Author: Dave Farquhar

Why VHS beat Betamax

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Video
Why VHS beat Betamax

It probably wasn’t the first format war and it certainly wasn’t the last. But VHS vs Beta, the battle of VCR formats, has served as a cautionary tale for more than a generation now. But there was no single reason why VHS beat Betamax. It was an accumulation of things that led to VHS winning.

Betamax was first on the market, and it had better image quality and generally better build quality. But VHS cost less and the tapes gave a longer run time, so in the end VHS won because it achieved critical mass among early adopters first.

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Lionel TW transformer

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Lionel TW transformer

The Lionel TW transformer is an easy to overlook, easily misunderstood transformer from the postwar era. It was designed for single-train layouts with lots of accessories. It contains two transformers in the case, one for the train and one for the accessories.

The Lionel TW provides 175 watts of power and variable voltage of up to 20 volts on its A-U posts, but its main source of appeal is its large number of fixed voltage circuits at varying levels.

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Script to determine if an IP is in a CIDR range

Dave Farquhar security
Script to determine if an IP is in a CIDR range

Sometimes you have a long list of IP addresses and need to know which ones are in a particular CIDR range. That’s easy enough to do by hand if it’s a nice, even multiple of 8. But usually it isn’t, so I wrote a simple script to determine if an IP is in a CIDR range.

In days of yore, computer magazines would publish short, useful programs and explain how they worked. That doesn’t happen anymore. Consider this a throwback post.

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Why Microsoft is the best – in some minds

Dave Farquhar Windows
Why Microsoft is the best – in some minds

Microsoft is a classic American story. If you want to know why Microsoft is the best in some people’s minds, it helps to start with that. But two people can look at the same set of facts about Microsoft and come to very different conclusions. That makes Microsoft interesting to follow, but at times confounding.

Microsoft’s story is basically the story of a string of successes, in sequence. The details matter, but in a nutshell, people’s opinion about Microsoft is generally shaped by their opinion about that success.

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Change or remove a doorknob faceplate

Dave Farquhar DIY
Change or remove a doorknob faceplate

When you buy a new doorknob, they almost always have a rectangular faceplate on the mechanism. In some older houses, the doorknobs just have small, round faceplates, or no faceplate at all. Here’s how to change or remove a doorknob faceplate so a new doorknob fits without you having to mortise the door.

To change or remove a doorknob faceplate, you literally pry the faceplate off with a screwdriver. The trick is just knowing where to pry. If you’re changing a lot of doorknobs, the time you save by not having to mortise the door adds up quickly.

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Commodore 1702 monitor

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Commodore 1702 monitor

The Commodore 1702 was a popular monitor designed for and marketed with the Commodore 64 in the early 1980s. While this is just my opinion, I think it was the best monitor Commodore ever sold.

The Commodore 1702 monitor was a composite monitor that handled both standard composite and what we now call S-Video. Its gray-beige color matched the original breadbin-style Commodore 64 and 1541 disk drive.

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Marx 897 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 897 locomotive

The Marx 897 was a tin lithographed steam locomotive produced prior to World War II. It depicts a much more common steam locomotive than the Commodore Vanderbilt or Canadian Pacific and came in both clockwork and electric variations.

The Marx 897 looks like what a classic Marx locomotive ought to look like, made of pressed tin with lithographed detail. But it only stayed on the market a few years because of World War II, and the emergence of newer technologies. But if you like tin lithography and you like Marx, you probably like the 897.

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Mac doesn’t work with external monitors with the lid closed

Dave Farquhar Macintosh
Mac doesn’t work with external monitors with the lid closed

If your Mac doesn’t work with external monitors with the lid closed, the fix is deceptively simple, even though it’s maddening.

Check your power connector. A Macbook or other portable Mac won’t work in closed-display mode without AC power.

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Why making a table saw from a circular saw is dangerous

Dave Farquhar DIY
Why making a table saw from a circular saw is dangerous

Table saws are extremely useful, but a good table saw is expensive. Even a cheap table saw can be rather expensive. So it’s very tempting to make your own, using a circular saw. But here’s why making a table saw from a circular saw is dangerous.

A homemade table saw lacks the safety features of even the most basic saw, including the riving knife, kickback pawls, and blade guard. Although frequently overlooked, kickback is the most common cause of injury from table saws, and building your own saw leaves you susceptible. It’s much safer to buy an inexpensive table saw.

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Why did Apple fail in the 90s?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Why did Apple fail in the 90s?

It’s hard to imagine now that Apple is a trillion-dollar company, but Apple very nearly went under in the 1990s. For a time, it seemed the company could do no right. So why did Apple fail in the 90s? And how did it manage to find its way?

Apple’s problems in the 90s were twofold: Its operating system was outdated and its products were expensive and uninspiring. Apple turned around when Steve Jobs changed the company’s message and took some chances with the design.

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