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People keep going to this home looking for their lost phones — and nobody knows why (video)
The Washington Post ^ | January 26, 2016 | By Peter Holley

Posted on 01/27/2016 11:32:57 AM PST by Swordmaker

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To: Purdue77

I would think a variation of the New Jersey parallelogram.


21 posted on 01/27/2016 12:09:37 PM PST by wally_bert (I didn't get where I am today by selling ice cream tasting of bookends, pumice stone & West Germany)
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To: tophat9000

The real Thief is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC!


22 posted on 01/27/2016 12:11:53 PM PST by GOYAKLA ( Pick-up the pace, I'm eighty!)
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To: Purdue77
It's the Bermuda Triangulation subroutine.

You've solved it. . . but wouldn't they be underwater? Wait, it is in. . . wait for it. . . in Atlanta. . .

23 posted on 01/27/2016 12:23:08 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue....)
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To: Swordmaker
Just wait till Home-Girl shows up with her posse, it ain't gonna be pretty.
24 posted on 01/27/2016 12:25:08 PM PST by TexasCajun (#BlackViolenceMatters)
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To: BuckeyeTexan
Nope. It's bigger than that. Sounds like a triangulation error or last-known wifi connection made. This couple was held outside of their home until the police could decide whether or not to get a search warrant for a missing girl whose phone was "located" at their house.

Here is what Sprint discovered when a north Las Vegas man was having the exact same problem:

"Sprint has researched this matter and has determined it is not related to a 'glitch' or issue with Sprint's network or systems. It is a rare occurrence which is unfortunately affecting Mr. Dobson. This issue is apparently caused by the fact that Mr. Dobson's home happens to be in the center of a geometric circle denoting the coverage area of one sector of a Sprint cell site. This information would be provided - for example when someone uses an app to search for a lost phone - as a result of a location-based search when a more precise location of a device is not readily available. Location search results in cases like this are intended to be interpreted as anywhere within a several-hundred-meter-wide circular area - not the center point of the circle itself. We sincerely regret the inconvenience experienced by Mr. Dobson."

25 posted on 01/27/2016 12:39:58 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue....)
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To: PoloSec

Or — CSI Cyber, on Sunday evenings. Really interesting show!


26 posted on 01/27/2016 1:16:07 PM PST by Albion Wilde (Who can actually defeat the Democrats in 2016? -- the most important thing about all candidates.)
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To: Swordmaker
The simplest explanation is that triangulation defaults to their address at the dead center point between three towers.
"All triangulation does is draw a line equidistant between three cell towers and if your house is on that line you'll get visits," Woodward said. "I don't have enough data to know exactly what's going on but I wouldn't be at all surprised [if it was a triangulation error]."

27 posted on 01/27/2016 1:18:12 PM PST by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken! Trump 2016!)
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To: toast

We found our kid’s phone by calling the numbers the thief was calling. We knew it was a kid at school and sure enough the numbers were kids in their class. The other kids promptly gave up the little thief. On his way to work that evening, Hubby, in his uniform with his badge and handcuffs, knocked the thief’s door. After the little twerp got his backside chew by his embarrassed mama, I doubt he ever stole anything again.


28 posted on 01/27/2016 1:28:56 PM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We still do not know exactly how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: Beowulf9

Thank you.


29 posted on 01/27/2016 1:33:07 PM PST by NorthMountain ("The time has come", the Walrus said, "to talk of many things")
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To: higgmeister
The simplest explanation is that triangulation defaults to their address at the dead center point between three towers.

Decrease or increase the power on one tower and the problem moves away from the problem house, across the street, down the block, or at least elsewhere.

30 posted on 01/27/2016 2:43:21 PM PST by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue....)
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To: toast
My kid got his phone back by using the location app on his iphone.
"ohh. We just found it. We were going to turn it in." Yeah right.

It does happen. A few years back, my 3G iPad was taken while I was in a clothing store with my wife. I had set it down, and it was gone. This was in a tourist area in downtown SF. A while later when I was able to get to use someone else's iPhone, I tracked it to a hotel several miles from downtown. Made a police report, notifying them of the location. Meanwhile, I remotely sent messages to the iPad telling the person to call me for a reward and return the iPad. Then I remotely wiped the data. Police went to the hotel and notified the front desk, as it would be hard to triangulate to any one room.

Anyway, it was turned in anonymously to a lost and found desk and I was contacted almost two weeks later. It was in my carrying case, along with accessories and some cash I had in there, all intact. So yes, someone had second thoughts about keeping it and turned it in. It was bricked by me when I wiped the data remotely and useless to many as is, but still worth a lot if resold.

31 posted on 01/27/2016 3:07:34 PM PST by roadcat
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To: kingu

Who, exactly, are you going to sue? The missing device owners who are simply utilizing a service designed to help them recover their items?

Or Apple and Android device makers? Or the software designers?

There is a logical reason tracking software from a variety of companies (unrelated at that) are being led to this house. Those programs use a combination of GPS pings and IP addresses with WiFi to track the devices (depending on where it is at a given time). There is SOMETHING in that house that is amiss - I’m wondering if there is some kind of IP address spoofing going on - there is a LOT more to this story, either intentionally or unintentionally...


32 posted on 01/29/2016 4:42:12 PM PST by TheBattman (Isn't the lesser evil... still evil?)
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To: piytar

I might would buy that (it is logical), except that this supposedly is affecting Android-based software as well as Apple’s own software (unless there is stolen code in one of them??? HMMMM>>>>>)


33 posted on 01/29/2016 4:43:28 PM PST by TheBattman (Isn't the lesser evil... still evil?)
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To: TheBattman

The common factor is probably the GPS code. There are common/shared libraries for that code. Hence, an error in the GPS code could affect multiple platforms.


34 posted on 01/29/2016 7:08:57 PM PST by piytar (http://www.truthrevolt.org/videos/bill-whittle-number-one-bullet)
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