Lever tumbler lock
A lever tumbler lock is a type of lock that uses a set of levers to prevent the bolt from moving in the lock. In the simplest of these, lifting the tumbler above a certain height will allow the bolt to slide past.
‘Double acting’ Lever tumbler locks were invented in 1778 by Robert Barron of England. These required the lever to be lifted to a certain height by having a slot cut in the lever. So lifting the lever too far was as bad as not lifting the lever far enough. This is the type of lever lock most currently used today.
Lever locks generally use a bitted key. Some use a double-bitted key.
Bridge of the Gods (modern structure)
The Bridge of the Gods is a steel truss cantilever bridge that spans the Columbia River between Cascade Locks, Oregon and Washington state near Stevenson. It is approximately 40 mi (64 km) east of Portland, Oregon and 4 miles (6.4 km) upriver from the Bonneville Dam. It currently serves as a toll bridge operated by the Port of Cascade Locks.
The bridge was built by the Wauna Toll Bridge Company of Walla Walla, Washington and opened in 1926 as a 1,127 ft bridge. The higher river levels resulting from the construction of the Bonneville Dam required the bridge to be further elevated and extended to its current length of 1,856 ft.
The bridge is named after a famous geologic event also known as Bridge of the Gods.
The Pacific Crest Trail crosses the Columbia River on the Bridge of the Gods and the lowest elevation of the trail is on this bridge.
Salmon Bay
Salmon Bay is that part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal–which passes through the city of Seattle, linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound–that lies west of the Fremont Cut. It is the westernmost section of the canal, and empties into Shilshole Bay, which is part of Puget Sound. Because of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, the smaller, western half of the bay is salt water, and the eastern half is fresh water (though not without saline contamination–see Lake Union). Before construction of the Ship Canal, Salmon Bay was entirely salt water.
East of the locks, Salmon Bay is spanned by the Ballard Bridge, a bascule bridge that carries 15th Avenue traffic between Ballard and Interbay. West of the locks, it is spanned by the Salmon Bay Bridge that carries the BNSF Railway railroad tracks.
Cookham Lock
Cookham Lock is a lock and weir situated on the River Thames near Cookham, Berkshire. It is owned and managed by the Environment Agency. The lock is set in a lock cut which creates Formosa Island and it is surrounded by woods.
There is a road from Cookham to Formosa Island and the lock.
The river is picturesque and described as Wind in the Willows country. Kenneth Graham based much of his book on this part of the Thames.
Cookham was home to the artist Stanley Spencer’s whose works include Swan Upping at Cookham.
Sargent and Greenleaf
Sargent and Greenleaf, more commonly known among locksmithing circles as S&G, is a U.S. company that manufactures combination locks, key-operated safe and safe deposit box locks and associated equipment.
The company was established in 1865 when James Sargent and Halbert Greenleaf became partners. A manufacturing facility was built in Rochester, New York, and the company remained in that city until 1975. Since then, the company has been in Nicholasville, Kentucky.
In 1857 Sargent had designed the Sargent’s Magnetic Bank Lock, said to be the first successful key changeable combination lock.
In 1873 Sargent created the first time lock, using parts from eight-day clocks.
In 1880 Sargent connected one of his combination locks to a delay timer, creating the first time-delay combination lock.
Locks are sold around the world through associated distributors.
Warwickshire ring
The Warwickshire ring is a connected series of canals forming a circuit around the West Midlands area of the United Kingdom. The ring is formed from the Coventry Canal, the Oxford Canal, the Grand Union Canal, the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It is a popular route with tourists due to its circular route and mixture of urban and rural landscapes.
The ring totals 106 miles and has 115 locks, although there are two alternative routes through the southern part of Birmingham - from Kingswood Junction one can travel via the Grand Union Canal to Aston Junction, or via the Stratford Canal (north) and Worcester Canal to Gas Street Basin in central Birmingham. The latter route is slightly longer and has more locks, but many consider it to be more scenic and interesting.
Tubular pin tumbler lock
A tubular pin tumbler lock, also known as Ace lock or “axial pin tumbler lock” or “radial lock”, is a variety of pin tumbler lock in which 6-8 pins are arranged in a circular pattern, and the corresponding key is tubular or cylindrical in shape.
J.A. Blake is credited with patenting the first tubular lock in 1833. Walter R. Schlage continued the development of the tubular lock. He was awarded 11 patents, and his improvements made the tubular lock what it is today.
Tubular locks are commonly seen on bicycle locks, computer locks, and a variety of coin-operated devices such as vending machines and coin-operated washing machines.
Tubular pin tumbler locks are generally considered to be safer and more resistant to picking than standard locks, though there are several ways to open them without a key. Even though the pins are exposed, making them superficially easier to pick, they are designed such that after all pins are manipulated to their shear line, once the plug is rotated 1/6 to 1/8 around, the pins will fall into the next pin’s hole, requiring re-picking to continue. As such, picking the lock without using a device to hold its pins in place once they reach their shear line requires over a dozen complete picks to unlock and relock.
Such locks can be picked by a special tubular lock pick with a minimum of effort in very little time; it is also possible to defeat them by drilling with a special “hole saw” drill bit. Standard tubular lock drill bit sizes are .375″ (9.53 mm) diameter and .394″ (10 mm) diameter.[1] To prevent drilling, many tubular locks have a middle pin made of hardened steel, or contain a ball bearing in the middle pin.
In 2004, videos circulating on the Internet demonstrated that some tubular pin tumbler locks could be easily opened with the shaft of an inexpensive ballpoint pen (e.g. BIC brand) of matching diameter. Trade website BikeBiz.com revealed that the weaknesses of the tubular pin tumbler mechanism had first been described in 1992 by UK journalist John Stuart Clark (see Kryptonite lock).
