greatest.

EXTRA POWER

Innergie has some of the most useful power adapters for almost anyone with any electronic gadget that needs a power boost.

The mCube Lite, mMini DC10 and the Magic Cable are great choices.

With the mCube Lite ($59.99) compact universal power adapter, an endless list of devices from computers to cellphones and digital cameras can be charged individually with one single unit.

For travelers, the mMini DC10 ($19.99) auto adapter can charge two USB devices at the same time.

My favorite – the pocket sized Magic Cable ($14.99) has a retractable cable with a USB connection on one end and both micro and miniUSB adapters on the other for charging eBooks, mobile phones, MP3 player, GPS, and more.

Currently, Innergie has a special running through Father’s Day allowing you to get a Magic Cable for free when ordering any Innergie Laptop Adapter.

Details: www.myinnergie.com

ACCESS TO NEWS

Being an iPad junkie, the PressReader app from NewspaperDirect is second to none.

Currently the free app has 1,800 full-content newspapers from 94 countries in 48 languages available in full XML versions by individual subscriptions.

Once you have subscribed to the papers you want, every morning after the app is launched, the papers automatically download.

Each page lets you scroll, zoom or flip to the next with the touch of your fingers with incredible clarity in both landscape and portrait views.

Plans include the option to single downloads for $0.99 or all you want to read for $29.95 per month.

Download the app from iTunes and you can get seven issues free.

Details: www.pressreader.com

PORTABLE SOUND

The iHome iD9 continues the line of great products from the company known for revolutionary docking speaker systems.

This rechargeable (2600mAh lithium-ion battery) system works with the iPad, iPhone and iPod models that dock.

Amazing sound is pumped out of the portable unit, built with iHome’s SRS TruBass and Reson8 sound technology.

A line-in port on the back connects non-Apple docking portable media players.

It also works with the iHome+Sleep app (free at iTunes), which enables users to customize alarm settings and much more.

Details: www.ihomeaudio.com, $99.99 at iHome or $85.79 at Amazon.

FOOD MONITOR

The iGrill enables outdoor chefs to keep an eye on the food while away from the grill.

After a simple Bluetooth setup with an iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, along with the free iGrill app available at iTunes users can monitor cooking temperatures from as far as 200 feet.

Once your meat is on the grill, just put the iGrill probe in, turn the app on and your screen will monitor the temperature and cooking level.

Once it hits the target temperature, you know it’s safe for eating.

Details: www.igrillinc.com, $99

LAPTOP SECURITY

I’d consider the Kensington ClickSafe Anywhere Keyed Lock 2 Pack a necessity for any laptop owner to keep the high priced portable computers safe.

The pack comes with two locks and cables made with strong steel, so users can keep one for the road and one at home or the office. For convenience, both use the same key.

Canon / iGrill / SeV

From the best digital cameras to high-tech grill gear and the smartest spot for your stuff, here’s the right gift to get this father’s day.

Father’s Day: The holiday when men can be men.

Once a year, we can safely ask for those manly things we really want — like power tools and outdoor gear. And of course gadgets! I’ve spent the last 10 months buying toys for my baby, so I don’t mind taking a day to ask for some toys of my own. Here are some of the high-tech things I’ve been coveting this year.

iGrill
This is for the high-tech Grill Master of the house, like me. You simply put the iGrill thermometer in the meat and close the grill. The thermometer uses Bluetooth to send the temperature of the meat to the iPhone or iPad app.

No more babysitting your chicken! Think of how freeing it would be to have a constant read on your meat, even if you aren’t laboring directly over the grill. Now you can walk away and enjoy that icy cold beverage while your dinner cooks.

Hand-e-holder
This is for the tablet owner that is always worried about dropping that expensive device. The Hand-e-holder sticks onto the back of your tablet and you can hold it with one hand safe and sound. 

