JoshRWeinstein.com

Mar 26

#JustLanded: LA and SF

Hanging w frenz and attending the IMN/MedMen cannabis conference in san jose!!

#justlanded palm beach

Forgot to post from february for lilys wedding!

Feb 11

Repost: Laptop stolen from Princeton, returned from Guatemala, suspect dead

Originally posted on Medium, reposting here for safekeeping / easy access https://medium.com/@joshweinstein/laptop-stolen-from-princeton-returned-from-guatemala-suspect-dead-498682dbc1f2#.v4p9spdyd

I was going to go for a clickbait headline, but I figured the truth would be the most compelling — you’re reading, so I guess it worked. In late May of 2016, Princeton University convened its annual Reunions — one of the craziest events out there. It’s an amazing event where 25,000 alums from all different class years to celebrate friendship and Princeton.

Princeton’s campus is notoriously quiet and safe. The former obviously changes with the introduction of 25,000 people, but the latter still holds true. In the primary festivity of the weekend, every Princeton alum partakes in the P-rade (Princeton, parade, portmanteau, you get the idea). I left my bag alongside a friend’s outside Dillon Gym and marched onward. After hours in the sun, I refueled at Tower — one of Princeton’s famous “Eating Clubs.”

When I returned, I noticed that my bag was no longer hidden under the tree I left it by, but conspicuously moved out in front of it. Though the flap at the top was closed, it was unzipped. My Macbook was stolen, along with the charger. Everything else was there.

As the former student body president, I had heard a lot of complaints, suggestions, etc. about Princeton and its campus, but theft or any crime were out of sight and out of mind in the sleepy suburban college town. It was unconscionable to me that something would be stolen on Princeton’s campus. You’d think a New Yorker would be more savvy.

I reported the issue to Princeton’s Public Safety, filed a report with with one of the officers (we’ll call him Officer Phil, for Princeton), and they advised me that pretty much nothing would or could happen, as there are few security cameras on campus. I reflected that this — the lack of constant surveillance, not my stolen laptop — is probably for the best. There was key data on my laptop (only partially backed up to the cloud, long story for a separate post), so — unhappily — I escaped New Jersey and headed home immediately.

As someone who is constantly on their computer, I didn’t turn on Find My Mac for performance reasons. I always knew where my Mac is/was — it’s right in front of me, as it is now. I left my Dropbox, Facebook, and gmail passwords unchanged, though, in the hope that the thief would inadvertently connect (as Dropbox automatically does on login).

I checked for a month — nothing. Resigned, I put it fairly out of sight and out of mind — a life lesson for the internal autobiography.

In September, I perused my Dropbox screenshots looking for a few things when I came upon a file in Spanish. It was the Facebook homepage of a Hispanic teen, let’s call him Greg, for Guatemala. I was about to write it off as a bug or other aberrance when I noticed the Dock — the array of Application icons at the bottom of a Mac. Internet Chess Club. Curse (VOIP system for gamers). This was MY computer!

Naturally, I did what anyone would do — I made a Facebook account for a 21-year old Guatemalan girl, friended all of this guy’s friends, joined all of his groups, and in parallel told Officer Phil. Phil had another Princeton administrator who spoke Spanish get in touch with local Guatemalan police and Greg’s school (which was conveniently listed on the Facebook screenshot), but neither party wanted to get involved.

I noticed that one of the friends was with Greg the night before. I got the impression he was his uncle and did what anyone would do: I Skyped his workplace. I don’t speak Español, so I asked if there was someone there who spoke English. Someone answered the phone, I asked for the man I believed was his uncle. It was him. Awesome. The man informed me that Greg got the computer from a relative who lived in New Jersey and linked me to his Facebook, let’s call him Nathan (you get the naming conventions by this point right?). As you can imagine from our prior futile effort, getting information and help from Guatemala was going to be a challenge, so a lead in the US was a major victory.

I spoke to Nathan through his daughter, as he said his English wasn’t very good. I later found out his English was fine, but it was a helpful conversation nonetheless. He let me know that the computer was purchased from Columbus Market, a flea market in central NJ, apologized for the inconvenience, and offered to send the computer back to me (I’d pay for shipping). Apparently shipping a computer from Guatemala to the US is basically like buying a new computer (~$200), but I needed the data.

After some back and forth, the computer was on its way, hope was in sight after nearly six months and a crazy Central America voyage for which I didn’t get frequent flyer miles. On the day that it was supposed to arrive, unsurprisingly, it did not. Why did it not? I called Officer Phil and he, along with his colleague, discovered that the laptop was stuck in customs in Guatemala. Naturally. Apparently, I’d need a lithium permit to get the computer back in. They worked some magic and got it through customs and then again through the same issue in Miami a few days later.

Eventually, by some miracle, the laptop was back in my possession. The contents were moved to the trash, but still there. Sweet. So that’s a great story — laptop stolen from Princeton, goes to Guatemala, returned, happy ever after — great. Greatest story…but it continues.

I let Phil know that I had the laptop, but would like to know who stole it so I can go after damages (new computer, shipping, etc etc). Phil spoke with Nathan and found a series of important details — it was Nathan’s coworker that purchased the computer from Columbus Market. Unfortunately, that co-worker recently go into a car accident and is now dead. I asked Nathan where he works, and he said he is a groundskeepers for Princeton University.

It seems unlikely that a groundskeeper from Princeton would buy a stolen laptop from a random flea market that was stolen from the grounds of Princeton. Based on the conversations, Officer Phil and I agreed that it was likely that Nathan’s coworker was indeed the primary suspect rather than Nathan himself. In particular, Nathan is known to be a conscientious worker who often returns valuable electronics to its owner or the University.

I thanked Nathan and Officer Phil for their help, and the matter is now put to rest. Thanks for reading. Lesson of the day: Princeton doesn’t have a theft problem because when something does get stolen, it will magically (thanks to goodwill and technology) come back to its owner. More seriously, a few kind individuals’ goodwill can go a long way. There are definitely more lessons — interested to hear your takeaways in the comments section below.

Thanks Shahed Serajuddin, Monique Yashaya, and Mike Borohovski for help with this post!

Nov 24

#JustLanded: Vegas

Spent last week in vegas for the largest cannabis business expo. Was fun! Great stuff for highny.com

Nov 6

#JustListened: Love Yourself

Great to met Kamal, had a good chat, was intrigued by his book. It was great – you should check it out!

#JustRead: Feedback Loop

Surprised this isn’t a movie in the works. Thanks Fabrice for the rec

Oct 27

#JustListened - Sapiens (my first Audible)

Thanks to Sandy Gibson for the recommendation of Audible and Fabrice Grinda for the recommendation of Sapiens. A super fascinating read that is a bit scary, a lot informative, and altogether worthwhile.

Oct 5

#JustRead: Modern Romance

Hilarious, entertaining, and informative. Good research for http://getkeenapp.com

Jun 30

#JustRead : Dataclysm

Grear book. Lots of interesting insights. The piece about hidden racism and exit poll data disparities for elections would have helped you predict Brexit

May 21

#JustLanded: East Hampton

Congrats Tom and Julia!!!