The Luggage
The Luggage is a fictional object that appears in several of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. It is a large chest made of sapient pearwood (a magical, intelligent plant which is nearly extinct, impervious to magic, and only grows in a few places outside the Agatean Empire, generally on sites of very old magic). It can produce hundreds of little legs protruding from its underside and can move very fast if the need arises. It has been described as “half suitcase, half homicidal maniac”.
Its function is to act as both a luggage carrier and bodyguard for its owner, against whom no threatening motion should be made. The Luggage is fiercely defensive of its owner, and is generally homicidal in nature, killing or eating several people and monsters and destroying various ships, walls, doors, and other obstacles throughout the books. Its mouth, the feature often remarked upon by those it is about to consume, contains “lots of big square teeth, white as sycamore, and a pulsating tongue, red as mahogany.” The inside area of The Luggage does not appear to be constrained by its external dimensions, and contains many conveniences: even when it has just devoured a monster, the next time it opens the owner will find his underwear, neatly pressed and smelling slightly of lavender.
One of the greatest features of The Luggage is its ability to follow its current owner anywhere including such places as inside its owner’s mind, off the edge of the Disc, Death’s Domain, the Dungeon Dimensions, and even (literally) to Hell and back. Like all luggage, it’s constantly getting lost and having to track its owner down. It has only one way of overcoming obstacles, and that is by simply ignoring them and smashing a hole through them - including a wall to a magick shop that had since relocated.
The Luggage first appears as the property of Twoflower the tourist in The Colour of Magic. When Twoflower returns home in The Light Fantastic he gives the luggage to Rincewind, and it follows him through several sequels. Twoflower says he got it by asking for “travelling luggage” at the store (one of about a dozen magical shops which are not limited by the constraints of time and space, to their owners’ dismay. According to “The Light Fantastic”, this chain of stores was born when an impatient sourcerer was served rather poorly.) - which is exactly what he got. When Rincewind eventually visits the Counterweight Continent, Twoflower’s home, he finds many items similar to Luggage travelling with their masters.
Pratchett says (at the beginning of Sourcery) that he got the idea for the Luggage when he saw a tartan suitcase with dozens of little wheels moving as though it had a mind of its own while an American tourist pulled it along. However, he has also stated (in The Art of Discworld) that it was loosely based on an idea from a roleplaying game he had designed – that being of a similar item that would do only and exactly as it was told.
The Luggage later finds a female Luggage and has children with it in Interesting Times.
The Luggage savages passers-by in:
- The Colour of Magic
- The Light Fantastic
- Sourcery
- Eric
- Interesting Times
- The Last Continent
- The Last Hero
The Luggage also ‘ate’ the most powerful magical spell book on the Disc at the climax of The Light Fantastic. However, as it is made of sapient pearwood and is impervious to magic, the book is probably under tighter control than it was in the university where it had to be chained to a plinth.
The Luggage has consumed many remarkable things, including quite a few people. Regardless of what it consumes, only the owner’s neatly pressed packing is found inside, with any clothes laundered, ironed and folded, and smelling faintly of lavender.
In The Colour of Magic computer game, it is mentioned as in the novel. Also, in Discworld and Discworld 2, it acts as an inventory and can fit an infinite amount of items in his trunk.
Brandy Pond
Brandy Pond is a small lake in Naples, Maine, United States, that is connected to Long Lake by the Chute River which at one time was regarded by The Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s shortest river. Brandy Pond is connected to Sebago Lake by the Songo River. To get to Sebago Lake through the Songo River you must pass through the Songo locks, one of the last remaining hand operated locks in the country.
Brandy Pond is bounded by a commercial or downtown area called the “causeway” on Rt. 302. An area of homes on the southerly side called Scenic Drive and a golf course on the northern side as well as many private homes and public campgrounds and condominiums.
Locks of Love
- This article discusses the charitable organization. For the custom of using locks as tokens of love, see love padlocks
Locks of Love is a non-profit charity based in the United States. The organization accepts donations of human hair and money, with the stated intention of making wigs for needy children who have lost their hair due to a medical condition.
To be eligible to receive a hairpiece, a child must:
- Be 18 years or younger.
- Have long-term hair loss from alopecia areata (an autoimmune disease), scalp burns, or a similar medical condition. Children whose hair loss is due to chemotherapy may be excluded from consideration, as their condition is considered temporary.
- Provide proof of financial need.
- Submit two letters of recommendation, a photo, and an essay.
Locks of Love does not provide all hairpieces free of charge. According to its website, prices for human-hair wigs are set on a sliding scale based on the recipient’s family income.
Locks of Love accepts donations from people of all ages, races, and nationalities. However, they do have some specific requirements for hair donations they accept.
- Donated hair must be ten inches or longer. http://www.locksoflove.org/donate.html
- Hair may not be bleached or chemically damaged, or overprocessed.
- Hair that is determined to be too short, gray, or “unsuitable for children” is separated from the donations and sold at fair market value.
As the hair is considered to be a body part and is analagous to blood, any hair donations are not Tax Deductible according to IRS guidelines but financial donations are deductible.[1]
The Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance report, valid through April 2008, states that Locks of Love meets all twenty of its “Standards for Charity Accountability.”[2]
According to the latest report available on the Charity Navigator site (Fiscal Year Ended 11/04), Locks of Love scored an overall rating of 68.11 out of 70 (“four stars”).
The Better Business Bureau reports that Locks of Love made $352,401 from “unusable material sales.”
- Wigs for Kids accepts hair donations to create custom made, human hair replacements for children who have temporary or long term hair loss due to burns, chemotherapy, radiation, alopecia, or other medical circumstances. http://www.wigsforkids.org
- Little Princesses is a UK charity that provides wigs to children who suffer from cancer-related hairloss.
