LIke, I read this article a while ago in the Toronto Globe and Mail. (http://www.theglobeandmail.co­m/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080711­.wlpicking11/BNStory/lifeMain/­)

I think Manjoo owes someone an apology.

Anyhoo, in the original version, a locksmith has it about right. He is not worried about lock hackers because, as he says, most thieves just use a hammer.

Yes, other publications have reported on Locksport before; my article doesn't claim to be the first to mention the phenomenon.

The Toronto Globe and Mail is one of them -- and you'll find a link to the piece in the first paragraph of my story. Also in my story, you'll find a link to a WSJ article from 2006 (before the Globe and Mail, and it also mentions the hammer thing), and a Wired story from 2005 (before the WSJ). I didn't copy any of them, and owe no one an apology. I'm offering my thoughts on an emerging, shifting trend, and I add news (for instance about the details of Marc Weber's new book and exploit, and Medeco's response) that isn't in others.

But thanks for your thoughts.

Farhad Manjoo:

Yes, other publications have reported on Locksport before; my article doesn't claim to be the first to mention the phenomenon.

The Toronto Globe and Mail is one of them -- and you'll find a link to the piece in the first paragraph of my story. Also in my story, you'll find a link to a WSJ article from 2006 (before the Globe and Mail, and it also mentions the hammer thing), and a Wired story from 2005 (before the WSJ). I didn't copy any of them, and owe no one an apology. I'm offering my thoughts on an emerging, shifting trend, and I add news (for instance about the details of Marc Weber's new book and exploit, and Medeco's response) that isn't in others.

You kind of wish the people who responded to the things one writes would be a little more careful. I mean, lock-picking as a movement was around at ten years ago in a piece from some geek at MIT who found it interesting and gave all the basics on lock-picking.

HE might have started it all. YOU might have mentioned him. Your not doing so is a mark of brevity, one of the hallmarks of clever writing, and someone's construing it as anything else is, at best, petty.

But thanks for your thoughts.

Yes, God forbid someone write about a subject that has already been covered somewhere.

More on point, it's hard for me to see how locksport could seriously harm locksmiths. I might know someone who picks locks for fun (actually, I've never heard firsthand of anyone doing this), but would I call that individual at 3 in the morning to come unlock my car?