[editor-surveyor]

"Wouldn’t ya think the MAC addresses of these computers would be in a database somewhere, and they could be detected very (or at least “pretty”) quickly after they ever logged onto the ‘net?"

Not id the thieves, or their fences were smart enough to erase the EPROMs and re-load them. (or in the case of Pentium 4s, replacing the processors)

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

“Not id the thieves, or their fences were smart enough to erase the EPROMs and re-load them. (or in the case of Pentium 4s, replacing the processors)”

Agreed, if the thieves/fences were that crafty. Out of 67 lost CPUs, though, there’s no doubt a few would show up w/original MACs. No?