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Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card Helps Catch Dumb Thieves
Posted by Jason Chen at 8:40 AM on June 6, 2008
That Eye-Fi Wi-Fi SD memory card isn't just useful for uploading pictures automatically whenever there's a hotspot in range, it's also useful for catching thieves. Not all thieves, however, just ones stupid enough to take pictures of themselves using a camera they stole that has an Eye-Fi inserted. This brilliant guy made off with $1000+ worth of Alison's camera equipment while she was on vacation, only to be caught when Alison saw her pictures--plus some that didn't belong to her--being uploaded onto her machine. Thankfully none of those pictures were of the thief "using" her toothbrush, if you know what we mean. And we think you do.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Monty
Posted 9:17 AM 6/6/08
Whether the story is true or not (I tend to agree with scoobydoo and bobdobbs that it seems unlikely given how WiFi networks work), I think there is a real marketing opportunity for Eye-Fi, here:
With every Eye-Fi sold, include small stickers that say "Protected by Eye-Fi" for your digital cameras, MP3 players, sex toys, or whatever other small devices you want protected. Having an SD slot is optional, of course.
Monty
MONSTERGOC
Posted 9:17 AM 6/6/08
I was gonna bring a pock wifi router with my on my last vacation too but I decided I like sex so I left it at home and had a sex filled vacation instead.
MONSTERGOC
scoobydoo
Posted 9:15 AM 6/6/08
@bobdobbs: The explore isn't out yet, but it launches....tomorrow. The day AFTER this amazing press release hits the web.
scoobydoo
DisposableInterloper
Posted 9:15 AM 6/6/08
"Using" her toothbrush? Well, that depends on whether the theif is hot. My anger at getting my shit stolen would've been tempered a bit with some free, exclusive amateur pr0n in my grasp.
@scoobydoo:
Maybe the network is unsecured with a generic IP and default SSID (like 192.168.0.xxx and "linksys")?
DisposableInterloper
bobdobbs
Posted 9:14 AM 6/6/08
@bobdobbs: Oh, the "Explore" eye-fi card allows hotspot acccess. Nevermind, I'm a dope.
bobdobbs
bobdobbs
Posted 9:12 AM 6/6/08
@scoobydoo:I'm thinking the same thing. Calling BS.
bobdobbs
FlashSandbox
Posted 9:05 AM 6/6/08
@scoobydoo: On vacation I bring a pocket wi-fi router with me. It lets my eye-fi upload no matter where I am. This would also be possible with an ad-hoc network. If a thief were staying in the same hotel, it would be possible that the card could be in range and upload pictures.
I love the eye-fi card. Have 2 and use 'em all the time.
FlashSandbox
scoobydoo
Posted 9:00 AM 6/6/08
I'd love to know how this happened. My Eye-Fi will only connect to preconfigured Wi-Fi networks and there is no option to let it connect to any random network it finds. You can't change the network without having the eye-fi manager password either.
So unless the perp had a network name with the same AP name and security password as the victim, I find this entire story a little hard to believe.
scoobydoo
MONSTERGOC
Posted 8:58 AM 6/6/08
If you think that is bad. A few years ago I had a roommate that stole out other roommates checkbook. He bough pizza and stuff with it but made the mistake of having everything delivered back to our house. It didn't take long for us to figure out we had a rat amounts us and a dumb rat at that. Ahhh good times, dumb people are natures straight man.
MONSTERGOC
takashimike 2.0
Posted 8:58 AM 6/6/08
Damn. So that's what it is... Guess I gotta give Carmen her camera back..
takashimike 2.0
GeekyNerdGuy
Posted 8:52 AM 6/6/08
I've been meaning to get one of these Eye-Fi cards since they came out, but I have so many freaking SD cards that it's really hard to justify the purchase.
GeekyNerdGuy
Sheemo44
Posted 8:52 AM 6/6/08
"Thankfully none of those pictures were of the thief "using" her toothbrush, if you know what we mean. And we think you do."
What?
Sheemo44
DustyButt
Posted 8:50 AM 6/6/08
Oh wait... I just re-read the article... sorry. I'll go away now!
DustyButt
Jason Chen
Posted 8:49 AM 6/6/08
@DustyButt: No that's just an urban legend.
Jason Chen
DustyButt
Posted 8:47 AM 6/6/08
Is this a real story?
There was an internet tale years & years ago about a couple that went on vacation. When they got home and developed their vacation photos a week later they found pictures of their tooth brushes being used by the cleaning crew scrubbing their butt cracks.
Wussup Giz? Has this tale been updated?
DustyButt
Cordfucious
Posted 8:46 AM 6/6/08
Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity is not thus handicapped.
Cordfucious
Cordfucious
HJTravels
Posted 8:45 AM 6/6/08
Damn I should put those thins in all my cameras for just that reason. Now if they only made a larger version, maybe a 16gb.
HJTravels
Elk
Posted 8:42 AM 6/6/08
Ah, it seemed like just yesterday when the Mac lady took pics of her perpetrators using the iSight camera on her MacBook.
Elk
Gary_7vn
Posted 9:43 AM 6/6/08
My companies name is eyestir. Can I sue them? LOL
Gary_7vn
david3800
Posted 9:41 AM 6/6/08
@MONSTERGOC: Maybe you should work here, you found the link and added it. :Þ
david3800
MONSTERGOC
Posted 9:35 AM 6/6/08
WTF? where did all of the other posts go?
MONSTERGOC
bobdobbs
Posted 9:33 AM 6/6/08
@MONSTERGOC: Mystery solved.
"Luckily, the culprits passed by an unsecured network, whose factory-installed setting matched that of DeLauzon's home system"
I guess being ignorant about wi-fi security pays sometimes. Of course, if they're as lax about home security as they are about network security, the cameras probably wouldn't have been stolen in the first place.
bobdobbs
bobdobbs
Posted 9:28 AM 6/6/08
@Dunny0: Can't both be true? ;-)
bobdobbs
MONSTERGOC
Posted 9:28 AM 6/6/08
Reuters says story is real folks (dnst make it so but its a legit source), They have a new thing on the internets called Google. You should try it, it works pretty good.
[www.reuters.com]
MONSTERGOC
Dunny0
Posted 9:22 AM 6/6/08
Am I just dense, or is there no link to an external article?
Dunny0
bitfactory
Posted 9:21 AM 6/6/08
While I was reading the story I half-expected the thieves to return the camera equipment when they couldn't figure out why the Eye-Fi kept importing the same pictures over and over again. I 'like' my Eye-Fi, I just can't 'love' it with some of the bugs it has now.
bitfactory
oCfuu
Posted 5:01 PM 6/6/08
Did the thief use the toothbrush or 'a toothbrush'? Was it an electric one by any chance? Naughty!
oCfuu
ugar
Posted 10:46 AM 7/6/08
@ugar: Nevermind, via the hotspots.
ugar
ugar
Posted 10:45 AM 7/6/08
How were the pictures uploaded onto her machine?
ugar