<font color="#330033"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We circulate laptops for in-library use at one of our locations, chiefly due to a lack of space for more workstations there. Unfortunately, around the holidays we<a href="http://www.journal-news.com/news/crime/laptops-reported-stolen-from-library-1310178.html"> experienced a rash of thefts</a>. Despite the requirement that we hold their driver's licenses, we lost 3 Dell Vostros in a series of days. </font></font></font><font color="#330033"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We have been circulating these at this location since 2008 without any incidents like this, so this was new to us</font></font></font>.<br>
<br><font color="#330033"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">We realize now that we could have been a little better prepared, so I wanted to share a couple of things we have done. I am happy to report that we have recovered 2 of the 3 machines as of Feb.2, and we have a bead on the third one.<br>
<br>Shortly after the computers were stolen, we realized that because we had <a href="https://secure.logmein.com/products/free/">LogMeIn Free</a> installed on them, we could still connect to them whenever they were connected to the Internet. Changing a few default settings, we could connect without too much risk of detection. We use <a href="https://secure.logmein.com/products/central/">LogMeIn Central</a> [<a href="http://www.retailmenot.com/view/logmein.com">coupon</a>] in conjunction with LMI Free, but any remote control option would serve the same purpose as LMI Free.<br>
<br>Once connected, we were able to install <a href="http://preyproject.com/">Prey</a>, which automates the tracking process and provides a bunch of additional functionality, including geo-info the police can use to pay your thief a visit. The vendor offers steep educational discounts. It is already inexpensive anyway, considering the value of the items you'll be protecting with it.<br>
<br>If anyone has dealt with, or is dealing with, a similar situation, I'd be glad to compare notes off-list. I just wanted to mention Prey here in particular.<br><br clear="all"></font></font></font><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Chip Kruthoffer, Systems Manager</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Lane Libraries ~ </span><a style="color:rgb(0,0,0)" href="http://www.lanepl.org" target="_blank">http://www.lanepl.org</a><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">1396 University Blvd. (Admin. Center)</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Hamilton, Ohio 45011</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">P: 513.785.2706</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">E: </span><a style="color:rgb(0,0,0)" href="mailto:c.kruthoffer@lanepl.org" target="_blank">c.kruthoffer@lanepl.org</a></font><br>
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