My son likes to play learning games on my iPad but he also likes to try to pick it up and put it in his mouth. With Hand-e-holder I’ve got a good grip on the device so that his precarious baby grip won’t result in a shattered iPad screen — which would make for a very sad Father’s Day indeed.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR Camera
It’s a splurge, I know, but if you’ve saved some ducats, you’ll score a home run with this gift! I’ve been wanting the EOS 5D camera so badly but it is nearly $4,000 for the camera body and a lens! It is for the father that loves taking photos — of children or anything else. This is Canon’s top of the line camera and the photos are just gorgeous.

This is a 21.1 megapixel camera that also captures full high-definition video. It has an HDMI output so that you can show off your handiwork on your flatscreen TV for the whole family to admire.

Verbatim 640 GB Wallet Drive
And where are you going to store all of those beautiful photos? Cloud storage like Flickr and Picasa albums are great for family sharing but you should always back up your photos to your own hard drive! When it comes to precious family photographs, it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Verbatim drives look like a leather wallet and are slim enough to fit in your pants. They have models that go all the way up to 640 gigs, which is enough for hundreds of thousands of photos! For the non-professional weekend warrior photographer, this is more storage than you’ll ever need!

SCOTTeVEST
Speaking of storage, where is Dad going to store all of his tools, toys, and gadgets? How about a SCOTTeVEST? My wife got me one of these a few months ago and I loved it so much, I bought two more. 

SCOTTeVEST are a line of jackets and vests that hold pretty much every portable electronic I can think of. I have stuffed it full of an iPad, iPhone, Kindle, and even a MacBook Air and headed to Starbucks with all of my gear. And you wouldn’t know it! It looks like a stylish jacket or vest! It sounds nerdy but it really isn’t. You won’t look like Inspector Gadget from the outside but open the lining of your coat, and you’re set for any electronic tasks imaginable!

The Daily Beast, Thursday, May 26, 2011, 11:46pm (PDT)

By Dan Lyons, The Daily Beast

David Pogue is an incredibly popular technology columnist and one of the most influential gadget gurus in the world. With a column in the New York Times, TV gigs on CNBC, CBS, and PBS, and 1.3 million Twitter followers, Pogue can drive sales of a new gizmo with a few exuberant words or crush a company’s dreams with a thumbs-down on a new product.

Related Daily Beast story: Why Trump Can’t Run

But Pogue in the past has landed in hot water for failing to disclose potential conflicts of interest. And he has recently attracted some notoriety after he and his wife, whom he’s divorcing, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct following an alleged scuffle during a domestic dispute that some reports say involved him hitting his wife with an iPhone.

And now those two issues are converging: Pogue has been dating Nicki Dugan, a vice president at OutCast Agency, a San Francisco PR firm that represents top tech companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Cisco, Netflix, and Yahoo, since last year. (On April 24, things between them had grown serious enough that Dugan announced their relationship on her Facebook page.)

During the time they’ve been involved, Pogue has written articles about OutCast clients and their competitors without disclosing his personal connection to a senior staffer at the firm.

Pogue’s editor at the New York Times, Damon Darlin, says that Pogue told him about the relationship last December. “He was concerned that there might be a perception of a conflict of interest, so we went over it,” says Darlin, adding that he determined that as long as Pogue didn’t write about companies that Dugan personally represents, there would be no problem. He says he also asked OutCast not to pitch stories to Pogue. “People have romances all the time,” says Darlin. “He hasn’t written about any companies that she is representing.” (Neither Pogue nor Dugan returned a message for comment.)

Romantic involvement with a news source would create the appearance and probably the reality of partiality.

More from The Daily Beast: 7 Most Wanted War Criminals

Still, the fact that Pogue frequently wrote stories of great importance to his girlfriend’s firm without disclosure makes some familiar with the details uncomfortable. An in-house tech company public relations executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of rankling Pogue, says the issue is more about disclosure than bias. “What he’s saying is, ‘Just trust me. I don’t need to tell you anything. Just trust me.’ But hiding this is a mistake. Pretending it doesn’t matter is a mistake. Perception is reality.” The executive criticized “his potential inability to make a distinction between what he thinks is okay and what the rest of the world does.”

