Another Crook Caught Because of Posting on Facebook

Tindell (Source: Multnomah County Sheriff)

Yet another criminal has managed to get himself caught after posting on Facebook. 

Convicted robber James Tindell skipped out of Oregon earlier this year to avoid court-ordered drug treatment and other conditions he had accepted so as to avoid prison. 

But instead of flying under the radar, Tindell made Facebook posts that taunted his probation officer, complained about the judge who sentenced him, and ranted about the criminal justice system. Not only that, he posted things like “I’m in Alabama” and a sonogram of his unborn child that showed the name of the hospital in Alabama where it was taken. 

His probation officer spotted the posts and asked prosecutors to issue a nationwide arrest warrant. Tindell was then apprehended after getting pulled over for speeding -- another genius move by someone running from the law. 

In the end the clueless criminal was ordered to reimburse the state $2600 for flying him back to Oregon and sent to prison for 2½ years.
It’s far from an isolated case. 

Last year a thief in Georgia used a cell phone he found in a stolen purse to post a picture of himself on the victim’s Facebook page. He likely didn’t know the phone’s owner had it set up to automatically post photos to the social network.
And in April a dim-witted British crook was busted after a friend posted a photo of him on Facebook with a TV he’d stolen. 

Charles Holden stole a plasma TV, a PlayStation, and some games from a house in which he formerly had roomed. He then sold the goods right outside the door while one of his friends snapped a picture of the transaction. 

The victim, suspecting Holden, snooped around on his Facebook page as well as those of his friends and spotted the incriminating photo, which led to an arrest. 

And this one is classic: A Pennsylvania man back in 2009 stopped to check his Facebook account on a computer in the home he was in the process of robbing. He forgot to log out before taking off with his loot. 
 
Of course, the victim later noticed his mistake and gave police identifying information to make a speedy arrest. 

Although you’d think enough of these stories have surfaced that malefactors would wise up, apparently stupidity is perennial. If nothing else, they’re good for chuckles. See also "Stupid Criminal Tricks on Facebook.")

Microsoft's developer problem

 Microsoft's developer problem

 

Two links to Marco Arment within a few days? Well, if you make good points: "Many Windows developers were upset that iOS development had to be done on a Mac, but it didn't hurt Apple: the most important developers for iOS apps were already using Macs. But the success of Windows 8 and Windows Phone in the consumer space requires many of those consumer-product developers, now entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, to care so much about Windows development that they want to use Windows to develop for it. How likely is that?" As usual a bit too Apple-centric (he implies - as explicit as possible while still being implicit - that only iOS developers can create great applications), but his point still stands. Judging by the abysmal quality of Microsoft's own Metro applications (Mail, Video, Music, People, IE10, etc.), even Microsoft doesn't know how to create great Metro applications.

Rare working Apple 1 computer sells for record $374,500

 A 36-year-old Apple-1 personal computer, one of just six thought to be in working condition, sold for a record $374,500 at a New York auction today.

Also sold by Sotheby's Friday: A memo written by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs during his time at video game maker Atari.

The gavel price for the Apple 1, which included the buyer's premium -- the commission owed to auctioneer Sotheby's -- was nearly twice the top estimate of $180,000 and triple the low-ball prediction of $120,000.

It was a record for an Apple-1, the first computer from the company co-founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The previous record of $213,000 was set in late 2010 at an auction conducted by Christie's in London

Friday's price was 76% higher than the 2010 Apple-1 sale.

Sotheby's did not reveal the name of the buyer of either the Apple 1 or the memo, and did not reply to questions Friday. The BBC, however, reported that a telephone bidder won the auction for the Apple 1.

The Apple-1, a circuit board hand-built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, was made in 1976, and sold at the time for $666.66. About 200 units were produced, but by Sotheby's estimate, only 50 survive. Six, including the one sold today, are known to be in working condition.

Included with the Apple 1 lot was an original cassette interface -- cassette tapes were used to store programs and data -- and several manuals, including a rare BASIC user's manual.

The four-page Jobs-authored memo sold for $27,500, also significantly higher than the auction house's preliminary estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.

That memorandum and an accompanying one-page addendum were written by Jobs in 1974 during a short stint with game-maker Atari, and included his suggestions for improvements on World Cup, a coin arcade game of the time. The lot featured three original circuit diagrams drawn by Jobs in pencil and the one-page hand-written addendum.

Although both the Apple 1 and the memo sold for well above their estimates, neither came close to the $1.6 million paid by a Miami executive last year for the original contract that marked Apple's founding. Jobs, who died in October 2011, Wozniak and the lesser-known Ron Wayne drew up the contract in April 1976.

Ubuntu Abandons Dial-Up Users

Ubuntu Abandons Dial-Up Users

 

Over at the Goodbye, Microsoft web site, Brad R. takes Ubuntu to task for abandoning dial-up modem users. Apparently Ubuntu no longer includes the GnomePPP dial-up package in the distribution, without which you can't get online via dial-up. It gets better: if you do have some way to connect, when you download something from the Ubuntu repository, the first thing Ubuntu does is update its 16+ megabyte repository index. Happy waiting! Brad concludes that "Ubuntu is for broadband users only."