Science Video  Thief-Proofing Your Laptop Electrical, Computer
Engineers Make Laptops Locate Themselves with Motion Sensors
May 1, 2006 — Engineers have designed motion sensors so small
they can fit inside a laptop computer or even a handheld device,
where they can transmit data back wirelessly. New software uses
the data to reconstruct a laptop's path and its new location, so
it can be recovered it in case of theft.  PITTSBURGH--It's a
nightmare that can happen in the blink of an eye. Your laptop is
stolen, and chances are, it's not coming back. More than 700,000
laptops are stolen each year, but now electrical and computer
engineers have a new, tiny motion sensor that tracks your
laptop's every move.  "We're able to then tell you if the laptop
really moving around the way it should be, or if it's been
stolen by someone else," says Tsuhan Chen, an electrical and
computer engineer at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Advances in motion-sensing technology have made hunting down
your missing or stolen