Let's see the guitars

[it's just me]

Epiphone ET-275, vintage 1972.

 

[it's just me]

Douglas jazz guitar.

 

[it's just me]

 

[it's just me]

Blueridge BR 160

 

[it's just me]

Ovation acoustic

 

[it's just me]

These are some of the more recent ones I've picked up in the last few years.

 

[OldFatGuy]

These are some of the more recent ones I've picked up in the last few years.

A word of advice. Never post photos of your guitars online unless you have insurance and want then ripped off. You may think you are safe because of the anonymity the forum offers, but do not count on it. Criminals are much more sophisticated than you.

 

[justabubba]

A word of advice. Never post photos of your guitars online unless you have insurance and want then ripped off. You may think you are safe because of the anonymity the forum offers, but do not count on it. Criminals are much more sophisticated than you.

curious

how do thieves use such photos to steal guitars?

 

[ecofarm]

curious

how do thieves use such photos to steal guitars?

Sophistication.

 

[OldFatGuy]

curious

how do thieves use such photos to steal guitars?

Every digital photo has a trail. Time stamps, locations, device serial #'s, and more buried in the data forks of every photo and scan. There are more than enough open source tools for sophisticated programmers, 14 year olds with too much time on their hands, or guys in prison, to not use as they desire, and sell that information even if they don't use it themselves. The locations and identification of all sorts of valuables, in seemingly innocent photos, inclusive of those not intending to showcase those items are at the mercy of crackers. Cracking as opposed to hacking, hacking is for sport, cracking is for profit, the latter implicitly immoral.

Think about facial recognition programs, analyzing millions of faces to id one. The same technology is available for use with inanimate objects, and in fact is derived from software programmed to identify inanimate objects. The same software initially designed for recovering stolen objects of value, once in the wild, can be used by those with other intents. Programmers do not function in a vacuum, they work in communities that offer advice and share code. Code offers no ethical considerations.

It is not merely valuable guitars at risk, but the same software used by police agencies, public and private, to locate and track criminals, can be use by a contract killer. Far fetched, pulp scifi, or reality in a twisted world? It is the latter. Witness protection programs now forbid those they protect from posting online photos of themselves or their families.

Most users of technology do so innocently. Emails, messaging, viewing news on the net, downloading books, music, uploading the same. Every package of software, every package of data, leaves a trail. The unsophisticated use of technology where security is immature or completely lacking, no matter the best efforts, can be utilized from the safest, most anonymously used forums. The criminal may not be a sophisticated person, but may very well be a sophisticated user of open source tools most can't imagine exist, just as most don't suspect the underlying data accompanying every action taken in a digital world.

I devised a simple news gatherer, designed to allow me to trace words combined on key words affecting specific commodities. No genius here. Simple amalgamation of open source tools, already in online libraries, for what is essentially a bot. A bot with no actions other than to collect pointers to word combinations in text. The returns allow me to recognize a trend with, for example, coffee bean price fluctuations, based on weather, transport conditions, changing tastes, whatever, overnight. The following day, this 250k bot delivers 600k of pointer returns, and I run those pointers through another app for determining which texts those pointers lead to I should read. Gives me an investment edge for buying and selling futures. No one is seeing this but me, no one is looking for it, and the entire setup is less than 1mb, and therefore under everyone's radar. Someone more greedy could do the same to corner a market. Code has no ethical considerations. Sophistication, a specific sophistication by a user.

Now you can tell me if I offered friendly advice?

Do you really believe FaceTime, Snapchat, Instagram, etal are safe for you and your family? Most of the time, probably. All of the time, well, make your own judgments.

I will never show my guitars, I value them too much to risk them unnecessarily.

 

[ecofarm]

A word of advice. Never post photos of your guitars online unless you have insurance and want then ripped off. You may think you are safe because of the anonymity the forum offers, but do not count on it. Criminals are much more sophisticated than you.

14 year olds with too much time on their hands,

14 year olds with too much time on their hands are much more sophisticated than It'sJustMe? Don't you think that's insulting.

 

[OldFatGuy]

14 year olds with too much time on their hands are much more sophisticated than It'sJustMe? Don't you think that's insulting.

You are the expert when it comes to insulting. And as an "educated" individual, no doubt you are completely familiar with all the nuances of cracking and crackers. uch:

 

[ecofarm]

You are the expert when it comes to insulting. And as an "educated" individual, no doubt you are completely familiar with all the nuances of cracking and crackers. uch:

You think 14 year olds are "far more sophisticated" than forum members.


:screwy

 

[OldFatGuy]

You think 14 year olds are "far more sophisticated" than forum members.


:screwy

Certainly more sophisticated than you.

 

[ecofarm]

Certainly more sophisticated than you.

Why do you have a need to pretend children are adults?

 

[Captain America]

A word of advice. Never post photos of your guitars online unless you have insurance and want then ripped off. You may think you are safe because of the anonymity the forum offers, but do not count on it. Criminals are much more sophisticated than you.

Maybe I should post a photo of my gun next to my guitar then.

BTW... Loving this thread!

When I get home I will put up some photos of mine. I have a LOT of them! I'm especially proud of my Ventura lawsuit collection. But, I prefer playing my Guild and Taylor. I also love, love, love one of my Gibson Epiphone 12 strings that sounds and plays and looks phenomenal! But the rest of my gits are mostly just for collection or show.

Be back later!

 

[OldFatGuy]

Maybe I should post a photo of my gun next to my guitar then.

BTW... Loving this thread!

When I get home I will put up some photos of mine. I have a LOT of them! I'm especially proud of my Ventura lawsuit collection. But, I prefer playing my Guild and Taylor. I also love, love, love one of my Gibson Epiphone 12 strings that sounds and plays and looks phenomenal! But the rest of my gits are mostly just for collection or show.

