Electronic key finder

[curlysue]

I’m looking for an electronic tracking device, I just found my car keys after a 4 week search. Lots of choices out there. I like the idea behind the Button Tracker. It seams to do what I want and I like that I can get up to 20. It seems to crash a lot. So, I am looking for ideas.

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[blackdog]

Well, I don’t really have any ideas. If I bought an electronic key finder to find my keys then I would have to buy another finder to help me find the key finder. And then I would just lose all three.

My solution to the key problem is to use a clip to attach my keychain to the shoulder strap of my purse. It’s actually a collection of key chains plus a bottle of hand sanitizer, so it makes quite a bit of noise. Which is how I know if I have forgotten my keys, or my purse. The sudden silence alerts me. This came in handy just a few days ago when I walked out of Tim Horton’s and left not only my purse but my mother’s  behind. I guess you could call it a low-tech key finder.

Of course, I don’t drive and really only have one key I need to keep track of. As long as no one puts the chain on the front door…..

but that’s another story.

Ooh, I just looked up the Button Tracker thing. That is very cool. I would go with that I think. 🙂

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[shutterbug55]

There is a product called “Click and Dig” key finder. I found it at Amazon, and it has a sending unit and a receiver. The idea is you hit “find me” button on the sending unit and the receiver starts making noise. That is how it is supposed to work.

Put it in the hands of an ADD/ADHD (me) and this is how it really works:

Spend 1/2 hour looking for the keys. Give up. Grab the sending unit. Oops. Where is the sending unit? Spend 1hr looking for the sending unit. Find it. Hit the button… trace faint noise through the house. (repeat many times). Leave the house. Noise is now much louder. Hit button. Trace faint noise around the yard. (repeat many times)

Find keys stuck in the door.

Put sending unit in pocket.

Continue day.

Now if only I could get two of them, and put the locator on the sending unit…

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[nellie]

Like Blackdog and Shutterbug, I  haven’t had much luck with those key finders either . Lost them or forgot to change the batteries when I did use them 🙂  I even have a luggage finder thingy that’s supposed to blink when it’s on the carousel. Never used it yet. Too much trouble  for my ADD brain to remember to attach it to the baggage before leaving on a trip 🙂

So far the best tracking device I use regularly is a carabiner attached to my purse. Since my car has a “smart” ignition I don’t have to detach the keys at all. This  also saves digging around in my purse.

Now to digress…Speaking of tracking objects:

I was shopping today and saw some sort of electronic device that you attach to whatever it is you want to track and it claimed to be able to find it with a your iPhone. At least I think that’s how it worked because I wasn’t really looking for anything like that so didn’t absorb the info. Anyhow, after reading the above posts I decided to do a Google search for the device on the store’s website but it doesn’t appear to be listed.

So did a broader  search and came up with a device called  The Tile.

http://www.thetileapp.com/#on-the-go

Sounds like an interesting concept at first glance but maybe a bit too big brother. Especially disturbing if you consider this: http://www.komando.com/tips/12337/household-appliances-will-spy-on-you

When I  came back here to the TADD Forum  directly from the Tile website I noticed that the pop up add that suddenly appeared was for the Tile. That really creeped me out! Although it is humorously ironic!

However, I immediately decided to turn off Google tracking.  It’s been bugging me for a while but have  been procrastinating.

Anyway,  Here’s another article you might want to read if you don’t like the idea of your online search activity being monitored and recorded forever:

http://www.komando.com/tips/11741/stop-google-from-tracking-your-search-history

Now I know how my keys feel 🙂

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[blackdog]

LOL shutterbug, that sounds just about exactly how it would go for me.

Thanks for the links nellie. It’s enough to make you start thinking about moving to a log cabin in the woods with no electricity. This is especially scary for someone who is impulsive and curious and might just randomly search for anything at any time. Not that we know anyone like that. 😉

I just finished clearing a few select searches from my husband’s history. Interestingly, the history for his PC came up when I was actually looking for the iPad history. I clear the history and cookies from Safari on a regular basis but I never thought of clearing it from Google. Haven’t quite figured out how to do it yet. When I get around to hooking my computer back up to the Internet the first thing I will do is stop Google from tracking me. 😯

So far we don’t have any “smart” appliances, but husband is desperate to get a smart TV. I’ll be sure to check into the security features first, especially if it has a webcam. That is, if I remember when the day comes that I finally get tired of putting up with the whining and nagging and pouting and give in out of frustration and desperation and buy the damn thing. 😡

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[nellie]

Hopefully this won’t end up as a double post – I just typed a long reply which disappeared when I hit submit.

Blackdog, I’ve come to like the big TV – but know what you mean 🙂 The HD is amazing so it might be worth “pretending” you’ve given in 🙂  Now that you mention it though, I should check that ours can’t spy on us somehow. We have it hooked to the network and can watch Youtube on it. I thought it was cool but not so sure now.

To clear your google history you need to sign in with your gmail account. IF you don’t have one I guess that’s a good thing! Just make sure to clear your Browser cookies and use private browsing.

Is there any more room in that log cabin of yours? To add more paranoia to the mix here’s another article I just read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/technology/personaltech/how-to-muddy-your-tracks-on-the-internet.html?_r=0

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[curlysue]

Thanks for you guys input, the tile will not work for me and as for the button thing i emailed a few questions to the company and never heard back. So I don’t know yet.

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[friendlymathematician]

I know it might sound funny, but is there a way to mount the finder to a wall, as in drill a screw into it and mount it? I’d find that the most useful way to keep track of keys if I was to use that method.

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[Author]

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