Author: Dave Farquhar

How to fix a garbage disposal

Dave Farquhar DIY , , , ,
How to fix a garbage disposal

If your garbage disposal quit suddenly, don’t fret. We’ve all been there. There are three common ways to fix a garbage disposal and none of them require any special tools.

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Oil for under your mower deck

Dave Farquhar DIY , ,
Oil for under your mower deck

Someone asked me to recommend oil for under your mower deck. If you’re not familiar with this trick, it’s a good idea to oil the underside of your lawnmower deck to keep grass from sticking to it. This helps keep your blade from bogging down and your deck from rusting.

What oil do I like? The person brought up Marvel Mystery Oil. I do like Marvel Mystery Oil inside the mower. But I think it’s too expensive for the deck.

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What garbage disposals cost

Dave Farquhar Landlording , ,
What garbage disposals cost

My realtor called the other day and asked me what garbage disposals cost. The answer, of course, is that it varies, but it’s definitely possible to estimate.

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Commodore 1541-II DIP switches

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing ,
Commodore 1541-II DIP switches

Commodore’s 1541-II disk drive has a pair of DIP switches on the back to let you change its device number. DOS and Windows computers use drive letters to address its disk drives (usually A: and B:). Commodore used the numbers 8-11 to address them. Here’s how to set the 1541-II DIP switches so you can run more than one drive.

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Does HTTPS matter? Yes. Here’s why.

Dave Farquhar security ,
Does HTTPS matter? Yes. Here’s why.

“Does HTTPS matter?” a friend of a friend asked. “I heard it does. Is that still true?” Yes, yes, and yes. Here’s why.

HTTP connections are unencrypted. HTTPS connections are encrypted. You can tell when you’re using HTTPS because the URLs start with https:// instead of http://, and your location bar will have a lock in it. Encryption is good.

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How a dictionary attack works

Dave Farquhar security , , ,
How a dictionary attack works

A dictionary attack is a common way to steal a password. Here’s how a dictionary attack works, in layperson’s terms. More importantly, here’s how to beat the attack.

A dictionary attack is a much more efficient alternative to brute force hacking, but it requires a local copy of the user database to work. That usually means stealing the database first, if a bad guy is doing it. But nothing stops a company from doing a dictionary attack on its own user accounts to make sure people aren’t using insecure passwords. It’s unusual, but not unheard of.

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TP-Link TL-SG1008D vs TP-Link TL-SG108

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking

TP-Link has two inexpensive 8-port switches aimed at the consumer market: the TP-Link TL-SG1008D and TP-Link TL-SG108. If you’re wondering about the TP-Link TL-SG1008D vs TP-Link TL-SG108, I can sum it up pretty easily.

Who you’re asking for makes a big difference. If you’re asking for yourself, you probably want the TL-SG108. If you’re asking for a friend, the TL-SG1008D may be worth considering. Read on to see why.

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Check your network speed in Windows 10

Dave Farquhar Servers and Networking, Windows , , , , , ,
Check your network speed in Windows 10

Sometimes you need to check your network speed in Windows 10. The information buried a bit but you can get there in about three clicks. When you need to know the raw specs of your network connection, here’s how to do it. Microsoft seems to have moved this recently, sometime in 2018, so I’ve updated this for the current builds of Windows 10.

Depending on your network driver, it was sometimes easier to get this in previous versions of Windows. Sometimes all you had to do was hover over your network connection icon. But this method also works in Windows 7, even if you have a featureless network driver.

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Estate sale tips for buyers

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , ,

I talked earlier this week about garage sales, but what about estate sale tips for buyers? The overall strategy is similar, but there are definitely tips that apply specifically to estate sales. Simply put, shopping at estate sales can save you thousands of dollars if you do it right.

So what is an estate sale? Imagine an oversized garage sale. Essentially, the family is liquidating everything in the house. Of course you find a lot of the same things you’d find at a garage sale, but at a good estate sale, there will be high-dollar items too.

So, without further ado, here are my 18 hard-won estate sale tips for buyers.

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How to sell Lionel trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Since I’ve covered other makes of trains, someone asked me how to sell Lionel trains. So I thought I would give similar advice on selling Lionel trains. Lionel is an iconic, legendary part of Americana, so there will always be some market for its products.

That said, don’t expect to get rich selling off your Lionel trains. But if you keep your expectations realistic, you’ll find an eager buyer, or ideally, at least two interested buyers so you’ll realize a good price at auction.

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