Author: Dave Farquhar

My first blog post for Qualys

Dave Farquhar security

A chance conversation with a Qualys customer a few weeks ago veered off topic really fast, but it led to another conversation, which caught a manager’s attention and led to my first  blog post for them.

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Rental property: a good investment

Dave Farquhar Landlording , ,

Is rental property a good investment? It certainly is if you do it right.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Cleaning Lionel track in a dishwasher

Dave Farquhar Toy trains ,
Cleaning Lionel track in a dishwasher

When faced with a big box of dirty old Lionel track, a common question is whether you can just clean it up by putting it in a dishwasher.

With a few caveats, the answer is yes, but I wouldn’t say I recommend it.

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Commodore 64 vs 64c

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , , , , , , , , ,
Commodore 64 vs 64c

The Commodore 64 went through a number of revisions throughout its long life. The most outwardly visible of those revisions was the transition from the tan, boxy C-64 to the thinner, lighter-colored 64c. If you’e wondering about the Commodore 64 vs 64c, here’s what you need to know.

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A 960 GB SSD for $188

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , ,

If you’re in the market for a 960 GB SSD but you’ve been waiting for a deal, here’s one that’s been worth waiting for: an A-Data SP550 for $188. It’s remarkable only for the price, but what a price.

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Share a Windows 10 printer by UNC

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , , ,

Windows 10 uses homegroups, but if you have systems that don’t understand homegroups and want to share a Windows 10 printer by UNC (the old school way to share a network printer), it’s not obvious how to go about doing it.

I couldn’t find a way from the GUI, but it’s still possible to share the printer from a command line.

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C64 vs Apple II

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , , , ,
C64 vs Apple II

The C64 vs Apple II was perhaps the most epic battle of the 8-bit era. Both companies sold millions of machines, yet both nearly went out of business in the process.

Comparing the two machines with the largest software libraries of the 8-bit era is a bit difficult, but that’s what makes it fun. The two machines are similar enough that some people ask if the Commodore 64 was an Apple product. The answer is no.

As a weird aside, it was possible, with a Mimic Systems Spartan, to turn a C-64 into an Apple II. Not many did, but the reason why is another story.

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How to disassemble a Lionel 1001, 1060 or 8902 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains , , , , , , , , ,
How to disassemble a Lionel 1001, 1060 or 8902 locomotive

Disassembling a Lionel 1001, 1060, 8902 or 8302 locomotive isn’t too difficult. The biggest problem is knowing where the three screws are that you have to remove.

These particular locomotives weren’t really designed to be repaired, but there’s some basic work you can do on them with household tools. The 8902 and 8302 locomotives can be cheap sources of a motor for other projects.

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The Aero Monorail Company of St. Louis

Dave Farquhar St. Louis, Toy trains , , , ,
The Aero Monorail Company of St. Louis

The Aero Monorail was a futuristic monorail train that first hit the market in 1932. Manufactured in St. Louis by the eponymously named Aero Monorail Company, it was designed to suspend over Lionel standard gauge track and run  faster than the standard gauge train.

The stands came in two varieties: a pair of free standing towers, and a series of towers that slipped under Standard gauge track and used the same 42-inch diameter. The motor looked like an Erector motor and ran on 6-8 volts, either DC or AC.

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Compress system files doesn’t show up in Disk Cleanup

Dave Farquhar Windows , , ,

One of the new features of Windows 10 is better file compression, which was intended to help Windows fit better in low-resource devices like tablets. But it’s helpful on computers with SSDs too. But for whatever reason that option doesn’t show up on mine.

But you can still compress your system files even if the Disk Cleanup utility (which you can also launch from the Free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files control panel) doesn’t show the Compress system files option.

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