Friday, January 19, 2007
alarm for MacBook
Ok, so you can imagine that with this new Macbook I'm pretty paranoid about anyone stealing it. I keep my office door locked at all times, and I put one of those Defcon combo locks on it (that lock itself didn't stop my previous one from getting stolen, but at least it's something). However I still feel that if laptop locks aren't failsafe, and locking your office isn't failsafe (I've heard of at least three different incidents here at MIT where people had their laptops stolen from locked offices) then doing both, although better than either one alone, isn't failsafe either.
So in googling security for MacBooks, I cam across articles that mentioned a new type of software called iAlertU. Basically it functions just as a car alarm does, to protect your Macbook when you're gone for a minute or two (i.e. when you go to pick up a printout, grab a cup of coffee, etc). For a video demo of this alarm in action, check out this site from YouTube. As you can see, with the Apple Remote (all Macbooks come with them) you can enable the alarm and so if anyone tries to type or even pick up your laptop (it uses its built-in motion sensor), the alarm will go off and the screen will start flashing. Also, it even uses the built-in iSight camera to snap and save a photo of the thief!!
Anyways, at this point it seems a bit of a novelty, but still I think it's pretty cool and likely acts as a deterrent to theft. Every little bit helps!!
Note: Most websites that mention this iAlertU software say that it works only for the MacBook Pro. For that reason, I didn't install it initially. But I believe the latest version of the software (0.18b) DOES work on non-pro Macbooks; I just downloaded it on to my 13" Macbook and it works just fine!! And the software is free!! I did make a small donation to the developers via Paypal though, since I think the guys who developed this code should be thanked for spending all this time and effort making this. After all, a donation of $5 or $10 is nothing if it saves your $1,300 laptop from being stolen!
So in googling security for MacBooks, I cam across articles that mentioned a new type of software called iAlertU. Basically it functions just as a car alarm does, to protect your Macbook when you're gone for a minute or two (i.e. when you go to pick up a printout, grab a cup of coffee, etc). For a video demo of this alarm in action, check out this site from YouTube. As you can see, with the Apple Remote (all Macbooks come with them) you can enable the alarm and so if anyone tries to type or even pick up your laptop (it uses its built-in motion sensor), the alarm will go off and the screen will start flashing. Also, it even uses the built-in iSight camera to snap and save a photo of the thief!!
Anyways, at this point it seems a bit of a novelty, but still I think it's pretty cool and likely acts as a deterrent to theft. Every little bit helps!!
Note: Most websites that mention this iAlertU software say that it works only for the MacBook Pro. For that reason, I didn't install it initially. But I believe the latest version of the software (0.18b) DOES work on non-pro Macbooks; I just downloaded it on to my 13" Macbook and it works just fine!! And the software is free!! I did make a small donation to the developers via Paypal though, since I think the guys who developed this code should be thanked for spending all this time and effort making this. After all, a donation of $5 or $10 is nothing if it saves your $1,300 laptop from being stolen!
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