"This Guy Has My MacBook"—A Tale of Evil, Redemption & the Power of the App

This Guy Has My MacBook is a gripping tale for iOS nerds far and wide, documented via interaction designer Joshua Kaufman's tumblr. When Kaufman's MacBook was stolen from his apartment in Oakland, CA, on March 21, 2011, he quickly activated Hidden, a previously installed app that enabled Kaufman to collect photos of the thief, as well as screen shots of the computer in use.

Thief driving away with Kaufman's MacBook.

Over a month later, Kaufman's persistent efforts finally came through, when the police arrested the perpetrator:

"(May 31, 8:37 PM PST) ARRESTED! An Oakland police officer just called me to let me know that they arrested the guy in my photos! BOOYA! The police used my evidence (email which pointed to a cab service) that he was a driver and tricked him into picking them up. Nice work OPD!"

According to Kaufman's Twitter, he picked up the recovered laptop around an hour ago. The captured pics are hilariously creepy—not to mention great advertising for Hidden.

If you would like to protect your MacBook or iMac from comically glassy-eyed, slack-jawed thieves as shown above (or worse... I shudder to think), you can purchase Hidden for $15.

Here's a brief overview of the process:

"When you activate tracking, Hidden will locate your stolen computer anywhere on the planet, collect photos of the thief and screen shots of the computer in use. (We also collect lots of nerdy network information, but we won't bore you with the details!) The Hidden team will also help you work with the police when recovering your stolen computer."

Check out Hidden's plans and pricing.