OH SH&^$!!! So sorry to hear that man--I hope they find the dirty buggers and execute them in public forum. You have my sympathies.

How did they break in, if I may ask? I only wonder because we always try to make our homes safer, but it only goes so far I suppose. If you want windows for example, you sacrifice security. Did you have an alarm system, and if not...do you think one would have helped? We have been thinking of getting one, and now your post makes me think about it again.

TB

Sorry to hear that Laurence. It happened to me a while back too. You feel quite violated don't you!!

Fortunately insurance replaced all that was stolen.... but it's still a piss off.

As a result I now keep a back up external HDD with my personal data updated weekly, hidden in the floor boards of my house.

The personal data drive on my main machine (which includes my banking and accounts is also now encrypted. I have to enter a 14 digit pass code each time I start the computer. And EVERY SINGLE paper I throw away is now shredded first.

The insurance will take care of everything else... but it is this stuff that it can't help with.

Look on the bright side... I had fun (and so will you) when it comes to spending the insurance checks on new equipment!

The back door was unlocked when we got home. I'm not sure but it was likely unlocked when we left. My eight year old is always going in and out and it is hard to get him to shut it let alone lock it. When we leave as a family, my wife always makes sure some of our lights are on so that it looks like someone is home. In this case I left last and was in a hurry so as not to miss the scout cookout. I didn't bother to check the lights or the back door.

What sucks is now whoever it is knows what we have and may likely come back for more.

Another thing that sucks is that I have a bunch of older equipment that is boxed and ready to sell on ebay. Ready that is except that all the pictures I took of each item are still on the CX-7 that was just stolen. Aahh!

My sympathy to you. We installed an alarm with radio backup in case they
cut the phone wires.

Motion sensors control lights and take a digital photo. Oldest is auto deleted.
We also recorded a video of the belongings with serial numbers and store it
in the bank. Makes it easier to identify. Also use clear ultraviolet paint to mark
your items, can't be seen in normal light but quickly can pinpoint at pawn shops.

Good luck getting your stuff back, it may take time.

my sympathies....

we live in a remote area, but when we were broken into in sydney we suffered the usual pains, etc., we got a dog (we love dogs, but our landlord - a really nice bloke - had a no dogs clause in our lease. he finally reckoned letting us keep one was the best deterrent (he has two himself). back to base alarms are ok as long as the guy monitoring hasn't gone off for a quick joint, and they're in the same state, let alone city.

dogs rule,

leslie

Sorry to hear that, Laurence. We moved far out to the boondocks, in part to get away from things like that that I put up with in NYC, Oakland, and other holes I've lived in.

Keep your head up, you'll recover. Get mechanical (locks, reinforced doors and windows), electronic (alarm systems) and biological (dogs) guards. Every little thing that slows them down helps.

Best wishes.

We had a really nice black lab for years (he died last year unfortunately). To give you an idea of how bad he was as a watchdog, one night someone stole his doghouse when he was right there. I'm not joking. In the morning he was there but no doghouse. He must have quietly got out so they could take it.

I am really sorry to hear that Laurence. I know how I would feel and my heart goes out to you. Have a fraud alert placed on your credit file. They are good for 90 days after which time you can renew it. Check eBay for your items. You never know. Also search My Space. Some of these thieves are idiots. Sorry again Laurence.

John

So sorry to hear about your loss.

Couple of thoughts:

(1) Thieves are creatures of habit. If they found the door unlocked once, they will some day try it again.

(2) Talk to neighbors about watching your place while you watch theirs. Don't know your circumstances, and you guys probably do this already.

(3) Dogs are great. Our border collie is gentle as a lamb but sounds like he will rip your head off if he doesn't know you at the gate.

(4) Alert the police, and immediately go online at eBay and Craigslist. This stuff will probably show up within a few days online or at a pawn shop.

Hang in there. This, too, will pass, and of course, life can throw a lot worse stuff (like losing a child).

I won't beat yourself up about the door lock. They are virtually useless to all but the really stupid crooks anyways. Most can bump open a door lock in a matter of seconds if found locked.

As for lights, lights on all night with no activity can be a giveaway, timers are neccesary to maintain the illusion.

Hey Laurence

I can feel your pain. Cameras and other creative tools including PC become part of you and become personal and to loose these just hurts

My heart just sank when I read your post.

How is it that your place was targeted? It’s a person or persons who have some knowledge of your possessions and your movements
Criminals don’t walk from back door to back door checking to see if they are open

I hope you and your family recover soon from this awful theft

Rory

Horrid. Just plainly horrid . . . .

