Below are the experiences of a couple of Palmtop users who lost their Palmtops and got them back thanks to Buddy's Owner Screen.

Palmtop returned after stolen thanks to Buddy

By Mike Gaedeke,

CompuServe ID: [100016,3476]

Recently, my car was broken into and my most valuable possession, my HP 200LX, was stolen. (Hint: don't ever leave your Palmtop in your car!) Thank God for at least I had all my data and only needed to purchase a new Palmtop.

On the day following the theft, a lady called me at my office and in broken English mentioned that her husband had bought a small computer from a homeless guy in Downtown Los Angeles. The computer was not working, but my name appeared on the screen and it would not go away... Hoorrrayyy! I got my machine back!

This was only possible thanks to Jeffrey Mattox's BUDDY program, which has a feature that lets you make a customizable topcard. I included my name and phone number on the topcard.

The topcard is linked to a password feature that I set to automatically enable after midnight. When you press the ON button, your are asked to enter the password. If you don't know it, the screen gets scrambled and you are invited to press the TAB Key for more info: that's when the topcard (which actually is a TXT file) appears. My topcard mentioned a $100 reward for anyone returning it within 24 hours... IT WORKED!

P.S.: Her husband had paid $70 for it. Can you believe it?

Buddy password protection gets his Palmtop back

By Steven E Speairs,

CompuServe ID: [71011,2243]

Thanks to Jeffrey Mattox and his BUDDY, I have my Pocket Brain back and in full working shape! I lost my 200LX on Saturday in the parking lot of a local Sam's Warehouse. After three weeks I had given up hope and had placed an order to ACE Technologies for a replacement. Before I could receive the replacement, a co-worker of mine answered my phone while I was out of the office and told me that someone was calling about my lost computer.

Unfortunately, no phone number was left and I was due to go to class in Orlando the next day, so I deputized everybody in the office to get the guys name and address so that when I came back I could contact him/her. Last Friday, after returning to town, I was able to go meet the guy.

Tony, a mechanic at a nearby business to the Sam's Club, claimed to have purchased the 200LX from a stranger for $300.00! However, upon trying it out later, he realized that it must belong to me because he could not get past Buddy's password protection, which simply showed my name and phone number! I do wonder why a mechanic would be willing to pay $300.00 to a total stranger for a Palmtop that he never even turned on.

I sympathized with him about the problem but explained that he had bought HOT property and that I was willing to pay $100.00 as a finder's fee but no more than that! If he had not taken the offer, I was fully prepared to call the local police, but the $100.00 for something that he could not use was sufficient!

The batteries were still OK and I did not loose any files on the Palmtop, bit I did lose some blank checks (voided at the bank) and stamps that were in the carrying case.

Now I just have to get all of the data that I would have been entering over the past 4 weeks into the PC, and get used to having it with me! Anybody know of a good permanent attachment that does not depend upon body piercing? What I really want is for it to call me on the telephone when I forget it and tell me where I misplaced it!