Some examples:

• In March, Pogue wrote about Amazon, an OutCast client, calling its new cloud music service “beautifully done” and “a joy to use.”

• Also in March, Pogue wrote about Zediva, a startup that competes with Netflix, which is an OutCast client. Pogue’s review of Zediva was positive in places, but he also criticized Zediva, calling its service “slow to respond,” “frustrating,” and “disappointing,” and describing its website as looking “like one somebody cobbled together in a weekend.”

• In February, Pogue hosted a show in the PBS Nova series in which he touted Bloom Energy, a green tech company that was represented by OutCast and was one of Dugan’s main clients at the time. Dugan’s online bio at the agency website touts her role at Bloom, claiming Dugan “was instrumental in launching fuel cell provider Bloom Energy, which debuted on 60 Minutes and received coverage in more than 1,500 stories.”

• Another of Dugan’s clients is the venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz, which has invested in dozens of top tech companies, including Groupon and Skype, both of whom Pogue has written about in recent months. (His Groupon story ran in February; his story about Skype ran in May.)

In Pogue’s defense, many of these big companies are hard to avoid, and his opinions were not always in lockstep with the wishes of his girlfriend’s firm. In April, Pogue wrote about Cisco, another OutCast client, criticizing it for shutting down the company that made the cool little Flip camera, which Cisco bought in 2009. And the Times’ ethics policy, within a section called “keeping our detachment,” states that while “Romantic involvement with a news source would create the appearance and probably the reality of partiality,” it’s up to the writer to disclose it to his or her editor, as Pogue did, and that “in some cases, no further action may be needed,” as Darlin decided.

More from The Daily Beast: 10 Most Expensive Sex Scandals

For their part, the top brass at OutCast are unfazed. Alex Constantinople, CEO of OutCast, says Dugan disclosed her relationship with Pogue last December. She says OutCast has no problem with Dugan dating a tech journalist. “She can’t be pitching him stories,” says Constantinople. “And that doesn’t happen. I’m one hundred percent comfortable with it.”

Though Dugan was representing Bloom when Pogue’s PBS show was in production, Constantinople says Dugan did not pitch the story to Pogue and that “when PBS approached Bloom, Nicki and David hadn’t met each other yet.” Furthermore, Constantinople says OutCast no longer represents Bloom.

For Pogue, there have been other disclosure incidents. In 2006 CBS News issued an apology after Pogue did a segment on a tech company called DriveSavers without disclosing the fact that the company had repaired his computer at no cost.

In 2009, Pogue was singled out by the paper’s public editor because he was making money writing “Missing Manuals” about tech products and then reviewing the same products in the Times without disclosing his work on the manuals.

Pogue’s defense at the time was that he was not actually a journalist, but rather an entertainer. Nevertheless, the Times at that time forced Pogue to start disclosing his “outside activities,” and to let readers know when he is writing a manual for a product he is reviewing.

To be sure, for many of Pogue’s millions of fans, these new details probably won’t change their view of him as perhaps the most trusted mainstream voice on tech gadgets. Pogue remains a first-rate writer and an engaging public speaker, with a reputation for calling them as he sees them.

But that’s why the lack of transparent disclosure seems unusual, especially within the context of the New York Times, which has stringent policies about disclosing conflicts of interest. Last year the paper appended an “editor’s note” to a column by business writer Joe Nocera after he wrote about a lawsuit and failed to mention that his fiancee was employed by one of the law firms involved. The editor’s note said Nocera was not aware of the conflict when he wrote the column and that “he would not have written about the case if he had known of the law firm’s involvement.”

Dan Lyons is technology editor at Newsweek and the creator of Fake Steve Jobs, the persona behind the notorious tech blog, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs. Before joining Newsweek, Lyons spent 10 years at Forbes.

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

Funtime

Get all your gaming news here…

How many times do you check Facebook, send a text, play some “Angry Birds,” drown out your boss with iTunes and spend entire evenings watching Netflix On Demand…on your Wii? Yeah, same here. That’s why G Philly decided to round up some of the most entertaining, useful and downright cool new tech toys for summer. Because no trip to Rehoboth – or Fire Island – would be the same without them.

