I've noticed an increasing number of players being reported as stolen - five in the past month.

This is a reminder to everyone to be extra cautious and not to leave your player in your car.

I also strongly advise that you write down the serial number of your player (found on the barcode label on the bottom of the unit, or in the about dialog on the player) and keep it somewhere safe so that you can report it should the worst happen.

Hi David,

Any pattern to the thefts? Or do they seem to be random? Just wondering if they're in a certain geographic area or fall into some kind of noticable pattern.

/me pictures David at the downtown precinct, with pins on a map, like in the movies about serial killers...

They're random. Two in the US, two in Canada and one in Europe IIRC.

only one guy can cover that much area in a week.
damn you santa, damn you.

"There's something here we're not seeing! If only I knew what it was!"

ROFL

Theft of all kinds does rise before the holidays, guess they want to sell them for the money to use.

One night a couple of weeks ago in Dayton where I work, some people had taken a vehicle and rammed it into the backs of three drug stores trying to break in. The one that I surveyed, they had hit the wall with the electric panels and knocked it in the about 8 inches. Shame they didn't bring it down on the car, they might have been sorry then They didn't even manage to get into any of the stores. Talk about dumb crooks.

I keep my spare unit in our DF safe at work, there's only two people with a key and I'm one of them! I don't think that's too paranoid is it?

Where is the about dialog in the player that you're talking about?

Main menu... About.

Duh.. not sure why I didn't think of that one. I guess I was looking for a place to edit an "about" area to add the S/N but alas it was already there. Thanks.

This is a reminder to everyone to be extra cautious and not to leave your player in your car.

I almost had a heart attack this morning. I usually leave the empeg in my car when its in the driveway (but take it out everywhere else - go figure). Last night when I got home, I had a ton of groceries so I forgot to lock ANY of the doors to my car. I was scared until I saw it still sitting in its dock.

Today I brought it in with me when I got home...

There's a gun shop next to one of my customer's offices. It's been broken into 3 times. Each time they'd steal the biggest truck they could find and smash through the front glass+screen. The last time they did it there apparently was enough metal in the screens to keep the truck stuck. I've not heard of anymore breakins after that.

They need some of those big cement posts like they have in front of the Whitehouse.

Theft of all kinds does rise before the holidays

I believe that house burglaries rise just before Christmas, because the thieves know that there'll be a bunch of expensive stuff in there, still in the boxes, and thus with a higher retail value.

I believe that house burglaries rise just before Christmas

when i read this, the movie home alone just flashed into my mind.

I am truly sorry to hear that...

Are you counting mine in that tally?
I haven't been able to locate a serial number and have thus not officially reported mine stolen.

Fortunately, insurance is covering replacement costs (minus $200 deductible).

State Farm is being fair in their valuations of the things taken. I had a little hassle in convincing them that the empeg is worth more than I paid for it or that the CDs taken were not music for the empeg, but its all worked out now.

Write down your serial numbers and back up your music!

-Biscuits

Make that six then. I was only counting those I'd added to the stolen list with a serial number.

might be cool to have some sort of serial number registry or something.... tho i'm not sure how that would help...

d.

on second thought, if there was a registry--at least of stolen ones, then you could check ebay listings against it. i'm sure someone else has already thought of this, so pardon me.

My Riocar (Mk2) was stolen August 9th (Northern VA).
Though I know who stole it, it hasn't been tracked down yet. Could everyone please keep an eye out for serial no. 495505154146? Thanks~

That looks more like a CC number than a serial number?

A 12 digit CC number??

...ok, maybe the first 12 digits of a CC number..

The problem with a registry is that if the wrong person gets a hold if it, we could ALL get our Empeg's stolen....

if only the stolen ones were listed, then at least we could keep an eye on the ebay listings to make sure none of them
were stolen... probably could write a perl script to do it...
(assuming posters declared the serial #s... would be
pretty suspicious if someone wasn't willing to declare it.)

