Author: Dave Farquhar

Why should I learn Python?

Dave Farquhar Careers
Why should I learn Python?

I’ve found Python is a useful skill in the workplace. It took me a little while to learn it, but it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. Here’s why I learned Python, and I think anyone who works in IT should at least consider learning it.

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How to unschedule a WordPress post

Dave Farquhar Wordpress
How to unschedule a WordPress post

I tend to schedule a lot of posts in advance. At least when I get on a roll, that is. But sometimes you schedule a post, then have second thoughts about it being ready to run. I’ve certainly run more than a few posts before I intended to. Here’s how to unschedule a WordPress post.

It doesn’t look like setting the post status to draft actually unschedules it. Looks can be deceiving, so here’s how to be sure.

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Laser 128 computer

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Laser 128 computer

The Laser 128 computer was an Apple II-compatible home computer manufactured by Video Technologies Ltd in Hong Kong and sold in the 1980s. It was available via mail order and in some retail stores like Sears. In spite of the name, there wasn’t anything optical about it. The name “laser” just sounded like high technology in the 1980s.

The Laser 128 was an Apple II clone most noteworthy for not violating any of Apple’s copyrights. It blended some of the features of both the Apple IIe and IIc computers, improving significantly on the IIc in the process.

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How does a Lionel e-unit work?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , , ,
How does a Lionel e-unit work?

The Lionel e-unit was a wonder of ingenuity in the 1930s. But how does a Lionel e-unit work?

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Is the Linksys WRT54G obsolete?

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Is the Linksys WRT54G obsolete?

Is the Linksys WRT54G obsolete? Depending on how many devices you have and how fast your upstream connection is, it probably is. And it’s difficult, though not impossible, to secure.

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Windows 10 Start Menu not working: A 30-second fix

Dave Farquhar Windows
Windows 10 Start Menu not working: A 30-second fix

I had an issue with my Windows 10 Start Menu not working when I click on the Windows button on the screen or my keyboard, on two separate machines within two days of each other. The fix is easy enough but most people way overcomplicate it. Here’s the no-bull guide to fixing the Windows 10 Start Menu.

To fix the Windows 10 Start Menu, all you need to do is restart Windows Explorer from Task Manager. You can fix it in 30 seconds or less and get on with your day.

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Can you download RAM?

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Can you download RAM?

A software developer asked me about a website called Download More RAM. I don’t think he heard my other coworkers snicker. He asked if it was a security issue, while missing the even more important question: Can you download RAM? I said it’s best not to visit the site, and spared him the history lesson.

Downloading RAM isn’t possible because RAM is physical hardware–computer chips on a circuit board. You can only download software. But still, the sites remain.

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RAM Doubler remembered

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Software
RAM Doubler remembered

RAM Doubler was a fairly popular product for Macintosh computers in the 1990s. But you can’t buy it today, and if it seems like it’s been a while since you’ve seen or heard of it, there’s a reason for it. Ironically, it was a competing product that didn’t work that brought it down. Here’s what happened to RAM Doubler.

RAM Doubling products worked by setting aside an area of memory and compressing it, then decompressing it when you needed it. It was a form of virtual memory, theoretically faster than traditional virtual memory that used disk space, but less stable.

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Skyline tin buildings

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Skyline tin buildings

In the 1940s and 1950s, Skyline of Philadelphia manufactured and marketed a line of toy train-oriented building kits. Actually, there were two lines: One was a line of building kits made of cardstock and wood, and one was a smaller line of lithographed tin buildings, similar to the inexpensive toys made by the likes of Louis Marx, Wyandotte, and countless others in the days before ubiquitous plastics.

I’ve long suspected the two product lines came from the same company, but had no evidence to prove it until Ed “Ice” Berg produced scans of a Skyline catalog containing both paper/wood and tin litho buildings, side by side.

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What to do with an unsolicited offer to buy property

Dave Farquhar scams
What to do with an unsolicited offer to buy property

Another day, another unsolicited offer to buy property. Maybe it’s a postcard in the mail. Sometimes it’s a letter. Or an unsolicited phone call or text. Why are they bothering you, and what can you do about it?

It’s a little bit easier to block the phone calls than to stop the junk mail. But until the real estate market cools down, investors will keep calling you if you match the profile of someone they think might be willing to sell. There’s very little you can do about the junk mail except recycle it. You’ll learn to recognize its hallmarks pretty quickly so you don’t have to waste time opening it. 

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