Author: Dave Farquhar

How do Lionel trains work?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
How do Lionel trains work?

Lionel trains entertained kids for generations, and inspired some to become engineers. And not just train engineers. Sometimes it inspired them to electrical or mechanical engineering. But how do Lionel trains work? Let’s step through it.

A Lionel train is just a flow of electrons. The hot wire from your electrical box goes through a transformer to the center rail, then through the motor and out to the wheels, through the outer rails and back to the transformer and finally, back to the outlet and out of your house back through the panel.

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Yoast internal linking not working? Try this simple trick.

Dave Farquhar Wordpress
Yoast internal linking not working? Try this simple trick.

One of the main reasons I bought the Yoast SEO plugin was for its internal linking suggestions. It automatically flags similar content that you can link while writing or revising posts. But it didn’t work on my site. Here’s what finally fixed it for me, and might work for you if you find Yoast internal linking not working.

Yoast’s knowledge base has a number of suggestions, including looking for errors, disabling plugins, or switching to a stock theme. If none of those suggestions helps, you might have too many tags.

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Search by MAC address in Qualys

Dave Farquhar security
Search by MAC address in Qualys

Qualys Assetview is the vendor-preferred way to search in Qualys. Admittedly, its Elasticsearch interface is slick. But Assetview doesn’t usually let you search by MAC address even though the field exists. So here’s how to search by MAC address in Qualys using other functionality in the tool.

Qualys Asset Search has the ability to search based on the presence of a QID and its results. So you can search on QID 43007 containing the results of the MAC address you want. If Qualys finds a match, it pulls up the machine you are looking for.

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Northern Tool vs Harbor Freight

Dave Farquhar DIY
Northern Tool vs Harbor Freight

When a Northern Tool opened up near me, I assumed it was something like Harbor Freight. So did everyone else, it seemed. But there are significant differences between the two stores. Both have a reputation for being stores that sell cheap Chinese tools. When it comes to Northern Tool, that’s an oversimplification. Northern Tool vs Harbor Freight isn’t necessarily an obvious comparison, it turns out.

Both Northern Tool and Harbor Freight sell things you won’t find at your local home center. But while Harbor Freight devotes most of its store to cheap tools made mostly in China, Northern Tool also sells costlier brand-name tools. Each store also sells things the other doesn’t. If you want a big tool chest, go to Harbor Freight. If you want a lawn mower, go to Northern Tool.

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Fix a Craftsman table saw that won’t turn on

Dave Farquhar DIY
Fix a Craftsman table saw that won’t turn on

My Craftsman table saw broke the third time I used it. That was nice of it. Fortunately there isn’t a lot that goes wrong with these, so they’re easy to fix. Here’s how to fix a Craftsman table saw that won’t turn on.

There are two or three things to try. Unplug the saw, then first, just clean out the sawdust from the underside with your vacuum cleaner. Second, look for a red reset switch on the motor. Press it if yours has one. Third, take off the power switch, check its connections and clean it.

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Marx Commodore Vanderbilt train engine

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx Commodore Vanderbilt train engine

The Marx Commodore Vanderbilt train engine was one of Marx’s most enduring and beloved locomotives, produced from 1934-1942 and again from 1946-1952. It remains popular with collectors and operators today.

Based loosely on the New York Central’s streamlined Art Deco-style Hudson locomotive introduced in late 1934, Marx typically packed the Commodore Vanderbilt into sets with its six-inch cars and a loop of O27 track. The sets were available anywhere toys were sold, and came in windup and electric versions.

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Stream from Windows Media Player to Roku

Dave Farquhar Windows
Stream from Windows Media Player to Roku

I wanted to be able to stream from Windows Media Player to Roku. I have lots of media stored on my Windows computers, but what’s the point of connecting a computer to my TV if I already have a Roku on it? Fortunately it’s not hard to get Roku and Windows talking.

People of a certain age probably have a lot of media loaded on their PCs, whether it’s MP3s ripped from CDs or vinyl, home movies, or digital video obtained from other sources. Needless to say, a lot of that stuff isn’t on streaming services and never will be. But that doesn’t mean you don’t want to watch it.

Windows Media Player can stream between multiple PCs, but it can also stream to devices like Roku, which, in many cases, is even more convenient.

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Why collect baseball cards?

Dave Farquhar Baseball
Why collect baseball cards?

When I was a kid, baseball cards were something everyone collected. Today, it’s an obscure hobby. So why collect baseball cards?

People collect cards for any number of reasons, including the thrill of finding a card when they least expect it, a relatively inexpensive means to enjoy the sport of baseball, and even, to a degree, to make money.

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13 ways to save money on power tools

Dave Farquhar DIY
13 ways to save money on power tools

Have you ever looked into a DIY project and the person talks about how they built something for $10, but you count up $5,000 worth of tools they used to build it? It’s hard to save much money when a project requires expensive tools. So here’s how to save money on power tools. 13 ways, in fact.

Most projects assume you have about six common tools to get them done. In a pinch, you can get most of them done with four or five essential tools. The essentials should cost you less than $200, and with careful shopping, you can assemble a reasonable collection of tools over time and spend less than $500.

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Grades of power tools

Dave Farquhar DIY
Grades of power tools

Much like cars, power tools come in different grades and price points. Just like General Motors sells you a Chevy in hopes you’ll move up the ladder to eventually buy a Buick or a Cadillac from them, toolmakers do the same thing, selling different grades of power tools at increasing price points, under different brand names for each.

Most tools that hardware stores sell fall into three ranges: consumer, prosumer/enthusiast, and professional grades, at increasing price points. As long as you use the tools how the manufacturer intended, you can be happy even with inexpensive tools.

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