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Doing the Laptop Drive of Shame

networkworld.com — If you bring your work computer home with any regularity, chances are good that you've done the Laptop Drive of Shame. (Oh, c'mon, admit it.) It's happening more than ever … and costing more than ever, too.

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nahsrocketeer75 90 days ago, made popular 89 days ago

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orientaltouch, on 07/14/2008, -15/+4amazing, continuing the series of laptops' multi uses and functions ;)
- t0x2c, on 07/15/2008, -1/+4You obviously didn't read the article.
- xkleenexk, on 07/15/2008, -1/+3orientaltouch as in you don't know engrish? cuz your comment is completely irrelevant.
FutureWEBSTORE, on 07/14/2008, -9/+1haha, its great....!
BCCStu, on 07/14/2008, -10/+3eeks.
louiss19, on 07/14/2008, -12/+7"The Laptop Drive of Shame" haha!!
- deenoop, on 07/15/2008, -0/+9I think there ought to be a poll on this. I've telecommuted in the past and never forgot my laptop. Ever.
  
  I'm willing to bet that most (i'm guessing a very very high number like 95%) people do not forget their laptops. Especially those who are crackberry addicts. I know i never forgot that little monster either.
  
  i bet the stats will be interesting.
  
  edit: hmm i posted this in the wrong place. #!*$&. how does one uncomment? ;p
  - gordeaoux, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2I've never forgotten a laptop before (how can you forget a $1-3k machine?) but I've forgotten the power cord many times. Almost as suck.
    
    Also, this article sucks. Just cause people work from home more doesn't mean they become more forgetful.
  - unjustend, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Haven't forgot Laptop. Now my badge is something else entirely.
theeandrew, on 07/14/2008, -1/+54The Laptop Drive of Shame is bad, but what I hate worse is having to turn around and drive home just for my ID badge. At least the laptop is a useful tool and therefore worth the drive.
- nonsequitor, on 07/15/2008, -0/+15I never go back for my ID Badge or wallet, I just have a coworker get the doors for me and/or borrow some lunch money.
  - DarkLaughingMan, on 07/15/2008, -6/+0Just hope you don't get pulled over by the cops. No ID when driving is very bad.
  - renegadeafk, on 07/15/2008, -1/+7yeah like you can't get pulled over driving back for your id....
  - inigomntoya, on 07/15/2008, -0/+5Yeah, or get pulled over by the corporate security police when you don't have your badge on. I HATE getting hassled by cops with no authority...
- alexkreuz, on 07/15/2008, -0/+5The security guard makes me wear a "temporary" badge as punishment when I forget mine. All day long I get to hear about it.
  - inigomntoya, on 07/15/2008, -0/+4Yup - waiting for the security cartel to get you a temp badge should be called the "line of shame"
  - unjustend, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2I avoid the line of shame, and just go back for my badge. I'm pretty much OCD about it now though, if I get to my car, before I put on my seat belt, I tap my chest, if I don't feel plastic, I get right back out the car.
  - Nothlit, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2I just leave my badge in one of the console compartments in my car. That way I can never forget it.
  - csw1342, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Chief Wiggum: She didn't reckon with the awesome power of the Chief of Police. Now where did I put my badge?... Hey, that duck's got it.
steelglass06, on 07/14/2008, -8/+3Ha that's hilarious
- UpperUpsilon, on 07/15/2008, -2/+3Great comment!
doktorrocket, on 07/14/2008, -5/+19"A lack of supporting data will not deter me from making this next assertion: The Laptop Drive of Shame is becoming a much more common occurrence, and by extension, a much more costly one."

