books and stuff

[greyman]

Hey - I've been reading this amazing book called "the secret life of Houdini". The authors apparently dug up thousands of old newspaper articles about Houdini and his associates and shoved them on a computer database to mine the info in them. They reckon Houdini was a spy for the US government, and have quite a bit of evidence to back it up.

A really in interesting bit to do with locks is the so-called "Mirror challenge", where the Mirror newspaper in London (I think) challenged Houdini to open a pair of handcuffs made by Nathaniel Hart that had a double (concentric) Bramah lock (a 6 slider inside an 8 slider). This stunt generated great publicity for Houdini, although it is fairly clear that he did not actually pick the lock open. The actual handcuffs and a silver replica of them are in David Copperfield's collection.

Anyways, a great book if you're feeling like a read. Houdini certainly deserved his reputation even if some of his methods were a bit slick.

And by the way, my own book on locks is coming out in about 2 weeks in the US (or so I read on the web). It's still being discounted by Amazon and Elsevier I think, at least until it appears on the shelves...

[zeke79]

This sounds like something that would be right up db's alley.

[greyman]

OK - I wanted to add this to a previous thread called "alternative books to LSS" but I couldn't get the search function to work.

I have some news about my book to share with LP101 members. First some bad news (though I'm not 100% sure about this): the publication date listed on the publisher's (Elsevier's) website says 29 November - maybe this is in the UK only because I though it was due out in the US this month.

Ref: http://elsevier.net/wps/find/bookbibliographicinfo.cws_home/712903/description

The good news is that Elsevier have posted two sample "chatpers" in PDF form - the "front matter", containing the table of contents, and the introductory chapter - chapter 1. You can view or download these files from Elsevier's website by following the link near the top of the page saying "To order this title, and for more information, click here".

Enjoy

Cheers

Greyman

[raimundo]

when the history museum opened a decade ago, one of the directors was interviewed on public radio, and happened to mention that the museum has a collection of picks that were once the property of a thief named Rudy rudinsky or some such, he did time and reformed and was hired by 3M or honeywell or some such and helped them with alarm systems until he retired,

I once went to the history museum to see them and got no help from the people who are supposed to know how to find stuff, never did see them.

I believe that rudinsky is mentioned somewhere on the web, I googled him once.

[digital_blue]

This (your book) looks like it will be a really fantastic book Greyman. Way to go! This will absolutely be added to my collection of material.

db

P.S. The Houdini stuff was cool as well.

[greyman]

Digital Blue, I am flattered I really hope you enjoy the book. I am kind of looking forward to getting my hands on the real mccoy, rather than just the big stack of loose leaf A4 pages I've been handling so far...

Only 9 days till the US release... counting down!

Thanks again to all who have helped - a cast of many.

Cheers

greyman

[Father]

ooooooooooooh men what is this boook come onnn

[greyman]

Not sure what you mean, but try clicking on the image below (my signature) to find out. Amazon is still offering discounts as far as I know.

cheers
greyman

[greyman]

Hello all

I have a bit more news on my book. I heard from ther publisher on October the 18th that the book is finished and they're sending me a copy . This means that the book shops will very soon be able to ship it. For UK, EU and other countries - it might take a little longer due to shipping times.

This also sounds like a good time for me to thank everyone who's helped me along with questions, info or encouragement about the 1994 document (hiseclox). I'm going to list a bunch of names of people who I can't contact anymore because the email addresses I have for them are out of date, some by more than 10 years, and of course, the many people from LP101 who have helped. I hope people don't mind seeing their name on this list, but in the old days of newsgroups, almost everyone had their name revealed in their email address. More to the point, I want to thank you publicly and it's not the same without the name. Let me stress: this list does not include people or their companies who are actually mentioned in the acknowledgements for the book.

Here goes:

Alt.locksmithing and before LP101
---------------------------------

Anders Ryden
Andrew Volk
Andy Grimbleby
Benoit Mulsant
Bil Hansen
Bill Steinberg
Bryan P. Reece
C.David Pierce
Carl Curling
Clyde T. Roberson
Colin Cobbaert
Curtis K. Wong
Dave Horsfall
Dave Matthews
Douglas R. Floyd
Eddie Barnes
Edwin van Latum
Eric Perozziello
Fluor20 (don't know the name)
Heikki A. Levanto
hobbit (don't know the name)
J R Becker
J.Clayton Greer
Joe Ilacqua
John Goldsworthy
Justin J Rocque
Lamar Lugli
Luke Freeman
Manuel Cornejo
Mark Seiden
Mark Wanlass
Mark Winlund
Matt Blaze
Matteo Fabbri
Matthew J. Kidd
Michael C. Bachand
Mike Kamb
Mitchell Knight
Nicholas Merrill
Peter G. White
Peter Jeyes
Peter White
R Bryner
Richard Phillips
Robert McKenzie
Stanislav Trock
Tim O'Shea
William A Moyes

Lock Picking 101
----------------

Alan Morgan
dermaud
digital_blue
eric343
jaakko
joseph (Jeremy Bramah)
kaellman
maxxed
mh
mrpicks
n2oah
pickmonger
prodigy
schuyler
shrub
squelchtone
zeke79

---

To anyone who's name is in there as an alias, you know who you are even if I don't!

Sincere apologies to anyone who I've left out - it's hard to keep track of all the helpers!

To anyone who expressed an interest in seeing an improved version of the "Catalogue of High Security Locks v1.00", please note that the book is now out! Click on my signature - it will take you to Elsevier's web site. The ISBN for the book is: 0750684372

And last of all, please feel free to send me a PM (personal mail) if you want to.

[MacGyver101]

I heard from ther publisher on October the 18th that the book is finished and they're sending me a copy .

Congratulations!

I've read through the first chapter, and it looks like a very solid reference... I just placed my order. Looking forward to reading the rest of it when it arrives!

[greyman]

I got my copy of the book a few days ago (shipped from the US by the publisher). I must say, I am pretty pleased how it turned out I'll hand over the microphone to other people now to hopefully get some feedback. US readers should be getting hold of it really soon if they haven't already received their copy.

All the best

greyman

[Schuyler]

I meant to say this, but I've received my copy of the book a little more than a week ago now. It's absolutely incredible.

I submitted a review to Elsevier or however that is spelled, and I'll try to do better justice on here.

Really an amazing book. I'm floored to have it in my collection.

[dougfarre]

When I clicked your link and pressed the "order" button the check box on the bottom the page says "I am an author, editor or contributor of the following Elsevier publication, which entitles me to a special discount." was already clicked.

Does that mean I have to "un-click it" because i think leaving it clicked will be better for my purchase.

[greyman]

When I clicked your link and pressed the "order" button the check box on the bottom the page says "I am an author, editor or contributor of the following Elsevier publication, which entitles me to a special discount." was already clicked.

Does that mean I have to "un-click it" because i think leaving it clicked will be better for my purchase.

I think that being an author with Elsevier gives you a discount on their entire range. So yes, if you click that button you will be saying you are eligible for the discount. I haven't used it myself but I would imagine there's some code or something you will be asked for in a later "screen".

PS To Schuyler, I'm really glad you are enjoying the book, and thank you for the praise

Cheers

greyman

[Schuyler]

in a humorous twist, because I ordered the book many months ago, but the money didn't come out until it was shipping, it managed to knock me just over my limit on my credit card, so suddenly I couldn't get gas etc.

Very confusing day that was...