Author: Dave Farquhar

How to fix blank table of contents entries in Word

Dave Farquhar Office, Software , ,

A system security document I was editing had blank table of contents entries in Word. This was in Word 2010, but my research indicated it can happen in Word 2007, 2003, and very possibly earlier versions as well.

Since the table of contents is often the first impression of the document, you want to get it right. Many readers will assume that if the table of contents has errors, the rest of the document will too. They may be wrong, but you may not get a chance to prove it.

The particular document I was looking at had two blank entries in the table of contents. When I clicked on the links, they led to the entries right below them in the TOC, making them completely extraneous.
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Scratch one fake antivirus vendor

Dave Farquhar security ,

The FTC appears to have sued the makers of XP Antivirus, among others, out of business–to the tune of $163 million.

There will be no tears from me.

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Windows 8 won’t fail just because nobody likes Windows upgrades

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , , , , , , ,

John C Dvorak wrote today about the great upgrade upheaval, and argued that Windows 8 is doomed to fail because it’s just going to be too hard to upgrade, and nobody likes Windows upgrades anyway.

I agree on the first point but not the second.

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CISSP vs. CASP vs. CEH

Dave Farquhar security , , , , , , ,

One of my coworkers invited me to watch a webinar with him today that promised to compare CompTIA’s new high-end certification with the CISSP.

I was skeptical at first, especially when I heard it was an 80-question, 150-minute test. But by the end, I mostly liked what I heard.

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The phone in the server rack

Dave Farquhar War Stories , , ,

I spent about four years of my life working in a datacenter, administering a system comprised of about 200 computers supporting 20,000 users. I have some stories.

The facility had a lot of rules, some of them extremely petty. One of them involved telephones.

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The phone in the fridge, from generation to generation

Dave Farquhar Personal ,

We took our kids to a good friend’s birthday party this weekend. Unlike the last birthday party they attended, we only had one meltdown, and it was relatively minor. When I heard the unmistakable sound of two mini-Daves screaming at each other, I excused myself to investigate.

My boys were playing with my friend’s daughters’ kitchen set, and arguing about what you could and couldn’t put in the fridge.

“It’s ironic that my two sons would be arguing about what you can put in a fridge,” I said upon my return. Read more

Barnes & Noble punches back

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , ,

Slashdot accuses the new Nook HD and HD+ of punching above their weight.

Now, granted, B&N has an uphill fight. But to me, there are several compelling things about these new devices. Maybe these devices don’t have what that particular contributor seeks, but to date, there’s still no one-size-fits-all tablet.

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Certifications are a scam! A rebuttal

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , , , ,

I overheard a couple of people talking a few weeks ago, and one said, flat out, “Certifications are a scam!”

As one who has two security certifications (Security+ and CISSP), I disagree. Now that I’ve had my first post-CISSP professional review, I disagree even more strongly.

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The Byte digital archive

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
The Byte digital archive

Here’s a treasure trove for retro computing enthusiasts. Archive.org created the Byte digital archive. It’s exactly what it sounds like: A collection of digitized issues of Byte magazine available online, free.

Numerous archives of vintage computer magazines exist, many of which are of questionable legality so I’ll refrain from saying anything specific about that.

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LED bulbs and breakability

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , ,

A longtime friend posted something on Facebook about CFL bulbs–namely, that in addition to containing mercury, that they also emit ultraviolet light. I thought everyone knew that fluorescent lights emit more UV than other types of lights and that wasn’t news, but maybe not.

I pointed out that LED bulbs don’t emit any UV light at all, and the proof is that bugs aren’t attracted to LED lights. They’ll come to an incandescent or a fluorescent light though.

He asked if LED lights pose any hazards if they break. I now have an answer. Read more