Dugg for honesty.
techblogLAT, on 07/14/2008, -2/+11An all-too-common fear! We need a magnetized card to get into the LA Times building. Forgetting that at home is even worse -- you can't even get inside your office without it!
- MutatedNantuko, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1I think we've all been there, buddy. Hoo boy.
- thatspsychotic, on 07/15/2008, -5/+1RFID != magnetized
gskill, on 07/14/2008, -8/+2Lol, that was great!
pingpants, on 07/14/2008, -7/+4same issue as techblogLAT, above.

and all too often a member of the blackberry confederacy of dunces.
Yashar, on 07/15/2008, -12/+5Here is a solution, get something you can't leave home without. Like your car keys, you can't leave without them so you won't forget them. Put your keys on top of or under whatever it is that you don't want to forget. This way you can't take one without forgetting to take the other.
- duggdowncatisad, on 07/15/2008, -2/+6Reading the article -- all the cool kids are doing it these days.
- justinglen, on 07/15/2008, -2/+10buried for offering the article's solution as your own.
- freebird09, on 07/15/2008, -0/+3This is essentially the same solution as portrayed in the article, and it is definitely a good one. Before bed every night I find myself piling all sorts of crap under my keys: phone, wallet, ipod, cards (kind of like the guy in the iphone commercials) and regardless to say it works.
- twiztidsinz, on 07/15/2008, -1/+3Dugg for taking 2 seconds and an ounce of brainpower to come up with what someone needed a whole article for.
AwesomeInTheory, on 07/15/2008, -8/+2da-da-da-dugg because it's something that's happened to me on more than one occasion. except for me it's the laptop bike ride of shame D:

check out my submissions, too, if you don't mind! found this one by way of word of mouth :)
MrGadget777, on 07/15/2008, -5/+3I think all of us geeks can relate to this hilarious article. Thanks for sharing!
BOFH2, on 07/15/2008, -2/+42I will admit it. I have forgotten my pants. I was in a car accident one day at noon(drunk driver hit me) by 11:00 that night I was in so much pain I finally went to the hospital. They gave me valium and vicodin. I got home about 2 am and went to bed. I called a friend the next morning to get me to work. I took my vicodin and the valium still really had not worn off from 2 am the last night. I got ready and got into my dress shirt black socks and wingtips and jacket (it was still winter in MN). I then proceeded out the door and locked the door. Most apt buildings do not heat the hallways all that much and my legs became cold, I looked down and saw my wingtips, black socks and underwear. Just then another door down the hall opened up and I noted it was the "hot blond" every apt building has one, and she was going to work. I almost snapped the key off in the lock trying to get in the door. I called my friend, work and stayed home that day.
- moocow1452, on 07/15/2008, -3/+4I whistled for a cab and when it came near the
  Licensplate said fresh and had a dice in the mirror
  If anything I could say that this cab was rare
  But I thought now forget it, yo home to bel-air
  
  I pulled up to a house about seven or eight
  And I yelled to the cabby yo, home smell you later
  Looked at my kingdom I was finally there
  To settle my throne as the prince of bel-air
- Lawrencesss, on 07/15/2008, -0/+4If I was telling that story, it would end in some frantic drug hazed sex with the block blonde.
- fani, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1FAKE
  - BOFH2, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1Nope. Really happened.
  - BOFH2, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Learning new things on the web today. One: probably getting dug down for multiple posts in regards to my original post. 2 - Bel Air - A "Bel-Air" is a 4chan /b/ copypasta meme where, Anonymous will start off with a story about some provocative subject (usually incest with your little sister), and right around the climax of said story,my mom got scared And said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air."I whistled for a cab and when it came near The license plate said fresh and it had dice in the mirror If anything I could say that this cab was rare But I thought, "Nah, forget it. Yo home to Bel-Air!" I pulled up to the house about 7 or 8and I yelled to the cabby yo holmes smell ya later Looked at my kingdom I was finally there To sit on my throne as the prince of Bel-Air.
    
    Having engaged you in some compelling story of repressed, animal lust at the thought of banging your barely pubescent sister, you are instead treated to the lyrics from the Fresh Prince. A clever ruse indeed.
Oggsie, on 07/15/2008, -0/+18I bet someone else thought of the "Laptop - Train Ride of Shame", where the wrong file opens while you're trying to open your favourite Scrubs episode, and everyone around you can see what's on the screen is clearly not a medical procedure...