Be back later!

Good move. Burglars prefer guns over guitars, guns are easier to sell.

 

[Captain America]

Good move. Burglars prefer guns over guitars, guns are easier to sell.

I can just visualize, a burglar, with a bullet in his brain, trying to hock my pistol. LOL!

 

[OldFatGuy]

I can just visualize, a burglar, with a bullet in his brain, trying to hock my pistol. LOL!

You've seen too many zombie movies. I'm also an avid gun collector, and 120lb Dog is a good visual deterrent even tho he is a wuss. However, our 3lb midget cat is extremely territorial, and nastily fierce.

 

[NWRatCon]

You are the expert when it comes to insulting. And as an "educated" individual, no doubt you are completely familiar with all the nuances of cracking and crackers. uch:

I have an affinity for Wheat Thins and Ritz, but a good table water cracker is good for most hors d'oeuvres, in my opinion. Saltines for soup, if oyster crackers are not available. Did you know that oyster crackers are just miniature versions of the original "common cracker" that pioneers carried across the plains and gave its name to "Cracker Barrel"?

 

[NWRatCon]

Good move. Burglars prefer guns over guitars, guns are easier to sell.

And more useful in a stick up. Does anyone remember "El Kabong?"

 

[OldFatGuy]

I have an affinity for Wheat Thins and Ritz, but a good table water cracker is good for most hors d'oeuvres, in my opinion. Saltines for soup, if oyster crackers are not available. Did you know that oyster crackers are just miniature versions of the original "common cracker" that pioneers carried across the plains and gave its name to "Cracker Barrel"?

The first crackers earned their nom de plume when herding cattle from Georgia to north Florida for less expensive and less crowded land, cracking their whips overhead. The trivia that lurks in our brains.

 

[justabubba]

And more useful in a stick up. Does anyone remember "El Kabong?"

here is keith richards using his best el kabong (emphasis on the 'bong') impression:

marc ford, being younger, doesn't even need to use his guitar:

 

[it's just me]

Every digital photo has a trail. Time stamps, locations, device serial #'s, and more buried in the data forks of every photo and scan. There are more than enough open source tools for sophisticated programmers, 14 year olds with too much time on their hands, or guys in prison, to not use as they desire, and sell that information even if they don't use it themselves. The locations and identification of all sorts of valuables, in seemingly innocent photos, inclusive of those not intending to showcase those items are at the mercy of crackers. Cracking as opposed to hacking, hacking is for sport, cracking is for profit, the latter implicitly immoral.

Think about facial recognition programs, analyzing millions of faces to id one. The same technology is available for use with inanimate objects, and in fact is derived from software programmed to identify inanimate objects. The same software initially designed for recovering stolen objects of value, once in the wild, can be used by those with other intents. Programmers do not function in a vacuum, they work in communities that offer advice and share code. Code offers no ethical considerations.

It is not merely valuable guitars at risk, but the same software used by police agencies, public and private, to locate and track criminals, can be use by a contract killer. Far fetched, pulp scifi, or reality in a twisted world? It is the latter. Witness protection programs now forbid those they protect from posting online photos of themselves or their families.

Most users of technology do so innocently. Emails, messaging, viewing news on the net, downloading books, music, uploading the same. Every package of software, every package of data, leaves a trail. The unsophisticated use of technology where security is immature or completely lacking, no matter the best efforts, can be utilized from the safest, most anonymously used forums. The criminal may not be a sophisticated person, but may very well be a sophisticated user of open source tools most can't imagine exist, just as most don't suspect the underlying data accompanying every action taken in a digital world.

I devised a simple news gatherer, designed to allow me to trace words combined on key words affecting specific commodities. No genius here. Simple amalgamation of open source tools, already in online libraries, for what is essentially a bot. A bot with no actions other than to collect pointers to word combinations in text. The returns allow me to recognize a trend with, for example, coffee bean price fluctuations, based on weather, transport conditions, changing tastes, whatever, overnight. The following day, this 250k bot delivers 600k of pointer returns, and I run those pointers through another app for determining which texts those pointers lead to I should read. Gives me an investment edge for buying and selling futures. No one is seeing this but me, no one is looking for it, and the entire setup is less than 1mb, and therefore under everyone's radar. Someone more greedy could do the same to corner a market. Code has no ethical considerations. Sophistication, a specific sophistication by a user.

Now you can tell me if I offered friendly advice?

Do you really believe FaceTime, Snapchat, Instagram, etal are safe for you and your family? Most of the time, probably. All of the time, well, make your own judgments.

I will never show my guitars, I value them too much to risk them unnecessarily.

That's funny, because it was a thread of yours that prompted me to post this. Granted, this was a while ago, but I remembered it just the same.

 

[it's just me]

Maybe I should post a photo of my gun next to my guitar then.

BTW... Loving this thread!

When I get home I will put up some photos of mine. I have a LOT of them! I'm especially proud of my Ventura lawsuit collection. But, I prefer playing my Guild and Taylor. I also love, love, love one of my Gibson Epiphone 12 strings that sounds and plays and looks phenomenal! But the rest of my gits are mostly just for collection or show.

Be back later!

The guitars I am showing here are mostly road warriors that I don't mind taking out (and BTW, I can use these pictures for insurance purposes). A few years ago I came to a point in my playing career where I had to be able to play acoustic guitar amplified, so I have a group of those, some of which are shown here. I think the Ovation is my go-to electric acoustic, I have been playing them since they first came out.

By the way, I am not worried about anybody coming to get my guitars, I have insurance and other ways to discourage burglars.