Now this sucks more than a 220 volt hoover. My riocar was stolen! So. If anyone in the Colorado area sees one in a pawn shop that has my name "Philip Greer" on the digital info, let me know asap!

That is horrible. Was your car broken into? How did it happen? And will your car insurance cover it?

That's a damn shame, please accept my sincere condolences. I hope the police catch the SOB.

I believe you should inform tech. support of the serial no. and (arguably) post it here too in case it's offered for sale.

The thing that really pisses me of about these things getting stolen is that the idoits probably dont even know what they are stealling. Just like "strangeloop" when his was stolen and then found smashed on the sidewalk a block from his house. Well.. nobody ever said theves were smart.

Ouch, will definitly keep my eye out for it, being in the Springs area here. Make sure to let support know the serial number.

Intelligent people don't steal ... maybe he'll figure out he can't jam CDs into it like the other guy and it will end up on your front porch... pray.

Sorry about your loss

Dude, that seriously sucks.

How about a story that might make you smile, or even laugh?

I have a 30g and when the prices dropped, I bought a 10g as a spare. I took the 10g out of the box long enough to try it out and make sure it worked - it has a grand total of one song loaded on it. After that I wrapped it up and put it somewhere for safe keeping. My job keeps me really, really, busy and I travel a lot. Somewhere in the mess I call a brain I forgot to store where I put it.

So I shipped the 30g off for repairs (the warranty ends this month) and went to replace it with the 10g. I managed to find the sled, cables, manual, original box, and cds, but no empeg. I can't remember where I put it. So far I went through the house twice looking for it, going for round three today. Makes me feel foolish - makes me wish I had somebody to blame besides myself too...

hhaha ive done things like that before, you will get ur 30gig back then u will 3 months later you will go on another mission to find a power adatptor for an old scanner you never use then u will find it.

The problem I'm having is I can't find the serial number. I never did write it down - plus I thought I'd be able to get it from the winders software (I mostly used the Linux tools for managing it). But no-where in that software (nor it's logs) was the serial number. Luckily insurance is paying for it - USAA is REALLY good about stuff like that (but I do pay more in premiums than I would if I were with another company). Yeah, I doubt the loser that stole it has any idea what it is. He doesn't have the wiring harness, serial cables (easy for us to reproduce), AC adapter, software or any documentation to know how to hook it up. So the moron is stuck with a player that he probably has no idea that is has information about me (name, phone) encoded on it. I'm crossing my finger that whoever buys it can determine it's stolen - which will help track down the idiot that stole it. The police won't do much, simply write up a report and that's it. Oh well, at least insurance paid for the broken window, broken dashboard panels and replaced my steering column (he tried to steal the whole jeep but was too stupid to get around the steering lock - just busted up the mechanism where it was not longer drivable).

Thanks for keeping an eye out for me!

Oh - I have an idea, or maybe there is already a utility for this. How about some more security features on a RIO. Maybe some small utilty that forces one to re-produce a series of button pushes to 'unlock' the player before it can be used, kindof like a user defined password but using the rio buttons for the sequence. It would be a pain to have to do that every time one wanted to turn on the player and listen to music, but it would assist in keeping idiots from using them when stolen.

Greetings!

That has been discussed a bit on the board. Basically, the ongoing support for it is the issue. People locking themselves out... Maybe a kernal hack in hijack...

I doudt very much if a stolen player would ever get as far as booting the thing and if it was stolen by someone that knew what it was and how it worked could probably get round it as i imagine it would be difficult to beat the upgrade process that would flush hijack.

I would bet that anytime a player gets stolen is because it is a cool looking CD PLAYER not a mp3 player.

You need to concentrate on not having it stolen in the first place

I think a security feature would be a nice idea. Basically, make the "Power Off" option in the main menu become a menu itself. Have options for regular standby and then "Standby & Lock". This way, getting locked out on accident would be less likely. And of course, to get it to boot up you'd have to know the code, which you could set yourself using, say, emplode, or even somewhere else in the player software's menus. Just don't forget your code.

