Clopen - Hidden Safe In Your Bookshelf

The Clopen is a unique idea thought of and designed by Japanese architecture firm Torafu Architects.

This product looks like any conventional floating shelf. It is made from an aluminum frame that sports a thin piece of veneer to give it the "wood" look. It is locked using two magnets, one at each end. You are provided with two magnetic keys that need to be used simultaneously to release the catches.

A simple, yet elegant idea that combines aesthetic beauty with functionality.

It is attached to a wall with aluminum crossbars that are mounted securely. The shelf then attaches to the crossbars making what looks like a bracket-less shelf.

Securing your extra cash or documents will be a cinch with this intelligent product.

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Keylet & Key Caddy by CREARRI - A Wallet And Keyring Combined

CREARRI is a small Orange County, California company created by Anthony Hoang and Nhu Truong.

These two young guys have successfully secured funding through Kickstarter for two unique products that will add style and function to users of wallets and keys.

Locksmiths will be quite interested in these products too, I suggest, as these are the kinds of products that would fit well with other accessory inventories that many locksmith companies offer. [video after the jump]

CTX Virtual Technologies Create Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard that Fits To Your Keying

CTX Virtual Technologies Inc. is a company that are building unique products designed to improve the user experiences for cellphone and tablet users who might enjoy using a regular keyboard as opposed to the sometimes awkward built in keyboards found in today's cellphones and tablets.

This particular product has recently started selling through Brookstone stores.

It is a keyring sized bluetooth connector that gives you the option of having a virtual keyboard at your fingertips. The virtual keyboard displays a laser outline of a full sized QWERTY keyboard in front of it, while an optical sensor track a users fingers as they type.

The unit's built-in lithium battery is designed to last for 2 hours and is USB rechargeable. The unit is about the same size as a Zippo lighter. 

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Fridge Locker - How To Stop Communal Refridgerator Thieves

Do you work in a large office environment? Do you live in share accomodations? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you more than likely have experienced food or drink theft. Usually, discussing with others can prove to solve these issues, but sometimes, no amount of persuasion can stop a hungry coworker or house mate with the munchies from getting into your private stash.

Until now, of course.

The fridge locker uses a combination catch, similar to a briefcase or steamer trunk lock, allowing you to secure your stash of nosherai from the prying hands of others.

I wish they had come out with this years ago

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Dry Erase Marker - Modified To Hack Into Onity Hotel Room Door Locks

We recently published an article in this blog that has proven to be quite popular. The article:  Hacker beats The Worlds Most Prolific Hotel Room Door Lock  has been viewed about 5000 times since I wrote it.

It reprints an article from another source about Cody Brocious, who discovered a rather simple hack for defeating the most commonly found hotel room door lock made by Onity.

[See video after the jump]

SSH Service Designed to Manage Lost Keys

SSH Communications is a dedicated IT security company whose primary product line relates to securing computer infrastructures.

Founded in 1995, SSH Communications Security is the company that invented the SSHprotocol - the gold standard protocol for data-in-transit security solutions. Today, over 3,000 customers across the globe, including 7 of the Fortune 10, trust their Information Assurance Platform to secure the path to their information assets. Their platform enables businesses of all types and sizes to protect their information assets by:

• Developing gold standard data-in-transit security solutions that prevents data loss in both internal and external environments
• Delivering hardened perimeter security through our multi-channel two-factor authentication
• Providing internal security control management solutions that enables organizations to more easily manage user keys and monitor administrator traffic across your networks

Now, this is not the usual type of article we post here in this blog, but considering the quantity of new products that involve some kind of electronic/computerised security protocol today, we feel that it may be an appropriate fit to this reference site.

The Society Of Professional Locksmiths Becomes A Leading Authority For The Locksmith Industry - Thanks To FDNY

The Society Of Professional Locksmiths is an organization of professional locksmith owners and tradespersons whose intentions are to bring respect and admiration with ethical and moral business practises back to an industry that has seen the erosion of confidence in locksmiths, wane over the past few years, thanks to improprieties and shortcoming of other supposed industry organizations. The SOPL is fast becoming the industry's leading respected voice, training facility and source of products and services, that the market and industry have long been seeking. Unlike other locksmith industry organizations and training offerings, the SOPL developed their own superb in-house training guide and mentoring system that is second to none in the North American market. The following article is copied directly (with permission) from their website. If you like the article, please consider clicking the like buttons in the post. FDNY Keys Sold on EBAY - The NY Post - Where there's Smoke, there's Fire 10/07/2012 2 Comments On October 1st, 2012 a news story ran in the NY Post about a retired locksmith named Daniel Ferraris from New Jersey who sold a set of 5 keys on Ebay that were being called Masterkeys for the New York City Fire Department. Source - http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/lock_away_these_nyc_keys_g3PWCp3FzMapURRjyssJ4J This apparently angered NY City officials and public advocate Bill DeBlasio who raised concerns over terrorism. Keywords such as being alarmed, angered, lives at risk, safety, and more surfaced. Calls to Home Land Security were even made! DeBlasio himself went so far to say -  "We cannot let anyone sell the safety of over 8 million people so easily. Having these keys on the open market literally puts lives at risk. The billions we've spent on counter-terrorism have been severely undercut by this breech [sic]." A NYFD lieutenant said, “This guy should be prosecuted for selling something like that."

How Many Locks Do I Have?

Many customers call me without reading the list of fees under Guide To Services on the right side of my blog homepage.

Simply put, calculate the total number of keyholes that you want to have re-keyed, multiply by 15, add 30 and your total will magically be revealed.

Too many people dont seem to realize that there is sometimes more than 1 keyhole on their door. Sometimes there are three (3) keyholes (two (2) outside and one (1) inside).

Sometimes an odd lock on a commercial door can require significantly more labor to remove and refit and consequently may cost a little more in labor.

While the arithmetic (math) is quite simple, sometimes people dont read English too well.