“Peggy” from “Computer Maintenance Department” (1-645-781-2458 on my caller ID) called again. Lots of people are aware of these phone calls. They call, make vague claims about receiving a report that your computer is running slow and giving you errors, and are very careful not to say who they are or who they work for. [...]
All posts tagged windows
How I accidentally found a way to mess with “Peggy”
“Peggy” from “Computer Support Department” just won’t give up. He called me again at about 8 PM this evening. This time, I played along. I had a thrift-store junker PC for him to infect with his malware. The only problem was, the hard drive wasn’t connected and neither was the power cord. So I quickly [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 20, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/how-i-accidentally-found-a-way-to-mess-with-peggy/
The explanation about Windows vs. Linux kernel performance makes sense
An anonymous Microsoft developer spilled some juicy opinions about why Windows kernel performance isn’t all it could be. Although he has recanted much of what he said, some of his insights make a ton of sense.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 13, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/the-explanation-about-windows-vs-linux-kernel-performance-makes-sense/
How to build bootable Debian installation USB media from Windows
Debian 7.0 (Wheezy) came out this weekend, and I want to mess with it. Here’s how I wrote the installation media to a USB thumb drive for it using a Windows box. Because sometimes that’s all you have available to work with.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 5, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/how-to-build-bootable-debian-installation-usb-media-from-windows/
The trouble with bringing your own software
PC Magazine is advocating a bring your own laptop, with your own software approach to business. It likens it to mechanics who bring their own tools. The trouble is that while mechanical tools in a toolbox operate autonomously and don’t interfere with one another, software residing on a computer does.
Posted by Dave Farquhar on May 3, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/05/the-trouble-with-bringing-your-own-software/
Don’t read too much into the PC sales drop just yet
If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you probably know that new PC sales are in the toilet–out of the five biggest vendors, the only one whose sales managed to hold steady in Q1 2013 was Lenovo, while the other four saw a sales decline. So now Slashdot linked to a ZDNet piece stating [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 17, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/dont-read-too-much-into-the-pc-sales-drop-just-yet/
Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model
I saw this phrase in a job description last week: Troubleshooting at all layers of the OSI model. That sounds a bit intimidating, right? Maybe at first. But let’s not overcomplicate it. Once you get past the terminology, it’s a logical way to locate and fix problems. Chances are you already do most of this [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 15, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/troubleshooting-at-all-layers-of-the-osi-model/
The 1 TB-ish SSD: The Micron M500
Anandtech has a review of the Micron M500, which is the first 960 GB SSD to retail for less than $600. Micron had to make some decisions to get that combination of capacity and price, so it’s not truly a no-compromises SSD, but like the article states, it’s a not-quite-a-terabyte capacity at the price that [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 14, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/the-1-tb-ish-ssd-the-micron-m500/
A collection of old photographs to help your model-making
It’s hard to make models of old buildings without knowing what they looked like in the past. Over a period of about 30 years, Charles Cushman, an exceptionally gifted amateur photographer, took about 14,000 slides of everyday life, mostly in color. After his death in 1972, his family donated the slides to Indiana University, which [...]
Posted by Dave Farquhar on April 10, 2013
http://dfarq.homeip.net/2013/04/a-collection-of-old-photographs-to-help-your-model-making/