Author: Dave Farquhar

What scale are Matchbox cars?

Dave Farquhar Model Building , , , , , , , , , , , ,
What scale are Matchbox cars?

What scale are Matchbox cars, you ask? Unfortunately it varies a bit. Nominally they’re around 1:64 scale. But scale isn’t Matchbox’s objective. Fitting in the package is. That means the size of Matchbox cars is between 2.5 and 3 inches, depending on what looks right for the prototype model. So it can take some homework to figure out the actual scale of any given model.

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Goudey Babe Ruth cards

Dave Farquhar Baseball , , , ,
Goudey Babe Ruth cards

Babe Ruth is arguably the greatest baseball player of all time. No doubt he’s the most famous baseball player of all time. Goudey was the top baseball card brand of the 1930s, so Goudey and the Sultan of Swat make a legendary combination. When it comes to Goudey Babe Ruth cards, there are several options.

I don’t generally recommend baseball cards as investments. But Goudey Babe Ruth cards have increased in value over time and they aren’t hard to sell quickly if the need ever arises. So they are a safer investment than most other baseball cards, at least.

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Connecting to Virtual Disk Service message in Disk Manager

Dave Farquhar Windows ,

I had trouble in Disk Manager the other day. It hung at the message that says “Connecting to Virtual Disk Service.” My problem happened with an SD card, but it can happen with any type of drive.

Here’s how I fixed it.

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MAC address filtering in DD-WRT

Dave Farquhar DD-WRT ,
MAC address filtering in DD-WRT

I don’t recommend MAC address filtering–it stands for Media Access Control and has nothing to do with Apple computers–as a security measure. It’s too easy to bypass it. But if you want or need to do MAC address filtering in DD-WRT it’s easy to do.

And admittedly, even though MAC filtering won’t help your security, DD-WRT’s implementation of it lets you do some neat tricks that an off-the-shelf router can’t do–like forcing a device to use 5 GHz even if it wants to use 2.4 GHz.

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Commodore 64 commands

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , ,
Commodore 64 commands

People frequently ask me for a list of common or useful Commodore 64 commands, including disk drive commands. Since the C-64’s built in operating system is more of a combination command line/Basic interpreter, it takes some getting used to if you didn’t grow up with it.

These commands assume a stock, unmodified C-64, freshly powered on. Many fast-load cartridges, ROM replacements, or so-called DOS wedge programs include shortcuts for these commands. But these commands work on any C-64 with a disk drive, modified or stock.

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Speed up Firefox

Dave Farquhar Software , , , , ,

I’ve seen a lot of gimmicky hacks to speed up Firefox, and you probably have too. But chances are Firefox ran just fine when you started, then it slowed down over time. Here’s my collection of tips to restore Firefox’s performance if Firefox is slow.

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Fix a Fujitsu Scansnap Code 43 error

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , ,
Fix a Fujitsu Scansnap Code 43 error

When you connect a Fujitsu Scansnap scanner to a Windows machine over USB, it usually works fine–until the dreaded Error Code 43 error turns up. Here’s how to fix a Fujitsu Scansnap Code 43 error under Windows 7 or Windows 10.

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Lock the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad

Dave Farquhar Hardware , ,
Lock the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad

Depending on your age and experience with computers, you may need to find you need to lock the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad. Or you may find the opposite, that you need to disable the function keys on a Lenovo Thinkpad.

Here’s how to do both.

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Blu Studio One review

Dave Farquhar Android , , , , , , ,

I needed a phone in a hurry the other day when my wife’s Moto E started acting up. We turned to the Blu Studio One, specifically model# S0110UU. This is my Blu Studio One review.

It’s an inexpensive midrange phone for people who want to bring their own to their carrier rather than (over)paying on a monthly installment plan. It works with GSM providers like T-Mobile and AT&T. It does not work with Sprint or Verizon, since they use the CDMA standard. Some of the smaller carriers also work with GSM. Buying a Blu phone isn’t a bad way to go when you’re looking to save on a cell phone.

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Security+ vs CISSP

Dave Farquhar security , , ,

Someone asked me to compare Security+ vs CISSP, particularly the difficulty. I’m glad to oblige. I have both certifications.

Let’s start by looking at a couple of hypothetical questions. Don’t expect to see either of these on the test; I’m making them up as I go. But don’t be surprised if you see something similar.

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