Author: Dave Farquhar

Why do Lionel trains have three rails?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , , , , , , ,
Why do Lionel trains have three rails?

Why do Lionel trains have three rails? After all, real trains usually have two. This unrealistic feature is a legitimate drawback for Lionel and other makes of O gauge trains, but the decision made sense at the time.

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Commodore 64 Z80 cartridge

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , , , , , , , ,
Commodore 64 Z80 cartridge

One of the most popular add-ons for an Apple II added CP/M compatibility. So I guess it should be no surprise that Commodore tried the same thing. But the Commodore 64 CP/M operating system and the associate Commodore 64 Z80 cartridge was a flop. Why?

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Reliable power supply brands

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , ,
Reliable power supply brands

If you’ve built a few PCs, or repaired a few PCs, you have some idea how important the power supply is. If you buy any old tin box that fits, you can probably expect to run into some problems. Here’s some advice on buying power supplies, including reliable power supply brands.

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Most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s

Dave Farquhar Baseball , , , , , , , ,
Most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s

Although the 1970s may not have been quite the golden era for baseball that, say, the 1950s were, the decade produced a good number of stars. An important thing to consider, too, is that many players Generation X grew up watching came up in the 1970s. That, along with lower production numbers, makes it an important decade in today’s market. Let’s take a year by year walk through the most valuable baseball cards of the 1970s.

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Vacancy switch vs occupancy switch

Dave Farquhar DIY ,
Vacancy switch vs occupancy switch

If you’re wondering about a vacancy switch vs occupancy switch, both types of switches have their uses. The basic difference comes down to whether you want the light to turn on when it senses motion and turn itself off after the last time it senses motion, or only turn itself off after the last time it senses motion.

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Do AC adapters go bad?

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Do AC adapters go bad?

Do AC adapters go bad? The answer surprises many people, but the answer is yes. The question, then, is how to lengthen their life expectancy and what to do if they do eventually go bad.

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Watering hole attack prevention

Dave Farquhar security , , , , , , , , ,
Watering hole attack prevention

A watering hole attack is an indirect attack on a victim. Rather than directly attacking the victim’s network, the attacker attacks a web site that the victim’s employees are likely to visit. Then the attacker attacks the victim’s network, via its own workstations, from that web site. A former colleague asked me how you protect against watering hole attacks, and I thought this was a good exercise. So here are some strategies for watering hole attack prevention.

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Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , , , ,
Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Old PCs, especially PCs from the 1980s to the mid 1990s, have a button with the curious label “Turbo.” On some PCs, a number on the front changes when you push it, or an LED toggles on or off. Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Turbo buttons are a quirk of old PCs, kind of like their beige color that tends to turn yellow, but it served a functional purpose.

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Coleco Gemini: An Atari 2600 clone from 1983

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming , , , , , , ,
Coleco Gemini: An Atari 2600 clone from 1983

I spotted it on page 597 of the 1983 Sears Christmas catalog. “Two big names play the same games,” the headline boasted. Next to the venerable Atari 2600, Sears presented the Coleco Gemini video game system, an Atari 2600 clone.

In 1982, Coleco built an add-on to make its Coleco Vision game system Atari 2600-compatible. Atari sued. Coleco poked the bear by making the Gemini, an outright clone. Sears had sold Atari 2600 clones before, but they were actually real Atari 2600s with a different label on them, supplied by Atari itself. The Gemini was more of a true Atari 2600 clone.

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Command line for active directory users and computers

Dave Farquhar Windows
Command line for active directory users and computers

Sometimes it’s faster just to type a command than to dig around in the start menu. That’s especially true for many sysadmin tasks. Knowing the command line for active directory users and computers can save you a lot of time.

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