Laptop Alarm: It’s like a car alarm for your computer
July 29th, 2007
In spite of other products that may want to stake a claim. it seems to me that the laptop computer itself may actually be the greatest thing since sliced bread. To take a notebook-sized box and put more computing power in it than used to fill a room is always amazing to me. This all comes at a price, however.
Nobody ever tried to steal ENIAC. It would have taken a truck–and not a small truck at that–to pinch that behemoth. Your laptop? Turn your back for a minute and it'll fit nicely into somebody's bag or folder.
If you're used to taking your laptop out in public with you, you probably have a cable lock to secure it to a desk or table. But do you always use it? Sure, you're only going to turn your back for a minute, and it's kind of a pain to unroll it that cable, wrap it around some stationary object, and lock it up. Is there anything else easier to use?
Laptop Alarm is an interesting application that may help keep your laptop yours. Configurable to choose which events trigger it, you can set Laptop Alarm to sound its alarm when the A/C power adapter is unplugged, your USB mouse is disconnected, or when the system is shut down. Since these are all likely scenarios for anybody trying to get the five-finger discount on your baby, you're more likely to not be separated from your system when it screams as it walks away. Not a bad deal.
Laptop Alarm is a Windows app and runs on Win98 or later.
There’s a way, a very logical one, to override it, you just hold the shut down button for 5 seconds. If or when you fix this i would really like a copy. It would be really good if this program was open source, if it was it would be vary easy for me or someone else to upgrade it so you can’t override it with the power button. Any way the idea is good and I’m using it. Thanks Syfer!