Author: Dave Farquhar

What does a Sound Blaster do?

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
What does a Sound Blaster do?

There was a time when the Sound Blaster, and its manufacturer, Creative Labs, were household names. Today the product is a bit marginalized, even though it’s historically very significant. What does a Sound Blaster do, and should you care?

A Sound Blaster provides audio capability for a PC, usually slightly better than what comes built into modern PCs. Before sound came standard, Sound Blaster was the most popular and best supported type of sound card.

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Copy an option profile in Qualys

Dave Farquhar security

Since I don’t do it very often, I always forget how to copy an option profile in Qualys. So here’s how, even if I’m the only one who ever can’t remember.

Sometimes I need to make a copy of an option profile so I can make a change to it without building a new one from scratch.
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SD to IDE performance

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
SD to IDE performance

Working IDE hard drives are getting harder to find. Compact Flash cards, the easiest modern substitute, aren’t all that easy to find anymore either. That got me looking at SD to IDE adapters, which convert cheap, readily available SD cards to a legacy IDE interface. This is convenient, but how’s the performance?

It turns out there are three limiting factors in SD to IDE performance: Card speed, adapter speed, and IDE bus speed. But since seek times on SD cards is lower, you can still see a performance improvement over a mechanical drive even if the transfer rates are disappointing. This is especially true of legacy systems that don’t have pre-emptive multitasking.

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What does secured mean for Internet access?

Dave Farquhar security
What does secured mean for Internet access?

Both Windows and your web browser go out of their way to tell you if your Internet connection is secured, or not secured. Secured certainly sounds better than not secured. But what does secured mean for Internet access? Let’s talk about it.

“Secured” is a friendly word to say your network connection is encrypted. But what that means, exactly, depends on whether it’s your web browser or your operating system saying the connection is secure. The most important thing to remember is that in this case, your browser can compensate for Windows, but Windows can’t compensate for the browser.

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Lionel’s connection to Marx

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Lionel’s connection to Marx

Lionel and Marx were fierce competitors in the postwar, mid-century time period. But since old train tooling never dies, it just changes hands, Lionel’s connection to Marx has grown over the years. Especially in recent years.

Old Marx products found their way into Lionel’s product line when Lionel temporarily took over K-Line. But then, in 2019, some of Marx’s HO scale tooling found its way into Lionel’s revived HO product line.

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Confirmed vs potential vulnerabilities in Qualys

Dave Farquhar security
Confirmed vs potential vulnerabilities in Qualys

When you’re looking at a vulnerability scan, you may find several types of findings on the report. Two of them are confirmed and potential vulnerabilities. Let’s take a look at confirmed vs potential vulnerabilities in Qualys.

Potential vulnerabilities are incomplete, in that they show an indication of vulnerability, but not enough for Qualys to confirm it. Confirmed vulnerabilities are more reliable, as Qualys was able to pinpoint a vulnerable file or setting on the system. In some scan results, Qualys refers to potential vulnerabilities as “practice.” As far as Qualys is concerned, practice and potential are interchangeable terms.

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How long does a power supply last?

Dave Farquhar Hardware
How long does a power supply last?

People ask me all the time what the most important part of a computer is, after they find out I work with computers. And I always surprise them when I say the power supply. Your computer is only as stable and reliable as the power supply. But how long does a power supply last? Of course it depends.

A good name-brand power supply can last many years. Cheap power supplies, in my experience, typically start giving you trouble within three years. Paying double for a power supply doesn’t necessarily guarantee double the life expectancy, but the odds tend to be pretty good.

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Using an NE2000 network card in DOS

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Using an NE2000 network card in DOS

If you have a mystery ISA network card with no recognizable brand name on it, chances are it’s an NE2000 clone of some sort. These cards were common in their day, but difficult to get working if you don’t have the original disks and manual. Here are some tips for using an NE2000 network card in DOS without them.

And these tips are helpful for using other cards in DOS as well, especially what you can do with the card once you have it up and running.

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Remove rust with vinegar

Dave Farquhar DIY, Toy trains

I’ve discussed rust removal before, but some people swear by removing rust with vinegar. I never had much luck with it, but I’ve learned the secret.

The secret to rust removal with vinegar is to rinse the part thoroughly with hot water, immediately. If you don’t rinse it fast enough, or with hot enough water, the part will flash rust. But if you rinse correctly, vinegar is a cheap and effective way to remove rust from toys, old tools, and anything else made of iron or steel. I mostly use it on toy train parts but anyone who deals with anything old needs this trick.

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Is USB blocking misguided security?

Dave Farquhar security

Blocking USB ports on corporate computers certainly is an inconvenience. But it’s something many companies do in the name of security. The question is, is USB blocking misguided security? Does it solve a problem, or just create others?

There are serious security concerns with USB devices, besides the danger of people copying huge troves of corporate data onto a USB stick and taking that information with them. That’s why many companies, and the government, limit what you can use USB for, or sometimes block it completely.

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