Have you seen the guy in the photo above, the guy doing, ugh, something. Well, he allegedly stole a Macbook from the wrong person — a quite tech-savvy designer named Joshua Kaufman who had the forethought to install “Hidden” — a software program that takes photos of computer thieves using the computer’s built-in camera — on his laptop prior to it being stolen. And now he’s posting the photos Hidden takes of his thief on a Tumblr called … wait for it … This Guy Has My Macbook.
Kaufman writes on the blog:
On March 21, 2011, my MacBook was stolen from my apartment in Oakland, CA. I reported the crime to the police and even told them where it was, but they can’t help me due to lack of resources. I’m currently in the process of contacting the mayor’s office. Meanwhile, I’m using the awesome app, Hidden, to capture these photos of this guy who has my MacBook.
Here is the alleged thief driving away with Kaufman’s Macbook shortly after he stole it…
Call me a cynic, but this just smells a lot like a clever viral marketing campaign. I’d be less skeptical if Kaufman lived in, say, Boise, Idaho, or some place like that, and not in the Silicon Valley. But whether it’s a hoax or not doesn’t really matter though, because either way — whether Kaufman and his Tumblr are legit or if it’s all a ploy for attention for a software company — it’s genius, and it’s already inspired a mock spinoff. This should also serve as a reminder to all the criminals out there that in this era, someone is always watching you. Including Jesus…
UPDATE: The Macbook thief has been apprehended!