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Livewire: Lost and found in cyberspace
New York, June 14: Found: A gold charm bracelet on rain-washed pavement at a busy intersection in midtown Manhattan.
New York, June 14: Found: A gold charm bracelet on rain-washed pavement at a busy intersection in midtown Manhattan.
Clearly not junk jewelry, it is a 14-karat collection of memories that include a pet, a birthday and a wedding anniversary, each engraved with a meaningful date.
Its owner, while probably not a local resident, I was sure, lived somewhere in cyberspace.
I decided to see how wide the Web would reach from the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, where the bracelet was found.
An Internet search for "Lost and Found" yields an abundance of results as vast and varied as the sidewalks of New York, with sites ranging from where to report the loss of a class ring, a computer or a kitten, to how to find Army buddies, ancestors, lost lovers and even "Missing Irish People."
The most comprehensive is LostAndFound.com (http://www.lostandfound.com), described as "the largest free lost and found resource on the Web."
The site allows you to select a country and search or report lost and found property by clicking on one of four icons -- Report Lost Item, Report Found Item, Search For Lost Items and Search for Found Items -- with a separate link for Lost and Found Pets.
Specific information required includes category (luggage, jewelry, literature, clothing, etc.), color, description and date and place the item was found. Entering your own contact information facilitates a response.
The site http://www.inspice.com specializes in recovery of lost mobile devices and laptops, but also will help trace and recover items such as cameras, luggage and pets.
The more specific an area the item was lost in -- library, zoo, theater, sports stadium or taxi, the easier the search.
Transportation hubs such as airports and train stations usually have their own Web links to register missing or mislaid property. Travelers to Washington, D.C., for instance, can report items left on aircraft or in jetways to the Web site for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (http://www.mwaa.com), or submit a claim to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (http://www.wmata.com) for items lost while riding the Metro. Note, however, that WMATA holds items for only 30 days.
In England, The Transport for London Lost Property Office handles nearly 150,000 items a year -- among them urns with cremated ashes, a wedding dress, stuffed eagle, lawyer`s robes and a grandfather clock -- with a relatively respectable rate of return. According to its Web site (http://www.londontransport.co.uk), "Approximately 2 out of every 3 value items, about 1 in 3 bags, 1 in 4 mobile phones and 1 in 5 books are reunited with their owners."
The online quest gets even more interesting when you enter the cyber world of "lost" persons.
Lost touch with a former schoolmate or colleague in New Zealand? The site http://www.oldfriends.co.nz lists 162,337 members. Be warned, however, that the more generically labeled oldfriends.com, is strictly a matchmaking/dating site.
Bureau Report
Clearly not junk jewelry, it is a 14-karat collection of memories that include a pet, a birthday and a wedding anniversary, each engraved with a meaningful date.
Its owner, while probably not a local resident, I was sure, lived somewhere in cyberspace.
I decided to see how wide the Web would reach from the corner of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, where the bracelet was found.
An Internet search for "Lost and Found" yields an abundance of results as vast and varied as the sidewalks of New York, with sites ranging from where to report the loss of a class ring, a computer or a kitten, to how to find Army buddies, ancestors, lost lovers and even "Missing Irish People."
The most comprehensive is LostAndFound.com (http://www.lostandfound.com), described as "the largest free lost and found resource on the Web."
The site allows you to select a country and search or report lost and found property by clicking on one of four icons -- Report Lost Item, Report Found Item, Search For Lost Items and Search for Found Items -- with a separate link for Lost and Found Pets.
Specific information required includes category (luggage, jewelry, literature, clothing, etc.), color, description and date and place the item was found. Entering your own contact information facilitates a response.
The site http://www.inspice.com specializes in recovery of lost mobile devices and laptops, but also will help trace and recover items such as cameras, luggage and pets.
The more specific an area the item was lost in -- library, zoo, theater, sports stadium or taxi, the easier the search.
Transportation hubs such as airports and train stations usually have their own Web links to register missing or mislaid property. Travelers to Washington, D.C., for instance, can report items left on aircraft or in jetways to the Web site for Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (http://www.mwaa.com), or submit a claim to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (http://www.wmata.com) for items lost while riding the Metro. Note, however, that WMATA holds items for only 30 days.
In England, The Transport for London Lost Property Office handles nearly 150,000 items a year -- among them urns with cremated ashes, a wedding dress, stuffed eagle, lawyer`s robes and a grandfather clock -- with a relatively respectable rate of return. According to its Web site (http://www.londontransport.co.uk), "Approximately 2 out of every 3 value items, about 1 in 3 bags, 1 in 4 mobile phones and 1 in 5 books are reunited with their owners."
The online quest gets even more interesting when you enter the cyber world of "lost" persons.
Lost touch with a former schoolmate or colleague in New Zealand? The site http://www.oldfriends.co.nz lists 162,337 members. Be warned, however, that the more generically labeled oldfriends.com, is strictly a matchmaking/dating site.
Bureau Report