Author: Dave Farquhar

Roth 401(K) vs traditional

Dave Farquhar Saving money
Roth 401(K) vs traditional

My employer started offering a Roth 401(K) option this year. I was pretty excited about it, but it confused most of my coworkers. I walked them through the Roth 401(K) vs traditional 401(K), and my explanation helped them enough that some of them opted to take that route. Let’s look at the differences so you can decide which is right for you.

A traditional 401(K) is tax-deferred, which means you get a tax deduction this year for contributing, and you pay taxes on it in the future when you withdraw it. A Roth 401(K) offers no tax deduction this year, but you owe no taxes when you withdraw it, no matter how much it grows.

Read more

How much weight can a train table support?

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains
How much weight can a train table support?

Truth be told, most of our train tables are probably overbuilt. The size and strength of them isn’t the only consideration, and overbuilding them probably does make construction a little easier. But we also don’t need to go crazy with our materials. Here’s how much weight a train table can support.

Read more

SSD vs HDD: Advantages of SSDs over hard drives

Dave Farquhar Hardware
SSD vs HDD: Advantages of SSDs over hard drives

If you want to start a religious war, go on a forum and ask about an SSD vs HDD and why you should buy one over the other. I’m not quite sure why this is so controversial. But it is. Let’s look at the advantages SSDs have over hard drives, and when hard drives make more sense. I’ll also go into when I think this will no longer be true.

SSDs have numerous advantages over hard drives. They have faster seek times, faster read and write speeds, lower power consumption, less noise. they fail predictably, and are more reliable. The main disadvantage is cost, though even that is changing.

Read more

What is infosec?

Dave Farquhar security
What is infosec?

When I first started interviewing for security jobs, I remember some of the jargon confusing me. “Infosec” was one of those terms. Getting that first job is hard enough without getting your resume binned over not knowing the word infosec. So what is infosec, what does it stand for, and how do you talk intelligently about it?

Read more

Enter BIOS setup in HP computers

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Enter BIOS setup in HP computers

I recently upgraded the memory in my HP Z210 workstation, and had a really hard time verifying everything was working right afterward. Here’s how to enter BIOS setup in HP computers.

It’s usually the F10 key that enters the BIOS in HP computers. But several things, including network boot, can interfere with this, so it helps to know my tricks.

Read more

How much weight can a screw in a stud hold?

Dave Farquhar DIY
How much weight can a screw in a stud hold?

If you’re attaching shelves to a wall, you need to pay attention to weight. How much weight can a screw in a stud hold? And is there any way to increase the amount of weight it can hold?

A screw in a stud can generally hold 80-100 pounds, depending on the grade of screw. There are tricks to increase the amount of weight it can hold.

Read more

Code 100 vs Code 83

Dave Farquhar model railroading

Model railroading track is measured in numeric values, called a code, that indicate rail height in thousandths of an inch. In HO scale, Code 100 track is the most common. But Code 83 is more realistic, making it popular among those who crave realism. Let’s look at Code 100 vs Code 83.

Largely the difference comes down to cost vs realism. Code 100 is more widely available and cheaper, so you pay a price for Code 83’s better realism, or you might decide the difference isn’t noticeable enough to you.

Read more

Geothermal heating and cooling pros and cons

Dave Farquhar Saving money
Geothermal heating and cooling pros and cons

I know several people using geothermal heating and cooling. My neighbor really wanted me to switch to it. But what is geothermal heating and cooling? What does it cost? it didn’t make sense to me to replace a highly efficient furnace and AC that were working properly. Now that my furnace needs a costly repair, I’m looking at geothermal heating and cooling pros and cons. Here’s what I found out.

Geothermal heating and cooling is very environmentally friendly, and under the right circumstances, saves you a large sum of money every month. It’s not for everyone, but the people who like it like it a lot.

Read more

Repair damaged PCB traces with wire

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Repair damaged PCB traces with wire

I had a 286 motherboard from the late 1980s with battery damage. A leaky battery corroded two traces completely through, severing them and rendering the board inoperable. Here’s how I repaired the damaged PCB traces with wire.

Fixing broken traces is a bit of a lost art, because it’s easier to just swap the board. But when the board is rare and/or expensive, it makes sense to repair the broken traces instead. These types of repairs can be a bit intimidating, but they’re easier than replacing a chip. And then you’ve saved a scarce board from oblivion.

Read more

My Ikea furniture adventures

Dave Farquhar DIY
My Ikea furniture adventures

I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday. She said she’d think about it. Then she asked if she went to Ikea and brought some stuff home, if I’d put it together. I said I would. So, how hard is it to put Ikea furniture together? What tools do you need to put together Ikea furniture? I learned all of that and more.

Read more