Using sykologee, errr, ciecolergi, umm, Mind games.

[stubaz]

After a trip to Tasmania my Mavic Mini decided to go walkies. Actually someone else decided to take it walkies. I spent the next few weeks trying to figure out if there was some way to get the Mini back where it belonged. I decided on a little psychology (got it).

I posted a message in my Facebook page saying that DJI could track the mini every time it switched on. All I had to do was email DJI and they would send me a log of where the mini was, every time it was activated, but this would take some time so, if the person who had it sent it back to me I would pay them a reward of $200, no questions asked and I wouldn't legally pursue the matter.

I heard nothing for well over a month and I'd almost convinced myself I'd never see baby Mavic again. Some may think I'm mad to be so attached to a $1,000 drone, but it had taken me almost a year to save that money from my pension and as anyone who's tried saving knows, as soon as you think you have enough to buy , a bill arrives and big chunk of your savings goes south.

As I said, nothing was heard, EXCEPT a knock on the door this afternoon. The postman had a mystery parcel. No tracking, no return address. It was my prodigal Mavic Mini. well wrapped in bubble wrap and safe inside a box, postmarked Tasmania. I haven't a clue who sent it and more to the point why? Another question is, how did they get my address? I no longer have a landline, so I'm not in the phone book. Obviously the sender isn't a run of the mill thief. This one has a brain and a conscience, also how did he find my FaceBook page?

I'm almost convinced the Mavic went astray at one of the four airports I visited on the return journey, Tasmania, Melbourne, Sydney, Home. How it went missing is a mystery, but not as big a mystery as how it managed to get back. The logical place would be Hobart, Tasmania airport, but it's possible the thief sold the Mavic and the buyer was from Tasmania, but surely nobody buying a Mavic would send it to a stranger who had one stolen. The whole thing is weird and I'd love to know where it went and how it managed to be returned. I guess I'll never know, unless the sender decides to ask for the $200 reward of course. Would you pay up if you were in my boots? Ethically I should pay, I made the offer.

 

[Dale D]

After a trip to Tasmania my Mavic Mini decided to go walkies. Actually someone else decided to take it walkies. I spent the next few weeks trying to figure out if there was some way to get the Mini back where it belonged. I decided on a little psychology (got it).

I posted a message in my Facebook page saying that DJI could track the mini every time it switched on. All I had to do was email DJI and they would send me a log of where the mini was, every time it was activated, but this would take some time so, if the person who had it sent it back to me I would pay them a reward of $200, no questions asked and I wouldn't legally pursue the matter.

I heard nothing for well over a month and I'd almost convinced myself I'd never see baby Mavic again. Some may think I'm mad to be so attached to a $1,000 drone, but it had taken me almost a year to save that money from my pension and as anyone who's tried saving knows, as soon as you think you have enough to buy , a bill arrives and big chunk of your savings goes south.

As I said, nothing was heard, EXCEPT a knock on the door this afternoon. The postman had a mystery parcel. No tracking, no return address. It was my prodigal Mavic Mini. well wrapped in bubble wrap and safe inside a box, postmarked Tasmania. I haven't a clue who sent it and more to the point why? Another question is, how did they get my address? I no longer have a landline, so I'm not in the phone book. Obviously the sender isn't a run of the mill thief. This one has a brain and a conscience, also how did he find my FaceBook page?

I'm almost convinced the Mavic went astray at one of the four airports I visited on the return journey, Tasmania, Melbourne, Sydney, Home. How it went missing is a mystery, but not as big a mystery as how it managed to get back. The logical place would be Hobart, Tasmania airport, but it's possible the thief sold the Mavic and the buyer was from Tasmania, but surely nobody buying a Mavic would send it to a stranger who had one stolen. The whole thing is weird and I'd love to know where it went and how it managed to be returned. I guess I'll never know, unless the sender decides to ask for the $200 reward of course. Would you pay up if you were in my boots? Ethically I should pay, I made the offer.

I'd call it ransom but I would definitely pay it. But if you do, you would have to know where to send the check, right? And therefore (ergo) find the perpetrator.

