Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 40

I'm pretty pissed now...
I seem to have misplaced my Visor in my high school. I checked all over the place, but couldn't find it, which leaves me to believe that someone else has it...
I'm sorta just posting this to vent some anger/frustration/sadness, unless any of you have some money to donate...
And I spent all that money on an organizer, now I LOSE it, how ironic. I want to laugh, but can't...

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 560

Sorry to here that.

A person at work said that he had left his WinCe machine over night and that it wasn't there the next morning. He reported it to security.

He eventually found it at his home.

Here is hoping you find yours.

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Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 120

Echo the sorry on your loss. Interesting note (one can only hope) when I owned a Palm Pilot I also lost it. THREE WEEKS LATER, on a weekend morning, I could have sworn I heard the familiar alarm. I knew that couldn't be right, so I dozed back off. Then I heard it again. My eyes snapped open and I froze. And listened. Very quiet.... And then, I raced across the room to a chair as the alarm chimed one more time. From beneath the cushion, where it had slipped so many weeks before. Only mystery is, how did the thing's battery last so long? Then I noticed the note was a reminder only a few days old. Still, when it called, I found it! One can only hope you find yours soon!

Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1683

That's an interesting potential security feature. Perhaps if a Palm Pilot is not in use for x number of days, that it routinely sounds the alarm. Kind of a distress call.

I remember in college when one, day, for whatever reason, we decide to tear apart the old couch we had for years. We found about 12 items that we had all thought were stolen or forever lost including TV remotes, rulers, and even a camera!

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Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 33

I think they need to make a handyGPS extention thingy so that you can activate and locate your palm using any GPS hardware.
Seriously though, that sucks. I am so scared to lose this thing I watch it like a hawk. BTW, DId you have security on?

-nilbog

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 40

No, I never used any of the security features on it...

Registered: Jan 2000
Location:
Posts: 219

thejkal, sorry to hear about your Visor. I think there was someone else on this board whose Visor got stolen in his/her high school a while back.

I poo-pooed when Palm insurance came out, but it does not seem to be bad idea now.

I hope your Visor will turn up somewhere later....

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Taki
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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

Maybe this is a problem there is a solution for?

It's a shame when anyone loses anything. At the university where I teach, the student union has a "lost and found" office, staffed every day by student volunteers. It's amazing what they keep there. Everything from keys (thousands) to bicycles. The last time I looked, they had about a dozen PDAs, too. All shapes and sizes.

A PDA shouldn't be so easy to lose. The Visor has the springboard slot. Perhaps one could create a proximity alarm. You'd keep the sending device on your keychain, or in your wallet. The springboard would constantly (every few seconds) "listen" for a RF signal from that device. If you walked away, leaving your visor somewhere, the springboard would no longer see the signal from your keychain/wallet. An alarm would sound. You'd have an audible reminder that you were about to walk off without your Visor. Your "baby" would "cry" cause it missed you!

They could combine this proximity alert with some flash ram, or another useful module. It would be one you'd want to keep in the visor most of the time.

Anyone like the idea? If you build one, I'll buy one!

Dave

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Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 40

Now I'm REALLY mad! I got the stuff I ordered for my Visor in the mail today! AAARRRGGGHHH!

Registered: May 2000
Location:
Posts: 321

Re: Maybe this is a problem there is a solution for?

quote:

---

Originally posted by DBrown
Perhaps one could create a proximity alarm. You'd keep the sending device on your keychain, or in your wallet. The springboard would constantly (every few seconds) "listen" for a RF signal from that device. If you walked away, leaving your visor somewhere, the springboard would no longer see the signal from your keychain/wallet. An alarm would sound. You'd have an audible reminder that you were about to walk off without your Visor. Your "baby" would "cry" cause it missed you!

---

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Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Midwest
Posts: 232

Re: Re: Maybe this is a problem there is a solution for?

quote:

---

Originally posted by jeff318
Hmmm... maybe make it so the visor won't turn on without the signal. But then you would need to have a couple hundred codes to eliminate someone from being able to just buy a new transmitter to get the Visor to work.

---

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Registered: Nov 1999
Location: New York, New York
Posts: 560

Washington post just wrote about this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2-2001Jan4.html

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Felipe Garcia
Happy Treo 600 user, so far. Thanx Cingular for having an unlocked phone.

My Treo 600 is my phone, my PDA, my watch, and my MP3 player. Oh yeah, I take a picture once in a while with it. Convergence is such a great thing.

Registered: Aug 2000
Location:
Posts: 33

that's a good idea, but it might be a problem keeping your keychain sending device close to your visor. Although, it would work both ways - say if you left your keys behind.

How about a sticker that has your name and adress on it. Of course, that sticker would be attached to a springboard module full of stricnine. The spring board module would scan your brain waves, and if they dont match the ones in memory, a small hypodermic needle would extend out the back and inject the poison into the poor fool who found ...I mean stole...your visor. People don't kill, springboard modules do.

-nilbog

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 12

palmslostorstolen.com

I just purchased insurance for my visor. for 3.99 a month, including backup buddy software, I feel a lot better. I know that if my visor is lost, stolen or broken, I'll have it right back for a $35 copay. i think it's worth the $.

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: Dallas-area, Texas
Posts: 82

I, too, have a nasty habit of losing things. I've gone through about three good rulers now, and just found all of them, safely stashed where I wouldn't forget them. In the same spot on a shelf. Try looking in the pockets of your backpack (it's where I'd never look for mine).

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Tim
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Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

If you're going to be using a handheld device in a school environment I have to say the best way of making sure you don't lose it is a belt clip. Many students choose to carry them in their bag (Where the COULD be stolen or fall out) or their pocket, I knew a friend who had their Palm drop out of their pocket into a busy hall and that thing got smashed good.

As for proximity alarms, perhaps makers of bluetooth modules (When we see them!) could incorporate this feature rather than having a dedicated unit to. Bluetooth's range of about 10 meters should be good enough, right?

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Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 40

arrgh!

I never realized how much I used it until I saw that my average in math plumetted from a 91 WITH my Visor to a 77 WITHOUT it. dAmN!

Registered: Jan 2001
Location: Oxford, OH
Posts: 60

Sorry to hear about loosing yours... I think I would freak out for a while if that happened to me.

I was thinking about the proximity sensor. I think that MIT, or Columbia or one of those, made the palm into a robot of sorts. It has some wheels and can run around looking for things with its IR. So... what about a springboard/case combination which had wheels tucked inside itself... and when you got out of a certain range... it dropped little wheels out... began emitting IR signals to map its surrounding, and then it chases after you, all the time, beeping and yelling. Maybe a little siren, and some flashing lights pop out of the top of it. It could be like a little ambulance.

I am sure the technology exists... perhaps when I get done with grad school I will work on something like this. Could be fun.
-Russ

Registered: Dec 2000
Location:
Posts: 120

Russ, that is HILARIOUS!! Could you insert SFX. You know, like the yip of a dog as it chases you?