This past Friday evening, I sat down with my wife to watch the tube and relax a little from a crazy week. I decided to open my Macbook to catch up on one video that I wanted to see and low and behold my audio had disappeared! What the heck!?! Nothing worked as far as diagnosing the issue. Mute-unMute-PowerDown-PowerUp-NADA.
During my past week at work, I had been listening to some audio using my earpods with no issue, so I knew it had been working lately. I recall at the end of the last day I listened to audio, I put everything to sleep and went about my day getting home and doing family stuff.
Since my work week had started pretty fast, it was not until today that I had sometime to listen (or not listen) to a video presentation to try and work out my audio problem. Recalling that I had been using my earpods, I plugged them in and wha-la my audio was working. So, apparently, you should not unplug your headphones after putting your Macbook to sleep because it does not recognize they are missing after you bring it back to life from sleep mode. I simply unplugged them while in awake mode and the audio was back. Simple!
One of the major concerns I have about all the portable tech stuff that I carry around is losing them through misplacement or theft. There is nothing more frustrating than finding yourself missing your expensive toys. I recall walking thru a airport security gate in Uganda and having to place my NEW iPhone 4 in the conveyor belt and then walking thru the metal detector. At the time, I had two large bags with me on the conveyor belt and I completely forgot about the phone when I picked-up my bags and left. Fortunately, the two men behind me were honest and called me back to inform me of the fact that I had forgotten the phone. It took me completely by surprise since I had been a complete freak about loosing the phone during the previous ten days in country.
GadgetTrak, Undercover, Absolute, and Brigadoon all offer some variation of mobile platform security at a cost. Some of them are yearly.
Prey is a free open source application that I tested out and found to be a great option if you are cash strapped or cheap. I tested the application and it took about an hour and half to get my first report which provided me with enough information that could enable me to get close to where the laptop would be. I got a map location, a photo of myself, a screen shot of what was open, and additional login information. It was better than I thought for a free application. The only downside is that the free version only gives you 10 reports where the upgrade gets you 100 reports.
In addition to 100 reports, the upgrade version of the app offers more features for $5/month, however, if you find yourself with a lost or stolen device, you can log into the Prey Control panel and upgrade at that time and get all the great features when you really need them.
Here’s a great story of how Prey and Twitter helped a guy get his laptop back: Awesome Story!
Do you have a great recovery story?
Powered by Qumana
