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Office Space released Feb. 19, 1999

Dave Farquhar Careers, Retro Computing February 19, 2026February 16, 2026

The classic black comedy Office Space debuted in theaters February 19, 1999. It was Mike Judge’s first live-action film. Judge is better known for his animated series Beavis and Butt-Head and King of the Hill, but I’ll argue Office Space shows Judge’s versatility, and for me, Office Space will always be his masterpiece.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Linkedin green Opentowork banner hacking

Dave Farquhar Careers July 22, 2024July 20, 2024

I found out midday Wednesday that one of my former employers, the MSSP Deepwatch, laid off 25% of its staff, about 100 people, that day. Layoffs are a fact of life even in the security field. It happened to me back in March 2023. In this blog post, I want to share my experience with the LinkedIn green open to work banner in hopes it may help someone.

I have mixed feelings on the banner. As for Deepwatch, you’ll have to read between the lines, but I won’t make you squint too hard.

Dave Farquhar

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How to conduct a technical interview

Dave Farquhar Careers March 26, 2024March 23, 2024

I’ve conducted a dozen or so technical interviews in my career. All of them panned out, and some of them ended up being exceptional. And during that same time frame, I’ve seen others fail, sometimes spectacularly. In this blog post, I’ll explain how to conduct a technical interview, including how to weed out charlatans and identify talent with a high upside.

Dave Farquhar

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Your New Year’s resolutions are shot. Now what?

Dave Farquhar Careers January 16, 2023January 25, 2025

It’s common at the start of a new year to resolve to make some changes or improvements or otherwise set some goals. And the majority of those resolutions last until sometime around January 12th. Let’s talk about why so many goals fail and what you can do about them.

Dave Farquhar

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How many pages should your resume be?

Dave Farquhar Careers February 22, 2022February 22, 2022

Getting your resume correct length is essential. If your resume is too short or too long, it can be a deal breaker and potentially even keep HR from ever seeing your application. So here’s how many pages your resume should be, and some tips for getting it to that length.

The ideal resume is two pages, so it fits on a single sheet, front and back. A single page is also fine, and certainly better than going over two pages.

Dave Farquhar

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LinkedIn is annoying? Tips to make it better

Dave Farquhar Careers, security October 6, 2021April 6, 2023

I definitely have mixed feelings about LinkedIn. It’s helped me get several jobs, but it can also have the same pitfalls of any social network. Plus some that are unique to LinkedIn. If Linkedin is annoying you, here are some things I did to make LinkedIn less annoying and more helpful.

Dave Farquhar

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Right to hire meaning, pros and cons

Dave Farquhar Careers August 24, 2021May 13, 2023

What is a right to hire? What does it mean? I have taken right to hire jobs before, and interviewed candidates for right to hire positions. But do I recommend them? Let’s take a look at the meaning of right to hire, and the pros and cons of taking a right to hire position.

Dave Farquhar

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How to answer where you see yourself in five years

Dave Farquhar Careers June 29, 2021June 5, 2021

Where do you see yourself in five years? What’s your five year plan? These are variations of a common job interview question. I don’t like that question. Here’s some advice for interviewees on how to answer that question. And some advice for interviewers on why that’s a bad question and what you might ask instead.

Dave Farquhar

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Why are some books so cheap on Amazon?

Dave Farquhar Careers November 4, 2020October 31, 2020

One question I get a lot, as a former Amazon bookseller, is why some books are so cheap on Amazon. Namely, how can books sell for a penny? And why do they sell that cheap? I can tell you nobody wants to make a living selling books for a penny, but it is possible to do so and turn a profit, if a seller is careful and the market conditions are right. Here’s how they do it.

Dave Farquhar

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Selling books on Amazon

Dave Farquhar Careers October 13, 2020October 30, 2021

I didn’t talk about it much, but I sold books on Amazon for extra money for a little over a decade. There’s a lot of hyperbole out there about selling on Amazon and online in general. Here’s some straight talk about selling books on Amazon from someone who did it.

Dave Farquhar

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