It Finally Happened To Me -- My Ipad And Laptop Were Stolen.

[teschowv]

I am a teacher visiting from Canada. On Thursday evening, my twin boys and I went to the McDonald's under the bridge near the 3 of February Parks, in Palermo, on Libertador, and we left our iPad and laptop there. When we came back 10 minutes later, they were, of course, gone. I know there is a very slim chance, but I'm hoping that maybe somebody found them and would be willing to return them. (Okay, you can all stop laughing now, hehe.)

All my teaching files were on my laptop including handouts and a ppt for a workshop I am volunteering with here in BsAs -- it's a big loss to my work with children and other teachers. I know, I know... I am an idiot for not backing up since we left Canada last Sept... and for leaving my valuables unattended, even for five seconds in this Godforsaken city!!!

I don't have a telephone here in Argentina, sorry, but I do have email -- I would be very grateful if someone finds the laptop and iPad (they were in a soft case when we left them; the iPad had a green casing on it...) and returns them.

We will be here in Buenos Aires until May.

Thank you for your help.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

Wow, that really sucks! Honestly, I don't think they are going to be returned. If that was the case then whoever took them would have walked to the front and spoken to a manager, and then walked through the place looking for the owners.

I'm sorry to say but your stuff is gone. It's a hard lesson on two fronts - never ever ever leave your stuff alone (even under your seat) and always back up whatever you don't want to lose permanently.

 

[MikeB12]

Sorry to hear that, unfortunately as you seem to be aware chances of you recovering your stolen items are close to zero.

I know this doesn't help you now, but maybe for the future and for others, but if your computer and files are essential to your work I'd recommend looking into purchasing Backblaze or a similar service. It backs up all your files to a cloud server and tracks your computer via IP address if you report it stolen. Its $5 a month, but worth having as a form of insurance depending on how you value your data.

 

[teschowv]

Yep, I know. But I can't not try to remain optimistic for at least a 24 post-theft mourning period, hehe.

Funny lessons -- the first we've been vigilant about until this day... the second, I spend so much time teaching my students and my own kids all the time, lol! Maybe now *I'll* learn!!! ;-P

 

[ARbound]

Sorry to hear about it . I've been here 9 months now and I always tell my friends when they ask "Not yet".
I don't know if this is better or worse as at least you didn't have the violence that is often associated with theft here.
Buenos Aires class silver lining I guess?

 

[teschowv]

Hehe, yes, until yesterday, that was my reply, too! ;-P

And yes, I agree, I do feel very grateful that it was my own stupidity and carelessness, rather than violent incident. (Interesting, though, one of my boys in particular was VERY affected by the whole thing. He suddenly realised that not everyone does the "right thing" -- we was sure it would have been handed in to the cashiers. And last night he was all worried about "Robbers" and that we'd be broken into at home, and that my throat would be slit. Poor guy. No longer an innocent child.

 

[Sleuth]

Did you have a password on your iPad? If you did and it was running iOS 7, then they cannot do much with it as it requires your iTunes password to activate.

Did you turn on the "Find My iPhone" service? You can login at icloud.com and see if you can track the iPad to get a location. Is it an Apple laptop? Did you turn on "Find My Mac"? That works the same.

And yes, it's too late, but as a reminder to others - install a cloud backup service! They're cheap and reliable. I use Backblaze.com for $50/year and it's some of the best money I could spend. They have unlimited storage space for that price. (And yes, I also have Time Machine backups too.) I also store all my files on Google Drive for another level of backup.

ALSO, be sure to change any passwords that may have been saved in the browser - Gmail, etc.

 

[dennisr]

Sorry to hear. Please tell me it was password protected to erase data?

For whatever it is worth:
Could be tough to use if the device was EVER logged into iCloud, even the free account. Did it have IOS 7? Gave my niece an old iPad and she could not use it until I deactivated it from the iCloud account associated with the device. Never used the account but had unknowingly initialized it when I updated the software (IOS 7) way back when. I had reset it and erased all the data but forgot about the iCloud account. She could not use it until I deactivated it from the device's iCloud account. Thing is not all that easy to use if it is stolen or lost without all the passwords.

 

[dennisr]

Wanted to help but post needs to be reviewed. What next

 

[teschowv]

Did you have a password on your iPad? If you did and it was running iOS 7, then they cannot do much with it as it requires your iTunes password to activate.

Did you turn on the "Find My iPhone" service? You can login at icloud.com and see if you can track the iPad to get a location. Is it an Apple laptop? Did you turn on "Find My Mac"? That works the same.

And yes, it's too late, but as a reminder to others - install a cloud backup service! They're cheap and reliable. I use Backblaze.com for $50/year and it's some of the best money I could spend. They have unlimited storage space for that price. (And yes, I also have Time Machine backups too.) I also store all my files on Google Drive for another level of backup.

ALSO, be sure to change any passwords that may have been saved in the browser - Gmail, etc.

Yes, yes, all passwords changed. Up all night. Ugh. Nightmare.

I did not have passcode on my iPad (convenience, stupid me), but I DID have "find" enabled... waiting to see if and when they try to log onto wifi... hasn't happened so far... we shall see... (Trying to remember if I removed all the nudie shots of my girlfriend, lol!) Laptop was not apple... Samsung -- slim, lightweight, sexy, all my teacher files... photos... (thank goodness I've done prolific blogging -- most of that is online... but all my ppts, hours and hours and hours of work!!!!)

And yes, I WILL be using a cloud service, if and when I ever get another laptop. (First priority when I get back to Toronto in May is paying my rent. Then groceries. Then laptop, hehe. iPad is a luxury I can't afford to replace, I'm afraid.)

Thanks all, for your sympathy and input. You know, one of the things with something like this is that one can feel very alone and vulnerable, and it's nice to have this community... thanks, y'all!