Intelesure Senior Designer's stolen iphone recovery - How to get your iPhone back

When I discovered my iphone had been stolen by those kids, my first thought was "oh no! What is going to happen to all my private info, my business contacts and anything else i didn't want people to see?" My second thought was, how can you turn a stolen iphone experience into something positive like marketing my company: Intelesure.

I had been working on adding call center articles, and adding some christmas bling to our home page at www.intelesure.com. I love listening to the best holiday music at work while I hack away at my keyboard and wacom pen. It makes work go so much faster.
After I got off work at Intelesure, I went to the mall to go christmas shopping for my brother at Abercrombie. The music there was loud, and a girl i know who works at Abercrombie wasn't there. Kind of to my releif, because the last thing I needed was my friend Mari's voice chiming in my head again: "You can't date her Johnny!".
I had also been keeping my eye on a particular black heavy coat that had been regularly priced $260. I frequently check the price there on it, because it fits good. Being tall and having long arms and a slim torso makes it hard to find good fiting clothes sometimes. I buy most of my jeans at the Buckle because they have the only jeans that fit. Even Abercrombie doesn't have jeans for tall guys like me.
The price on the coat had not changed, but i did remember that my friend had said there were some jackets on sale in the back. I took off my jacket, and set it on a table,  and tried on one of these sale jackets in front of a nearby mirror. As I was admiring my manly physique - and contemplating joining team hardcore again for some more MMA training with Brandon Shuey, I failed to notice the two 18 year olds that had been browsing the store slipping my iPhone out of my jacket pocket at the table. They left quick, but since i normally keep my iphone in my jeans pocket without one of the cool cases to keep it from getting scratched, I didn't suspect they were up to no good.

Stolen iPhone

As I waited in the checkout line, I thought about calling my mother, which of course led to the discovery of the stolen iPhone. I freaked, but only on the inside. As my father says, you are glued to that iPhone. It's practically an appendage of mine.
I hung out at the mall that night. I retraced my steps, from each store i had been in all the way to my '72 Chevy outside in the lot. I even got down on my hands and knees and scraped away at the snow near my truck wondering if it had somehow used a new app that makes the iPhone fly out of people's pockets.
The girls at Abercrombie and the Buckle were the most helpful. They turned down the music, they scoured the store as much as i could expect them to. One of the cuter girls practically made me forget about my missing iPhone.

Reward for "Lost" iPhone

I had my mother text my phone to inform the finders of it that i would offer $50 for the return of the phone. Then when i had no luck an hour later i told my mom to text an increased offer of $100 dollars for the phone.
I should have realized a two things. First, it was my mom's second day of learning how to text. The texts she sent were more of a marketing message than an informational bargain. Here are texts 1 through 4:


6:44 PM:
$50 reward..... Return this phone to the Buckle store or call 208-###-#### if you find this phone!!

6:45 PM:
Reward..... Lost phone.... $50 Return to the Buckle!!

6:47 PM:
Return to the Buckle.... Now there is a $100 reward. Ask for Johnny!!!

7:45 PM:
$100 if this phone is returned to Abercrombie at the mall. This phone will be disabled tonight. Please return tonight to the mall!

I probably should see if there is an opening at Intelesure for some marketing mom.
Second, i should have offered $1000 for the iPhone, because of the wealth of marketing information that can actually fit in an 16 Gig iPhone. Of course i would never pay out a thousand dollars, but perhaps i would have asked for security if they did not take my $50 offer which i would gladly have done.
I hate hanging out at the mall. I'm definatly not 15 years old anymore, and I felt like I was wasting my time at the mall. I had more work on the website for mmahardcore.com's Ultimate Fighting to do.
Eventually, I went home, and felt foreign. I do not have a home phone, or land line, because I depended on my iPhone so much. I also used my iPhone as my alarm clock, my watch, and security blanket. Oh yeah, I also use it for testing website content, checking my email and playing games. And Facebook. I recently had been facebooking like crazy.
I checked Ebay and Craigslist. No iPhone's matched my description.
I changed my passwords to everything. My banking, Facebook, and Gmail.
While in my email, i noticed a new one from my favorite iPhone app: Private i - Lite.
Before I had gotten home i had only suspected someone of stealing my iPhone. This wonderful app actually confirmed the dirty truth: Someone was using my phone. And Private i had sent me an email with the location of my iPhone. Here is the location of my stolen iPhone: ( link to google maps). I could tell where the phone was within 5 houses. Street view let me see the houses. All i would have to do was go knock on a few doors. Except for this disclaimer within the email:  "If your iPhone has been stolen, report this information to the local authorities. Do not attempt to recover your iPhone by yourself."
The police dispach at the station was surprised i knew where the phone was, and impressed as much as I was about this awesome little technology. The movies would have made it a sucess, but as this was real life, because I didn't have a good description of the guys, and could only guess at the address within 5 houses, there was little they would actually do.
The next day at work was distracting. How could i work on marketing without an iPhone to inspire me? Where were the music and movies on my iPod, and the Pandora and AOL radio?
I went to the AT&T store around the corner from Intelesure, where I contemplated buying another 16 Gig iPhone 3G for $499. Way to spendChristmas money. I mean - is there anything else that you could buy for that cheap that does as much and also fits in your pocket? I actually found out from an AT&T representative that I did infact qualify for a discounted iPhone 3G. I started to make the preperations in my mind to buy the phone. Yet hope still lingered that perhaps there was a chance that mine would turn up. I went back to work, and continued to work on smartreceptionist.com's home page and intelesure.com's article page.