These kernel hacks to improve player security are not at all likely to discourage a thief from stealing the player. As pointed out before, most any thief probably has no clue what the player is - if they are smart enough, yes, they could "read" the labels and marking on the player and look it up on the net, but in the case of Strangeloop's theft, the thief probably tossed the unit out the window after becoming frustrated with it or something, and it was subsequently smashed.

I realize the point here is centralized upon the event that if a thief steals the empeg, figures out what it is, and powers it on, then theretically the security feature would work. Then, once he realized its locked - then what? He could just throw it out - but if he did any research on the net already (ebay...), he might decide to sell it or keep it - how would the security behave if the player software was reloaded, for instance? In this case - one would hope that the thief would graciously return the empeg - maybe realizing that what he did was wrong - and that the player is useless to him.

While a security feature would be nice - I don't think I would ever use it. I typically hide my player from view if I am out somewhere - I usually stuff it under the seat or in the trunk. While parked at my apartment, I always bring it inside. Even at work I always bring the empeg in, but less because I'm afraid it will be stolen. I use it at work to stream tunes to whatever computer I'm sitting at.

Do us a favour and only use the boot/trunk. Once even the dimmest of thieves sees the empty slot, the first place they look is under the seat.
...unless of course, you have a boot release on the dash, in which case take it with you.

There is my line of thinking that they ain't going to break into a car where someone has already broken in and stolen the stereo



It is a loom off an old stereo i had lying around it just pops into the slot of the empeg and hooks into the cage.

If you look into the car all you see is an empty slot with a big bunch of wires hanging out.

Also in the car in the boot i have a laptop security leash which goes into the security slot of theempeg if i am forced into leaving it in the boot.

That's awesome! Bravo..

I guess that parking your car on its side helps with the "everything worth having is already nicked" look...

(Or did you just take the photo wrong way up?)

parking your car on its side saves a lot of space. just think if we all did it.

Yeah it is great just have to remember to only boot the empeg while it is right way up as that would be out of harddrive specs as well as bad for the drive rubbers

Do you smash your window everytime you park your car in order to get the 'authentic' look?

This is the approach I use. Cover it up so no one suspects a thing. Its also easier on the conscious when you leave the unit in the car. Its a bit of a shame to make something so cool look like an air vent.
I got this from Halfords (a UK shop) a few months ago

Looks great! good idea.

I couldn't find those on their website...anyone know of a source for those online?

I just use a pocket filler you can get at just about any car stereo place. It fits nicely in the sled. Check out my pic on riocar.org to see how mine fits. I got the idea from jimhogan.

Bastard you stole my idea Ive been doing that since day one.

Good idea with the mock airvents. I do the same as Tony does with his - kept the coverplate that came with the car and just cover up the gaping hole whenever I remove my empeg. And I never leave my empeg in my car, not even at home.

Those airvents will probably deter most villains, but you could be unlucky and have a guy break-in on suspicion that a second airvent below the main one looks a bit fishy. Over here cars get busted into just to have a look under the seats for anything of value!


Regards,
Aragon

I'll be doing something similar. I have a Honda and the same plate Tony (tfabris) uses. But I'm going to modify that plate to be able to hide the empeg while it's in the dash, as well as be able to cover the space when the empeg isn't there.

The idea is that if I'm at a store or the movies or something, I don't have to worry about people seeing it and deciding to steal it because it looks cool. I want a completely stealth install.

Maybe something could be rigged up whereby the thief recieves a shock he won't soon forget everytime he touches the handle of the Empeg. Not sure if the electricity could be kept out of the Empeg circuitry, but it sure would be neat to have something like that.

Stu

Yes, an idea I very much liked when I first thought of it. Unfortunately, after a bit of research, I find that it is quite illegal here. I could be sued for it.

Yes, the liability issue is a problem . Only the crooks have rights anymore. We have to stand idlely by and let them walk all over us.

