Author: Dave Farquhar

Remove paint from toy trains without chemicals

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Remove paint from toy trains without chemicals

Someone asked me the other day how to remove paint from toy trains without chemicals like paint stripper or oven cleaner. It can be done, but there’s a reason a lot of hobbyists like me use chemicals.

Without using chemicals, you have to use abrasive methods to remove paint. That usually means sandblasting or bead blasting.

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Why hackers hack the government

Dave Farquhar security
Why hackers hack the government

Someone asked me recently why hackers hack the government. That’s a little more complex question than why they hack other people. Governments are complex, so that means there’s more reason to hack a government than to hack a corporation or a citizen.

Government hackers generally have three motivations behind them: Money, activism, or espionage. The motivations depend based on who is doing the hacking.

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Qualys showing the wrong time in its user interface

Dave Farquhar security
Qualys showing the wrong time in its user interface

It happens every year when Daylight Savings Time (Summer Time in Europe) starts kicking in. Qualys displays weird times in its user interface and it gets hard to figure out what time scans outside your local time zone are actually going to run. So here’s what to do about Qualys showing the wrong time in its user interface.

Qualys factors Daylight Savings Time into scheduled scans as long as you select the DST checkbox, but it doesn’t factor it into the user interface if you specify your local timezone. Setting your timezone to Auto will fix that.

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How to fix loose dresser drawers: An illustrated guide

Dave Farquhar DIY
How to fix loose dresser drawers: An illustrated guide

A loose dresser drawer probably won’t ruin your morning. But it certainly doesn’t help. Eliminating sources of frustration makes the morning go better, so here’s how to fix loose dresser drawers.

Loose dresser drawers are almost always caused by damaged or missing parts, often from trying to force an overfull drawer to open or close. Once you repair or replace the guides or glides, the drawer stays in place and operates smoothly. The process only takes a few minutes, costs about $3 per drawer, and requires no tools other than a screwdriver.

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Windows ME vs Windows XP

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Windows ME vs Windows XP

Windows ME vs Windows XP isn’t much of a battle. You see, it’s a comparison of one of Microsoft’s most hated operating systems and one of its most beloved. XP, at the time of its release, was Microsoft’s best effort to date. But one reason it seemed so good was because it followed something so terrible.

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New Marx/Ameritrains trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
New Marx/Ameritrains trains

Marx Trains, also variously known as New Marx, Modern Marx, and Ameritrains, was originally the brainchild of Jim and Debby Flynn, a husband and wife who collected Marx trains, especially the tin variants. They produced a line of tinplate trains in the same style of vintage Louis Marx tin trains. Marx stopped making trains out of tinplate in 1972. But what happened to Marx Trains, or New Marx?

Marx Trains had a run of about 15 years, from 1992 to around 2007, with a brief resumption in 2012. The trains had a small, dedicated following but did not achieve the market penetration of larger rivals like MTH.

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Security+ vs Security+ce

Dave Farquhar security

When you’re hunting through job postings, sometimes you may see Security+ as a requirement. Sometimes you might see Security+ce instead. Theoretically, I’m out of luck if they really want Security+ce. Let’s talk about Security+ vs Security+ce and whether the difference means anything for you.

Security+ vs Security+ce really comes down to when you took the exam. If you took the exam after 2010, and certainly after 2011, you have both. If, like me, you took the exam before 2010 and didn’t convert it, you just have Security+. And some jobs require ce.

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Erector set screw size

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized
Erector set screw size

Erector sets frequently are missing screws, or they have screws but they’ve suffered the ravages of time. Fortunately the Erector set screw size was a standard 8-32, so you can substitute modern screws and/or nuts to replace damaged or missing originals, or if you just find them easier to work with.

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What to look for in a Commodore 64

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
What to look for in a Commodore 64

If you’re into retro computing, the Commodore 64 is hard to escape. It was the most popular computer model of all time, so it was everywhere in the 1980s. But the machine does have its quirks, which can be either endearing or maddening. Here’s what to look for in a Commodore 64.

Certain models and eras of Commodore 64 are more dependable than others. Early models will appeal to people who want something slightly challenging to repair, while a newer model is definitely better for someone who wants a retro machine that works without putting up a fuss.

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The decline of toy stores

Dave Farquhar Retail

The retail market is certainly changing and there’s a lot of consolidation in the market. But some retail categories have pretty much dried up on a national level, like toy stores. It ought to be a safe market, because new kids are born every year to replace kids who become adults. What’s behind the decline of toy stores?

While there’s been a degree of mismanagement involved in the decline of the two most recent toy store chains to go belly-up, both Toys R Us and Kay-Bee Toys had something else in common, and it wasn’t Amazon. They didn’t need to survive for their owners to make money, and that’s why they ultimately didn’t.

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