... anyway, just an idea.

d.

d.

There is a large pattern of theft in Northern Virginia and one theif (he and his friends have stated he is a huge car audio theif) is widely known but uprosecuted. He has stolen my stereo, the stereos of roughly 25% of my friends w/ aftermarket, and the area police won't do anything. How can I get action taken? Since I am in debt and the insurance company only gave me $200 (minus $100 deductible) I want something to be done so I can hear music again.

Greetings!

Were you ever able to replace your player?

no, the head unit was stolen too, and my car needed engine and bodywork. The full story of the car is pretty unfortunate, as I write this I'm getting ready to junk it even though I've just spent $6000 on it in the past 9 months. I've practically gone insane since I lost the Empeg, music IS my life.

I feel for you. My first player was stolen back in February and I was in some sort of music shock for about a month. I had become so accustomed to my entire music collection at my fingertips...even being able to know album/song/year at a glance and then BANG...nothing...

Hopefully you can recover your player or get a new one quickly.

Ditto, i've been in a rental car on and off for the past 3 weeks due to my car being stolen... and i've had to listen to the friggin' RADIO and it's driving me insane. If it weren't for KPFA i'd go nuts.

had to listen to the friggin' RADIO and it's driving me insane

It is amusing. You get very used to it.

I had the car in for some repairs at the dealer yesterday. While waiting, I wandered around, looking at all of the new stuff they had. I wasn't horribly impressed, but I saw that they were now making XM a factory installed option for all of their models. One of the folks on the floor, who has seen me around before, asked if I had tried the XM demo they had and wasn't it the greatest thing in car audio. I could not help but laugh and tell him that it would be the first thing I would rip out of the car, and I the reason I was looking at the radio so closely was to see how I could do it...

I then explained about the empeg, and (after my car was done) gave another demo... One of these days, I really have to put together a demo playlist, just something that can show off what it can do. This way, I don't have to scroll around much...

Let me guess, the sales rep passed out at the number of songs you have!!!

i've been in a rental car on and off for the past 3 weeks due to my car being stolen... and i've had to listen to the friggin' RADIO
You should really look into an FM transmitter. Two quick varieties would be the I-rock and a Canakit transmitter. I own both so the pros and cons go like this. The Irock! is simple and small with that however comes rather weak output and it eats batteries quickly. The Canakit (hacked) can be used with a dc plug to power both it and your empeg. Its much more powerful and it has a larger broadcast range than the four choices of the Irock. The downside is that its larger and requires some sort of homemade case. I'd post pictures but I don't have access to a digital cam.

One of the folks on the floor, who has seen me around before, asked if I had tried the XM demo they had and wasn't it the greatest thing in car audio. I could not help but laugh and tell him that it would be the first thing I would rip out of the car, and I the reason I was looking at the radio so closely was to see how I could do it...

2600 had an article on XM and its problems this quarter.

Michael,
How was the sound quality of that Canakit Transmitter?
Assuming you have the UK222 transmitter.
Thanks - Gazz.

The Canakit transmitter is great... I used it on my recent move from SC to OK in the moving truck. Very clear reception, although I can't really respond about the distance at which it will work... Mine is also directly wired to a 12 volt power supply as opposed to the battery pack that comes with which probably improved it a bit as well.

my car being stolen...

No!

My old empeg wasn't stolen along with it, was it? I hope not...

And I just realized... The whole reason we swapped units, was because you wanted an original empeg & sled, 'cause your last one got stolen. Doh!

I'm sorry man.

Damn... I'm sick of hearing about people getting their stuff ganked. WTF is goin on in this country?!?

"WTF is goin on in this country?!?"

Poverty and crank addiction?

-Zeke

My old empeg wasn't stolen along with it, was it? I hope not...

nah man, still got the empeg, but the sled is gone =[.

gives me a good excuse to order one of Rob's black sleds when they are done. It'll go nicely in the new WRX i'll FINALLY have in about 2 weeks.