Shame shame but different anyone? Oh nevermind...
- frepnog, on 07/15/2008, -0/+0well something similar happened to a friend of mine, he has his xbox hooked up to his network at home to stream movies from his computer, ans he was going to watch a movie with his girlfriend, and she accidentally got into the wrong folder and started a very pornographic file playing... he was very embarrassed... lol
  - TonyLocNE, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1If I were him, I would have went with it...
mikemarino, on 07/15/2008, -5/+1this should never happen with network shared storage
allothersnsused, on 07/15/2008, -5/+0Simpsons did it!
ot1234, on 07/15/2008, -8/+1Weezy F. Baby
duggdowncatisad, on 07/15/2008, -5/+2A laptop bike ride of shame would be worse, if you could even make it at all.
Mosz, on 07/15/2008, -2/+4wow the article assumes you need the laptop for work bring it home and dont use it at home at all otherwise well you couldnt have car keys ontop of a laptoop so wtf.
- jnordb, on 07/15/2008, -0/+6Dugg for posting while drunk.
- unjustend, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1You know, unless you make sure to do it when you are done working. But lets not think that far ahead. Where is my beer.
weister42, on 07/15/2008, -5/+0...and everyone will NOT laugh when you bring your new Apple iTech 9000 in instead of a laptop because it's a mini projector, a dual-bootable OS/Windows machine with USB ports AND it's a cellphone.

"....where did you get that from, the...toilet store?"
- TrevorBelmont, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1Wow! What an exciting product! USB ports as well? That's what I call functionality! It's more than just functional, it's FUN-ctional! My kid is going to college, is the Apple iTech 9000 right for him, too? It is! Wow! But what about my wife, she's a *****' retard at computers. Is it easy to use? It is! Wow! So this is the perfect computer for the entire family! And it's so god damned affordable! I'm getting one for the kids, one for the kitchen and another two for the Den! Wow!
  /infomercial
jfg84, on 07/15/2008, -1/+3I thought this would be about driving with your laptop case on top of your car and feeling the shame later when you realize you don't have your laptop and why your crazy neighbors were yelling and waving at you.
TrevorBelmont, on 07/15/2008, -4/+30I'm gonna swim against the stream and say that this article was garbage. I couldn't finish it. Not really clever nor insightful. Even if it's happened to you, it's being an identifiable problem doesn't make it entertaining.
(Cringes in anticipation of the avalanche of bury button mashes)
- PabloIV, on 07/15/2008, -0/+6I agree whole-heartedly, unless it got considerably more amusing in the last paragraph, this thing stinks.
- CountBrass, on 07/15/2008, -3/+1Why would you cringe in anticipation of being buried?
  
  It means *nothing*! It doesn't affect anything you post in the future, it doesn't make you less attractive to the opposite sec, it doesn't even affect your credit rating!
- ScionX, on 07/15/2008, -0/+2Thank god. I thought I was the only one that thought that the article wasn't very amusing.
rupprupp29, on 07/15/2008, -4/+2I worked an internship last year and had to make several 'Laptop drives of shame' for my boss. It was a dark time in my life.
dagr8tim, on 07/15/2008, -2/+1I find it easier to carry an 8 gig encrypted thumb drive. I clip it on my keychain & it's with my keys/
jessecurry, on 07/15/2008, -3/+2what kind of moron forgets their laptop... even some minor organization(like keeping your laptop in a backpack that you always bring) will stop this dead in its tracks.... lame
mehan, on 07/15/2008, -2/+12what the *****? the article was dumb, and the comments even ***** dumber.
- a8ksh4, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1I didn't RTFA, but perhaps you've never left your laptop behind when you've gone to work. If you had, you might understand why these people are so flustered.
kennu, on 07/15/2008, -2/+0Easiest solution: also have a desktop computer at the office. Doesn't matter where you forget your laptop, you can at least keep working.
melidian, on 07/15/2008, -1/+5this is top ten stupidest things i have ever seen on digg. don't forget stuff at home. gas costs money. brilliant.
bdbr, on 07/15/2008, -2/+1Leaving your keys on something definitely works. Its the only way I can remember to bring my cellphone if its off being charged.
jdbeast00, on 07/15/2008, -2/+2i've forgotten my power supply...but I just did other work that day.
tcpip4lyfe, on 07/15/2008, -3/+2I, like other people that are good at Internet, would just use terminal services.
JonForTheWin, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1We access everything using NX from PXE-booted diskless workstations that run Compiz locally then an NX session with legacy garbage (such as quicken and some medical software stuff) served via RDP from a windows 2003 server running in a Linux kernel virtual machine.

