Door-chain maze

Posted by Cory Doctorow, April 2, 2008 12:11 AM | permalink

Nice little concept design for a door-chain that makes you solve a maze to unlock it -- designed by Oleg Morev, apparently for the April Fool's ThinkGeek catalog. Link (via Cribcandy)

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Discussion

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#1 posted by pchi , April 2, 2008 12:47 AM

Even Cory can still be suckered by an April Fools prank. This product was part of ThinkGeek's annual tradition of great fake gear.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/looflirpa/

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#2 posted by mralistair , April 2, 2008 12:47 AM

don't put it on a fire door though!

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#3 posted by Metostopholes , April 2, 2008 2:01 AM

I would totally buy Super Pii Pii Brothers if it were real.

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#4 posted by Evil Jim , April 2, 2008 2:05 AM

Real or not, I totally want one.

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#5 posted by sabik

, April 2, 2008 3:25 AM

This puts me in mind of Fred Saberhagen's 1963 short story "Without a Thought"... you should not access whatever is behind this door while under the influence of a berserker...

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#6 posted by Jonn

, April 2, 2008 3:33 AM

Fantastic, if it's an April Fools thing does that mean I can jump on the patent ;)

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#7 posted by buddy66 , April 2, 2008 4:09 AM

Great idea. But only to get OUT.

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#8 posted by Keneke

, April 2, 2008 6:22 AM

But, but, but, I want one! It doesn't have to be just a joke!

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#9 posted by themindfantastic , April 2, 2008 6:44 AM

I check out ThinkGeek every April 1st just to see the joke items, though I do admit when I saw that I was like I WANT ONE ANYWAY!

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#10 posted by squirrelgirl , April 2, 2008 6:46 AM

every year they make one of the items from the April Fools catalogue for sale, and while I think it's going to be the caffeinated breakfast cereal, perhaps it will be this.

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#11 posted by Scuba SM , April 2, 2008 7:57 AM

I'm kinda thinking of making one of those with a block of wood and a router, just for kicks.

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#12 posted by License Farm

, April 2, 2008 8:18 AM

Last year's 8-bit tie became reality because people loved the idea so much. Parody and reality are ever more indistinguishable concepts in these strange days, for good and for ill.

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#13 posted by Belac , April 2, 2008 8:33 AM

Put it on the outside of your door. Only smart people can visit you:)

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#14 posted by Cpt. Tim , April 2, 2008 9:13 AM

but would the smart people want to visit someone who locked themselves inside their house?

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#15 posted by chgoliz , April 2, 2008 11:25 AM

My favorite part is that the "chain is long enough to reach the end of the maze", which of course means that when it's at the beginning, the door could be opened wide enough to squeeze in.

Not as workable as the 8-bit tie, unfortunately, but good enough for a laugh.

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#16 posted by djam , April 2, 2008 4:45 PM

Great concept, no more keys! but imagine coming home drunk!

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#17 posted by Gia , April 2, 2008 5:01 PM

I want one!
Obviously this would suck if you get trapped inside your home with a axe murder, with an axe...

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#18 posted by romwell , April 3, 2008 1:49 AM

№15: Not really. The rope only needs to span the diagonal of the maze, which is enough for the owner to peek out to see who is there. This is how chains are usually made anyway, to complement the locks, not to replace them. The eyepiece in the door came much later.

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#19 posted by VTFootballGrad , April 3, 2008 7:31 AM

What happens if there was a fire and you couldn't figure out the maze in time.

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#20 posted by scottfree , April 3, 2008 7:36 AM

#19

I suppose that is evolution taking its course.