White iPhone 4

Nothing says fun in the sun like a white party…in your pocket. That’s what makes the White iPhone 4 such a hotly anticipated smart phone this season. The stunning case will look great with that tan you’ve been working on since February. Plus, it works with all of the cool video apps users have come to enjoy from this fourth version of the Apple favorite. (Can’t get enough iPhone? Rumor has it iPhone 5 will be released in the fall. But, alas, it’s only a rumor, folks.)

Illy Francis Y1 Espresso Machine

Refuel from last night’s late-night garden party without ever leaving the house. The crema-topped espresso that pours from the Y1 will save you a hungover trip to Starbucks. Plus, the cool coffee maker is as stylish as it is practical, steaming up consistently good, mess-free espresso for the coffee addict with a penchant for sexy small appliances. It’s also quite the conversation piece should you have company the next day.

HP Touch Pad

Not everyone loves Apple as much as we do, which is why the many PC users out there will be pleased with the new HP Touch Pad. The tablet looks a lot like iPad, but lets users move between apps on one screen. It even lets folks answer texts and phone calls – and works with Adobe Flash. If you are forced to take your work with you on vacation (say it isn’t so!), this sleek tablet sure beats a bulky laptop, especially if you consider that it works with most printers.

It’s also great for streaming movies and listening to music all in one place. And for you “literary” beach bums, you can even download digital books to the Touch Pad (yes, that includes the entire Jackie Collins collection).

Philips Fidelio DS9000 Primo Speaker Dock

Stream your music on the deck or by the pool with this new digital music dock from Philips. The touch of wood combined with the futuristic shape not only equals great sound, but it’s a stylish fit into any room – indoor or out. Just pop your iPod into the dock and you’ll be enjoying favorite playlists during parties and days off instantly. The dock is also portable should you want to pack it up before heading to your hotel, inn or summer house this season.

Shure SE315 Earphones

If you prefer to keep your guilty music pleasures to yourself (we know you listen to Barbra – on repeat – a lot) then these snazzy earphones from Shure should be on your gift list. Rather than be seen sweating in those oversized hipster headphones that block out noise, consider earbuds that actually fit and are comfortable. The best part is that this pair features a detachable cord, so if you get your buds stuck in a sand dune (or taxi door) you won’t have to worry about replacing them.

Check back for more geeky guides when we tackle sleek tech for the designer home.

David Pogue, the New York times technology columnist known as the Gadget Guru, and his wife were arrested Monday for getting physical with each other during a domestic dispute. On Tuesday, they both went to get restraining orders against each other.

By Thursday night, Pogue, who also is an Emmy-winning tech correspondent for the show Sunday Morning on CBS, was speaking at a conference benefiting victims of domestic violence. The irony is, the speaking engagement was planned before the argument, and Pogue did not find out that the rest of the world was reading the news of the altercation at the time of his speech. Upon finding the word was out, the Gadget Guru told reporters after his speech that Jennifer Pogue was to soon be his ex-wife.

The couple has been in the process of getting a divorce, and the incident occurred when Jennifer showed up during David’s visitation with the couple’s three children. It seems an argument, and Jennifer Pogue decided to record it on her cell phone. David claims she hit his arm when he tried to grab the phone from is wife.

However, Jennifer claims that David Pogue approached her while she was in bed reading and took the phone away from her. She told police he then beat her on the head with the phone. According to reports, Police reviewed the video and decided to arrest both for domestic violence. They are scheduled to appear in court June 22.

In keeping with his “techie” career, David Pogue seems to be using the incident to his advantage. His decision to use the altercation to talk about how his troubles have spread over the Internet and through personal electronic devices seems to either prove the man has a real obsession with technology, or he is just obsessed with his career. This could cause one to question just how much technology may have added to David’s marital problems. Undoubtedly, both of them need to get their act together.