The creepy Girls Near Me smartphone app is drawing some much-needed attention at data brokers, companies that aggregate information about you from public information and information you provide to marketers. I even found an article that talks about how to opt out from selected brokers. I recommend you do. Open up a temporary Yahoo or [...]
All posts tagged farquhar
Take back some privacy
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 5, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/04/take-back-some-privacy/
The legacy lamp
About 35, or maybe even 40 years ago, my dad went through a phase. Or perhaps I should say a craze–he made lamps out of anything that didn’t move. And I’m sure if anyone had pointed that out to him, he would have made a lamp out of something that did, just to prove them [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on March 26, 2012
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2012/03/the-legacy-lamp/
Maybe this is the sales tactic computer stores use these days
So, Dr. A’s computer is going to get the full Farquhar treatment. I told him I’m pretty confident I can get it running better than it ever has. He said one of the salesmen told him it’s overdue for a crash, because it’s a Dell. I really don’t like that kind of a generalization. I [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 8, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/08/maybe-this-is-the-sales-tactic-computer-stores-use-these-days/
On being a dad
Jeff Pearlman has a Father’s Day sermon. He doesn’t hold back. And he has a point. I’ve got no room to preach. But I guess I can talk about being a dad.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on June 18, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/06/on-being-a-dad/
Farquhar discovers power-sipping AMD Fusion motherboards
AMD just announced its next-generation Fusion CPU/GPU combo. I’m not quite comfortable with AMD’s APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) moniker, because CPU-GPU integration isn’t about speed so much as it’s about reducing price and power consumption. This version of Fusion is intended to compete with mainstream Intel CPUs. Pricing isn’t available yet. And that reminded me [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on June 14, 2011
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2011/06/farquhar-discovers-power-sipping-amd-fusion-motherboards/
Working for Canonical doesn’t make you pro-Free Software?
Stuart Langridge works for Canonical. Canonical produces Ubuntu, a popular Linux distribution. Apparently, this means he favors proprietary software in some people’s minds. Yes, this is the same Ubuntu Linux you can download freely. You can make copies of it and sell them, legally. You can modify it, if you have the ability and inclination. [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on October 3, 2010
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/10/working-for-canonical-doesnt-make-you-pro-free-software/
The stunning fall of Mark Hurd
I didn’t believe it when the news broke late Friday that Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard, had suddenly resigned under fire.
Hurd wasn’t flamboyant or a quote machine like many technology CEOs. He just steadily turned HP around, increasing profits, passing Dell in sales of PCs and IBM in sales of servers, and buying companies like EDS and 3Com. He was exactly what investors liked.
In the following days, it turned out there was more to the story.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 11, 2010
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/08/the-stunning-fall-of-mark-hurd/
The American Dream vs. the American Greed
Last week at church, our newly-installed vicar preached about greed vs. generosity, and he ripped a little on the American Dream, which he defined as each generation having better stuff and living more comfortably than their parents did.
I think he’s right, letting that consume you definitely leads to problems. But I was taught that the American Dream was more about opportunity than it was about materialism. And maybe that’s where we’ve gone wrong.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on August 1, 2010
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2010/08/the-american-dream-vs-the-american-greed/
Striking royalty.
It wasn’t what I set out to do, and it definitely wasn’t what I expected to do. But genealogical breakthroughs rarely are either, it seems.
My mother and I have now collected more than 9,000 relatives in our genealogy. Needless to say, you literally need a computer to keep track of all of that. There are three families I feel the greatest affinity for. Two of them are Scottish, and Highlander families at that.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on November 5, 2009
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2009/11/striking-royalty/
How the Republican Party is losing me
I tend to lean to the right. For as long as I understood what it meant to be conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, I called myself a conservative Republican. In college, I wrote a newspaper column for 3 1/2 years brashly titled "No Left Turns."
In last year’s primary, I voted for Ron Paul for a couple of reasons. One, a lot of things he said made sense. Two, at least he sincerely believed in the things he said that didn’t make sense. And three, he’s a doctor. When Ron Paul predictably didn’t get the nomination, I voted against John McCain and for a Democrat, Barack Obama. The main reason was health care.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on October 19, 2009
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2009/10/how-the-republican-party-is-losing-me/