locks

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

It’s an easier form-over-function trade to make, but there may still be dealbreakers for some.

Home Entertainment & Smart Home Wes Davis Mar 15

Metal Detectorist Unearths Miniature 1,600-Year-Old Roman Lock

Despite its diminutive size, the artifact once featured a working lock mechanism.

Human History Margherita Bassi Jan 31

Fire Exit Locks Recalled After Failing to Open at Least 56 Times

Imagine dying in a blaze because you didn't update your fire exit's firmware.

Tech News Matt Novak Aug 13

Researchers Find a Way to Copy Keys Using the Sounds They Make Inside a Lock

Keyed locks are relatively easy to pick if you’ve spent enough time mastering the skill. But researchers at the National University of Singapore have just made it even easier. If you can use a smartphone to record a sound, you can capture all the information you need to create a working duplicate of a key.…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Aug 19

This See-Through Combination Lock Unravels the Mystery of School Lockers

As you raced through your locker combination four or five times a day during high school, did you ever stop to wonder how those seemingly random rotations actually worked to protect your lunch and textbooks? The lock’s mysterious inner workings were always hidden away under a metal case, but this clear plastic replica finally reveals…

Sploid Andrew Liszewski Apr 20

A 3D-Printed, PIN-Protected Door Lock Won’t Protect Your Home But it Sure Looks Cool

3D printers may have failed as a home appliance, but researchers at the Hasso-Plattner-Institut aren’t ready to give up on them just yet. Last year they successfully 3D-printed a working door handle without any moving parts, and this year they’re following it up with a 3D-printed, PIN-protected door lock. https://gizmodo.com/this-simple-3d-printed-door-handle-works-without-any-mo-1786538138 The 3D-printed door handle worked…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Mar 7

How Bulletproof Is a $900 Padlock?

Guns are used to blow the locks off doors in movies and TV so often we don’t stop to think if what we’re seeing is possible. (For the record, the answer is: sometimes.) But what does it take for a lock to be totally bulletproof? DemolitionRanch set out to try to destroy a $900 lock…

Sploid Avery Ellis Aug 16

Breaking Open a Lock with a Paper Clip, a Screwdriver, or a Metal Can Is Really Easy

You’re not going to be a master locksmith after you watch this video showing you three ways to break open a lock, but you might stop putting your faith in cheap padlocks. That’s because a few bent paperclips could jimmy the thing open. Even just jamming a screwdriver into the keyhole can make it unlock.…

Sploid Casey Chan Jun 27

This Bike Lock Does Double Service As a Tail Light

Cyclists love to bitch about the unnecessary weight involved with carrying a quality u-lock, but those same riders also really hate having their bikes stolen. So if you could incorporate a red light into a bike lock, saving a little weight and adding functionality, that really wouldn’t be a bad thing. Hiplok FLX is a…

Tech News Chris Mills May 3

Melting a Lock with a Torch Is a Great Way to Break It Open

Locks are meant to be broken. Torches are meant to wield fire. So it makes total sense to use a torch to melt the hell out of a lock to bust it open, right? Exactly! Watch as the fire from this torch completely obliterates the lock, so much so that it just oozes open and…

Sploid Casey Chan Apr 22

What’s Hidden Inside Shopping Carts to Make Them Cost $100 Each?

It’s just a pushable basket you use to store groceries and skate cart ride around the aisles with, so why do grocery carts cost $100 a cart? Science Channel details how the shopping cart is made with 75 yard of a steel cage covered in Telfon, how the bumpers can withstand 30mph crashes, how the…

Sploid Casey Chan Mar 30

Visual Breakdown of How a Modern Safe Keeps Things Locked Up

Here’s a nice little exploded and dissected visualization of a modern safe. For this particular model, over 500 parts are used to make up the impenetrable box with 26 hardened steel bolts keeping things shut tight. It’s also fireproof to up to 1200 degrees and has a lock with 1.2 million possible combinations. SPLOID is…

Sploid Casey Chan Mar 4

Watch a Magnet Inside a Sock Break Open a Safe in Seconds

Safes and locks and other security measures of that nature? They’re all eventually doomed because they’re designed to open. It’s just a matter of how long it takes. With the help of rare earth magnets, it takes just seconds. Here is Mr. Locksmith demonstrating how a rare earth magnet can exploit the nickel piece in…