Dale
Miami

 

[stubaz]

You're right Dale. I'd pay it for sure, it's a minor thing, What has really been bugging me is the rest of the story. I can't get it out of my mind. How did he or she, know who I was, and where I was? It reads like a $2 novel. Even the lack of a return address. The post office insists on having it on the parcel when it's posted. The only logical answer would be my relatives I stayed with, but I know for sure I packed the small Mavic Mini case in my overnight bag and it went in the luggage hold with my wheelchair. Up until I checked in at the airport the bag never left my sight. When I arrived home my wife unpacked the bag and it wasn't until much later I realized it was missing.

I keep telling myself to stop worrying, I got it back and leave it at that, but I guess I hate loose ends. Thankfully I charged the batteries whilst I was in Tasmania so they took full charges last night. I expected them to have died, they were all on their last LED.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and your input. Now that the weather is getting warmer over here my next step is have a fly and make sure it's as airworthy as it looks. The funny thing is I purchased a used Air 2 to take it's place only 3 days ago so now I have a much larger DJI fleet.

 

[Dale D]

You're right Dale. I'd pay it for sure, it's a minor thing, What has really been bugging me is the rest of the story. I can't get it out of my mind. How did he or she, know who I was, and where I was? It reads like a $2 novel. Even the lack of a return address. The post office insists on having it on the parcel when it's posted. The only logical answer would be my relatives I stayed with, but I know for sure I packed the small Mavic Mini case in my overnight bag and it went in the luggage hold with my wheelchair. Up until I checked in at the airport the bag never left my sight. When I arrived home my wife unpacked the bag and it wasn't until much later I realized it was missing.

I keep telling myself to stop worrying, I got it back and leave it at that, but I guess I hate loose ends. Thankfully I charged the batteries whilst I was in Tasmania so they took full charges last night. I expected them to have died, they were all on their last LED.

Anyway, thanks for your interest and your input. Now that the weather is getting warmer over here my next step is have a fly and make sure it's as airworthy as it looks. The funny thing is I purchased a used Air 2 to take it's place only 3 days ago so now I have a much larger DJI fleet.

I wish I had a similar story to tell you! While taking our last internal flight on the island of Madagascar 2 years ago, we waited at the very rural air strip in the southern end of the country to return to the big city where we would catch our international flight. I made the stupid mistake of letting them check my carry on bag, where inside of it, was my trusty Mac Book Pro 13 inch computer. At the tiny waiting room, we were rushed into checking our bags. Thankfully, we were at the very end of the trip and all of my images were already downloaded onto hard drives in my bag.
When we arrived at the baggage carousel my carry on bags appeared, only to find that the Mac Book Pro was gone. It was the only bag without a TSA padlock. I never got it back and had to buy a new one. I was out the $1500 USD but since the thief could not get into my computer without my password, I have no idea why they stole it.

The only bright news to the story was that I was forced to buy the new Mac Book Pro with the M1 chip instead of still having the old now with the slower Intel chip.

Dale
Miami

 

[stubaz]

I hate to upset you Dale, but it is possible to bypass the password of a Mac Book Pro. You lose any data stored on it's hard drive, but that's not usually what a thief is after. At least you didn't lose your photos and you ended up with a new and better unit, albeit at a sizeable cost. It's still a nasty way to end your journey though. I find that losing property is more than an expense, it's a humiliating experience, an invasion of privacy. Us humans can tend to become attached to our belongings. It baffles me how someone can steal other's property and not be even slightly concerned about it.

I purchased a very expensive HiFi amplifier many years ago. On the way home from the store I dropped into a local church to help a friend who had problems with the church's audio system. I was only there for about 20 minutes and when I left I saw the back window of my car had been smashed. A thief had relieved me of the amp plus a wine flagon full of 50 cent pieces. The money wasn't important, but that amplifier was something I'd looked forward to owning for some time.

The following week a friend informed me that a guy he knew had just installed the same amp in his apartment. He had made a big fuss about it at a party he held the previous weekend. Rather strange how he managed to purchase the exact same unit at around the same time as I lost mine. I told another friend, a police officer about my suspicions and he went to the guy's home and demanded to see the amp. He had also checked with the owner of the store to find out how many of the same model had been recently sold. Mine was the only unit sold in the past 6 months.

