Author: Dave Farquhar

Non-derailing Marx switches

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

The Marx 1590 is the best O27 switch ever made. It’s durable, works well with all makes of trains (just put a track pin in the center rail where the switch pivots so that Lionel trains can pass), and can run off accessory power without modification.

The only downside is that it (allegedly) can’t be set to automatically switch to a position to accommodate an approaching train like a Lionel 1122, which makes it unusable in a reverse loop. That’s true if you wire them the way Marx said to wire them.

Here’s how I wire them to get that coveted feature.

Read more

Four simple steps to optimize WordPress

Dave Farquhar Apache, Linux , , , , ,

A couple of years ago, I stood up a WordPress server. I made no effort to tune it, let alone turbocharge it, which is a decision I later came to regret. If your site gets more than a few hundred hits per day, you need to tune it. If you want to get more than a few hundred hits per day, you need to tune it because Apache and MySQL’s default settings are by no means one-size-fits-all. And you can never have too much speed. There are two reasons for that: Google favors fast sites over slow sites, and Amazon found that a one-second delay in page load drops traffic by 7 percent.

There’s a lot of advice out there on tuning WordPress, some of which seems to be good, and some of it not so good.

Here are four things that I know work. I run Apache and MySQL under Linux; these tools may run under Windows or OS X too.
Read more

Wi-fi wants to be free… except it’s not 1994 anymore

Dave Farquhar security , , ,

The Open Wi-Fi movement was on the front page of Slashdot yesterday afternoon. Predictably, comment #2 was, “give me immunity from the MPAA and RIAA and I’ll open my Wi-Fi.” Valid point. Very valid point.

Though there are other problems, too.

Read more

The Internet is a 21st century utility–take it seriously

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , ,

Forbes says we need to take Internet speed more seriously in this country.

My take: I got my first modem in 1986, roughly, and after mapping out my modem purchases over the following decade, I saw that I was upgrading to a faster modem speed roughly every 2 years. My jump from 300 bits per second to 1200 bits per second was my biggest jump, and there was a smaller jump from 9.6 kbps to 14.4 kbps in the early 1990s, but those were the only two exceptions to the rule. Read more

How to move a train table on an unfinished, concrete basement floor

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Toy trains

I had to move my train table recently. No, I didn’t have the foresight to put wheels on it. So I had to resort to using furniture movers.

After putting the fuzzy protectors on them, they glide fine on the concrete, without fear of damaging the plastic sliding surface. They might slide alone on concrete too, but I don’t want to scratch the movers up, because I intend to use them elsewhere too. Some online reviewers reported that scratched movers scratch wood floors.

I just lifted each leg of the table, kicked a mover under it, then went around to the next leg. A pair of 4×8 tables is still awkward for one person to move, but if you’re not moving too far, you can do it. If you have help, you can get more ambitious.

How to save money on tech

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CNN offered up some good tips on saving money on tech. But of course I want to analyze and comment on it myself. Anything else would be out of character. Here’s how I save money on tech.

Read more

A minor (but vital) Apache performance tweak

Dave Farquhar Apache, Linux , , , , ,

My problems seem to have become more rare since I started blocking spambots and tuned PHP and Apache but last night my server ran out of memory again and started timing out.

It turns out I still had a critical problem, but one that’s easy to fix with a relatively simple Perl script.

Read more

How the previous week’s headlines flow together

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , , , , , ,

Here are some headlines I read this past week: Dell is trying to take itself private. Microsoft is investing in Dell. Intel is pulling out of the motherboard market. AMD is considering ARM CPUs. And the PC is dead.

It’s all related.
Read more

Windows Medkit cleans up the damage after removing malware infestations

Dave Farquhar security , ,

I’ve written before about cleaning up Windows boxes using a Bitdefender Live CD, but the live CDs often don’t clean up all of the collateral damage that the malware does to try to keep you from uninstalling them.

That’s where Windows Medkit can come in.

Read more

The lines between white hat/gray hat/black hat hacking and moral laws

Dave Farquhar security , , , , , ,

Longtime reader/commenter Joseph asked two questions yesterday: What’s the boundary between gray and black-hat hacking, and is it moral to pick and choose between moral and immoral laws?

The first question is easier than the second. So I’ll tackle that one first. Read more