Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with keychain

High design bikers wallet / keychain

MesoFilter — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:39:05 -0800

My girlfriend keeps losing her wallet & keys (separately). I want to buy her a biker's wallet & have her clip it to her purse & get one of those springy cord tie keychains. What are some high design/fashionable versions of these, preferably with a big honking chain attached, but rather a nice, modern, sleek cable. (PS - tip for NYers - use your digital camera to take a photo of the cabbie's license every time you get into a cab - it'll expedite the process of finding your stuff. Just call 311 & they'll connect you to the TLC.)

WHERE ARE THE TRITIUM SPHERES?!?!

Phyltre — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:03:12 -0800

Who regularly sells 10-18mm tritium spheres (pictured at bottom), and where can I buy them reliably? For the past six years or so I've seen group-buys on flashlight forums for tritium spheres. They are basically a plastic/resin shell, somewhat lens-like, filled with tritium gas. Simple tritium fobs, sometimes called "Trasers," are relatively easy to find--but I have never seen an actual site selling tritium spheres. The design hasn't changed, which leads me to believe there is a constant supply of these spheres going somewhere for some purpose that is not readily apparent. (Tritium fobs are basically safe radioactive gas sealed inside a vial coated with material that glows when it is hit by radioation. They glow in the dark without the need for external light, for a minimum of ten years and possibly far longer.)

You can see the product in a group-buy image here. They are the glowing spheres near the top. My question is, WHERE are they coming from? I have seen them for sale in forums and nowhere else. I don't think some dude could make them in his basement, you need industrial equipment (and at least moderately pressurized/sealed tritium gas) to form clear plastics like that.

I never catch wind of the group buys on time and I'd rather not offend the poster (he is a mod there) by asking for his source (to circumvent him, basically.) In fact I wouldn't mention his thread at all if I could find any other links to them. Does anyone know where the heck these things are available?

Holes will be punched.

halogen — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:41:53 -0800

My RFID Metro Q fare pass (Houston, TX public transport) specifically instructs, "Please do not bend or punch holes in this card". I want to punch a hole in it anyway. How can I figure out where exactly the chip is located so that I don't destroy it when I punch a hole in it? I suppose that it is an RFID mechanism because the card doesn't need to be swiped through a magnetic reader and doesn't have any visible stripes, it just gets tapped to a pad at the train station every time I ride. I am not sure how the cashier at my school reloads it.

It does have one tiny rectangle (approximately 5x4 mm) that is barely perceptibly raised from the surface. Can I assume that as long as I stay away from it, my card will retain its function?

It's the only way I won't lose it again; punching holes through my school ID & magnetic key to my lab and attaching them to a lanyard with my essential keys on it has been a lifesaver (yes, I am aware that I invalidated my driver's license, but I use it exclusively for identification anyway and I have a new, valid one in the car I occasionally drive--at least I don't have to get a new one every two months).

Looking for suggestions for a good flash drive holder.

4ster — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:32:53 -0800

Help me find a good way to carry my flash (thumb) drive on my key chain. I am using the Sandisk Cruzer, and I would like to attach it to my key chain, using something that is both secure and as small as possible. The Cruzers come with a keychain loop already attached, but in my experience, it is flimsy and will stretch out and break over time.

If you have a solution that is working for you, I'd love to hear it. Thanks.

Looking for a Pocket-watch Keychain

2oh1 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:58:02 -0800

Where can I find a pocket-watch keychain - like this? I bought this pocket-watch keychain four years ago at a Fossil outlet, and it died. I haven't been able to find it (or anything similar) anywhere - online or in a store. I feel silly paying $90 to fix a watch that cost me $25-ish originally.

Programmable keychain for spontaneous Willhelms

TimeTravelSpeed — Wed, 21 May 2008 11:59:57 -0800

I want to download my own sound effects onto a multi-button keychain. If they don't already exist, how would I build one? I'm not afraid of soldering, so if you know of cheap kits or schematics, I could probably do this myself and post a how-to later.

(Inspired in part by this post. Just imagine having that sound at your disposal at all times.)

One key, one wallet, one problem: how?

meowzilla — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:21:24 -0800

How do I securely carry a single key in my wallet? I've started carrying a single housekey in my wallet because my keychain is overladen with keys that it won't fit in any of my pockets without stabbing me or looking like a tumor. However, since the key is loose in the wallet pocket, it has a tendency to move around, and several times it has fallen out when I open my wallet, so far I haven't lost it, but it's bad enough when it happens.

Is there any way of securing the housekey in the wallet? I remember that there were some emergency car keys which were embedded into a plastic card, and it could be popped out: is there something similar for a generic housekey? Like a card-size object that holds one key, easily removable but secure?

I've spent a lot of time slimming down my wallet (made out of tyvek, only four cards carried) so carrying something like a dedicated key wallet would add an unnecessary amount of bulk.

Nano Warrior?

