Technology has many uses in this world, including secretly taking pictures of the guy that stole your MacBook. Joshua Kaufman was robbed of his MacBook, called the police but the police said they couldn’t do anything about it. Kaufman took matters into his own hands. He started using his Hidden app to take pictures of the thief in possession of his laptop and posted the pics on his Tumblr blog. That certainly got the cops’ attention.

On March 21, Kaufman had his MacBook stolen from his apartment.

When he called the police, they told him they didn’t have enough resources to retrieve his laptop. That’s when Kaufman decided to activate his Hidden app for MacBook. The app can locate your MacBook anywhere in the world, take pictures of who ever is using it, as well as screenshots of your MacBook’s activity.

After Kaufman collected all the pictures, he began tweeting his story and posting photos of the thief on his Tumblr blog. If you ever wanted to know what someone looks like when they are using a computer and don’t know something is taking a picture of them: you’re welcome! This is kind of hilarious.

That’s the thief typing away, shirtless and in bed. I wonder if he’s a freelance writer, too.

And here he is sleeping on a couch.

And yes, that is a kid sleeping in the background. Way to be a great role model, dude.

Kaufman also submitted all the data retrieved from Hidden to the police. The MacBook thief was finally arrested on Tuesday. Hoorah!

Thanks to the app, the cops were able to easily track down the MacBook robber and arrest him. Score 1 for technology and social networking.

With apps like Hidden and the evolution of laptops, tablets and other mobile devices in general, it’s becoming easier and easier to track down your prized gadgets. Mark Boa had his laptop stolen, but was able to retrieve user history which, like a present from the universe, included a hilarious video of his robber dancing very badly to a popular rap song. Boa did what any pissed off robbery victim would do - post the video to YouTube and Vimeo.

A Colorado woman was able to track down her bike thanks her neighbors who took a picture of the thief in action. Elaine Ellis posted the picture to her blog and Twitter account and got her bike back within hours.