Author: Dave Farquhar

What is Comptia A+ certification?

Dave Farquhar Hardware
What is Comptia A+ certification?

What is Comptia A+ certification? If you’re looking to get into IT and aren’t having any luck, this is the certification most likely to get you in the door. If you’re looking to get work on the technical side and you feel stuck, this certification is a good one to get.

In my first job interview, my interviewer handed me a PC and a memory module and asked me to install it. It took me about a minute and a half. I would expect anyone with an A+ certification to be able to do the same thing.

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8088 vs 8086

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
8088 vs 8086

Intel’s 8088 and 8086 chips were close relatives that came out in the late 1970s and became popular in the 1980s thanks to the IBM PC and its compatibles. The chips were very similar and used the same software, but there were some differences. Here’s a look at 8088 vs 8086.

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Convert HTML to Word

Dave Farquhar Office
Convert HTML to Word

There are at least two different ways to convert HTML to Word, depending on what you have to work with. I will assume you have your own reasons for wanting to make the conversion, such as needing more formatting options. Here’s how to make the conversion quickly and easily.

To do this, you only need Word and possibly a Web browser. You won’t need any additional tools or software to make the conversion work.

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1934 Goudey baseball cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball
1934 Goudey baseball cards

Goudey’s second baseball card set is easy to overlook in the shadow of the landmark 1933 set, but I really like the 1934 set. Here’s what to like about 1934 Goudey baseball cards.

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Should I buy a Chromebook? Yes!

Dave Farquhar Hardware, security
Should I buy a Chromebook? Yes!

Should I buy a Chromebook? Absolutely. It’s true that Chromebooks are great for some things and mediocre for others. But Chromebooks are dirt cheap, and great enough at some things that it’s worth buying one if only for security purposes. Online banking is the best example, but not the only one. To me, the question isn’t whether to buy one. It’s whether to buy two.

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How to pay with Paypal on Amazon

Dave Farquhar Saving money
How to pay with Paypal on Amazon

Sometimes you have a Paypal balance and would rather spend it somewhere other than Ebay. You’d also rather spend it without having to bounce the money into a bank account first. Here’s how to pay with Paypal on Amazon. Or anywhere else that doesn’t directly take Paypal.

A surprising number of merchants, including brick-and-mortar shops, take Paypal. And that number is increasing. But some regard Paypal as a competitor. Some competitors, such as Google, accept Paypal anyway, either out of antitrust concerns or concern that not taking Paypal is bad for their business. Amazon did not make the same decision. So in those cases like Amazon, you have to use a trick to spend money out of your Paypal balance there without taking intermediate steps. So I’ll tell you the trick, and how to set it up.

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How did computers change during the 1990s?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
How did computers change during the 1990s?

How did computers change during the 1990s? Sounds like a test question, but I’ll bite. I’m willing to say it was the most pivotal decade for computing, rivaled only by the 1980s. Computers made multiple important changes during the 1990s, so let’s talk about them.

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Peeling or alligatoring paint problems: How to fix them

Dave Farquhar DIY
Peeling or alligatoring paint problems: How to fix them

If you buy an old house, chances are you will run into alligatoring paint, cracking or peeling paint, or a combination of those three problems. It’s tempting to just slap another coat of paint on top of the bad paint, and if you do, it will look better for a while. But it only takes a couple of years, or even a few months, for alligatoring paint problems to start coming back. In this blog post, I’ll talk about how to fix peeling or alligatoring paint.

I’ve had people tell me I needed to strip all the paint off one exterior wall of my house. I’ve had others tell me I needed to replace the siding entirely. Fortunately, there’s a better way. There’s plenty of advice out there on dealing with failing paint, but the problem is, nobody seems to mention where to buy the stuff you need.

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How to superscript in Excel

Dave Farquhar Office
How to superscript in Excel

Sometimes you may need to superscript text in Excel, such as to display an exponent. But the superscript option is good at hiding. Here’s how to superscript in Excel.

As with many complex programs, there’s more than one way to superscript in Excel. That doesn’t help you much when you can’t find it, of course. This tricks works in Excel for Office 365, Excel 2016, Excel 2013, Excel 2010, and Excel 2007. In other words, every version of Excel with the ribbon.

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Would you rent to someone with bad credit?

Dave Farquhar Landlording
Would you rent to someone with bad credit?

A fellow landlord called me up the other day to ask about a prospective tenant. It led to a few different questions. The one that prompted the longest-winded answer from me was this: Would you rent to someone with bad credit?

Maybe. I’m not the type who lets credit be the deciding factor, necessarily. But if there are other red flags, bad credit certainly doesn’t help. I’ve given advice to would-be renters with bad credit, after all.

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