I take it you didn't read the quoted part of the OP. SNAGG will ship one to use apparently. They also maintain a database of readers as part of their service, so there may be others in your area.
Dave
Finally somebody developed a microchip for cues
- Thread starter TheNewSharkster
- Start date
I take it you didn't read the quoted part of the OP. SNAGG will ship one to use apparently. They also maintain a database of readers as part of their service, so there may be others in your area.
Dave
No pawn shops are ever going to know to scan a pool cue for a chip.
Brilliant idea really, as long as it takes off and the tracking/owner database remains online.
Nor would they scan for one as they would lose money on a sale by just giving it back.
I saw a clip on tv about the electronic show in Vegas going on and they showed a baby seat that phones the parent if they leave their kid buckled up in the carseat.
That would be nice for a cue, along with gps to find its location.
I'm guessing one of these for a 12' snooker table wouldn't be necessary?
Jeff Livingston
This is from the link:
"If it is found, local authorities are notified to obtain the merchandise to be scanned and positively ID’d as yours using one of 400,000 standard pet scanners available nationwide. If a scanner is not available one will be shipped directly from SNAGG."
So if I am at a flea market and I see my cue what do I do? Say. "Wait, that is my cue and I can prove it"? Then have them mail me a reader a week or two later and so on. It is impractical for general use.
The last time I had a lost cat, I had to take it all over the place to find someone with a reader just to check if there even was a chip. When it turned out the chip was there it took forever to contact the people because they had not updated the info.
I think it is a false sense of security as far as a cue goes. Not to mention there may be a way to fry the chip so it doesn't do anything that a thief may know. Is there a way to destroy it?
Unless I am missing something, at best it is a way to identify a cue so an owner and seller can tell it is not a stolen cue and may even be able to track the ownership history.
GPS, now that is another story but I don't think we are there yet for a cue stick.
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If it doesn't end up in a pawn shop it is likely the cue will be sold on craigs list. In that case you case watch craigs list for somebody trying to sell it. If they do you can prove it is yours with the chip.
Riding the current mind-set Wave
Current thinking, everyone wants the newest, latest, bestess :grin-square: shinyist
, and ist Ist, so they can be WHAT, not sure , but if they get it they can brag about it, and get their social Fix as needed. The best chip/TIP for a cue, put it under the table in ANY environment your not EXTREMELY familiar with, and never walk away from your STUFF w/o asking someone Reliable to ''keep and eye on it''. Now if they could invent a chip/dip/clip or whatever to track you post money that walks, that might be a winner. Now where is my newest, bestest Golf Tee 
)))
Current thinking, everyone wants the newest, latest, bestess :grin-square: shinyist
, and ist Ist, so they can be WHAT, not sure , but if they get it they can brag about it, and get their social Fix as needed. The best chip/TIP for a cue, put it under the table in ANY environment your not EXTREMELY familiar with, and never walk away from your STUFF w/o asking someone Reliable to ''keep and eye on it''. Now if they could invent a chip/dip/clip or whatever to track you post money that walks, that might be a winner. Now where is my newest, bestest Golf Tee )))
This was my thought. Sounds great, but unless I can track it directly, anytime before or after it is stolen/lost, this technology isn't going to help in most cases.
Best to try to make sure it isn't stolen or lost in the first place. Not always easy, because I know there are people who would steal my cues in a heartbeat if they could get away with it. I've already had one guy in my current league pick up my cue twice and start playing with it when I was standing 5 feet away. An accident I'm pretty sure, but once it's in his hand it's not too difficult to pack it up and walk out if I don't notice it. I have a Predator P3 and he has a Predator Sport. Shafts are the same but the butts aren't.
It may sound silly, but I usually put my cues back in the case when I'm not playing and unless I have a trustworthy friend watching, I'll even carry the case to the bathroom with me. I've heard too many stories of someone's cue disappearing after they weren't paying attention to it for a while and it was never seen again.
All that said, I still think this is a great idea and would at least make it more difficult to sell the cue and would also lead to recovery of the cue in some cases.
If your cue turns up at a flea market you call the police. If the person selling it is in possesion of stolen goods they must return it to the owner.
There is no false sense of security with this thing unless you are a complete dumb dumb. Seriously it won't stop somebody from stealing your stuff. It just helps you get it back and prove ownership.
None of which requires the chip. What you actually do is, first have a few photos of the cue with you as well as an original receipt for the cue even if bought second hand.
Next the cue should be marked in a way only you know. Mainly you should have a police report at the time the cue was stolen that documents that this cue was actually stolen and proof that this is the one and only actual cue in question. Then you call the police and hope for the best.
Anything you have of any value should be done this way if for nothing more the a possible insurance claim. That is why I said another post the chip is false security. If you have done everything you can so you can identify your property you don't need a chip.
I know with the chip even years later if the cue showed up anywhere a third party could find you and possibly get your property back to you. But the chances that these chip readers would be in such general use that this could ever happen would be very very remote.
That is not to say a chip would never help to get your cue back but it would be a long shot and just another level of protection. When it comes to cues, prevention is the best area of focus.
A lot of cues look exactly like other cues. The chip would be proof the cue belongs to you. For example, you go on CL and see somebody selling your cue. You inform the cops and they meet the person. He claims the cue belongs to him. At that point the value of the chip is substancial because you can prove without a doubt that the property was stolen.
Maybe it isn't for everyone. I agree prevention is the best but you can't control getting robbed at gun point or somebody breaking into your house.
I guess my point is, it over complicates something that is very simple. If a cue maker wants to install serial numbers on their cues how hard is that? You don't need any expensive special equipment to read the numbers.
A database can be put on line with numbers of stolen cues that anyone could check out. The chip doesn't accomplish anything that is extra ordinary, it just identifies the cue. Gun makers do it, bicycles have numbers so do cars. This is nothing new. In fact a person would think twice about trying to sell a stolen cue if they thought someone could just take out their smart phone and look up the number in like a minute.
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Slim to none.
The only way to do it is a chip small enuff to fit under the bumper and to be able to GPS it immediately with a large enuff range so that one wouldn't have to spend a month straight driving around tracking it.
If you do what I do, take pictures of my valuables, and they do end up in a pawn shop, and I have made a Police report, I really don't need a chip, do I.
In this case, a Picture is worth a thousand words and a Snagg Chip.
I meant by my statement of not finding it in a Pawn Shop. What if the guy sells it to another person quickly.
No Snagg Chip going to help you out there unless you see the person using it at some point in the future.
If you have a GPS Chip and it leads you to a Pawn Shop, all you have to do is tell the person that he has something that belongs to you in the storage room.
If he denies it, call the Police.
Your Snagg Chipp won't do you any good if your cue is sitting in storage for 90 days. You might say to the person, "I had a pool cue stolen and am looking for it".
Now, depending on how honest the shop owner is, your cue may never come out of storage. If he gave the person XXX amount for it, he will only see that if the person is charged and that is part of a restitution order from court, to pay back the Shop owner.
Trust me, its like wearing a condom with a hole in it. It will give you a false sense of security.
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Joss puts serial number on the SS joint that can easily be removed.....
A lot of production cues look exactly the same as hundreds/thousands of other cues. A picture is no good unless the cue has something unique to identify it.
The chip will do nothing for a cue that is sitting in storage. That isn't the purpose. The purpose is if the cue surfaces and is scanned you can get your property back. Or if you identify the cue you can prove it belongs to you.
Not sure why people here wouldn't want to help build a cue database to help track these things.