Sploid Casey Chan Feb 5

Conventional Picking Tools Won’t Work On This Shielded Lock

By now we know that even the most secure-looking locks can be easily compromised. So we should all just leave our doors open and hope for the best, right? Maybe not, because a simple design change promises to make it impossible for someone to pick tumbler locks. The innovation that makes the Bowley Lock so…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Dec 2

How to break open a Master Lock with just a small hammer

It doesn’t take much effort to bust open a Master Lock. All you need to do is apply a little bit of pressure on one end and then add a few taps at the other side in a specific spot and pop, the thing opens pretty easily. Shockingly so! In fact, you don’t even really…

Sploid Casey Chan Nov 30

The History and Future of Locks and Keys

Of all the technology you use on a daily basis, you probably pay the least attention to the mechanical miracles that keep your home or your gym bag secure. Locks and keys have been around for millennia, but they are undergoing one of their rare historic shifts—from mechanical to electronic, from isolated to interconnected. This…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes Oct 20

The TSA’s Response to Its Master Key Scandal Is Priceless

“Scandal” might be too strong a word. But you’d think the TSA would have been ashamed when hackers released 3D-printer files for its master keys, which can open any any TSA-recommended luggage lock. Does the TSA feel ashamed? Not even close. In fact, the TSA seemingly gives zero fucks that anybody can now 3D-print master…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes Sep 17

You Can Now 3D-Print Your Own TSA Master Keys

TSA-recognized locks provide little more than a false sense of security. That’s not news. It is news, however, that some hacker type has uploaded the CAD files of the agency’s master keys to Github, so that anybody can 3D-print them at home. Let the stealing begin! Just kidding, please don’t break into other people’s luggage.…

Privacy & Security Adam Clark Estes Sep 11

A Breathalyzer Bike Lock Makes You Blow Clean Before Cycling

You might chuckle at the idea of a drunk cyclist, but since they often share the road with motorists, they can be just as dangerous as an inebriated driver. So if you don’t trust yourself to leave your bike locked up after having one too many, this bike lock will only open after you use…

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Aug 6

The Giant New Panama Canal Will Change the Global Economy (Again)

A few months ago, hundreds of tourists, sightseers, and workers crowded into a deep canyon of concrete at the Panama Canal to witness another wonder of the world before it was submerged. At 11 stories deep, these canyons made of rough concrete could have been a lost Louis Kahn structure. In fact, they were the…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan Jul 9

locks

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Metal Detectorist Unearths Miniature 1,600-Year-Old Roman Lock

Fire Exit Locks Recalled After Failing to Open at Least 56 Times

Researchers Find a Way to Copy Keys Using the Sounds They Make Inside a Lock

This See-Through Combination Lock Unravels the Mystery of School Lockers

A 3D-Printed, PIN-Protected Door Lock Won’t Protect Your Home But it Sure Looks Cool

How Bulletproof Is a $900 Padlock?

Breaking Open a Lock with a Paper Clip, a Screwdriver, or a Metal Can Is Really Easy

This Bike Lock Does Double Service As a Tail Light

Melting a Lock with a Torch Is a Great Way to Break It Open

What’s Hidden Inside Shopping Carts to Make Them Cost $100 Each?

Visual Breakdown of How a Modern Safe Keeps Things Locked Up

Watch a Magnet Inside a Sock Break Open a Safe in Seconds

Conventional Picking Tools Won’t Work On This Shielded Lock

How to break open a Master Lock with just a small hammer

The History and Future of Locks and Keys

The TSA’s Response to Its Master Key Scandal Is Priceless

You Can Now 3D-Print Your Own TSA Master Keys

A Breathalyzer Bike Lock Makes You Blow Clean Before Cycling

The Giant New Panama Canal Will Change the Global Economy (Again)

Anthropic’s New Model Is So Scarily Powerful It Won’t Be Released, Anthropic Says

Musk Asks Court to Give Potential Winnings in OpenAI Suit to OpenAI’s Nonprofit

Pro-Iran Hackers Target Critical U.S. Energy and Water Infrastructure

‘She-Hulk’ Was Apparently One of Marvel’s Most Successful Shows

The World’s First Eye-Tracking Smart Glasses Are Intriguing and Unpolished

Noah Hawley Is Remaking ‘Terrified,’ Which Shouldn’t Happen

Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral

This Apple MacBook Pro Is Now Under $500 After 78% Off, Grade-A Refurb Deal (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Touch Bar)

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

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