[Ti] Phil's 2002 Moron Of The Year Award

[Phillip McGree]

Mr Victim just came over and picked up his iMac (ie it's Saturday afternoon here right now).  Turns out that most of his assignments were still on there.

For those that have emailed me asking about the web site to check serial numbers on, it's a confidential dealer only site that Apple Australia has only had running for a few months.  Heck, until a few weeks ago, it was only accessible during business hours so I'm real glad that it was available last night.  Once Mr Moron has been busted, I'll be passing all this onto Apple Australia, which I suspect will then be emailed on to all the resellers.

Mr Moron rang me this morning to see how I'm progressing with setting up the software.  I told him that the hard drive is making some strange noises and I'll get back to him this afternoon.  The police officer that has been handling the house burglary case isn't back at work until Monday, so I'm going to tell Mr Moron that I've taken the iMac somewhere to get the hard drive replaced, and will have it back on Monday for him.  That way I've got a very unsuspecting Mr Moron waiting in limbo until the relevant cop can get involved.  One can only wonder just how stupid this twit is going to feel when he finally gets arrested.

Mr Moron was also asking me yesterday about digital cameras, saying that he's got one but can't remember what model it is.   It occurred to me late last night that if a person has actually bought an expensive camera, then he's doing to at least know what model it is.  Thus, I am assuming that Mr Moron has at least also got a stolen digital camera in his possession.  Oh goody.

Now... is it just me or can I hear the Jaws theme playing quietly in the background somewhere?


Phil


>We've all heard of the Darwin Awards, which recognises people that have done really stupid things and died in the process.  I don't know of an equivalent for dumb thieves, but the bloke who has the starring role in the following story deserves a life membership if such an "organisation" exists.
>
>I had a spare few minutes today, so was looking through the Quokka, a classified newspaper here in Perth.  In the Wanted section was a person looking for some iMac software, so being a Mac dealer I gave him a call.
>
>He brings the iMac over about 6pm so that it could be left here overnight for me to re-install all the system software from some original iMac CDs that I have here.  Being the curious nosy bugger that I am, I was asking him how long he's had it, etc, etc, etc. 
>
>"It was a gift."  Thus, alarm bell number one starts doing a really funky sort of a dance.
>
>He then sees a USB keyboard on one of my desks here and comments that he paid $100 for one last week because he didn't get a keyboard with the iMac.
>
>Got the iMac as a gift, but without a keyboard, eh?  Thus, alarm bell number two starts ringing.  Other alarm bells start revving their engines.
>
>Whilst conversing with Mr Moron, I quietly load up (on my PowerBook laptop) Apple's web site for checking serial numbers.  Voila, the bright red letters "STOLEN" turn up.  I close the screen immediately so that Mr Moron doesn't see this.
>
>Bugger alarm bell number three, the whole bloody alarm bell population is going nuts, whilst I try to prevent from breaking out laughing.
>
>The subject of digital cameras then came up, so I showed off my beloved Canon G2 digital camera.  Took some demo pics and showed him the quality.  Of course, one of these photos was of Mr Moron in my front yard, thus having evidence that he was here.  Mr Moron's IQ level starts plummeting dangerously towards the single digit mark.
>
>All the applications have been deleted from the iMac, so I put Outlook Express on there and open it.  Lo and behold, email appears.  Sifting through email found the actual owner's name, home address and phone number.  I recovered another stolen iMac in June last year the same way (that particular idiot was convicted in court in March this year).  One must appreciate how thieves manage to trash all the applications, but never think about the Preferences and other stuff.
>
>A quick phone call to Mr Victim has us both VERY amused (giggling like idiots, actually).  His house was burgled and ransacked a month ago.
>
>He is a university student, and uninsured.  Bummer, why couldn't it be some ultra rich person with valuable data, who would then give me a new Ferrari and KTM as a reward?????
>
>Mr Victim will be picking up his iMac soon, and we will discuss how we'll present this lovely tale to the constabulary.  With Christmas a few days away, I suspect that Mr Moron isn't going to be having the best weekend of his life.  If police follow their usual pattern of house searches, they'll get Mr Moron out of bed nice and bright and early (ie so he's too tired to destroy or hide anything).  The bloke I got busted last year had 14 police search his house because they had another major search to do nearby the same morning, so they did his house as a warm up!
>
>Moral(s) of the story:
>If your Mac gets knocked off, make sure it's on Apple's database
>Bring stolen Macs to me, I could do with the laugh
>Make sure your computer equipment is properly insured
>Record your serial numbers!
>
>
>Still Laughing,
>Phil
>Thinking he needs to get some "Go ahead, make my day" t-shirts made up.
>
>
>.
>--
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Sent from the Apple PowerBook G4 of:
>Phillip McGree                                    	Web:	http://www.phil.net.au
>Perth, Western Australia			http://chat.iinet.net.au
>Mobile Phone: 0418 922 500		Email: 	phil at phil.net.au
>Macs for sale - new and secondhand		http://mac.iinet.net.au
>
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-- 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sent from the Apple PowerBook G4 of:
Phillip McGree                                    	Web:	http://www.phil.net.au
Perth, Western Australia			http://chat.iinet.net.au
Mobile Phone: 0418 922 500		Email: 	phil at phil.net.au
Macs for sale - new and secondhand		http://mac.iinet.net.au