Slashdot Asks: Do You Label Your Tech Gear, and If So, How? 250
At last month's CES, I mislaid a microphone that I'd just bought: too many items in little black pouches, and that one disappeared on a patch of dark carpet when I got something else out of my bag. A few minutes later, when I realized this, I walked back to find (no shocker) that it had walked away, and the lost mic somehow never made it to the Lost & Found office. Dumb as I felt for having let it get away, the real sting is knowing that I didn't so much as have my name on it, which I like to think might have nudged a morally ambivalent finder into returning it. My question is this: How do you personalize, label, or mark your expensive tech goodies, so it's harder for them to be innocently or less-innocently taken away? Even at a LAN party, it's easy for items to get swapped around and confused. I've sometimes put my name or initials (in permanent ink) on any flat surface I can find that will fit it, but even the "permanent" ink of Sharpies seems to fade on many surfaces. Stickers degrade with heat, time, and bag jostling, but they certainly help. Is engraving the best permanent option? Have you used one of the physical tag services, like Boomerang, and has that ever actually come in handy for you? There's theft-deterrent (or at least post-theft tracking) software, as we've mentioned a few times on Slashdot, but many things aren't suited to it, like my lost mic. What do you do to keep your stuff yours?
Today, in /.'s Fake User Question (Score:3, Insightful)
Really, guys...
non-issue (Score:5, Insightful)
some of us have grown up, and longer go to either trade shows or LAN parties 8D
on a more serious note, get an engraver
Re:Easy (Score:3, Insightful)
Then you're a fucking thief. It's not yours. Either fuck off or get it to a Lost&Found.
Reward if Found (Score:3, Insightful)
Engraving is the only (mostly) unremovable way to mark things, and I have found in the past that the simple phrase "Reward If Found" and a phone number have gotten me and several friends some of their items back. Either that, or "Stolen From (insert Name)". That way, even if the thief doesn't think better of his acquisition, he'll at least be reminded he's a morally corrupt shitbag every time he picks it up.
lacking answers here, ask roadie on a band forum (Score:5, Insightful)
The first several replies here aren't too useful. If that continues, ask band roadies on an appropriate forum. The band I used to do lights for did up to three shows per weekend, so there was plenty of opportunity for an expensive cable to end up in the wrong person's case and that sort of thing.
Something as simple as a stripe of blue paint on ALL of your gear will really help avoid accidents. For intentional theft, if you want the pawn shop to _maybe_ notice it, engraving is probably the only way to go.
Labelling won't change others' morals, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
I can't change others' morals and not make them thieves. But I do label stuff simply so it doesn't get confused. We all have so many big power transformers to power every device and, well, I end up moving every 2-3 yrs. How will I know what all they go to? Some look identical and even have the same plugs! But not the same wattage or amperage, which makes equipment go bananas. So... for at least THAT reason it's wise to label stuff.
Re:Easy (Score:3, Insightful)
You left your car in a parking lot so I took it, it's mine now.
Just buy another (Score:2, Insightful)
We all lose stuff. The real question is what inconvenience was caused. If it is not very high, just buy another and move on. It might irk you if you think it's expensive, but after a while the cost will fade into the background. Not worth obsessing over.