Questions you want answered.

Robear wrote:

Deftly, the old lenience is gone with RealID. The clerks merely take and prepare the documents, pics, etc. The actual acceptance and issuance is done in a security-isolated site, entirely by mail. No address, no license.

Sure, but I thought the primary goal was to get the birth certificate. There's no proof of residence required for that. Showing up in person, they might relax the 1-year expiration limit on the license.

The RealID requirements are indeed more strict and there's no leeway there.

Thanks, everyone, for your help. Got more info on the situation. He's living in Atlanta, but was born in IL. Illinois is the one that won't take the expired license or affidavits for the birth certificate, and he can't walk-in from hundreds of miles away. I'd pay for his flight, but he needs a license for that.

A local church that I think has more experience with it is going to help him get the license, I assume by letting him use them as an address, so hopefully he can bootstrap it from there.

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/85Lb4Vwv/20191119-130613.jpg)

I need to ever so slightly (like 1mm at most) grind down these little ears that stick out in order to fit this mount on my monitor, because the mounting space is recessed and provides no room for such things. What would be the best tool for the job?

Chairman_Mao wrote:

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/85Lb4Vwv/20191119-130613.jpg)

I need to ever so slightly (like 1mm at most) grind down these little ears that stick out in order to fit this mount on my monitor, because the mounting space is recessed and provides no room for such things. What would be the best tool for the job?

I'd be getting the Dremel out.

Jonman wrote:
Chairman_Mao wrote:

IMAGE(https://i.postimg.cc/85Lb4Vwv/20191119-130613.jpg)

I need to ever so slightly (like 1mm at most) grind down these little ears that stick out in order to fit this mount on my monitor, because the mounting space is recessed and provides no room for such things. What would be the best tool for the job?

I'd be getting the Dremel out.

that was my first thought, but from what I've read I'm not clear if a Dremel is strong enough to grind a steel plate down, or ifi need something like an angle grinder? Clearly I am not a handy person so I don't know if I know what I am talking about.

For taking out something like 1 mm, I'd get a flat-edged metal file, and use a little elbow grease. Power tools are more likely to mar and mangle.

NSMike wrote:

For taking out something like 1 mm, I'd get a flat-edged metal file, and use a little elbow grease. Power tools are more likely to mar and mangle.

Ooo I have elbows! Will give this a try before investing/borrowing power tools. And just to be clear, you're talking about something like this?

Difficult to tell from the picture, but it doesn't look like that plate is too thick, no? Assuming not, Dremel will probably do it, assuming you have sturdy enough bits for it.

But Michael is on the money that a manual file might be better - you'll likely need one to clean up the burr the Dremel leaves anyway.

It's about 1/2mm thick. Will try the manual option first!

Chairman_Mao wrote:

It's about 1/2mm thick. Will try the manual option first!

Given it's that thin, go easy so you don't bend the bracket. That might be an argument for power tool instead, actually, you won't need to apply as much force to get the abrasion going.

A Dremel will not go through that. Not without a lot of work, wear, and replacement disks. Get a grinder if you can. Or do it manually.

maverickz wrote:

A Dremel will not go through that. Not without a lot of work, wear, and replacement disks. Get a grinder if you can. Or do it manually.

Disks?

I was talking about using the Dremel to grind it down.

Ok, so I suck at eyeballing in the metric system. I pulled out a measuring tape and it's about 2mm thick. Also means I'm grinding/filing away more than I thought, probably also about 2mm from either side. Still feasible with a manual file and (lots of) elbow grease?

My first reaction was a manual file too. You can file the whole thing away if you want, just takes time. My recommendation would be to put masking tape around the area you DON'T want to file, so when you are filing you know where the line is. Then hold it with a pair of cushioned pliers or a clamp so it doesn't bend while you are going to town. It shouldn't bend anyway if you are doing it right, you don't need a lot of pressure with a file, let the friction of the tool do the work. Many quick, fast, light pressure strokes are better then a few heavy ones.

