Master of the MasterLock

Next on the list of things I've done over the past few weeks is crack a combination lock. For years I have had this MasterLock combination lock in my room. I can't remember what I used it for, but I didn't use it much, and eventually I forgot the combination all together. So, every once in a while, I'd pick it up and fiddle with it a bit, but to no avail. I even tried listening for the little clicks, but that didn't work either. Even the internet was no help since the only method I could find to open it was by using a shim. But, I didn't just want to open it... I wanted to know the combination so I could use it again. Of course, I could have mailed a photocopy of the back of the lock to the company and they would have sent the combination, but I didn't really care to put that much effort into it.

Anyway, I had totally forgotten about it until the other day when I picked it up again. I played around for a while, but I was still unable to crack it. So, I did another internet search and came across a YouTube video on how to crack a MasterLock... without a shim. I liked the sound of it, but I was still skeptical, so I checked it out. The method actually seemed legit, but there was a possibility I'd have to try 100 different combinations! I figured there is no way in hell I was trying that many combinations... even though in reality it would have only taken 10 minutes or so. It's also a hell of a lot more efficient than the 64,000 possible combinations it would have been. Anyway, to make a long story short, I picked out some numbers that looked familiar, and a few minutes later it popped. I had the combination! The ease with which I cracked it is actually pretty sketchy all the same. I don't know if I'd ever lock something valuable up behind a MasterLock again.

Anyway, if you've ever got the need to crack a MasterLock... here's the combo. It really does work too, but you've gotta be patient:

A little flash and some action too

Wow, it has been quite some time since I've been on here. It's not even that I haven't been in front of a computer lately, because I'm pretty sure I've spent every waking hour of the past two weeks in front of a computer. It's just that I've had hours upon hours of school work to complete and haven't had a chance to post anything. There hasn't been much interesting going on either... though over the past few weeks I have come up with a few things that I'll get to over the next couple of days.

The first thing is about that computer ethics class I posted about before. The class is no longer about ethics though. It's now about usability. But, it's still pretty interesting, and I guess fairly important since it's pretty pointless to design a program that isn't usable by its targeted users. Anyway, I had to design a program to test the usability of an aspect of a chronological forum. I decided to test the task of posting a thread. Therefore, my design is basically just a mock-up of what it could be like to go through the process of determining a date to post to, and then clicking post. It really doesn't actually do anything. It was quite fun to make though since it was pretty much the first time I've ever used Flash... particularly Actionscript. It turned out to be pretty neat to use too. I still suck at it, but after a few web tutorials I was able to put something together. Check out what I managed to do here if you want. It's really not much, and is very pointless, but it's not bad for a first go at it. Oh, and I do realize that every month has 31 days, but it was a pain in the ass to change it and I was tired. There's also no back button, which is annoying, but I couldn't get it to work properly, so I left it out. When I have some free time, I'm definitely going to have another try at making something cool.

Mardi Gras on George Street

I've been waiting to write about this forever... well, for a week. But, I just couldn't do it without a picture. I really need my own camera so I can take my own pictures without having to rely on other people. Anyway, I finally came across a picture of what I looked like for George Street's celebration of Halloween. That's me, Mary-Beth (Ghostbuster) and MB's friend (little red riding hood). I'm supposed to be a Geico Caveman. I think it worked out alright. Apparently people recognized me, though I'm not so sure. I spent more time that night pretending I heard what people said instead of actually hearing it. I think I look more like an ugly dude who needs a shave and to cut his hair... and lay off the fake tanner. Not much different than a regular day in my life... minus the fake tanner. But if people figured out I was a caveman, I'm happy. Mardi Gras is definitely one of my favourite nights downtown. Can't beat thousands of drunk people dressed up in costumes.

As for my costume, lets just say it was an easy costume that was hard to make... and hard to get off. Most of my friends were cavemen too, and at first (when sober) we really wanted to make it look good and even had some fake skin to give us more of an authentic caveman look. Unfortunately the fake skin stuck more to my fingers than my face and we ended up scrapping that idea. Of course, the decision was made after I had my eyebrows covered in wax. I ended up having to cover them with make-up to offset the waxy, white colour. Everything else went pretty straight forward. Just a bit of brown make-up, a wig, and gluing a beard on my face. In hindsight, that turned out to be a terrible idea. Gluing a beard to my face! I already had a freakin' beard and I glued another one on top of it! Anyway, to make a long story short, I got home at some point in the night, loaded drunk, and had to shave off both my fake beard and my real beard. Pretty sure I destroyed a brand new blade in the process too. Though I did only nick myself once. Which I thought to be pretty impressive.

So, that's my Mardi Gras story. Oh, and in case you don't know who the Geico cavemen are, here's a little clip. I think we had a resemblance going: