begin quoting Ralph Shumaker as of Wed, Dec 05, 2007 at 08:06:47PM -0800: > A passing glance might be enuf to tell me which key blank to use. A > close look (about a foot away from my eyes) for about 5 to 10 seconds > would probably be enuf in most cases for me to be able to reproduce it. > Double the time if they are sitting at about arms length. Reducing the > time or increasing the distance will make it more difficult. If the key > of interest is sitting at a good angle while I'm standing nearby talking > to someone, I may be appearing to stare off into space while examining > the pattern. If I can read the 5 or 6 digits stamped on some keys, the > resulting key will almost certainly work.
So how many bits of information are actually encoded in n a typical physical key? Four to six tumblers, three values for each, plus a few hundred styles of key blank? > Otherwise, it really depends > on my ability to estimate the pattern I'm seeing, as well as how well > the key I'm examining was cut in the first place. Also a factor is how > well worn the key is. If you have ever seen a well used older-GM > ignition key (where the doors take a different key), that is a good > example of a key so worn that it is difficult to reproduce, even with > careful study. I used to drive a pontiac firebird. By the time I got rid of it, the ignition key would fall out of the ignition. I figured that all it would take to start the car would be a thin enough screwdriver. -- Does no-one use silly putty anymore? Stewart Stremler -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
