Simplex Update and Corrections

Four superfluous codes were printed in the list of possible Simplex lock combinations on page 12 of the Autumn 1991 issue.

The codes:

51 52 53 54

are unnecessary because they are already included in the list under a different guise.

The code 51 for instance, is the same as 15 because the push-buttons are pressed together.

Subsequently, this brings the total number of possible combinations down from 1085 to 1081.

An error was also made on page 45 regarding the total number of Group D combinations.  The number should be 541, not 451.

We decided to follow our own advice on page 11 and record the Simplex codes onto cassette.  Using speech synthesis software on an Amiga 2000, we programmed the machine to do all the dirty work.  The speaking rate of the voice as well as the pauses between the codes were carefully adjusted so that the approximate running time is 75 minutes.  In the time that it takes you to listen to this cassette, you could be in any Simplex lock.

If you'd like to see just how easy it really is, send us $7.50 and we'll send you a cassette with all of the codes!

The address is:

2600 P.O. Box 752 Middle Island, NY 11953

USPS Hacking Corrections

The correct POSTNET for 11953-0752, our ZIP Code.

As many of you wrote to tell us, the graphic POSTNET examples that appear on pages 32 and 36 are incorrect.

To prevent this heinous error from ever occurring again, we now use one of two programs to print POSTNETs.  One program is in BASIC while the other is in C.  Both ask for a 5- or 9-digit ZIP Code as input and then print an equivalent POSTNET.  Both are printed in this issue.

A final correction: FIMs are not necessarily "six-line bar codes" as claimed on pages 32-33.  They can have anywhere from five to seven bars depending on the type.