Seriously, companies should have _everything_ on the ***** servers . . >_>
diggdallas, on 07/15/2008, -1/+3That article annoyed me. How many times was "Laptop Drive of Shame" mentioned? Overkill
rhart23, on 07/15/2008, -1/+0Hey some of us have to do the metro ride of shame! You don't even need to find a parking space for a laptop drive of shame, you have it easy. The ABSOLUTE FEAR and TERROR of doing this has saved me from forgetting mine. (knock on wood)
MattB123, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1As primarily a bike commuter I've done the laptop ride of shame a couple of times. I ride with my son to his daycare in the mornings, and I get so caught up with getting all his stuff I leave my backpack (with laptop) at the house.
Makes for a nice pre-work sprint to get me all sweaty after I drop him off. I bet my workmates are thankful it doesn't happen much.
ButterLoyalist, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1How do people forget their laptops? Are they retarded? I've never forgotten to take my laptop to work.
zizakdotcom, on 07/15/2008, -1/+0Guilty.

http://www.zizak.com/shame-on-me

zizak.im-an-idiot
underdog138, on 07/15/2008, -1/+1I do this fairly often. At the office I only have my laptop, which I go to two or three times a month, but at the customer site I'm at most of the time I have my own desktop computer. I leave my laptop at home when I go there, and sometimes I forget which place I'm going to in the morning and have to drive back if I realize I'm going to the office instead.
philosophile, on 07/15/2008, -1/+0I read the first half of this story thinking it was about hiding an erection with your laptop, then I realized it was a story that just pointlessly obscured a trivial everyday occurrence with a silly title. That's great writing right there. I would've taken this story more seriously had the author not wasted so much space trying to be clever and subtle. Where I work, we call this phenomenon forgetting your laptop.
a8ksh4, on 07/15/2008, -2/+1Two weeks back, I panicked for a few minutes thinking I had left my laptop 150 miles North of my by way of freeway at my parent's house. I pulled off at a truck stop to go through the crap in my truck to find it. Not until I had already called my friends to search their living room for it did I find it buried on the passenger floorboard, and breathed a sigh of relief. At one in the morning on a Sunday night on the freeway, a forgotten laptop means a bunch more gas burned and probably a missed day of work going to retrieve it.
- TonyLocNE, on 07/16/2008, -0/+1thank you for completely wasting my time reading that worthless story..
TransmitThis, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1A better definition of "laptop drive of shame"

Someone who takes there work laptop home in the first place.

Work is for working, home is for living, if you have to bring work home your doing something wrong
(valid exception for those who like t their work )
dupeduperson, on 07/15/2008, -0/+1The laptop drive of shame is better than the laptop drive of "hey where did my laptop go?". This is what happened to me. After having my laptop stolen from my office twice, I vowed to never again leave my laptop in my office. Plus, I am more faithful about keeping a backup drive. The back up drive and the laptop are like the president and vice president - they never travel together.
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Doing the Laptop Drive of Shame

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