Bic pen on old standard cylindrical locks is beating a dead horse. What about quality current locks (e.g., disc-type), combination locks, high security locks (e.g., )?
That proves ... what? Was the bike actually locked? With what? Was that the actual bike owner? Was there a stolen key? Too many questions to draw any conclusions.
That lock weighs more than my tower computer. I don't see how one would attach it to a laptop.
How is it a dead horse? Because you already knew about it, or because the product is no longer on the market, and has been superceeded?
I see no difference at all between the lock that I have, purchased new in
2002, and the ones that are currently on the shelf. The Kensington web page doesn't mention the style of lock.A September 2004 Wired.com article refers to "brand new Kryptonite Evolution 2000". The web page for that product indicates that it is using a disc style lock, which I presume was an improvement during the product run, after August of 2004.
My post was in response to attacks on cheap bicycle locks. I've already posted info on better laptop (notebook) computer locks; e.g., PC Guardian Ultra.
Because it's over a year old and because better products have been updated to circumvent that attack.
I'm talking about "better" locks. Didn't you research before you bought? Or did you presume that all products were pretty much the same?
Your point?
My guess is that PC Guardian is simply using high tensile (e.g., high carbon) steel. While better than typical mild (soft) steel cable, it obviously wouldn't stand up to a determined attack away from scrutiny, but it's probably at least as robust as the attachment point on the computer, which is all that really matters -- not much point in making one link a lot stronger than another link.
PC Guardian claims to have a "patented tamper-resistant locking mechanism." Skepticism is certainly warranted without more information, but I don't think your assumption is justified, particulary given the awards it's earned.
Most of the anchor points I've seen are more secure than that, often an anchor point on a large, heavy steel desk.
You could get indeed get various parts from my ThinkPad, but that would be much more problematic than grab and dash, and I don't leave it unattended like that in any event.
Uh, sorry Tim...
That would be "Tool Time", the fictional program from Tim Allen's TV show "Home Improvement". :-)
Tim always had some new tool that would do the job faster, with more horsepower (and generally more noise). I guess the NY street gangs might prefer to avoid the noise...
Most of the ones I've seen have either been a hole in the edge of the desk top or a through-bolted semicircle.
Add to the list: out of view in locked car with good security system; out of view in locked residence with good security system; hotel safe; firm grasp on handle of carrying case. :)
True. All the thefts I mentioned were of laptops that were either not secured with a cable or were left unattended by their owners (even for a few seconds). A cable, leash, or anchor chain would probably have been a sufficient deterrent to stop an optertunistic theft. It would NOT be sufficient to stop a premeditated theft, where the their was prepared to tinker with the lock or cable.
OK, so buy it from a place with a 30-day return policy and ship it directly to Jeff L. If he can't break it quickly, keep it, if he can, return it. You've got the answer to your question from our local guru, and he's had the chance to practice his skills and see the latest lock technology.
Yes, I did presume that most of them were pretty much the same. It's technology that's been around for a few years, nothing complicated, so I examine items for quality of workmanship, and buy a moderate priced device at a local retailer. Kensington has been around for a while, and the locks still continue to be sold, implying that the "market at work" is suggesting that Kensington should be okay.
I wasn't looking for high security, just a simple theft deterrent for nominally secure environments. I wasn't leaving my laptop in a bus station overnight, I was leaving it in a business environment for short periods of time.
Even now, the lock picking videos that I've seen don't show the Kensington laptop lock, they are primarily bicycle locks.
A Google search today, which I recall as being similar to a couple of years ago, refers to the Kensington and Targus locks as being effective theft deterrents. One negative, in slashdot, impugns the integrity of its own source, implying that they have goods to sell.
Adding "bic" to the Google search yields a treasure trove of warnings, pages that I lost in the millions of pages found before I knew to add that word. Even with that, most of the articles are about bicycle locks, with references to Kensington, but only off-hand.
I think Jeff's tales of theft were unsecured laptops, or hypothetical thefts. I don't know how many thefts might have been deterred by my Kensington, I'm only sure about one that wasn't.
Thanks for the advice, but if Jeff wants to test it, he can do all that himself. ;)
My own experience is that big retailers tend to push what's easy and most profitable, and that the market is nowhere near that perfect (otherwise we wouldn't have Monster cable, and people paying stiff prices for bottles of plain water), so I routinely search for "best" products, backed up by reliable sources of information. That's how I quickly found PC Guardian Ultra. It's also why I use an IBM ThinkPad rather than a cheap notebook computer. It's why I use quality DVD-R discs rather than whatever happens to be on sale. It may by why I've never experienced WPA/PSK problems (as discussed in another thread). And so on.
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