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Alex Jones

I lead teams at the intersection of strategy and design. Autodidact. Polymath. Barbecue acolyte. I start fires (the good kind).

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Rockin the Lap

iLap 1 - Small - Snagged from Rain Design’s Site I love my MacBok Pro, but it gets far too hot far too quickly when I have it sitting in my lap, and as I got this machine specifically to have the flexibility to use it when and where I want. At the moment, that means writing this post as I sit on the couch, next to Sarah as she makes a couple of giant pillows for the floor. The only reason I’m able to do this is the iLap Laptop Stand from Rain Design. After reading the reviews on Amazon I ordered it and it arrived in two days. Since then I’ve used it while lounging in a couple of chairs and on my desk as a replacement for the old laptop stand. It has been a tremendously satisfying experience so far and I highly recommend that you check them out, especially if you are using an MBP, or other laptop that runs hot.

They have a couple of models (15” for the MacBook Pro, 13.3” for the MacBook ), so the bases are covered if you have something other than a MacBook Pro. Anyway, I thought I’d share the info in the hopes that others may find it useful too. Hopefully this will lead to me posting more often as it won’t require that I set up the comp at my desk!

Remote Destruction of Data on a Stolen Laptop

Mac Geekery has a nice little article discussing how to remotely destroy data on your laptop should it be stolen. The concept is great, and the use of Perl could easily be replaced by other technologies. I like the idea of taking the machine down and notifying the user that the machine is stolen, in addition to gathering additional info as to the laptop’s whereabouts.

Mac Laptop Theft Recovery

For those with a Mac laptop, Orbicule’s Undercover software could prove a very useful bit of kit, should the computer ever be stolen. If someone absconds with your iBook/Powerbook/MacBook Pro, Undercover will reveal the Net location (IP address) of the machine plus “it also transmits screenshots, enabling you to closely monitor your stolen Mac… As these screenshots are sent at regular intervals, they will sooner or later reveal the thief’s identity (e.g. when chatting, reading e-mail,…) making it much easier to work with law enforcement in order to recover your Mac.” And if that doesn’t work, it will:

simulate a hardware failure, gradually making the Mac’s screen unusable. This erratic behaviour will be accompanied by a Mac OS X system message stating that a hardware failure has been detected. All this should urge the thief to bring the Mac to an authorized Apple reseller. At that point, Undercover will show a full-screen message alerting the reseller (or someone who bought the Mac from the thief) that the Mac has been stolen, that it has become unusable and that it needs to be returned as soon as possible.

Apparently it checks against their central server to determine if your Mac is in the “stolen list”.

Found via Gizmodo.