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Wordlock is a brand of
/ref> and "Top 100 New Inventions" distinction at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Invent Now America competition in 2008.
Wordlock, Inc.
Fornd Door Locks
Locks (security device)
Wordlock is a brand of combination lock
A combination lock is a type of locking device in which a sequence of symbols, usually numbers, is used to open the lock. The sequence may be entered using a single rotating dial which interacts with several discs or ''cams'', by using a set ...
s, made by Wordlock, Inc., that differs from traditional combination locks in that it has letters on its dials instead of numbers. This allows the combination to be a four-letter or five-letter word or name, similar to a password
A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services t ...
, and therefore potentially easier to remember
Remember may refer to:
Film and television Film
* ''Remember'' (1926 film), an American silent drama film
* ''Remember?'' (1939 film), an American romantic comedy
* ''Remember'' (2015 film), a Canadian film by Atom Egoyan
* ''Remember?'' (201 ...
than a series of digits. Wordlocks come in luggage locks, bike locks, padlocks, cable locks and commercial locks.
History
TheChinese
Chinese may refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China.
**'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
created the first word combination lock in the 13th Century. The idea never caught on in the West, however, until Todd Basche, former Vice President of Software Applications at Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
, invented the modern word lock in 2004. He and Rahn Basche founded WordLock, Inc. in 2007 in Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
, USA. Todd's patented WordLock algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...
maximizes the number of four-letter and five-letter words that can be spelled on the Wordlock dials.
WordLock won the Staples Inc.
Staples Inc. is an American office supply retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Founded by Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, the company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. By 1996, it had r ...
Invention Quest in 2004Wordlock Wins 2004 Staples Invention Quest/ref> and "Top 100 New Inventions" distinction at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Invent Now America competition in 2008.
Possible combinations
The five-ring WordLock contains 10 letters per ring. One such example follows: {, class="wikitable" , - ! Ring 1 !! Ring 2 !! Ring 3 !! Ring 4 , - , b, , l , , a , , d , - , p , , r , , n , , s , - , h , , u , , m , , n , - , m , , h , , l , , m , - , t , , n , , r , , p , - , w , , r , , t , , y , - , d , , a , , a , , e , - , l , , e , , u , , k , - , t , , f , , s , , t , - , b , , k , , l , , e , - Each ring rotates independently of the others, yielding a possible 104 (or 10,000) differentcombination
In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are ...
s. WordLock contains one blank space on the fifth dial to make four letter words. About 2,000 words are possible as combinations.This can be checked using a wordlist file and standard UNIX-commandline tools as follows (depending on your particular lock's letters):cat wordlist.txt , grep -i -E '^ BPFMDTALSORILCETNAP] ILANUTOSEDAOSKNRTEL] NTHYDERL$' , nl
cat wordlist.txt , grep -i -E '^ DEGHLMRSWAEILNOPRTU] EILNORSTUACDEKLNRST] DEHKRSTY$' , nl However, this 2,000 word figure does not include the many possibilities for quasi-words (BLATS or WOOT); certain names (DILAN or MOSES); and acronyms, foreign words or gibberish known only to the lock owner.
See also
*Memory
Memory is the faculty of the mind by which data or information is encoded, stored, and retrieved when needed. It is the retention of information over time for the purpose of influencing future action. If past events could not be remembe ...
* Cryptex
* Combination lock
A combination lock is a type of locking device in which a sequence of symbols, usually numbers, is used to open the lock. The sequence may be entered using a single rotating dial which interacts with several discs or ''cams'', by using a set ...
s
References
External links
Wordlock, Inc.
Fornd Door Locks
Locks (security device)