Recovering the Stolen iPhone

Then the receptionist at intelesure came into my office and told me i had a phone call.
My mom gave me a number and told me someone had found my phone. It was too good to be true. I called the number and angels sang. The entire Mormon Tabernacle Choir in my head must have sung that Halleluja chorus like 50 times. I drove to meet the Santa Clause of my Christmas who would deliver my Christmas miracle.
The guy who found my iPhone was at lunch with a friend, and had overheard three 18 year old kids bragging about the iPhone they had stolen the previous day and were making fun of some of the apps I had downloaded to my phone. (Yes, I have a sister who is a year and a half old, and so i have some baby friendly apps.) And I guess it helped make these kids laugh when they discovered my Face Melter app.
The guy decided to take action, he told the kids that he had their license plate number and if they didn't give him the phone, he would call the cops. The kids tail's tucked under, and the phone was given to him. And then they ran.
I was so thankful for the return of my phone, that I had decided to offer this guy a $50 reward. I even added my own private clause. If he refused the offer in modesty, I would double the reward. He refused both, even when i insisted. I threw the money at him. He kept his hands in the air. He just said he couldn't. It was against his beliefs. What religion? He was Mormon. And then I saw it. He had his own iPhone.

Pocket-sized Modern Swiss Army Computer

That was it. It could not be his religion that made him return a stolen iPhone. It was because he was an owner. IPhone owners are a different caliber. They are the musketeers of the modern age. The boy scouts with their modern swiss army pocket sized computers.
Of course, you have to wonder, what exactly wasn't kept confidential on my phone? What can people see on a stolen iPhone?
After this experience, here is my review:
What is kept confidential:
(After you change passwords online, and call the iPhone in to AT&T as stolen and have them deactivate it)
Gmail: All new emails and any syncing to email was disabled.
Safari / Internet: Online Banking links would not work, all internet browsing would not work.
You Tube, Google Maps, and all iPhone Apps which use the internet: Wouldn't work. (the private i app sent the email of my iPhone's location before i disabled the phone.)
What is NOT kept confidential:
(since I did not password lock my iPhone by default)
Gmail: All emails saved to the the iPhone's hard drive.
Facebook App: All user info, and all tabs. Even without the internet conection, very personal info about my friends and life was cached and saved on the iphone. You would hope that Facebook would authenticate the connection when the app is launched, but perhaps that just isnt feasble. Big dissappointment: even when I changed my password to facebook, if the iPhone was on a wifi connection, Facebook updated any information on the tabs and inbox and profile. However, it would not send anything or show my friends in chat. No, someone could not post random pics or status updates if i had changed the password. but knowing they could recieve email or messages was haunting.
All my contacts. - email addresses, phone numbers etc.
All my Photos. - even the scandelous pictures that Steve Jobs could prevent me from downloading to my iPhone.
All text conversations. - I love the way texting works on the iPhone, but it is creepy to think someone else can read some of the things i have texted back and forth.

Stolen iPhone Recovery App

What is awesome: Private-I lite by thisistech.com (which only works before you disable the service through AT&T.) It litterally did what it said it would do: Inform me of my iPhone's exact location. Even when it is NOT an iPhone 3G. And the email link opens up google maps, and paired with streetview.... wow. technology is AWESOME.
So all in all... what do I have to learn? Perhaps the iPhone is the greatest phone / computer out there - even better than the G1. But it does not hide all of your gigs of personal information by itself if it is more than 3 feet from you. how about an app that does that? like finger print recognition - and then if it is too far from the microchip you implant under your skin, it disables itslef and sends out a homing beacon. Perhaps that could be called iCannotbeseperatedfrommyiPhone. And Intelesure could market that product with it's call center and direct mail options.

Links:

• www.intelesure.com - Direct Marketing


• www.smartreceptionist.com - Call Center solution for 24/7 answering services


• www.mmahardcore.com - Team Hardcore's Website


• www.johnbergloff.com - For my namesake

Paramount Construction

A work in progress.... almost done! See it at: www.johnbergloff.com/portfolio/paramount.

