Mildly depressed about this

[nothumbs]

You know, I've often been amused by those who worry about posting photos of their keys, or similar info. Anyone from this board who wanted to break into my home would find it trivially easy. Way too many windows and many other points of entry. For most, locks keep honest people slightly more honest, and slightly larcenous teenagers at bay (locking your car keeps the kids from rummaging through your glove box looking for spare change, cigarettes, and other trivia. Real criminals intent on entry enter anyway they can, and they can enter in many ways.

That said, when I had the house locks repinned, it seemed amusing to request a high MACS and spools, given what I've learned so far. I've not reinforced the door frames, put up grills on the windows, installed an alarm system, or hired a 24x7 armed guard.

Twice in my early years as an adult I had my home broken into and high value items stolen. Once my car was broken into and the stereo stolen. Stuff happens. Insurance helps, locks help, but stuff happens (witness the thread elsewhere where a discussion on natural disasters and preparing for same has been going on).

Ray, I saw the grin, and this rant is in no way directed at you. I've been thinking about this concept for awhile, and this just seemed an opportune time to vent.

[MacGyver101]

You know, I've often been amused by those who worry about posting photos of their keys.

Funny you should say that: there was a thread a couple of weeks ago where a new member posted a photo of his key, taken with his iPhone. (And this wasn't particularly unusual: there have been lots of "help me identify this key/lock/whatever" threads popping up lately where people have taken pictures with their smartphones.)

What most people don't realize is that the newer iPhones (3G, 3GS and 4) store your GPS location in the headers of the photo. It took about 30 seconds for me to find a satellite photo and "street view" images on Google Maps of where this guy was standing when he took the picture of his key... so now I have the key biting, an address and pictures of the front door and surrounding property.

In this particular case, the Mods removed the photo to help protect the guy's privacy... but a lot of people aren't as anonymous as they think when they start posting on-line. (And it's mostly for their protection that people frown on posting photos of house keys, etc..)

Just my $0.02.

[nothumbs]

Good point. It's not the single piece of info, but the totality of info that creates the final risk. And that info can be assembled over time from a variety of sources. Just depends on whether you are a high value target, in general, for for some specific individual or organization. While I am reasonable certain my door locks are not 'bumpable', and that picking them would keep most amateur pickers busy for more than a few minutes, I would not be comfortable with someone having both a working key and my address.

[Viggs]

I'll guarantee you that you can open it tonight if you pick by SPP, and you're willing to play around with the pinning of the lock. First, remove all the stacks except the back two, and pick it a dozen times. Keep adding one more stack, and picking it a dozen times until you're back up to all five stacks. If you still just can't get it, then remove all the stacks and re-arrange the bottom pins in order from highest to lowest cut (front to back). You'll definitely get it this way.

Once you're confident picking it with all the pins re-arranged in the easiest configuration, re-pin it to its original state and try again. Messing around with the pinning of your locks is the best ways to learn new keyways.