Grazie

Really bad news mate. Never really lost that much to thieves breaking in but the stuff isn't what matters, it's the feeling of violation but only if you let it get to you.
I have lost a bit of gear when the place I work for was broken into. All the bars and locks did was create more damage. They stole a 4WD and used that to rip the security grill off the front of the building. They were quick, very quick. Back to base alarm didn't really help, we reckon they were in and out in 3 minutes.

Bob.

Commiserations Lawrence - I had a similar experience 2 years back - while I was out for 45 mins having coffee at my daughter's .... I lost a laptop, minidisc recorder, a digital8 cam, a portable DVD player and all my late wife's jewellery - but as Bob said, it's the feeling of violation .... fortunately the Insurers were great - I had a newer better Sony laptop delivered 12 days after the burglary.

I now have a metal strongbox, a stronger office door and an alarm system - the thing I was grateful for was, apart from a few files on the laptop I didn't lose all the data I had on a dozen or more external hard drives.

Hope it works out ok for you once you've got over the shock.

sorry to hear that. I've never had a break in but I know around my place we all keep an eye on each other when we're away.

Please keep updated so we know how things turn out.

Nothing lower than a thief! We got broken into a few years back, thieves are also not very smart, he left a shirt and hat (took one of my shirts) in the house. As it turns out, the police had, minutes before he broke in, video taped and interviewed him a few blocks from the house. He was "suspicious" is why the stopped and talked to him. So, when they saw the shirt and hat, they identified him arrested him a few days later. He did several years in prison (but couldn't pay us back any money). Anyway, we have a good, monitored alarm system now.

Like you said, you still have the Z7... : ) ...

the silver lining may be that you taught the rest of us here a good lesson about security.... i'm now thinking of a safe & other things...

That sucks-sorry to hear about it. We got broken into here, too, recently, but they didn't get much. And where I live, we are able to keep our doors unlocked. Correction: we used to keep our doors unlocked.

Really hope they find the buggers.

Monitored alarm systems are pretty much useless. The police have them as the lowest priority in their systems and responed after all other more important things have been taken care of.That could mean 1.5 hours before they check out your home, if they do and a lot of times they don't. This is applicable to afluent neighborhoods. And if it's a false alarm you will be fined. (money) How do I know? Been there, done that. Best deterrent is two Dobermans, Shepards, Pitt bulls. The major flaw in security systems is the police must respond immeadiately or they are useless. And then there are the fines for false alarms. You might invest in a nice .44 magnum or a .50 cal which will penetrate most walls and obsticles. (Can't hide)
JJK

But I do think that alarms have some deterrent effect. Not the alarms themselves, but the signs that you post saying you have an alarm. Given a choice, if I were a thief I think I'd pick the property without signs, just because that's one less thing to worry about.

The signs also imply the homeowner has given this some thought, and probably has made entry more difficult than otherwise.

I have been procrastinating on bolstering our security for a while now.

Im not putting it off any longer.

Sorry about your situation, it serves as a warning to the rest of us.

I agree on the home alarms, they are useless if all they do is call the police.

When I lived in Pacific Palisades, I had an alarm to Bel Air Patrol. Now that was a different story...

They had their own squad cars driving by every covered street every few minutes. They didn't even bother calling the police. If they got an alarm, they'd be there in as little as 90 seconds. Now that was value!

But the value was in their squad cars, not the alarm system per se.

Dogs are great if you can take care of them properly (but pit bulls etc. are a major liability and can prevent you from collecting on your umbrella policy if a neighbor or a guest gets hurt).

And please, if you're thinking of defending your home with a gun, be sure to a) think through what it means to kill another human being (if you can't do that you have no business with a gun in the middle of the night, and the gun may be taken from you and used a against you, something that has happened to many elderly especially), and b) go to a reputable shooting range and get safety training and enough practice to make sure you can hit a silhouette from 30 paces (you'd be surprised how many people are more afraid of the gun than the silhouette), and c) for the love of God don't use a handgun indoors if you can help it, particularly not a .44 Magnum (I'll disregard the 0.50 Desert Eagle comment as I don't think that was meant seriously).

A pump shotgun makes a sound when cycled that stops every intruder in his tracks immediately. The sound of cocking a piss-ant handgun (even a .44!) doesn't have the same effect.

On top of that, going through walls is NOT a good thing for home defense. So you streak the bad guy's forearm with your .44 bullet, then the bullet continues through the wall and kills your wife and the three children hiding behind her...

The least expensive burglary-reduction aid is a $25 fake TV camera "covering your back yard."