Although bump keying, raking, pick guns, and other mechanical lock defeating techniques are obviously security threats, they pose very little danger to the average person. The average home break-in is performed by unskilled criminals using speed and force as their primary strategies. Smashing locks, breaking windows, and shimming doors are all faster and easier than even the slickest lock-defeat strategies. The only purpose of criminal lock-picking is to silently enter and exit a place without leaving a trace. The criminal already intends to leave a trace- you are probably going to notice when you come home and your TV/Blackberry/PC/jewelry is missing. Lock-picking has few practical applications outside of legitimate locksmithing, and the few people who do pick locks- mostly professional high-value burglars and spies- have advanced techniques and equipment and are unlikely to be deterred by anything that we average people can muster. So, in conclusion, this is an interesting read but it isn't really a matter of concern to us.

I'm a gun-owner and sport shooter. My belief that people should own firearms has nothing to do with the Second Amendment, or anything else that the NRA and pro-gun people frequently spew. Guns are dangerous, deadly weapons whose only purpose is to harm and kill living things. That being said, firearms ownership creates "force parity"- everyone with a gun is roughly equal in terms of the force they can use. Without guns, bigger, stronger people (usually men) can easily dominate smaller, weaker people. This is not a condition that should exist in modern society. Guns help to "level" the playing field and are, in fact, conducive to equality and democracy. Moreover, I stand by the saying that "if you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns". Criminals don't care about the law, that's why they're criminals. If guns are illegal, then good people won't have them, but bad guys will. That's not a good idea.

Spot on, sir. Consumers do not pay for fraud, that is why we have fraud protection and that is why we pay exorbitant annual fees to charge card companies. I don't want to be inconvenienced, I want my transactions to be fast and simple. It is my responsibility to ensure that my card is not lost or stolen, but if it is, then I expect all those fees that I pay to start working for me. I am completely indifferent to how much a lost or stolen card may cost my card issuer in terms of time or money. That's none of my business, so I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, I've already paid for it. If they don't want to do their jobs, then they should stop charging us fees.

I was shocked when I followed the links and discovered that this YouTube video actually appears to be produced by this company, Flexilis. At first, I was certain that it was a joke, or at least not professional- the whole video smacked of a high school project. The "talent" look far too young to be professionals of any caliber, they have very poor speaking voices and pronunciation, and their acting is simply ridiculous. "And now we will take you to an undisclosed location..." The whole garbage can-firecracker exercise looks cheap and terrible as well. This video is just embarassing. Seriously. I still think that this must somehow not be what it seems, but if it really is a corporate video produced by Flexilis, then I have very little confidence in this company doing anything of any quality.