CliffDiving44 — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 14:35:11 -0800

I'm trying to find a keychain game that I once played as a kid. I think it was called "Nano Warrior" or something similar to that. It was really simple, all you did was train your fighter, you lifted weights, made him eat, sleep, etc. Also, you could link it to another one and have them fight. Any information on the game will help, even if you can't find where to buy one. Thanks.

Make My Keys Interesting!

mooders — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:31:07 -0800

Help me find cool / useful / interesting keyrings... I have two sets of keys - one set for house and office and another set for my car. I want to add a keyring to each of them so they are easier to locate in the depths of the Tom Bihn bag I carry them around in.

Rather than adding a boring fob, I thought this would be an opportunity to add something useful and/or interesting.

So HiveMind, what do you carry on your sets of keys? Bonus points for UK availability.

Oh and BTW, I am a chap, so lipstick holders etc need not apply!

How do I get Firefox to use the OSX Keychain?

clearlynuts — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 07:35:44 -0800

How do I get Firefox to use the OSX Keychain? When I used a PC, I used Roboform. It not only remembered my password, but it was compatible with IE and Firefox, so I could switch back and forth between the browsers. Now I have a Powerbook, and I have passwords in the Keychain, for the occasions I use Safari, and passwords in Firefox. I primarily use Firefox, and I won't be switching to Safari full-time (or even a majority of the time).

I found software called 1Passwd. Does anyone have experience using that software extensively? Are there bettter alternatives? Something that works a lot like Roboform would be great. I don't mind paying for a license, so freeware isn't required.

Keychain access via OS X cli

action man bow-tie — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 14:27:35 -0800

Is there any way to access one's OS X Keychain via the command line? I'm at work, and I need access to my Keychain to recall a password. My Mac is on at home, and I can ssh into it, but that's all.

I can download and install software via the command line at the moment.

Thanks in advance for any help y'all can give.

Why can't my Keychain.app settings work for both Safari and Camino?

invisible ink — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 14:29:21 -0800

I typically use Safari, and have my preferences set to store all of my passwords and user names in my Keychain.app. However when it starts acting up and giving me the spinning beach ball, I use Camino (v. 1.0.3.) When I try to log in to a website, it asks me for my user name and password - do I really have to fill in ALL those passwords and user names all over again? In other words, is there any way I can get Camino to access the passwords I saved using Safari? Note: I have the "Allow saving in Keychain" and "Autofill passwords in web forms" boxes checked off in my Camino preferences.

How do I get my lost Mac Keychain password back?

darksmiler — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 15:44:37 -0800

How can I recover my Apple Mac Keychain password. As a new Mac user I have managed to forget my Keychain password. Is there a way to recover it without re-installing OSX?
I'm so used to handy password encryption programs I use on my PC, maybe there is something similar for the Mac?

Keychain login probs on OS X Tiger

You Should See the Other Guy — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 21:47:59 -0800

Keychain probs with OS X...? All of a sudden and out of the blue OS X is giving this error whenever a program tries to access the keychain:

It prompts me with a "Unlock Keychain" dialogue box: Please enter your keychain password. Safari wants to use keychain "login".

I enter the password and it tells me the password is invalid.

I know the password is right because it's a brand new user and I just created the password. When I go into, say, users, and click the padlock, it asks me for the master password, I provide it, and it works.

However, nothing that tries to access keychain (mail, safari, firefox) works. What the hell? How do I reset this or do something that allows me to access the keychain?

I'm on the latest version of Tiger. Thanks!

digitial photo keychain

jare2003 — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 10:19:39 -0800

Does anyone know of a small digital photo keychain holder that I could buy? I'm looking for something along the lines of this. It looks good but i cant find any others, and there arent any reviews I can find of this All the other seraches I do turn up nothing but digital picture frames...

Does anyone know of a site that is selling these keychain plants?

rokabiri — Tue, 01 Feb 2005 18:33:18 -0800

Does anyone know of a site that is selling these keychain plants? I know they're big in Japan and sell for about $10 - but where?!

Window essentials updates

ralawrence — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 07:59:36 -0800

I'm off back to the parents in a couple of days time for Christmas and will invariably need to tune up their Windows PC. My USB key-chain currently contains Firefox, Thunderbird, AdAware, Spybot S&D and ZoneAlarm updates as well as service packs and virus definition updates. What else should I include?

Does anyone know of a durable brand of USB drives (around 64-128 MB)?

jmd82 — Wed, 24 Dec 2003 23:26:58 -0800

I recently got a new Sony Vaio. Its great, except I didn't realize it didn't come with a floppy disk drive. So, what I'm looking for to replace it is a small USB drive (around 64-128 megs). I've seen a bunch online and at stores for sale, but anyone here personaly use them and know what a good brand is? I want one that hooks to a keychain and can take a good amount of abuse (I don't care about extra features like security- my main concern is will it break easily and be around for a good while). Any ideas?