David L. Farquhar

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Hisense pushes out a Sero 7 Pro update

Dave Farquhar Android July 23, 2013android

My Hisense Sero 7 Pro asked to update itself this morning. The update billed itself as a stability update. Indeed, afterward, it still reports itself as running Android 4.2.1.

That said, I’m all for a stability update. My Sero 7 Pro sometimes has issues coming out of sleep mode, so I let it update. Whether it makes a difference will take a while to figure out–I tended to have the issue once or twice a week. A day is too little for anything but a first impression, and my first impression is that this was a very low-profile update. But mainly I’m happy to see that Hisense seems to be supporting the tablet with updates. Not every update needs to make a big splash.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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Wookie suits at work

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized July 22, 2013July 20, 2013Darth Vader, Justification, Star Trek

I have a coworker who owns a Darth Vader costume. If you ask him really nicely, he might dress up as Darth Vader to scare your kids. He’s proud enough to own that costume that he keeps a picture of himself in it on his desk.

Someone–I forget who–had the idea this past week that his cubicle neighbor ought to get a Chewbacca the Wookie suit. Because nothing goes with Darth Vader like Chewbacca, right? Several of us even reached for our wallets in anticipation of taking up a collection to fund this Chewbacca suit, and then someone threw out a stipulation–that the two of them need to wear their costumes to work.

For some reason, I still have my copy of the corporate dress code, so I got it out to see if it would be legal to wear Chewbacca and Darth Vader costumes to work. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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How Shloosl can copy a key from just a photograph

Dave Farquhar security July 21, 2013April 23, 2017hardware store, lifehacker

Lifehacker caused a bit of a stir by posting a link to Shloosl, a service that will mail you a copy of your key in exchange for a pair of digital photos of it and $5. Then they claimed the key worked better than a hardware-store copy, which really set some commenters off.

Is it bad security? And how does it work? Read more

Dave Farquhar

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What you should know about your first credit card

Dave Farquhar Saving money July 20, 2013July 26, 2017lifehacker, mortgage

Lifehacker asked what a first-time credit card owner needs to know. As someone who first got a credit card at the age of 20 and is still reaping the benefits of using one correctly from the start, I have some advice to give on that.

Dave Farquhar

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Reports of the Droidpocalypse have been greatly exaggerated

Dave Farquhar Android, security July 19, 2013July 18, 2013android, malicious code, malware, Play Store, vulnerability

I was listening to the excellent Risky Business analysis of the Droidpocalypse this week, and I’m happy to report that the vulnerability that affects 90% of Android devices ever made, while serious, is vastly overstated. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Now that Microsoft is IBM, it needs to avoid IBM’s big mistake

Dave Farquhar Windows July 18, 2013July 14, 20171980s, amd, apple, compaq, computerworld, IBM, intel, lenovo, Roku, xbox

Whether Microsoft likes it or not, it’s turned into IBM. The biggest difference I see is that when Microsoft makes a mistake, it catches up with them much faster than the same mistake did to IBM.

But IBM’s biggest mistake was its adamant refusal to compete with itself. And that’s what Microsoft is going to have to avoid. Like Computerworld says, Apple says if you don’t compete with yourself, someone else will. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Lionel in the non-hobby media

Dave Farquhar Toy trains July 17, 2013November 25, 20181990s, Korea, lionel, lionel train, Louis Marx, marx, New Jersey, Quaker Oats, Richard Kughn, Spare Parts

Cnet took a field trip to the official Lionel repair facility and wrote a feature story about it. It’s nice to see the attention outside of the hobby press, since it’s frequently news to people that Lionel is still around in any form. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Lawn mower blade bolt stuck? Try this

Dave Farquhar DIY, Saving money July 16, 2013March 31, 2023

I needed to change a stubborn mower blade this weekend. The lawnmower blade bolt was stuck and wouldn’t budge. That proved to be a challenge, but not an insurmountable one. If your lawn mower blade bolt is stuck, it’s possible to fix with simple tools you probably already have.

To remove and replace a lawn mower blade safely and easily, you need a length of 2×4 board long enough to stand on, a small plastic pan, the biggest socket wrench you can find, and a socket that matches the stuck bolt on your mower. If you don’t have a socket wrench or torque wrench, you can use a regular crescent wrench, but you want the biggest one you can find. Longer wrenches give more leverage, and you need lots of leverage to free a stuck bolt. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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