judyonthenet

I’m checking out one of Chris Hansen’s numerous Dateline “To Catch a <something>” (or more accurately “\to catch_a …”) shows . The latest iteration is “\to catch_an i-Jacker“, where the whole premise is tracking down people who take unattended iPods. Wait wait, people take unattended valuables that aren’t theirs?

“How would you feel if you went to a food court in a mall, got up to buy a snack and left your brand new iPod at your seat, and this happened. [Young couple walks by and notices the iPod, guy looks and touches the iPod box, looks around for the owner, kinda shrugs, and takes it with him.] It’s enough to make you lose your appetite.” What? No, it’s not. Pedophiles make me lose my appetite, not finder-keepers. If you’re absent-minded enough to leave your brand new sealed $300 gadget lying around and someone takes it, tough shit.

All these iPods have tracking software on them, so when someone registers the iPod, their information gets sent to NBC. (The consent is in the middle of the all the legalese mumbo-jumbo most of us click through.) So who do they find? A bunch of impulsive teenagers (who have their faces blurred out since they’re minors), a couple of adults, and a couple of innocent wives who received them as gifts from husbands who bought them off the street. Am I shocked? Am I appalled? No.

“We know some iPods can never be tracked because some iPods are never hooked up to computers.” Huh? Has Chris Hansen ever used an iPod? And who the heck uses the term “i-jacking”? Apparently when it comes to stealing iPods, it’s a totally made-up term, since i-jacking is a term used for identity theft.

The conclusion the feature apparently comes to is that Apple should have some sort of tracking system in their iPods to help with stolen iPods. While I’m sure that would be an intriguing feature (an iPod expert even mentions how that would probably be a profitable venture to stick into AppleCare… not a bad idea), I think it’s obnoxious how they’re targeting Apple simply because they have the most popular and successful gadgets. Jerks are stealing iPods; do something about it, Apple. Like it’s their obligation or something to deal with other people’s idiocy. I don’t understand what’s so shocking about the increase of iPod theft. It’s an incredibly popular gadget, there’s more floating around along with higher demand, so yeah, of course there’s going to be a lot of iPod thefts. They mention the horrific story of how some kid got stabbed for an iPod, like it’s the iPod’s fault the kid died. And privacy of the user? Meh, forget about it. I’m not against Apple setting up some sort of theft-flagging system (where people call in and report theirs stolen/missing), and I like the idea of optional tracking. It just seems like Dateline’s expectations of what Apple should already have were too high. And I find their use of sealed iPods moronic, since the use of tracking is a lot tougher when a person hasn’t registered their iPod. (Maybe some places put the serial number of the iPod on the invoice?)

And their attempt at hardcore, undercover reporting was pretty pathetic. Like being SOL is newsworthy. I like how, even though one of the people recognized Chris Hansen from “To Catch a Predator”, he still didn’t disclose his identity until the end of the interview. Like saving that information to the end and having the cameras pop out is going to have the same effect on some broke-ass bored teenager as it would on a 52-year-old man who drove hundreds of miles to have sex with a 13-year-old. And once again, they act like they’re doing some sort of public service. For the segment where this one lady is trying to return a stolen iPod she bought to its rightful owner, they say “We decided to help to try to solve her problem, so we sent her to an Apple Store in New York City to try to return the iPod… with a hidden camera recording her every move.” Right, she couldn’t do any of that on her own without Dateline and a hidden camera. Dateline, you’re my hero.

Ugh, I don’t know why I watch this crap… too curious I guess. Don’t even get me started on “To Catch a Predator”. I’ve determined Chris Hansen is the David Caruso of journalism. And if you don’t know what that means, then watch this:

New thing I learned today: DEF CON is the world’s largest annual hackers convention, not to be mistaken with DEFCON (a measurement of US Armed forces activation and readiness level). It’s been held every year in Las Vegas since it started in 1993. Aside from speakers and convention workers (called goons), everybody who attends has to pay the admission fee: hackers, government employees, press, etc.

This year’s DEF CON is this weekend, and apparently Dateline tried to infiltrate the convention, sending in a mole acting as a regular attendee, hoping to capture some hackers confessing their felonies on hidden camera or, more seriously, out undercover federal agents. Unfortunately for Dateline’s DEF CON mole, DEF CON found out about her presence and lack of press badge (which has different legal terms for things like photography). Today, she went to what she thought was a meeting for the “Spot the Fed” contest, but it turned into “Spot the Undercover Reporter”, where she was outed by the founder of DEF CON. She left the room and ran off to her car, followed by hackers and press. Silly Dateline.

(I saw this on Gizmodo.)

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