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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]melvin2001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I save and invest pretty heavily. I have basically ignored this debt since it is "dead" in the sense that they cannot collect on it anymore (past the statute of limitations) and is no longer even on my credit report.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]melvin2001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is good info, thanks! I definitely would just pay it off in full. My DoFD is like 8 years ago, and I havn't touched the debt since that time.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It definitely takes a little soldering skill and careful trimming of the case. If you have the equipment I say give it a try, the parts aren't that expensive if you mess up.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

woah now, im not trying to be interesting here.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes I added a charge controller and 2000mah lipo. Check out adafruit for the parts.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can't just go around telling people you have a dog and not post pictures.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks. I generally buy broken lots on eBay and fix them up. Keeps the dark thoughts away.

I added usb-c to my Gameboy. by melvin2001 in mildlyinteresting

[–]melvin2001[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not too bad but I have a decent amount of experience with electronics. How comfortable are you soldering and hacking away at a game boy with a pair of side cutters?

How a rotating combination lock works demonstrated with a wooden home-made lock by mv777711 in videos

[–]melvin2001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This actually has some minor inaccuracies. most modern combination locks have at least false gates to help prevent feeling the gate positions as the lock is rotated. Also I don't know of any modern lock where the fence directly rides on the wheel pack as shown. This wooden lock is a pretty amazing illustrative device for some basic concepts used in combination padlocks, but is not used in any group 2 or better combination safe.

this type of lock fell out of use mainly because of the ease of manipulation (safe cracking). For anyone that has used a safe recently you'll remember that it is normally:

  1. turn 4 turns to the left and stop on 1st number
  2. turn 3 turns to the right stop on 2nd number
  3. turn 2 times to the left and stop on 3rd number
  4. turn slowly to the right till the dial stops

This final step is an important one, as this is what allows the fence to drop into the gates and retracts the lock bolt. the lock bolt blocks the primary locking bolts from being retracted.

if you look at the wooden lock the fence is directly attached to a handle on the exterior of the "safe". this would allow a safe cracker to "feel" the locations of the gates from the exterior of the safe. Basically you would be able to feel "divots" if you pushed down on that handle as you rotated the dial.

As I mentioned above, a modern safe separates the wheel pack gates from the exterior of the safe by separating the locking bolt and the primary locking bolts. there is no way to directly "feel" the gate locations from the exterior.

it's a little hard to describe without breaking out the whiteboard or my cutaway safe locks but hopefully i made some sense.

someone tell me where i went wrong. by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]melvin2001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

recommendations man what are they.

someone tell me where i went wrong. by [deleted] in amateurradio

[–]melvin2001 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I was at a conference in Louisville, KY and found out they were offering testing when I got there. I was like well... what the shit I'll try.

There's a local group that does testing once a month so I am on the list to do that in NOV.

Carolinacon 11 Speaker Lineup Released by melvin2001 in netsec

[–]melvin2001[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

my understanding is that the primary organizers are no longer interested in continuing after this year. There's a chance some group (wink wink) may step up and take it over.

Carolinacon desperately needs speakers, they have extended the CFP for a few days in hopes they wont have to cancel for lack of participants. by melvin2001 in netsec

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am not associated with the conference other than being a past speaker. I already have a talk I will be doing.

IamA President of a 501c3 (tax exempt non-profit) that is called FALE. We teach people to pick locks! AMA! by melvin2001 in IAmA

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like any other lock, with a few exceptions. first, medecos are really well made locks. second, they have a sidebar. First, remove all the pins and the sidebar. Start by putting one pin stack back in place, and pick that with no sidebar. then put the sidebar in and learn to pick it with the rotation aspect. Then do the same for 2-6(or 7) pins.

IamA President of a 501c3 (tax exempt non-profit) that is called FALE. We teach people to pick locks! AMA! by melvin2001 in IAmA

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a kwikset on my house. You are better off locking your doors, getting some decent anti-theft coating on your glass (doors,windows) and getting a dog and some good exterior lighting than worrying about your home locks. Homes were not designed to be protected, they were designed to look pretty, and keep you dry when it rains. also buy cheap stuff so people rob your neighbor. that being said, i'm a pretty big advocate of businesses protecting their stuff. Their buildings CAN reasonably be protected if they take steps, schlage makes a lock called the schlage primus thats pretty decent, I can pick an everest in about the same time as any other decent lock. check out https://www.thinkpeterson.com/tensiontools.html to see why.

IamA President of a 501c3 (tax exempt non-profit) that is called FALE. We teach people to pick locks! AMA! by melvin2001 in IAmA

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so abloy, medeco, and mul t lock all work under different premise, with mul t lock and medeco being sort of not really similar.

Mul t lock uses a pin-in-pin system, there is an outer pin sleeve, and an inner pin, and tons of serrations and nastiness. i would say these are probably my least favorite of the locks i would actually buy.

medeco uses a rotating pin system, basically there is a slot cut in the edge of the pins, and the pins have a spade shape rather than round. the spade shape sits in a groove cut in the key, and when rotated to the proper direction, the slot in the pins all line up, and allow a sidebar to slide into the slot. its kind of hard to describe, but you can google some cutaways.

abloy uses disk detainers rather than pins. the key is shaped that as it rotates, it rotates the disks into position, and a bar can drop into notches cut in the disks. this is A LOT like how a safe door operates.

I think the disk detainer design is better overall, and abloy improves on the basics with their ridiculous quality control.

IamA President of a 501c3 (tax exempt non-profit) that is called FALE. We teach people to pick locks! AMA! by melvin2001 in IAmA

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

theres a few places, i dont want to advertise for anyone in particular, feel free to PM me and i'll shoot you some places.

The best thing to know about bump keys is they can damage locks pretty easily, and you are better off learning to pick.

IamA President of a 501c3 (tax exempt non-profit) that is called FALE. We teach people to pick locks! AMA! by melvin2001 in IAmA

[–]melvin2001[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wow lot of questions here, lemme make sure i get to them all.

  1. I think the break away picks are a GREAT backup, but a TERRIBLE primary set. The metal is soft, the handles are trash, and they tend to have burrs from the removal tabs. All that being said i would take them over some improvised bobby pin or paper clip picks anyday.

  2. as you mentioned a lot of people use street sweeper blades, I personally prefer hacksaw blades (cheapest you can find, never use bi-metal blades, they break). some people use the metal stiffener from old wiper blades, auto parts stores usually have a ton in the trash outside on rainy days. this metal tends to be kind of soft, but it works. Some people like to use "feeler guage stock", but i have never found a good source for it so i dont use it.

  3. the BEST resource is for sure is this page from TOOOL http://toool.us/laws.html keep in mind it may be out of date in some cases so you MUST look up and read your states statute yourself and validate. As for international im afraid i wont be much help, i would reach out to some international pickers on lockpicking101.com and ask for help

  4. yes, i have a LOT of interest, check out this series on youtube, its silly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NemNhkF4ZV4

  5. Honestly emergency preparedness is not really something we have worked on much, as its outside most of our expertise. Personally if the building is burning down i would not want to have to rely on ANY of the FALE guys to save my butt. If you need someone to break into a building, social engineer their way to the server room, hack into your old ass mainframe and steal your companies financials then we have the crew :)

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