Unfortunately there was nothing which could be done. Neither I or the store owner had the serial number of the amp. Even though the thief was a known offender the police couldn't prove it was mine. My only option was to take the thief to court and that would have cost me more than the amplifier was worth. There was a little satisfaction the following year when I read in the local paper that the thief had been arrested on charges of being a fence for stolen property. He was given a 5 year prison sentence.

By the way, have you heard about the latest thing home owners are being subjected to? There's a competition being held on TikTok where thieves are breaking into homes to steal property, but at the same time have to take a photo of the owners asleep in bed. That's how blatant these young kids are getting. The competition will be won by the person who gets the best value haul plus that photo. Some of these kids are pre teen and couldn't care less. Nothing happens, if they are caught, they are simply released to continue their break and enter game.
Finally, a small tip. When you get home from a flying session, store your Drone in one place and your controller somewhere completely different. I've been told thieves won't touch drones unless they can grab both units together. I'm not sure it's 100% protection, but it is logical. Supposedly very few thieves will spend time searching for missing parts. I now store batteries, drones and controllers in separate places. With batteries costing $200 plus each, they deserve their own hideaway.

 

[Dale D]

I hate to upset you Dale, but it is possible to bypass the password of a Mac Book Pro. You lose any data stored on it's hard drive, but that's not usually what a thief is after. At least you didn't lose your photos and you ended up with a new and better unit, albeit at a sizeable cost. It's still a nasty way to end your journey though. I find that losing property is more than an expense, it's a humiliating experience, an invasion of privacy. Us humans can tend to become attached to our belongings. It baffles me how someone can steal other's property and not be even slightly concerned about it.

I purchased a very expensive HiFi amplifier many years ago. On the way home from the store I dropped into a local church to help a friend who had problems with the church's audio system. I was only there for about 20 minutes and when I left I saw the back window of my car had been smashed. A thief had relieved me of the amp plus a wine flagon full of 50 cent pieces. The money wasn't important, but that amplifier was something I'd looked forward to owning for some time.

The following week a friend informed me that a guy he knew had just installed the same amp in his apartment. He had made a big fuss about it at a party he held the previous weekend. Rather strange how he managed to purchase the exact same unit at around the same time as I lost mine. I told another friend, a police officer about my suspicions and he went to the guy's home and demanded to see the amp. He had also checked with the owner of the store to find out how many of the same model had been recently sold. Mine was the only unit sold in the past 6 months.

Unfortunately there was nothing which could be done. Neither I or the store owner had the serial number of the amp. Even though the thief was a known offender the police couldn't prove it was mine. My only option was to take the thief to court and that would have cost me more than the amplifier was worth. There was a little satisfaction the following year when I read in the local paper that the thief had been arrested on charges of being a fence for stolen property. He was given a 5 year prison sentence.

By the way, have you heard about the latest thing home owners are being subjected to? There's a competition being held on TikTok where thieves are breaking into homes to steal property, but at the same time have to take a photo of the owners asleep in bed. That's how blatant these young kids are getting. The competition will be won by the person who gets the best value haul plus that photo. Some of these kids are pre teen and couldn't care less. Nothing happens, if they are caught, they are simply released to continue their break and enter game.
Finally, a small tip. When you get home from a flying session, store your Drone in one place and your controller somewhere completely different. I've been told thieves won't touch drones unless they can grab both units together. I'm not sure it's 100% protection, but it is logical. Supposedly very few thieves will spend time searching for missing parts. I now store batteries, drones and controllers in separate places. With batteries costing $200 plus each, they deserve their own hideaway.

Yes we really do live in a sh..ty world these days. The kids have gotten very brazen and bold. Poverty and drugs drive these thefts in my opinion, plus bad parenting in their childhood. In the USA several days ago, two teens purposely killed a retired man in his 60's by driving behind him while he was on his bike. They video'd the killing and the video recorded laughter ("get his a.s" ). as their car mowed the man over. The man had two children and a wife. They were caught, thankfully., I hope they rot in prison. No regard for any human life these days. Laughing Teens Intentionally Drive Car Into Cyclist, Killing Him

Dale