Author: Dave Farquhar

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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Why did Marx Toys close?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains

On Dec 12, 1955, Louis Marx was on the cover of Time magazine, the subject of a story that called him the Toy King. Twenty seven short years later, Louis Marx died in his home, aged 86. The same day, a bankruptcy court ruled that his factory in Glen Dale, West Virginia, had to close for good. Marx and his company died on the same day. Why did Marx Toys close? And why so suddenly?

There were several reasons. I don’t think it was any one thing, but rather, several things that led to another, and the cascade brought Louis Marx’s empire down.

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Why did Compaq fail?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Why did Compaq fail?

Compaq was a high-flying PC brand in the 1980s and 1990s. It created the first successful and fully legal IBM PC clone, set records as a startup, usurped IBM as the standard bearer in the PC market, and made sturdy, highly regarded desktop PCs and servers. But today it’s just a trademark that HP owns and doesn’t use. Why did Compaq fail?

There were several reasons why Compaq failed, but one stands taller than the others.

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How a vulnerability scanner works

Dave Farquhar security

Vulnerability scanning is an essential part of any information security program. Unfortunately it’s also pretty widely misunderstood. In that light, let’s take a look at what a vulnerability scanner is, and how a vulnerability scanner works.

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Do I need a managed switch at home?

Dave Farquhar Careers, Servers and Networking
Do I need a managed switch at home?

Like most people, I used consumer-grade switches on my home network for years and years, like TP-Link switches. They’re fine, but my older Linksys switch started acting flaky the other night. My oldest son’s computer kept dropping off the network. So that got me thinking. Do I need a managed switch at home?

Whether I need a managed switch for my home network or not, I bought a Dell Powerconnect 2824 smart managed switch, and I got it for less than a Linksys. This is a great opportunity to learn wired networking at home, the way businesses do it. Sure, it’s overkill, but here’s why I think it’s a good idea.

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How to remove crayon from plastic

Dave Farquhar DIY
How to remove crayon from plastic

If you have kids, it’s inevitable. At some point you’ll need to know how to remove crayon from plastic. And while there are any number of ways to do it, I haven’t found anyone else mentioning the easiest way to clean up stray crayon marks. So I’ll share my secret.

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What is a vulnerability management program?

Dave Farquhar security
What is a vulnerability management program?

What is a vulnerability management program? Well, it’s not a computer program, although you will need some software to run a successful vulnerability management program. But vulnerability management is a discipline. A vulnerability management program is an ongoing continuous operation to ensure the discipline is working in your organization.

That may raise as many questions as it answers, so let’s dig in.

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What self-etching primer is

Dave Farquhar DIY
What self-etching primer is

Whether you’re talking cars, computer modification, or restoring old toys, the subject of self-etching primer is bound to come up. You’ve probably seen it in the paint aisles with other spray paints and noticed it costs a little more than regular primer. But what is self-etching primer, and when should you use it? And where’s the best place to buy it?

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Reboot Windows from a command line

Dave Farquhar Windows
Reboot Windows from a command line

A good trick for the busy system administrator is knowing how to reboot Windows from a command line. For example, I used to push patches on Thursday and Friday, suppress the reboots, then reboot my servers from a batch file starting on Monday. Rebooting from a command line rather than using the Start menu and selecting shutdown or restart saved me countless hours.

As a security professional, I know when systems need to reboot based on seeing Tenable plugin 34543 or Qualys QID 90126 in my scan results.

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