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New York, 4:14 PM
Sun Dec 20
16 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of LVP LVP
    12/07/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I found an iphone in the back of a NYC cab. Looked for the Home number, called it and got the return info. The owner mailed me a check for a reward and to cover shipping expenses. I shredded it.

    But now I've got someone to call when I need to see an organic oncologist.
     Reply
    Edited by LVP at 12/07/09 4:14 PM LVP was starred LVP was unstarred
    Image of Jeff Wright Jeff Wright
    12/05/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    Returned an iphone once, though I certainly could have used one myself.

    Little spoiled b*tch didn't even say thank you when I handed it to her, just turned and left.

    I should have thrown my $15 nokia at her damn head. I really wanted to...
     Reply
    LVP approved this comment Jeff Wright was starred Jeff Wright was unstarred
    Image of LVP LVP
    12/07/09

    @Jeff Wright: I returned a ladies wallet filled with cards and cash. Got a candy bar for it. Fail lady.
     Reply
    LVP was starred LVP was unstarred
    Image of tyrephoto tyrephoto
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I was in a cab in Miami and found a phone on the seat. after a search of the numbers, no obvious "home" number was found, so I dialed the last called ( which was only a half hour prior....) hoping they might know where the owner was. They did give a number, and I called it. Before I could tell the person on the other end anything about the circumstances of my find, He started yelling expletives about wanting his phone back "NOW"! I waited until he was finished, calmly told him the reason I called was to return his phone.....but now I had changed my mind.......the last thing he heard was the phone hitting the ground at 60 MPH, as I pitched it out the window.
     Reply
    The5thElephant approved this comment tyrephoto was starred tyrephoto was unstarred
    Image of LVP LVP
    12/07/09

    @tyrephoto: I would have turned it into the police and let them know that he threatened you and that you would like to press charges.
     Reply
    Edited by LVP at 12/07/09 4:33 PM LVP was starred LVP was unstarred
    Image of CaseyG CaseyG
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    A few years ago, I found the battered remains of an old USB flash drive. Being the geek that I am, I took it home, unbent the metal, and plugged it in. It worked immediately. I found a few documents on it, and did my best to avoid seeing personal data as I scanned for anything that would help me locate the owner.

    When I did, she was thrilled to learn that someone out there was nerdy enough to salvage the drive, find the owner, and mail it back. She had put important work documents there, and didn't have copies anywhere else.
     Reply
    CaseyG was starred CaseyG was unstarred
    Image of MrBlahBlah MrBlahBlah
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    One time my iphone fell out of my pocket in a taxi here in NYC on my way to a meeting. Someone apparently found it, called "dad", who called me and gave me her phone number. I was seriously astonished that someone in NYC would be that kind and spare the time to go through that. I asked her if there was any way i could thank her (toss her some $ as a thank you), she said no, but I gave her $50 anyways. Such a nice gesture.

    Now I have a passcode on my iPhone with the locate my phone feature. Sure, if I lose it now, I can send a message to my phone to contact me at a certain number. But now there is no way for the one who finds it to find its owner!
     Reply
    MrBlahBlah was starred MrBlahBlah was unstarred
    Image of Hello Mister Walrus Hello Mister Walrus
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    Take cellphone pictures of my junk before returning it.
     Reply
    Hello Mister Walrus was starred Hello Mister Walrus was unstarred
    Image of Communist Pope Communist Pope
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I wouldn't have snooped and would've given it back, but I also would've asked the guy/girl to meet me at a nearby shopping mall/food place/post office/wherever rather than inviting them to my home for the pickup.

    After all, you never know when you're going to find a cellphone with secrets on it that are worth killing to protect!
     Reply
    Communist Pope was starred Communist Pope was unstarred
    Image of Duckspwn Duckspwn
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I would have smashed it with my dick until it looked like this.
     Reply
    Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred
    Image of nbkw6ma005 nbkw6ma005
    12/04/09

    @Duckspwn: Wow, must have smashed your dick pretty hard for it to turn into a BlackBerry
     Reply
    Duckspwn promoted this comment nbkw6ma005 was starred nbkw6ma005 was unstarred
    Image of pettiblay pettiblay
    12/04/09

    @Duckspwn: How does this guy have a star?
     Reply
    Duckspwn promoted this comment pettiblay was starred pettiblay was unstarred
    Image of Duckspwn Duckspwn
    12/04/09

    @pettiblay: Well, once upon a time, a Giz editor...
     Reply
    Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred
    Image of pettiblay pettiblay
    12/04/09

    @Duckspwn: HA! Now that I like!
     Reply
    pettiblay was starred pettiblay was unstarred
    Image of Alfisted Alfisted
    12/04/09

    @Duckspwn: Once upon a time ... this sort of comment was common. Ahh, the good ol' days.
     Reply
    Alfisted was starred Alfisted was unstarred
    Image of Noobs-R-Us Noobs-R-Us
    12/04/09

    @Duckspwn: "Can you hammer a six inch spike through a board with your penis?"
     Reply
    Noobs-R-Us was starred Noobs-R-Us was unstarred
    Image of johnnyabnormal johnnyabnormal
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    Corona Heights is an awesome view:

    [www.johnnyrandom.com]

    Last time I found someone's cell in SF, they bought me a quiche from Tartine Bakery to say thanks for returning it.
     Reply
    johnnyabnormal was starred johnnyabnormal was unstarred
    Image of JTX JTX
    12/04/09

    @johnnyabnormal: I've always hoped that finding and returning someone's lost phone would end in a quickie.