The one you linked is a round file. You probably want a flat one, it won't be curved like that. Something where the file blade looks like this:

IMAGE(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.technologystudent.com%2Fimages7%2Fhfile1.gif&f=1&nofb=1)

They should be pretty cheap, like $10 at your local home improvement store.

LeapingGnome wrote:

The one you linked is a round file. You probably want a flat one, it won't be curved like that. Something where the file blade looks like this:

IMAGE(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.technologystudent.com%2Fimages7%2Fhfile1.gif&f=1&nofb=1)

They should be pretty cheap, like $10 at your local home improvement store.

I saw the flat one you had originally embedded on homedepot.com, so I think I know where I'm headed after work. Thanks all!

LeapingGnome wrote:

The one you linked is a round file. You probably want a flat one, it won't be curved like that. Something where the file blade looks like this:

IMAGE(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.technologystudent.com%2Fimages7%2Fhfile1.gif&f=1&nofb=1)

They should be pretty cheap, like $10 at your local home improvement store.

The one he linked was a half-moon, so round on one side, flat on the other. Which is a good flexible option for a tool you're not going to use that often.

I'm not much of a workshop guy, but the previous owner of my house left a perfectly functional bench grinder in the garage, and I gotta say, it's really great for precisely turning pieces of metal into smaller pieces of metal.

Speaking from (bad) experience anytime you are using a grinder or a file - wear gloves. Safety goggles or just plain old glasses are probably a good idea too, but trust me you want to wear gloves.

Wear gloves and some form of eye protection. You'd be amazed what a tiny sliver of metal can to do an eyeball.

Yeah I usually just wear a pair of latex / surgical gloves. Easy to just throw away at the end instead of worrying about washing them.

I got an email with the subject "You've redeemed an Origin Access Membership Code". I have not redeemed any codes for Origin.

I logged back in to confirm that two-factor authentication was working (it was), that I didn't have a payment method attached to the account (I don't) and that there wasn't anything suspicious in the login history (the last login before this morning was in August).

I am confused. Any ideas what happened?

misplacedbravado wrote:

I got an email with the subject "You've redeemed an Origin Access Membership Code". I have not redeemed any codes for Origin.

I logged back in to confirm that two-factor authentication was working (it was), that I didn't have a payment method attached to the account (I don't) and that there wasn't anything suspicious in the login history (the last login before this morning was in August).

I am confused. Any ideas what happened?

Phishing? Is there a link in the email that leads to a non-EA address?

Most likely someone screwed up their email address.

I got the same email, and it appears that I do have Origin Access for a month. Two factor authentication is also working on my account. I think maybe it was just something that got sent to either all or a select few EA Origin users who didn't already have Access.

I got the same thing and did some digging. If you turned on 2FA you get a free month for November.

They did a terrible job explaining it and releasing it. I also thought I was hacked or something.

Ah, it’s a badly-explained promotion! Thanks!

Jonman wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

The one you linked is a round file. You probably want a flat one, it won't be curved like that. Something where the file blade looks like this:

IMAGE(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.technologystudent.com%2Fimages7%2Fhfile1.gif&f=1&nofb=1)

They should be pretty cheap, like $10 at your local home improvement store.

The one he linked was a half-moon, so round on one side, flat on the other. Which is a good flexible option for a tool you're not going to use that often.

LTTP, but depending on the thickness and sturdiness of the bracket, I'd start with a hacksaw, then file it down smooth afterward.

Does using a VPN protect privacy when using a public wifi network?

Actually, does anyone know of any beginner-level primers for how VPNs work? I mean slightly above advertising level ("Everything is private and the government filters won't work!") but below the level of technical details?

Yes. When you connect to a public wi-fi, your data goes back and forth unencrypted. When you set up a Virtual Private Network - think about that name for a moment - you create a connection with a server on the other end that sets up an encrypted "tunnel" in the public channel. All your further communications go through that tunnel are encrypted so that people who try to eavesdrop electronically will just see gibberish.

Remember, if your VPN is through work, work will see all your traffic, since they will be on the receiving end of the "tunnel".

Edit - Here is a good intro to vpns.