Stu

I always thought the Smar Truck (from TACOM) had a nifty way of dealing with problems like that - 'When activated, the door handles maintain a voltage high enough to temporarily stun and intruder'.

sorry but IM experienced O the air-vent thing won't convince a real theif of anything except of the fact you assume their dumb. i could tell in half a second that the cover is bogus. it doesn't even match the real vents. plus, how many cars you been in that have air vents where the radio should be??? after all, the thief could have a car just like yours.

the wire loom thing is better. much better.

What kind of Jeep? Did you leave a stereo of any kind in a wrangler-type jeep? Yikes. Those things are serious targets and I'm crossing my fingers that my Cherokee never gets any attention.

Sorry 'bout your loss.
-Hoagy.

My Cherokee Sport got some unwanted attention a few years back to the tune of several thousand... Security through obscurity is never a good way to go...

If you ask real nice maybe hugo will show you what he as got to hide his empeg it is very good.

You could get one of these (make sure to watch the movie). Of course, you might have to move to South Africa.

In reply to:

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If you ask real nice maybe hugo will show you what he as got to hide his empeg it is very good.

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A Neo remote display with a big crack in the LCD?

Actually, security through obscurity is the only option on a car. No alarm will keep a thief out and you can't fight back legally, so the only thing left is to have a dull-looking car. (and maybe a bear trap inside the dash as backup)

My Cherokee Sport had it's Alpine stolen a few years back, but that's just because my stupid housemate kept leaving the garage open and I didn't lock the Jeep when it was in the garage. User error on both counts.

-Hoagy.

Obscurity is a useful adjunct to physical protection, but it should not be your only defence. Hiding your player under the seat is fine, but I wouldn't recommend it without also locking your doors, and preferably having a vehicle alarm and using a good safe bolted to the floor.

Making your vehicle look like it contains no valuables helps make it less of a target, but there will come a time when all the alternative targets are too daunting for the thief, and he'll have a go at yours on the off-chance. It's worthwhile slowing him down when that happens.

It's the same with computer security. Most crackers don't have as much experience with, say, AIX as they do with Linux, for example. So if you're running an AIX box, you're less likely to be attacked (all other things being equal). But that doesn't mean you should run an unauthenticated telnet daemon on some random port, just because they don't know it's there. Once they find it, your system is hosed.

Here's what I do. If I'm driving a hardtop I lock the doors. I remove everything of value from the car. I open the glovebox, console and ashtray so anyone looking in the car can see that there is nothing in there. If I'm driving a ragtop I leave the doors unlocked and do all the same stuff as in a hardtop. Thats about it. It has worked for me.

batavus, i feel your pain. better luck next time... and never leave these babies in their sled when you're not there. ever. we both learned the hard way.

It's a Jeep Cherokee (XJ). They busted out the back window to get around locked doors. The only thing that would have kept this guy out is a car alarm blaring or one of the witnesses that went buy to actually get a concience and do something about the 'strange guy ripping apart the inside of a vehicle with borken window glass all around it' It was a well lit parking lot (one space away from two sodium lights), right alongside the row where people drive by to go to the Arby's drive through, next to a busy street and a really busy bar (where I was at the time).

Hey strangeloop, any word on repairing yours yet? Just curious.

What I meant earlier was, TAKE IT WITH YOU... a good case and a litle effort will go a long way. Mine is worth WAY more to me than the price tag.. It's just the issue of not being able to get them any more that scares the hell outta me...

The flamethrower is a cool (or is that hot?) idea.

And as much as it gives me a visceral sense of deserved justice to the offending twerp, I can just imagine the gleeful look in some lawyers eyes when that case is set before them. Lethal or not, you'd be sued into oblivion. At least here in the good 'ol US of A.

So come up with something that doesn't leave any evidence.

I like the way it casually incinerates innocent passers by as well.

Rob

If you drove around with some sausages and steak, you could always have a barbecue if you got stuck in traffic!

I think I'll wait till they come out with one with a flame color that matches my empeg display.
don't wanna clash ya know.

Obscurity is a useful adjunct to physical protection, but it should not be your only defence.

Well put.

I remove my player from the car to protect the player.

I obscure the opening in the dash only to protect the windows of my car from getting needlessly broken as they look for a hidden player under the seat. Not to protect the player.