Coin Enthusiasts: Locate Stolen Laptop

A stolen laptop is just one thief away. We all know the price of laptops and even more the personal data we could potentially lose would be a nightmare. With all this in mind PreyProject.com has created a freeware program that can help us track a stolen computer.

I have read very good reviews about Prey and I suspect many individuals will be adding the program to their computers. In essence, Prey sends out timed reports from a missing or stolen laptop, containing information on the laptop's status and location. Network and wi-fi information is also provided. If really fortunate, you may capture a pic of the thief!

Remember, this is all free and installation is a piece of cake. In addition, Prey is open source, which leaves open the possibility of better things to come. If you decide to give Prey a shot, please let me know what you think. I would love to see reviews from our ancient coin enthusiasts.

Prey had the following to say about their program. "Prey is a lightweight application that will help you track and find your laptop if it is ever stolen. It works with all operating systems and not only is it Open Source but it is also completely free." I Pray you had a great holiday and I Pray you have a Merry Christmas.. God Bless.. Jerry..

Which Coin Are You Buying

Have you ever bought a coin and were surprised when the coin arrived? The visual appearance was pretty much unlike what you thought you were buying? Perhaps the coin you bought had been post-edited or Photo Shopped. Photo Shopping is a method employed by a seller to enhance the coin and make it look better on the web than the coin actually looks in hand. I have found this to be a very common practice and less than ethical in my opinion.

Take a look at the photos above to see what I speak of. The photos on top are the way the coin really looks in hand. I think the bottom photos make the coin look much better. I simply took the coin into PS and dropped the values a couple of clicks. As a result, I have a much better looking coin than the coin in hand. There are many vendors out there who have much more expertise than I do when using Photo Shop and they can make a poor quality coin look very fine.

With a modicum of effort I have found that I can easily hide a coin's pitting, change the coin's color, or even repair a broken or chipped coin using PS or some other photo editor. Is this a common practice? I can only say I know the problem is there to some degree.

There are preventative steps that can be taken to help you when dealing with an unscrupulous dealer. Over the years I have gotten to know my dealers and I only encounter the problem I allude to on rare occasions. Get to know your dealers and keep a list of the good and the bad. Don't be shy, ask the dealer if the coin is as represented. Ask the dealer if the coin has been touched up using any kind of post processing program.

I think the best vendor to deal with is one who will unconditionally accept returned coins if the buyer is unhappy with his or her purchase. There are many ethical dealers who will accept returned coins so one can be selective when making a coin purchase. Again, keep a list of honest dealers you buy from as I do.

I hope my article enlightens you and makes you more aware of a problem that exists within our ancient coin community. Allow me to reinforce what I said earlier. I find most dealers to be highly ethical and I have found the unethical dealers to be small part of ancient coins. Don't be afraid to ask the questions you need to ask and you will be a much happier ancient coin collector.. Have a wonderful Thanks giving and God Bless..