This Can't Be Undone Or Stopped...Part 5

It appears that the jig is up. I had hoped that tracking my wife's missing phone -- or, rather, tracking whomever HAD my wife's missing phone -- would have led to film-worthy drama. With international implications. Or at least a high-speed chase through the streets of Chicago. Something more exciting than what it turned out to be: me, alone, checking my MobileMe account every few hours to see if the phone had popped back up on grid.

So I am left with the decision that no mobile phone owner wants to face...should I kill my phone. Yeah, it's a killing done remotely. I mean it is not like I will need to look the phone in the face as I terminate it. But as any phone owner surely knows, these things have grown to become a part of us. Too much a part of us, for sure, but a part no less. The phone represents a life-line to friends, a connection to the family calendar, a polite reminder of the countless appointments and important meeting dates otherwise forgotten.

Yet at the same time, the gnawing threat of someone performing nefarious cybercrimes using the phone is just as motivating.

And choosing to "Erase All Data"...now.

This One May Be Over...Part 4

So not *all* hope is lost...yet. But my wife's phone hasn't been located for more than three hours. I'm afraid we may never see it again. Or worse that a gruesome stream of phone pieces will begin showing up in the mail.

Exhibit 1d:

They May Be On To Me...Part 3

I haven't been able to locate the phone for over an hour now. It could be that the phone is no longer within range of cell reception or WiFi...or it could be that when I locked my wife's phone around 1:30 pm, it upset the person who had the phone so that they smashed it.

This intriguing game of espionage has just been spiked with D-A-N-G-E-R! (for the phone...not for us)

Exhibit 1c:

Just Hanging Out With Somebody Else's Phone...Part 2

Ninety minutes and no movement. Whoever has my wife's mobile phone has been just hanging out near Grace and Cicero for some time now.

Exhibit 1b:

To Catch A (Potential) Thief...Part 1

Late Wednesday night, my wife lost her mobile phone. Unfortunately at the time -- for us and for whomever would try to return the phone to us -- the phone's battery had died. Phone calls placed to it went directly to voicemail. Text messages no doubt went unseen.

Then, to our amazement and good fortune, calls placed to the phone suddenly began ringing this (Friday) morning. Although whomever had the phone did not answer the calls, he or she had apparently charged its battery. Despite call upon call and text upon text, the person holding the phone neither answered nor responded.

Through the magic of modern technology (and MobileMe), I've been able to locate the phone (which I have now locked). At 6:50 am it was at the corner of Pratt and Cicero. The phone then spent a few midday hours at Old Orchard shopping mall in Skokie. Followed by a speedy drive through the surface streets of north Chicago (very prudently avoiding the suffocating highway traffic).

For the last hour or so, my wife's phone has been on Chicago's northside near the corner of West Grace Street and North Cicero Avenue. See Exhibit 1a below, a screenshot of MobileMe's "Find My iPhone" tracking feature. 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out and where the wayward phone travels. Stay tuned for details.

How Much Technology Do You Speak?

(*OED = Oxford English Dictionary)

Helping It Get Better

Following a string of suicides stemming from the bullying and harassment of LGBT youth in the USA, journalist/blogger Dan Savage launched the “It Gets Better” project last September. Its purpose is to give messages of hope and assurance to young people who are being tormented because of their sexual orientation that life can indeed “get better” as they transition to adulthood.

Draftfcb’s chapter of IPGLBT (IPG’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered) has produced a film as part of this initiative.  It features people from across our U.S. offices who share their stories and their assurances that life can indeed get better for these young people, while inspiring them to make it better. 

Bullying knows no boundaries and unfortunately has many targets:  race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, weight, the physically or mentally challenged, etc.  While this video was triggered by the too frequent harassment of LGBT youth, it carries an important message to anyone who has been a target of bullying.  We all must always be intolerant of such behavior in our work environments, our schools, and our communities.

The video can be seen below and here. Please use your social media communities to get more people to view and share its important message.

Virtual Overcrowding

Yes, indeed...the "population" of FarmVille is nearly fives times as large as Australia.