"Drying Out the Mines"

copyright 2002 john andrew bergloff II

"Girls-can't live with em, can't live without em. That's why you gotta
marry em." - Brian Elton

I always wondered why Snow White decided to hide in the woods and settle
down with the seven miners. I doubt it had little to do with the "Hi-ho,
Hi-ho, it's off to work we go," song, and little to do with the fact that
Dopey was cute. I believe she chose to be their guardian mother because
they were miners-diamond miners. This is the typical woman of today-willing
to settle down with a man who has all the right qualities, and a diamond
ring. And perhaps getting down on one knee is the man's way of "dwarfing"
himself. By general common consent of the woman folk, a man should know how
to buy a diamond engagement ring and how to present it. It's a once in a
lifetime opportunity, and by far the most expensive thing a woman will ever
wear regularly. Why someone wishes to wear a piece of simple carbon as
expensive as a car on her finger keeps many wondering? However, one thing
is for sure: Man works so hard to be able to hi-ho the diamond into the
ring. *** Archduke Maximillian of Hamburg presented to Mary of Burgandy the
first diamond ring in the early 1400's (Shreckengast 3). He should have
been sent to the stocks for being the goof who has caused tons of debt and
stress to most marriage bound men in today's age. *** I started looking for
my first engagement ring at Simmons Jewelry. I inquired of consultant
Marilyn Robinson as to why engagement rings had to have expensive diamonds
on them. She replied that they didn't have to have diamonds; I could put
any kind of precious stone into a ring. When I asked her what she thought
personally about that, I almost heard her cackle as she replied that almost
all girls want diamonds-and the fairest one of all (Robinson). *** I didn't
feel like I had learned enough from my small visit to Simmons jewelry. So,
I decided to go onto the Internet and learn more. Most sites told me how to
buy cheap engagement rings online. *** Monday, November 4th, I ventured
into Lee Read Jewelry. As I entered past the super thick security double
doors, the security guard who looked about my grandpa's age asked me if I
was there for my first time. I responded affirmatively, and his eyes open
wide and he exclaimed: "Looking for an engagement ring!?" I sheepishly
nodded yes, and he motioned me to freeze in place, and then hobbled off
quickly to find someone to help me. Because he was just the security guard,
I know he wasn't paid commission for every ring sold; but he sure was
enthusiastic about helping me. This is the first step to branding myself
the dwarf, I sighed. I asked another attendant if it was normal for dwarves
like me to come in. Twenty times a week, men wishing engagement come in
seeking greater wisdom and a helping hand. Not less than twenty seconds had
passed when Terry Bower, a man in his 40's with brown hair and a huge
wedding band that had its own huge diamond, set his hands on the case I was
peering in. "So you're looking for an engagement ring? Do have some time so
I can educate you on diamonds to help you understand what you need to know
to make this ring extra special?" I complied, letting him lead me around
the back of the cases, to a tiny room with a huge, gray, ten-power
microscope. He told me to have a seat and offered me a Coke before he went
to the back vault to bring out some diamonds for me to examine. *** In the
twelfth century, Pope Innocent the III ordered that weddings weren't valid
without rings (Shreckengast 3). *** Terry sat down, and excused himself for
his extended absence. Pulling out a diamond with some black tweezers he
pulled out of somewhere, he placed it on a white vinyl "book", designed for
viewing diamonds better. He then flipped the switch to make the room's
overhead lamps illuminate the table even more. The diamond sparkled with
delight, almost taunting me. He told me that this particular diamond was
worth 687 dollars, but just wanted to show me to give me an idea of what
the four C's were. He handed me a pamphlet titled: "Your guide to Diamonds
of Quality", and began explaining what the pamphlet teaches: "How to
measure a diamond's value". "To establish a diamond's quality, jewelers
examine each of the four C's. The finest stones posses the rarest quality
combination of each of the four C's, and are the most valuable." The first
C stands for carat. The bigger the carat number means the more expensive it
is. Think of it as the more you pay, the more you get. The second C stands
for clarity. A diamond has its own birthmarks, called inclusions. I like
that word, and I define that "inclusions" means "discount included". More
specifically, it means the diamond I chose could have "specs that appear as
tiny crystals, clouds or even feathers"; all included in my diamond. C
number three has to do with color. Yellow is a color to stay away from, but
shiny clear white light will add zeros like crazy to the price. Finally,
the four C's wouldn't be the same without the most important C: the cut.
According to my friend Terry the Jeweler, there is a common myth that
diamonds emit light from within. "This is not so", he explains, "Because
what actually happens is that the light enters in from the top of the
diamond, and bounces off the prisms, until it comes back out" (Bower). A
poor cut diamond will not reflect the light well. This must have been the
same reason that the evil queen never had a pretty reflection: because of
poor prisms. Most of what he was saying went in one ear and out the other,
but I put forth some effort to understand. After all, I was looking for
something decent enough to give my Snow White.

