San Francisco hot spots: A den of thieves?

Forget that they're out of the triple-mocha skim latte. Now there's an even bigger problem to face when logging onto the Wi-Fi network at your local cafe--you could get stabbed.

A report in the San Francisco Chronicle claims that a new "violent wave of crime" has hit the city by the bay, with thieves targeting Wi-Fi hot spots looking for laptops to snatch. The paper interviews one man who was stabbed in the chest when thieves went for his Apple PowerBook.

The number of laptop thefts in San Francisco rose from 18 in 2004 to 28 last year, and through the first three months of 2006, there have already been 18, police told the paper.

The laptops are easy targets, Inspector Robert Lynch of the San Francisco Police told the paper. "Where else do you have a thousand-dollar item sitting on a table in a coffee shop?"

Blog community response:

"I know when I go to my favorite notebook spot at my favorite local coffeehouse, I'll be keeping my eyes peeled. I might actually just hand the thing over, though the crooks might refuse it. It is a windows machine after all."
--serotoninrain

"This is bad news for San Francisco just when they approved the Google/Earthlink deal to deliver free wireless access to the entire city."
--My World...by Joker

"I've never used one of those security cables. Does anyone think it's time to make an investment?"
--Have Coffee will Write