Author: Dave Farquhar

The ultimate budget smartphone: The Moto E

Dave Farquhar Android , , , , , ,

I wanted to like the Moto E, for sentimental reasons. The Motorola who made this phone isn’t the same Motorola who made the MC68000 CPU in my Amiga, and it’s not the same Motorola that built the hulking briefcase-sized bag phone Dad toted around in the 1980s, but the logo is the same.

The stingy Scottish miser in me wanted to like the phone too, because it costs $129. A few short months ago, the only phones you could buy new for under $130 were cheaply made no-name phones like the Blu Advance with half a gig of RAM, a low-visibility screen, a low-end processor you didn’t want and an Android that was a few versions out of date, encased in lots of cheap plastic. Next to the Moto E, the Blu phones lose what little appeal they had.

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Chasing dreams

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized ,

Lifehacker says to follow your skills rather than chasing your dreams.

There’s something to this. Two years ago I had a job writing security documentation. The CISO where I work now didn’t want to hire me because he was sure I already had my dream job and I’d just go back. On paper, it should have been my dream job, but I was beyond miserable. I was writing and editing for an audience of three people, and the environment was toxic. I woke up literally every morning thinking, “I didn’t study all day every day for three months to pass a 250-question 6-hour test to do this.”

Today I manage Windows patches. On paper it’s the most boring job in the world. But I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I’m up for the mandatory midyear review, and though I’ve only been at the job for four months, I have to provide a six-month review. I can’t fit my four months of accomplishments on a single sheet of paper. I wake up every morning ready to seize the day and accomplish something. Read more

What happens when you write a petabyte of data to an SSD

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , ,

If you’re concerned about SSD reliability, Tech Report has good news for you: They attempted to write a petabyte of data to six SSDs, and three of them survived. Considering the drives were rated for a 200 TB life expectancy, that’s impressive. In fact, even the worst drives outlived their 200 TB life expectancy. And all started behaving oddly long before their demise, giving you ample warning to do something in advance–something you can’t say about evil nasty platters of spinning rust–perhaps better known as traditional hard drives.

The first drive to fail, if you’re wondering, was the Samsung 840, which uses cheaper TLC memory. But even the Samsung 840 outlived its projected life expectancy. Since other companies are undercutting the 840’s price even with MLC memory these days, I’m not sure what Samsung’s plans for the 840 are. For the time being, I doubt you’ll be buying one. One of the drives that’s still going after a petabyte of writes is a costlier Samsung MLC drive.

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How to fix Firefox–really

Dave Farquhar Software , ,

I’ve been having problems with Firefox for a while now–crashes and other odd behavior. I’ve put up with it for a while, but I shouldn’t have to. It turns out the fix is very easy, but non-obvious.

Mozilla’s documentation is abysmal. When you move stuff around for no reason, change your docs to reflect the move, so people can find what you’re talking about. Or better yet, leave well enough alone.

If you actually want to fix the problem, don’t fiddle with the menus. Do this:

  • Type about:troubleshooting in the address bar
  • Click “Reset Firefox” in the upper right corner Read more

A Comcastic-ally bad idea

Dave Farquhar security , , , ,

If you haven’t heard about it, Comcast has plans to build a wifi network for its subscribers, on the back of its other subscribers’ routers. What’s worse is it’s an opt-out service. If you don’t hear about it and say something, you’re a hotspot for any other Comcast customer who happens to wander by.

I’m not a Comcast customer. I’m in Charter territory, and I’m not a Charter customer either. But I have so many problems with this it’s hard to know where to begin, so I sure hope other ISPs don’t copy this. Read more

Fixing an Asus Memopad 7 that wouldn’t power on

Dave Farquhar Android , , ,

One night my son ran down the battery on his Memopad 7 and put it away, but didn’t put it on the charger or tell me about it. The next time he went to use it, it was dead.

I tried several different tricks I found online, including plugging it in overnight to the AC adapter, plugging it in overnight to a computer’s USB port, and holding down the power button for a full minute or even a full five minutes. None of it worked–the unit just wouldn’t power on or show any signs of life whatsoever.

Finally I resigned myself to the possibility I would have to send it in for service. Read more

Some tips for trolling fake technical support calls

Dave Farquhar scams, security, Windows , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I did a little more digging after getting yet another fake technical support phone call last week, and I’ve done some thinking on my own. If you want to troll these criminals when they call you, here are some ideas. Read more

Curious conspiracies… or maybe just progress all at once

Dave Farquhar security , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the wake of Truecrypt’s sudden implosion, someone sent me a link to this curious blog post. I can see why many people might find the timing interesting, but there are a number of details this particular blog post doesn’t get correct, and it actually spends most of its time talking about stuff that has little or nothing to do with Truecrypt.

What’s unclear to me is whether he’s trying to say the industry is deliberately sabotaging Truecrypt, or if he’s simply trying to make a list of things that are making life difficult for Truecrypt. His post bothers me a lot less if it’s just a laundry list of challenges, but either way, the inaccuracies remain. Read more

The browser tradeoff

Dave Farquhar security, Software , ,

I probably ought to know better than the venture into the topic of web browsers by now, but since I stepped into it Friday, I guess there’s no point in staying in the shallow end.

The problem with web browsers is that they all require you to trade one thing for another, and if anything, that’s more true today than it ever has been before. Read more

Mr. Genius Man from “Windows Technical Support” gets nasty

Dave Farquhar scams, security, Windows , , , , , , , , ,

I got another “Windows Technical Support” call on Friday evening. My caller ID said Minneapolis, and since I have coworkers in Minneapolis, I answered. But the guy on the other end was a long way from Minneapolis and probably doesn’t know diddly about ice hockey.

I’m pretty sure it was the same criminal as last time, but over a better VOIP connection. I remember the voice pretty well, because his parting lines from last time, “Enjoy your broken computer, Mr. Genius Man!” struck me as funny. And he started the conversation with, “I’m calling you again about your Windows 7 computer.”

My conversation with him revealed a few things about why this scam is likely to be profitable.

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