Anyone can pay a small fee to look up a license plate number and get all sorts of information on the registrant. Sure, with all that's available at our fingertips (google earth, assessor records, etc) these days, why would one bother to obscure a license plate? There are crazy people out there, that's why. And a bunch of idiots to boot, it appears.

is back and I hope he is doing well. I hope his appearance puts a lot of unnecessary rumors to rest. It's just so sad that media people are always trying to kill him off just for the sake of getting attention or trying to devalue Apple's share price. I really want to see him introduce the newest iPhone or that iTablet with some easy banter. I've always enjoyed watching his product announcements.

My M-B also has a barcode on it. I am too lazy to take off the plate to take a picture of it. When and if people steal my plate, I should avoid driving through regions between Woodside and Palo Alto.

i said it, Guestudo

if i take the rear plate off my BMW its a VIN number barcode for inventory control for the ship/port and dealership. Not a fancy govt. exception. The point of a plate is to see it from a distance-- no one says "did you get his barcode?" So lets put this to rest--its not legal and neither is parking in handicapped.

With the exception of @akulavolk noticing it, nobody has pointed out that this seems to be the same picture from the story about Steve Jobs parking in a handicap spot...everybody keeps going on about the useless and uninteresting idea of barcoded lisence plates...the real story here is that MNN finds it neccessary to report baseless, sensationalistic information ("unidentified sources"? f*** you.), and backing it up with clearly inaccurate photographic "evidence". For what purpose? Who wrote this "story"? What is you stock portfolio comprised of? Doing a little manipulating perhaps? Normally you guys are one of my top 5 daily go-to's for Mac info, but even if this story is based in factual information, the way in which you are presenting it comes off as completely irresponsible and potentially criminally laible. I get enough of this bullshit from daily TV. Whatever your intentions are, your veracity and reputation are taking a nose-dive with this one. Come on guys...if you have a story, report it responsibly and back it up in a verifiable manner. Be f***** ethical, please. Don't make me lose faith in you, too.

No, you're missing the point. The story that Jobs is back on campus isn't because he's been seen there. It's because there's a picture of his car parked crooked in a handicapped spot. And it's purported that this is a new picture, so Jobs is on campus.

Check out the pix from this October '08 sighting of Jobs' parking skills and explain to me how this recent pic isn't just a recycle of last year's pict:

http://blufaction.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/

Hardly off topic, I think...

Same car, same parking, same shadows, same car next to it...same picture.

Looks like the author has now corrected the article and acknowledged that the picture isn't a recent one, nor proof that Jobs is back.

"The author of the setteB.IT article has corrected Google's translation, indicating that the photo is actually an old one, but that Jobs was indeed spotted on campus yesterday."

C'mon MacNN. I REALLY love you guys. But you can't post news based on the fact that another news site (based as far from Cupertino as possible) SAYS Steve's around with no proof or new info. Otherwise, it's not MacNEWSnetwork. Especially when the first evidence for the assertion is a hoax...makes setteB.it's follow up info look dodgy.

Not trying to be anal here, but you guys are a respectable news source. Remember what happened to the stock when that high-school kid said Jobs was dying? This is the kind of stock-affecting subject that shouldn't be handled flippantly.

A barcode for a license plate is plainly stupid. License plates are for identification, esp. if one is in an accident or sees an accident. What should one do, copy down the bar code when they see it flying away ("No, its a thick bar, followed by two thinner bars, followed by...").

As to the argument that it protects one 'privacy' because you can't track them down, how does the gov't track it down? And there are a boatload of different gov't databases (both public and private) that one could get Steve Jobs' address from. h***, you could just google it and probably find it in 10 seconds if you cared (in fact, we all know one place he owns a home, as he's been trying to destroy it).

And if this all about safety and privacy, shouldn't everyone get bar-code tags? Why should one person be more privileged and get special treatment than others? Oh, right, fame and money certainly help. I guess ordinary people being stalked aren't worthy of such protections...

Not trying to be anal here, but you guys are a respectable news source. Remember what happened to the stock when that high-school kid said Jobs was dying? This is the kind of stock-affecting subject that shouldn't be handled flippantly.

Excuse me? No offense to MacNN or you, but there is no way MacNN is a 'respectable news source'. They're not even a source of proper grammar and spelling.

As to the kid who said Jobs was dying, the fault there lies not in MacNN or the kid, but the idiot wallstreet types who read stupid-a** public blogs and sites and take their word as gospel.

Then why do you keep coming back? :-)

But I've got to give it to you, you're right about your 2nd paragraph. Credit where do, ya know...

Arguing on the Internet is like running in the Special Olympics.

Even if you win, you're still retarded...

Making fun of retarded people makes you a real winner?