Any tricks to get Touchpad back if stolen?

[kill_Dano]

I'm interested in getting my touchpad back in the event that's it's stolen or more likely I leave it somewhere accidentally.

I see there are no apps to do this, but I was thinking if I set up my touchpad for SSH, I'd be able to get terminal access. I guess I'd need to know what the IP address is, though. There's got to be a way. Maybe a patch to log the IP address to a text file on google docs once every few hours.

[bable]

Super glue a bomb to the bottom that explodes if you don't enter the password once a day? That last idea could work but even with the IP it's really hard to find their location. Without GPS your best bet is just to be careful.

[dgcorn]

I have mine set up so that I have to enter 4 8 15 16 23 42 every 108 minutes, but I'm not really sure what will happen if I fail to enter the sequence on time.

[Mutoidi]

Probably 'kil_Dano's bomb just goes off!!

Hhmmm. that's tricky!

[brutus001]

Just put a background on it that says "This is not an iPad. It's not worth taking."

[B18DelSolT]

Originally Posted by brutus001

Just put a background on it that says "This is not an iPad. It's not worth taking."

LMAO!

[UbuntuIsGreat]

OK, I will attempt to join this conversation at a "serious" level, although some of the jokes above are funny.

I've often wondered the same thing. I know that Windows/Mac Laptops have tracking software available that give you the IP address of the lost or stolen computer (if the perp. turns it on). We have this service on our Windows Laptops and the IP address is emailed to a "special" email account each time the laptop is turned on. The software vendor advises that you can give that information to the police, if it is ever stolen. I couldn't find anything like this for the TP. I do, however, have a couple of ideas that I have not tested yet.

IDEA 1: I know that Gmail accounts have a "last login" details screen when you login to any gmail site, that simply shows the date/time & IP address of previous logins, whether they originate from Website logins, or POP logins. What if we were to set up a Gmail account on the touchpad? Would it automatically check, if the TP were turned on? If so, wouldn't that IP address be recorded on the Gmail account website? I realize this might not work if the TP were immediately doctored, but I would think an unsuspecting thief might just turn it on to play for a while to see what information is on there.

IDEA 2: This one might take a bit more work. If there was a Dynamic DNS updater client for the TP, wouldn't that also record the IP Address on a site like dyndns.org or no-ip.com?

Of course, for either of these to work, the thief would need to connect it to a wireless network. If it works, I would think Idea #1 would be the obvious choice...anyone?

[ggendel]

There is/was a homebrew service that would post your gps location periodically but I don't remember what it's called. There also was an app called something like "Find my Pre" where you paid a monthly fee so you could log on to a website and track it.

The problem is that without a gps, you would have to rely on the Wifi location services.

That said, the new owner would be pretty stupid not to do a complete wipe and doctor anyway (after he copied all of your personal information).