Good-Samaritan FinderCodes System Now Powered by Fedex, Keeps Sender, Sendee Anonymous
I did something really dumb in Vegas last month — I forgot my sunglasses in a Starbucks. A couple of hours after trapsing through a mall, I realized what I’d done, and panicked; they weren’t cheap. I anxiously retraced my steps, ending up back at the cafe. Some fabulous Samaritan had turned them in.
If I’d left my phone behind instead — or something else large enough for a FinderCodes tag (sunglasses aren’t) — the good guy (or girl) could have easily FedExed it to me anonymously.
If you’re prone to losing stuff (gadgets, pets, kids, whatever) you can buy a $25 assortment pack of seven FinderCode tags — small, tough, sticker tags, and larger tags with attachment loops — which have a QR code with your personal info on them.
If you’re lucky enough to have your stuff found by someone who wants to give it back, they can pop over to the FinderCodes website, or scan the QR code with the iPhone or Android app; scanning the item with a phone also sends the owner the lost item’s location. Then the finder can ship your stuff back to you through a FedEx Office location, with the organization acting as middleman — so neither the recipient nor the sender needs to reveal any personal information.
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path — which explains why he's Cult of Android's test editor-at-large. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of 