Tools of a Locksmith

Hercules Safe & Lock Inc wanted to bring you this article. They are the premier Fairfax locksmiths and Virginia locksmiths, and felt this would be useful for you.

Being a locksmith requires acquiring specialized tools. Some of these tools require the use of electricity and some do not. The original tools of the trade were quite large and cumbersome compared to today's set of tools.

Use of Fire And Water

The term "locksmith" originates from two words: lock and smith. The term "smith" describes anyone who shapes metal pieces into other useful objects or parts of another more complex machine or structure. So a locksmith is someone who uses metal pieces to build locks.

Originally a locksmith used a forge or a mould to build his locks since every locksmith designed, "manufactured" and assembled his own locks from start to finished product. He would work in a forge or a workshop with a hearth used to heat metals. Metals were heated in order to be shaped by using tongs, an anvil and hammer. The metal would be heated enough so it would bend into the desired shape by hammering. Tongs would be used to hold the heated metal. The metals would be heated and then cooled in a tub of water so that they would harden into the desired shape.

Use of Moulds

A locksmith would use a hollow-out block or mould and fill it with the desired metal. Upon hardening, the metal retained the shape of the mould. This saved a lot of time since the finished product was "ready-made" and did not need a lot of filing down. Even so, a locksmith of ages old would still have to hand cut screws and file down parts, often requiring hours of work.

Smaller Tools Today

Tools of a locksmith today are considerably smaller and easier to handle. In fact, a locksmith can be mobile now since he does not require the use of fire and water. Generally, unless a locksmith is also an engineer, he does not have to design or manufacture any locks. Most repairs are made by swapping out broken parts with mass-produced new ones. He can replace a lock, drill out a lock or re-key a lock with minimal time and effort.

Every locksmith possesses a lock pick set for opening locks without a key. These long narrow needle-like tools are inserted into a lock and catch the tumbler so that it can be set into its own unlocked position. The lock opens when all tumblers are set into their unlocked positions.

Another method a locksmith uses to gain entry is to decode a lock. Using depth keys, a locksmith can code cut a new key that matches the pre-existing key or he can use an expensive code machine as well.

A locksmith can also cut new keys or duplicate old ones using a key-cutting machine. He will still use a file to smooth down the sharp edges of new keys; however, this file is considerably smaller than the one that early locksmiths used.

Electronic Security Systems

A locksmith today will also install and maintain electronic security systems. These systems would include code keypads in which a sequence must be entered in before the door will open. Television and video recording systems would also be used in more sophisticated systems.

Internet Marketing Consultant Vince Samios writes about a locksmith

How Long Will Twitter Last?

There has been a lot of talk recently regarding the long-term viability of Twitter and whether or not it truly belongs as one of the "social media giants" with MySpace (whose status is now debatable as well), Facebook and YouTube. Considering all of the Twitter Apps and Twitter Programs, it seems as though it has earned its rightful place.

Sure Twitter is very limited in its capabilities, because after all there's only so much you can do in 140 characters or less. But it also has an addictive quality that most of these other social media sites seem to lack.

You also need to consider the fact that Twitter is still achieving massive user growth, and has been doing such for the past 12 months. Therefore it's kind of hard to label the sites as nothing more than a passing fad.

It's not all sunshine though: the fact Twitter really doesn't appear to have much of a solid business model (do they ever plan on monetizing?) is what really concerns me and seemingly most other people about its long-term (financial) viability.

Sure, they just received tens of millions of dollars in capital, but if these investors don't start to see a return on their money, the funds will quickly dry up.

The only thing I think these investors are hoping for is some sort of IPO or complete sale of the company to some media giant or Google.

While I think Twitter certainly should stay on your radar, I'm still pretty certain it's never going to really hold people's attention the way that Facebook, YouTube and even Digg have.

Blogging to the Bank 3.0 Review - Is it Worth Your Time?

Rob Benwell is now back with the newest version of his Blogging to the Bank franchise, having just released Blogging to the Bank 3.0. This amazing product picks up right where 2.0 left off, and shows you more and easier ways to begin creating your own online empire. Yes, empire, not just one or two sites.

Over the past year of following Rob's tactics and seeing proof of his success, it's pretty easy to see why he is one of the biggest names in blogging today. Rob isn't one of those under promise, over deliver gurus. He gives you a very thorough, step by step process to begin to make money online.

It's would be foolish to not listen to his advice if you're serious about getting out of the 9-to-5 rut and making life changing money online.

In Blogging to the Bank 3.0 teaches you how to grow an online business (not a get rich quick scheme) by taking the following steps:

* Implementing "squeeze tactics" to grab more opt-in subscribers
* Using advanced SEO tactics that double your profits almost immediately
* Finding the best and simplest ways to create traffic grabbing content
* Analyzing what affiliate products to offer on your site

And this is only the beginning of the Blogging to the Bank 3.0 system. Rob has really outdone himself with this product and I know that it's going to help me to continue to grow my profits exponentially!

If you're serious about making money online, this is a product you have to go out and get right now!

If It's Yellow, Let It Mellow...

One of the most pressing issues that the United States and the rest of the world are going to have to face in the not so distant future is a shortage of clean water. We tend to think (especially us Americans) that we will always have access to clean water, both to drink and to use for things like bathing, watering the lawn and washing the cars.

However, if this past summer is any indication - remember the news story regarding a town in Tennessee where the mayor limited water supply to just several hours per day - it looks like we're going to have to deal with this issue much sooner than many of us had anticipated.

Now, before I get too far into a suggestion on a simple way for us to conserve water, I just want to take the opportunity to say that while some of you may turn your nose up to my suggestion, the Atlanta Falcons recently had to resort to this tactic for one of their home games during their recent drought.

