Author: Dave Farquhar

O gauge vs O27 gauge trains and track

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
O gauge vs O27 gauge trains and track

The difference between O gauge and O27 gauge can be rather confusing, and there are a number of misconceptions out there about O27 especially. Let’s take a look at O gauge vs O27.

O27 always had a connotation of being a cheaper, entry-level train. But what constitutes an O27 train in modern times definitely varies from the 1950s. Lionel discontinued both O and O27 track types in 2015, after approximately 100 and 85 years of production, respectively.

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Why is a college degree important?

Dave Farquhar Careers
Why is a college degree important?

Occasionally I get questions about college, because it delays your entry into the workforce a good four or five years. So why is a college degree important?

While you don’t need a college degree to succeed, strictly speaking, it helps.

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Best baseball cards to invest in

Dave Farquhar Baseball
Best baseball cards to invest in

What are the best baseball cards to invest in? The ones you don’t mind keeping if you lose money on them. But cynicism aside, here are the caveats to investing in collectibles. There are worse things to invest in. Like cryptocurrency.

The best baseball cards to invest in tend to be vintage cards of superstars. High-grade cards of high-tier Hall of Famers tend to do especially well. But if superstar cards are out of reach, you can still do well with exceptionally high-grade cards from popular vintage sets, such as 1952 Topps or 1933 Goudey, since collectors building high-grade complete sets need the common cards too.

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What are prices like at estate sales?

Dave Farquhar Saving money
What are prices like at estate sales?

I’ve long advocated shopping at estate sales as a way to save a lot of money. I frequently get lots of questions about them, for that reason, so I thought I’d try to share some insight. Most importantly, I’ll answer a key question: What are prices like at estate sales?

After all, it’s not uncommon to see a couple hundred people lined up in front of a house to get into an estate sale on Saturday morning. They aren’t standing in line expecting to get ripped off. Some are buying for themselves. Some buy to resell. I have some tips on finding estate sales if this sounds intriguing.

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On3 vs On30: Narrow gauge O scale trains

Dave Farquhar model railroading
On3 vs On30: Narrow gauge O scale trains

Narrow gauge railroading is almost always confusing, and On3 vs On30 is no exception. They sound similar, and they are, though there are some differences.

Narrow gauge has a following among hobbyists who want to be able to model small areas accurately. Most basements don’t have adequate space to model a big-name railroad with any kind of scale accuracy. But it’s possible to model a small narrow gauge operation in a small space. Narrow gauge O scale trains are a great compromise for people who want big trains in a small space.

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Best things to collect

Dave Farquhar Health
Best things to collect

What are the best things to collect? I can’t answer that question specifically for you. That’s kind of like trying to tell you who to marry. But I can tell you what to look for. And then you’ll know the answer when you find it.

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Why do hackers hack?

Dave Farquhar security
Why do hackers hack?

A frequent question people ask me, as a security professional, is why do hackers hack? The answer used to vary, but today they typically hack for the same reason I do. To make money. The difference is who pays them. Well, and that little detail called permission, of course.

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1990s AOL competitors

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
1990s AOL competitors

It’s hard to believe now, and nobody should have believed it then, but around 1997, analysts were calling AOL the only blue-chip dotcom stock. The problem was the golden age of dialup ended around 1998. But AOL served a purpose, for a time. Here’s a look back at 1990s AOL competitors.

In the 90s, technology stocks were a slightly different category. Today we don’t distinguish them, but companies who made and sold physical goods like IBM were easier to understand than companies whose business model revolved around the Internet and or proprietary information services.

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Remove the last octet of an IP address in Excel

Dave Farquhar Office

Maybe I’m the only one who ever has to do this, but here’s how to remove the last octet of an IP address in Excel using one (relatively) simple formula, not a series of calculations.

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Packard Bell vs Hewlett-Packard

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Retro Computing
Packard Bell vs Hewlett-Packard

I didn’t realize that the question of Packard Bell vs Hewlett-Packard existed anymore. The search engines say otherwise. So here’s the difference between these two rather old brands.

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