Author: Dave Farquhar

Hash collisions in computer security

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, security 0 Comment
Hash collisions in computer security

Last week, Robin of the YouTube channel 8-bit Show and Tell wondered out loud on Twitter why Chrome flags Netracer 1.1, a modern indie Commodore 64 game, as malware. I think this is a classic case of hashing algorithms having gone wrong. In this blog post, I’ll explain what a hash collision is, using this collision of my hobby of retro computing and my day job of information security as an example.

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Marx Pioneer Express electric train set

Dave Farquhar Toy trains 0 Comment
Marx Pioneer Express electric train set

Marx train set 15630 was an electric train set from 1973, sold by Sears. While some Marx collectors joke that the only rare Marx train set is the one that doesn’t run, this old-timey 1970s train set cobbled together from Marx’s leftovers is rare and valuable today.

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80s computer brands

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing 4 Comments
80s computer brands

A small number of 80s computer brands are the same as today, but a lot more companies played in the field than now. Profit margins were higher then, so industry consolidation wasn’t the matter of survival that it is now. You might be surprised to see all of the most popular computer brands of today were around in the 80s. But many popular 1980s computers no longer exist in any form.

There’s a human element to 80s computing that the 90s erased. In this list, besides the familiar stories, you’ll find a computer designed by an engineer who grew up in public housing, computers designed by two women, and a company that didn’t survive its CEO dying in a car crash celebrating its IPO. While some survived the 80s and into the 90s or even today, others only lasted a few years. The 1980s were a make or break time, and many broke.

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Resume hacks for your first security job

Dave Farquhar security 0 Comment
Resume hacks for your first security job

I conduct a fair number of interviews, and that means I see a lot of resumes. In my most recent round of interviews, I was interviewing intern candidates. There was absolutely nothing wrong with their resumes. They built exactly the type of resumes their counselors tell them to. In this blog post, I’ll tell you what your counselors in school aren’t telling you about resumes, including hacks to help you land your first security job.

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eMachines never obsolete PCs: More than a meme

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing 1 Comment
eMachines never obsolete PCs: More than a meme

It’s a meme from the turn of the century, an irony to end all ironies. The cheapest computers on the market at the time, which were arguably obsolete the day before you bought them, had stickers on the front bragging they were never obsolete. Of course I’m talking about the eMachines never obsolete marketing campaign.

Now, what eMachines said and what they meant by never obsolete were two very different things, but if anything that just made the stickers more ludicrous.

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Marx steam type freight set 9365

Dave Farquhar Toy trains 0 Comment
Marx steam type freight set 9365

Marx’s steam freight train set catalog number 9365 is one of its more unusual 4-wheel plastic sets of the 1950s. In this blog post, I’ll explain what makes it special.

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APF Imagination Machine

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing 0 Comment
APF Imagination Machine

The APF Imagination Machine was a hybrid game console/home computer from 1979 that sought to exploit a gap in the market. Although it was not a commercial success, it is a historically interesting machine and they were not the last console to attempt that approach.

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APF MP1000 game console from 1978

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing 0 Comment
APF MP1000 game console from 1978

The APF MP1000 was a second generation video game console produced by APF, a small New York City based electronics firm that started out producing calculators, moved to a first-generation console called TV Fun that played Pong-type video games on an ordinary TV, and then decided to try to build on that success by going up against Atari and Mattel. In this blog post, we’ll talk about this rare 1978 game console.

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You don’t need cyber threat intelligence. Buy this instead

Dave Farquhar security 0 Comment
You don’t need cyber threat intelligence. Buy this instead

Last week I saw another hot take on Twitter. This Twitter influencer asserted that for most organizations, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) is a waste of money and they would be better off spending that money elsewhere. In this blog post, I will dig into this argument, including what proper use of Cyber Threat Intelligence looks like.

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Marx diesel freight train set 8142

Dave Farquhar Toy trains 0 Comment
Marx diesel freight train set 8142

The Marx diesel freight train set number 8142 was a late 1950s electric train set featuring twin diesel locomotives pulling 6-inch freight cars. It’s an attractive set and a very good example of post-war tin lithography, which was becoming something of a lost art at the time.

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