In Louisiana, they sell hard liquor in gas stations. You can buy high-test gasoline, cigarettes, bourbon, vodka, and tequila all at the same time. Perhaps that is a clue as to why Louisiana has the highest vehicle insurance rates in the nation.
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that’s not what “accessory before the fact” means. also first amendment.
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I didn’t realise that these weren’t widespread in the rest of the world.
Most supermarkets here use them on high-value bottles, and it’s equally obvious that they’re magnetically operated. When you buy one, you see the cashier unlock it with a large permanent magnet that’s embedded in the checkout desk. they can then be collected and fitted onto the next load of bottles to go on the shelf.
They’re really just there to deter the most opportunistic levels of pilfering. They’ll usually have an RFID tag embedded in there as well, to set off the door alarms.
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That’s a trifle pessimistic. In unsupervised environments you can’t really expect a lock to survive; but a decent one should be some combination of slower, noisier and more conspicuous to open without the key than with it; which can be enough to produce actual security benefits in supervised contexts.
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I guess Ellen DeGeneres has lately fallen from grace, but I still like this bit she did once: “What has happened to the packaging of CDs? These are angry, angry people, these CD packagers . ‘Open here,’ it says. Is that sarcasm? Are they mocking me?”
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I remember encountering a similar device in the days of DVD rentals. It was so easy to defeat that I made a web page about it…
http://www.nixiebunny.com/dvdlock/unlock_dvd.html
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Magnets. How do they work?
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The video said that it came from Toronto, and we’ve had a lot of trouble with large scale shoplifting of liquor here… so colour me unsurprised.
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All of that and drive through daiquiri stands!
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Yep large scale theft is the only use for these. At my grocery store about 90% of the liquor bottles have them. I assume the remaining 10 percent are just situations where staff forgot them, or returned bottles to the shelves for some reason after taking them off at the checkout.
The 10% provides plenty of opportunity for underage kids and poor people to snag a bottle, but keeps the burglary as a business folks away.
Also for the radio frequency door alarm tags. If the person going through has any store bags they get waved through without inspection. It is only there to give a heads up when someone pushes a cart of unbagged items through.
Washington has ridiculous liquor taxes, but most of the regular grocery stores in Seattle keep these locks on the bottles or keep liquor in a separate, locked cabinet. Loss prevention and all.
strictly speaking your describing New Orleans. Louisiana blue laws are by parish and most of them are fairly stringent. Its really just us Big Easy heathens that will sell you a handle of Walgreens whiskey at 5am Sunday morning*
*some other parishes sell liquor at gas stations, but only at specific times.
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My local WA state store has the hard liquor locked up in a cabinet, and customers have to push a button to get the attention of some employee with a key, which is done via store intercom. It’s annoying listening to it for half an hour while shopping, all day must be torture.
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No, you got it entirely backwards: he demonstrates the level of security a lock provides, and in many cases that security is negligible. Consumers can then make an informed decision whether or not a specific lock is suitable for their application, and manufacturer can work on fixing obvious flaws.
He is providing a valuable service to society. by exposing how badly designed most locks are. He‘s making people‘s life more secure, not less.
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This variation (also magnetically removed) is more common where I am:
Presumably because it fits a wider variation of bottles.
I’ve also seen some similar to the one in the video, but opened with a pin spanner (which is usually attached to the checkout by a coiled cable).
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“It may need a special tool to open.”
“No, all you need is a powerful magnet.”
…So, a powerful magnet ISN’T a special tool, then? I mean, how many people carry one around with them? A screwdriver is a special tool, too. How many people carry one of them around? (Yeah, I know, I have a swiss army knife in my pocket too, but you get my drift.)
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Pretty reliably.
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It’s so easy to make vodka, I don’t see why I would need to know lol. There’s also a Russian fermented toast brew I’m forgetting the name of but, is easy and good too.
What? No guns?
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