How to Track Stolen Laptops With a .mac or IP Address

Video Transcript

"Hey it's Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert here. Let me paint a picture for you. Let's say you're at your favorite coffee shop working on your laptop. Then you realize your coffee is running low and you got to go up there and get that vente quad caramel macchiato upside down right away. By the time you turn around you realize that some goof ball has made off with your laptop and all the information. Will you get it back? Well if it' s a Mac and you've got Mobile Me, what used to be called Dot Mac, the chances are very good. First call the police, got to have a report, especially for insurance and then bring them in and show them how slippery it is as you track them down using the latest technology. Here's how it goes. Basically built-in to the Macs in their new OS 10 is a little device called Back to my Mac, an awesome thing that allows you to take your laptop and or your office/home computer and both of them can get to each other meaning if you're at home and your laptop's at work and still plugged in and on you can get into it and vice-a-versa. Now most often I use my Air here to go and get back to the main studio computer and I can do everything from grab the files to screen share. Now when you screen share it offers a lot of opportunities for you. So let's say that this guy has stolen your computer, he is out there and he is using it, selling it, whatever. Well all you have to do is wait for it to come online literally with the Back to my Mac you can covertly screen share and now you have remote control of the computer even if the guy is surfing porn, alright? So what can you do? Well first off you can activate the camera, get a photograph of the so and so. You can also look into the settings and see what IP address he's broadcasting from and if it's a public place that'll help direct the police right to it. If it's a private address, even better. So anytime that that pops on, you've got the ability to track him. Unless they are very, very, very familiar with this very specific thing about these very specific computers and usually the people who steal Macs, not too smart in the head, it's an easy way to track them. So back to my Mac not only a lifeline in business and life, but it can help get back your stolen stuff, like me, Rokosz, your digital lifestyle expert saying stream you later."