    ^^^Obligatory Comment^^^
     Reply
    johnnyabnormal promoted this comment JTX was starred JTX was unstarred
    Image of johnnyabnormal johnnyabnormal
    12/04/09

    @JTX: Well, if you saw the woman who's phone I found you might not think that! Although she gets major points for getting me the best quiche in the city.
     Reply
    johnnyabnormal was starred johnnyabnormal was unstarred
    Image of Crasha Crasha
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I found one once, and besides from the fact that i'm still horrified by the pictures that were on it, what i did when i'd gotten home, was that i called the "Mom" number, as it didn't had a "Home", and she that the owner would be happy to know that it had been found. So i gave them my adress, and she said they'd come pick it up. Half a year went past. No one came to pick it up. So when i broke the phone i had at that point, i reset the other one to factory options, and then continued to use it for like 4-5 months before i could afford another phone.
     Reply
    Duckspwn approved this comment Crasha was starred Crasha was unstarred
    Image of Duckspwn Duckspwn
    12/04/09

    @Crasha: Please do tell what the pictures were like.
     Reply
    Duckspwn was starred Duckspwn was unstarred
    Image of Alfisted Alfisted
    12/04/09

    @Crasha: Said pics .... or it didn't happen.
     Reply
    Alfisted was starred Alfisted was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I would have turned it over to the police. I dont want to be responsible for the hardware or content and wouldnt allow someone to come to my house to pick it up. I found someones breifcase once on the sidewalk. I stood over it, but didnt touch it, until the police came. I even told them I didnt touch it or know what was in it. Unfor, being a good samaritan often leads to a lot of trouble.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of bobman1235 bobman1235
    12/04/09

    @Curves: Just a hunch here, but.... are you a lawyer?
     Reply
    Curves promoted this comment bobman1235 was starred bobman1235 was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    12/04/09

    @bobman1235: No. I a, too ethical. Just really paranoid I guess. And PZ is right, its really the smart thing to do. Let the pros do their job. You dont know whats on that phone, that might somehow be blamed on you.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of bobman1235 bobman1235
    12/04/09

    @Curves: Eh, to each his (or her) own. I personally choose not to live my life being paranoid. The police should have better things to do than return phones, and if someone wants to try to come after me for being nice, I'd happily battle them rather than living in fear.
     Reply
    bobman1235 was starred bobman1235 was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    12/05/09

    @bobman1235: As a woman living alone, yes, I am very careful about who knows it and who knows where I live. Its a sad state of affairs, I agree, but a woman can not be too careful. If you dont know why, read the news papers. As far as the phone, say for instance, there is child porn on that phone. Had I touched it, my prints would be on it and I had made calls from it, even trying to find the owner, I could be blamed for those pics. Again, its sad, but thats the world we live in.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of OrbitalGun OrbitalGun
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    My phone is owned by my work, so if I ever lost it, I'd make a reasonable (though not excessive) search for it, then give up. Since it's hooked up to the Exchange server I run, I'd initiate a remote wipe of the device (so my data was secure), then go tell my boss that I need a brand spankin' new phone.
     Reply
    OrbitalGun was starred OrbitalGun was unstarred
    Image of Killjoy Killjoy
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    Just call a number from the contacts. "Hi, whoever owns this phone has lost it. Do you have another way to get in touch with them? Here's my contact info, please pass it along." Home, Mom and Dad work best but anyone will do.

    I once found a phone on a boardwalk and did this before it even occurred to me that I had a free smartphone with paid talk time in my hand. The guy showed up a few minutes later (he'd just lost it) and was profoundly grateful, the sort of thing that really makes my day. Then he insisted on giving me money for it, which completely missed the point and felt a bit insulting.
     Reply
    Killjoy was starred Killjoy was unstarred
    Image of cpostier cpostier
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    What would I have done?

    Ebay....
     Reply
    cpostier was starred cpostier was unstarred
    Image of geekymitch geekymitch
    12/04/09

    In reply to What Do You Do When You Find a Lost Cellphone?
    I once found a valet's phone in my car...guess it fell out of his pocket. I was driving home and started hearing rap music coming from under my seat. Found the phone and answered it. Told the guy I'd have to ship his phone back to him unless he wanted to come get it (I was a good hour away at that point) - he argued with me that I needed to bring it back, so I asked him politely to stop being a jerk, that he had dropped HIS phone, and that I was willing to meet him half way...he called me a lazy ass for not driving all the way back to return his phone, so I said "Call nextel for a new one", hung up, and threw it out the window of my still moving car.

    Moral of the story: If you DO lose your phone, don't be a dick to the guy who finds it.
     Reply
    jepzilla promoted this comment geekymitch was starred geekymitch was unstarred
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