*** I thought again about the phrase in the pamphlet where it says "the
finest stone possesses the rarest quality in each of the four C's". They
sure do posses! Possession takes hold of girls and jewelers; jewelers laugh
like hyenas as they ridiculously add extra zeros to the price tag of a
small rock. Possessive girls and jewelers are hounds looking to take
advantage of men between twenty and thirty years old. Because of debt from
such things as education, homes and cars, added debt cause these men to
fall to their knees. Now I know where that tradition came from. This
possession reminds me of the time my dad stopped by a rock vendor's place,
to inquire about an ugly, half-ton boulder to put in the front yard as
decoration. The vendor said the rock was 1,500 dollars, and my dad choked
on his own air. He would rather sacrifice the "look" of a decoration for
our front yard, than to spend money ludicrously. *** Terry took another
diamond and placed it into the microscope with the tweezers. After he
focused the lens, he turned the viewer towards me, so I could examine the
carbon spots that now appeared as bugs frozen in ice. I grimaced, wondering
why Terry wanted me to see something so ugly. I asked how much this
particular diamond was, and he said 1,500 dollars. I choked on my own air;
I would almost rather sacrifice the "look" of a perfect diamond for my
girl's finger. Nevertheless, if I wanted the girl, I would have to learn to
sacrifice a few Hi-ho's instead. I could already feel my wallet burn a hole
in my pockets. Because of the uncomfortable feeling of a soon empty wallet,
I began to feel antsy. So cutting to the chase, I told Terry I was looking
to spend about 2,500 dollars on the ring, so I did not really need to see
any more cheap stuff. I pointed to the Pamphlet and with my finger
indicated that I wanted a one-carat, well cut, nearly clear colored
diamond. This time Terry choked on air as he tried to explain he would try
to find a diamond in my price range. *** I doubt very many men would have
felt comfortable in the setting I was in. Terry finally peeked back into
the room, apologizing for the second time about his long leave. He first
showed me a diamond in my price range, one I was not particularly fond of
because of one carbon spot near the surface. He took out another diamond.
Definitely bigger, I had requested this diamond. I agreed, and smiled as he
showed me how flawless it was, at how shiny it sparkled, and the clearness
of it. I asked how much, and he peered into my eyes and watched me slump
back in my seat. 5,589 dollars is enough to take the happy whistle out of
any miner's head. I decided to stay with the first stone he had brought
out; it was my price range. Then I settled for a cute white gold ring with
a band to match that had twin diamond studs to sandwich the primary
diamond. He slipped it onto my pinky finger so I could see how it looked.
Any man who has gone through his "picking" session must agree that diamond
jewelers have an unfair advantage. After two hours of excruciating thought
pains, any guy would be willing to settle as I did. I noticed how quickly I
had agreed on the ring. Terry had only shown me one. I did not care to
compare any more. Besides, he was a jeweler who had experience. He would
never, never rip me off. The diamond ring set sparkled a brilliant $2,505,
cackling out the price with a voice of its own. *** Jim - age 10: "You
should never kiss a girl unless you have enough money to buy her a big ring
and her own VCR, 'cause she'll want to have videos of the wedding." (Kid's
Views) *** How was I supposed to afford this ring? Not many guys my age can
afford a diamond wedding ring adequate for the woman they wish to marry. I
asked Terry about payment. Apparently, pricing was not his field, because
he transferred me over to a bunch of girls there who kept congratulating me
and began saying "how cute". When I asked them about credit, they did a
credit search report for me. Of course, as luck would have it, all diamond
stores work one on one with banks for business. This makes it easy to do
the credit report, so you can take a loan out from the bank, and pay
monthly payments. And as if desperate to keep their mines running, they
offer co-signer contracts to help those who have no credit or bad credit to
qualify for a loan. In addition, I found that jewelers always have a
layaway plan. Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it's off to debt I go... *** Dave - age 8:
"Concerning why lovers often hold hands: 'They want to make sure their
rings don't fall off because they paid good money for them.'" (Kid's Views)
*** The ring finger has a vein the Romans and Egyptians believed went from
the finger to the heart (Wedding Traditions). Even though both ring fingers
have veins that connect to the heart, tradition holds that the ring must be
placed on the woman's left ring finger, and the man can "stake claims", not
to her finger, or her hand, but to her heart. *** I "forgot" to tell Terry
before I left the store that I wouldn't be coming back. Not only had I not
qualified for the credit, I did not have a co-signer. Even though I really
liked the policy off a full refund if the ring was returned within seven
days or an even exchange after seven, I didn't even have a girl friend. ***
I'm sure the idea of being a dwarf is appealing, but I would that men
should regain their composure. Men shall not be dwarves always. Snow White
settled with the Seven, but in the end went for the Prince. She went for
him because he did his homework-and gave her a real ring.