So without further ado, here's the tip:

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down.

In less Dr. Seussian like terms, essentially I'm saying if you go number one, don't flush, but if you go number two flush.

In an attempt to get away from the subject at hand, let's look at some math to see how much water can actually be saved by implementing this idea.

Toilets built before 1982 usually use between five and seven gallons of water per flush, while newer toilets are required to use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush. For the sake of argument, let's assume that most toilets in the U.S. are newer, and that the "average toilet" uses roughly 2 gallons per flush.

From personal experience, I'd be willing to bet that the average person goes to the bathroom about six times per day; five times to go number one, and another time to go number two. Obviously, this is going to vary from person to person, but let's just stick with this guestimate.

So, if we followed the "if it's yellow, let it mellow - if it's brown, flush it down" mantra, the "average" person could save about 10 gallons of water per day. Multiply that by 300 million people in the United States, and that's over 3 billion gallons of water saved each day. Over a year, that's over 1 trillion gallons of water.

Even if you're dealing with the most abundant natural resource on the planet, that's a lot of water saved with very little effort.

Waste Less Around the Office

One of the places where we're most likely to be unnecessarily wasteful is around the office. Think about it: how many crumpled up pieced of paper have you thrown away rather than recycle, simply because your trash can was closer than the recycling bin?

Obviously, the wastefulness doesn't end with paper. Leaving your computer on over night, leaving lights on in unused common areas, etc., really does add up, hurting both the environment as well as your company's bottom line.

The following article, Tl Kleban, illustrates many things you can do to help reduce your waste in the workplace:

If you get a moment, offer to take the trash from the office out to the dumpster and take a look at how much is wasted material. I bet you didn’t realize how much recyclable garbage is just thrown away by the people you work with at the office nearly everyday. It’s up to you to educate the company and your fellow employees about recycling and the office can easily and effectively change the way it operates.

Unfortunately, you and your coworkers are just too busy to notice the waste or consider the impact of your inefficient actions. It’s up to you to show how going green is even easier than they can imagine and gaining in popularity with the bosses since it will immediately save money. Here are just some of the ways your office can being working in an environmentally friendly way.

• Make it the company’s monthly goal to consistently try and lower the utility bill by 2-3% or reduce the office supply expenses by about 15-20%. By lowering the waste of paper in the office, you not only save money but also some beautiful trees. Make it a company goal to waste less.
• Come up with some type of a corporate green policy for the company. All it takes is one person to make a difference so think of all the good it would do if everyone followed your lead. Give it out to all employees and even some customers.
• Speaking of office supplies, what better way to save some trees that buying recycled if and when possible. Almost everything needed to run a small office can now be purchased from recycled products. Items such as toner cartridges, paper goods, and plastics are available in recycled form and costs much less too.
• Whenever office items such as any lights, computers or appliances like the coffee pot are not in use, turn them off and unplug them. When it is time to purchase a new piece of equipment for the office, shop around for Energy Star models to be sure you are getting something environmentally friendly.
• Try not to drive as much. If you’re out on the road running a few errands, try to get everything done while you are already out and about. Finish off the errand or make a delivery but then on your way home, stop at the store for any items you may need at the office. If your office is close enough, walk to the store instead of driving. Set up a carpool for any employees who live close to one another.
• Go through the office or at least have maintenance go through and replace all of the incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent ones which use less energy and last longer.
• Instead of just throwing away misprints or unneeded printed pages, use them as scratch paper around the office or as packing materials if your company does any shipping. You can always have your office go 21st century and paperless by doing everything electronically instead of printing.
• Buy supplies from companies who already have green policies in practice. From your supply company to your shipping couriers, every little bit will help. Don’t be afraid to ask a company about their green policies. Many will be proud of what they have in place.

For further stories like this be sure to check the countless cheap magazines available for purchase at Magsforless at www.magsforless.com They sell over 75 different magazine subscriptions with hundreds of other subjects to choose from.

Truth be told, these are pretty simple steps and wouldn't be hard to implement. Why don't you make it one of your New Year's resolutions to try some of these out?

Mother Nature will thank you for it!

The Little Things Add Up

One of the overriding themes behind the "environmental crisis" is the fact that we tend to be very wasteful. Whether it's leaving the TV on when we leave the house or throwing out a half-eaten sandwich, we all find little ways to be wasteful without even thinking about it.

Unfortunately, all of these little transgressions add up over time and amount to a lot of wasted energy and resources.

Let's take those little ketchup packets you get from any fast-food restaurant. When you're on the go and you need some ketchup, if you're like most people, you probably just grab a handful of these packets, use the ones you need and then throw the unused packets out with the rest of your trash.

When you throw those unused packets away, not only are you needlessly creating more trash, but you're also wasting all of the energy and resources that went into making that packet.

While it may seem trivial, think of all the resources and energy that needed to be used in order for you to have that ketchup packet in the first place:

• Land, water and (likely) fertilizers to grow many of the ingredients (tomatoes, sugar, etc.)
• Energy (probably in the form of burned fossil fuels) to harvest said ingredients.
• Energy (probably in the form of burned fossil fuels) to transport raw materials for processing.
• Energy to turn ingredients into ketchup.
• Energy to put ketchup in plastic packets (which are petroleum based products)
• Energy to transport packets to end destination.

By mindlessly throwing out a ketchup packet or two, you're wasting all of the energy and resources I mentioned above - and in my simplistic view I probably missed a bunch of steps.

Long story short, try and be mindful of the little wasteful things that you do each and every day. In the end, all of these little precautions really will amount to a big difference.