AboutUs CTO, Ward Cunningham and his college roommate Rick Wartzok, had better than average audio/visual and beverage capability in their dorm room, at least for 1968. While happy to share with fellow residents, they then faced a dilemma. What about keys? They wanted some kind of combination lock that had a shared code that could be selectively enabled, and a longer, master code for private use. The solution was Dial-a-Door:
Now its 2008, forty years later, Ward has located the mechanical technology that decoded the combination, restored it to working order, and prepared a display which he will present at the bi-weekly DorkbotPDX tonight at the Lucky Lab in Northwest Portland. Here is AboutUs colleague Stephen Judkins inspecting the device.
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Woah!
I’m jealous. xD. That would be an awesome bedroom door lock!
Here is a video of Ward at the event: PDXdorkbot
This is GREAT! I knew Ward was the inventor of WIKI, but had no idea that he had such a creative mind. I guess it goes without saying, but this is wonderful proof. I think it would be great if you showcased some of his other inventions.
I came across your web site looking for my Grandfather’s invention the C-Code Selector, Harold Stickel was my grandfather, so I just wanted to thank you for referencing him in your article, at present it was the only article I could find pre to his invention, we were always told he invented this device for police cars, the first mobile unit, in morse code
Lorraine, Let me know if I can somehow help document this family history. I have found several patents online. And, of course, I do have the device which I’ve photographed. Email me as ward@c2.com.