[NTLK] [OT} Re: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 + Einstein = Match Made in Heaven?

[Forrest Buffenmyer]

I was raised in the Eastern US...and I can tell you that some of the things I've seen here in the American West are pretty eye opening, as far as disdain for personal security and safety goes. Cars left running in parking lots while the owner runs in to get some Starbucks coffee...the kinds of things LG mentions (lack of caution walking with iPad in full view, oblivious to any nearby activity)...going to ATMs at night, getting what looks like a large amount of cash, and walking to the car counting it, oblivious to one's surroundings, to name a very few.

I was in a department store looking at iPad accessories one day and I overheard a conversation right next to me between a young woman who was buying a new iPad 2 and a salesperson...the conversation was about getting a case for it. The salesperson suggested she should get a case because a) it would help protect the device from accidental bumps and drops...and 2) it would also protect it from theft, as it wouldn't be obvious what it was to "prying eyes". The young woman said, "But it's PRETTY! I don't WANT to cover it up! How will people know that I HAVE an iPad?" (which kind of goes along with the Samsung ads about the iPhone).

I'm not lumping all the people here in the Western US as idiots...but from what I've seen, with the exception of Los Angeles (which at times has appeared to me to be almost like a West Coast version of New York City), people don't seem to me to be as cautious here.

I was taught several "useful" things about personal security back East when I went out on my own, to attend college...I put quotes around that word as I've never been exactly sure how useful they have been...but here are some of the noteworthy ones:
1) ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings;
2) when in a bar or especially a restaurant, always sit facing the front door, if possible--and against a wall;
3) when you go into a bar intending on having several rounds of drinks, be sure you know at least three things--where the bathroom is, if there is a back door, and what the bartender's name is.

I don't wish to paint a picture of the Eastern US (to those unfamiliar with the area) as some sort of "Godfather" movie or "Untouchables" episode, where people are gunned down in the street or while eating dinner...most of these cautions are more to protect one's self from other idiots therein who have had too much to drink and wish to become combative. And, if you need something from the bartender, like another drink or to tell him/her that someone has been gunned down while eating dinner ;) , it makes more sense and works better to call him/her by name--you'll get a quicker response.

It all just seems like common sense to me.

Thanks,
--Forrest

Sent from my First Generation iPad

On Mar 2, 2012, at 11:09 PM, James Fraser <wheresthatistanbul-newtontalk at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Also, what particular town (or part of town) you're displaying them in.  We 
> can't always pick and choose where we live and work, but when I saw this bit:
> 
>> In a more crime-ridden area here in Phoenix,
> 
> ...and read the rest of the story, I couldn't help but think that the victim 
> might have exercised some of that (admittedly scarce) forethought you speak of 
> and taken a few minutes to drive to a "nicer" part of town to do her shopping.  
> Ah, well, hindsight is always beautiful, eh?