Author: Dave Farquhar

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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Buying trains at estate sales

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains
Buying trains at estate sales

I think estate sales are an underrated place to buy trains. While some things have changed from 15 years ago when I started, there are still good finds out there. Here are my tips for buying trains at estate sales.

There are lots of places to find trains, including train stores, antique shops, train shows, and placing want ads. But buying trains straight out of people’s estates is surprisingly effective, and can be economical too.

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How game cracking works

Dave Farquhar Software
How game cracking works

Copying software is a problem as old as software itself. Software manufacturers immediately sought to prevent people from copying their products. And it’s been a game of cat and mouse ever since, as people figured out how to crack the software so they could copy it. Here’s how game cracking works.

Cracking games, or any other software, is a matter of making the software stop performing whatever checks the manufacturer put in place to defeat copying. It typically takes some knowledge of machine language, and sometimes encryption, to make it work. But once the check is circumvented, the software generally can be copied freely.

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Which is bigger, 1:64 scale or 1:87 scale

Dave Farquhar Model Building
Which is bigger, 1:64 scale or 1:87 scale

Scale can be a confusing concept to explain or to understand. So it’s very common to hear questions like which is bigger, 1:64 scale or 1:87 scale. I’ll try to explain it simply.

Scale is a ratio between the size of a model or toy and the real thing it represents. A 1:64 scale model is 1/64 the size of the real thing. A 1:87 model is 1/87 the size of the real thing. In scale, higher numbers are smaller.

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When will baseball cards make a comeback?

Dave Farquhar Baseball
When will baseball cards make a comeback?

Anyone who collected baseball cards in the 1980s and 1990s knows how the hobby has changed. In the 80s and 90s, baseball card shops proliferated like vape shops, popping up anywhere there was empty real estate. New sets were released almost monthly. And then the bubble popped, leaving us to ask, when will baseball cards make a comeback?

I would argue that the parts of the hobby that are going to make a comeback already did. The reason 1980s and 1990s baseball cards aren’t coming back is complex, but there are several reasons why those cards probably will never be as valuable as they were at their peak.

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Why did Microsoft beat Apple? And why Apple doesn’t care.

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Why did Microsoft beat Apple? And why Apple doesn’t care.

In the personal computer market, Apple and Microsoft are effectively a duopoly. And for some reason, both companies seem to like it that way. Why did Microsoft beat Apple? And why doesn’t Apple seem to care? The answer is nuanced, but not super hard to understand.

Microsoft beat Apple in personal computer market share because Microsoft achieved critical mass first, with a cheaper, good-enough product. Apple learned from this, then did the same thing to Microsoft in the MP3 player, phone, and tablet markets.

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Marx 1829 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 1829 locomotive

The Marx 1829 was arguably the largest, nicest plastic steam locomotive of the postwar era. It was a plastic locomotive with a 4-6-4 Hudson configuration, a type of locomotive usually reserved for higher-end diecast models.

The 1829 wasn’t just a plastic Marx 333. The design of the casting differs from the diecast 333, and it used a different trailing truck, since the 333 was a 4-6-2 Pacific. The motor was similar, and like the 333, it came in both smoking and non-smoking versions.

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Add an outlet to the garage from the adjacent room

Dave Farquhar DIY
Add an outlet to the garage from the adjacent room

I don’t know whose bright idea it was to build garages and put only one electrical outlet in them. But it’s common in houses built before the 1970s. I don’t need to put the Taj Mahal out there, but I don’t like snaking extension cords across the garage to plug a tool in. So here’s how to add an outlet to the garage from the adjacent room.

To add an outlet to the garage from the adjacent room, knock out the metal knockout in the electrical box in an existing outlet, then drill through the drywall on the other side. Run a wire from the outlet to the other side. The project only requires a wall-mounted electrical box, a short length of wire, a cover plate, and a GFCI outlet if the circuit isn’t already GFCI-protected.

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Floppy cable doesn’t fit? Here’s the fix.

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Floppy cable doesn’t fit? Here’s the fix.

If you go to change or add drives in a vintage PC and your floppy cable doesn’t fit, there could be several reasons for it. Here’s what to do about it when this happens.

PC floppy cables are all 34 pins, but they can have several different ways of keying so you don’t plug them in wrong. This can cause physical compatibility issues that may require modifying the cable so it will plug into your motherboard.

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Buying tools at estate sales

Dave Farquhar DIY, Saving money
Buying tools at estate sales

While there are some potential pitfalls, you can do very well buying tools at estate sales. Probably 1/3 of my hand tools came from estate sales, and so did my most expensive corded power tools. Here’s how to find the best tools and the best deals.

The key is knowing what you’re looking for and what the tools you’re after are worth. Whether you’re buying tools to use or tools to collect, you don’t want to overpay. After all, you’re investing a lot of time, gas, and mileage. Factor that in.

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