Author: Dave Farquhar

A TRS-80 retrospective

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing , ,

This month is the 35th anniversary of the TRS-80, which was the best-selling computer in the world until 1982 when the VIC-20 overtook it. Did you miss it? I almost did.

Veteran technology journalist and editor Harry McCracken has a nice retrospective of this mass-market computer from Radio Shack.

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Ways to keep your password from being guessed–today

Dave Farquhar security

Articles like Ars Technica’s Why passwords have never been weaker — and crackers have never been stronger are getting more and more common these days.

In a positive development, I don’t think the story had been live more than an hour or two before people started asking me questions. That’s good, because that tells me that people care.
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Yes, ramdisks still make sense, especially with memory so cheap

Dave Farquhar Windows , , , , ,

A former classmate and industry colleague dropped me a line a few weeks ago. He pointed out that memory is dirt cheap, and he bought 16 GB of RAM, just because it cost him around $100 to do, and was wondering what to do with it. A ramdisk, perhaps?

My search logs prove that ramdisks are the best-kept secret in the industry (virtually nobody knows or cares about them), but they’re still the best way to increase the longevity or life expectancy of an SSD and an outstanding way to pep up performance. A ramdisk is 80 times faster than a hard drive, 60 times faster than a RAID array, and 10-20 times faster than an SSD.
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Thanks for the misinformation, Disney

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

In one of its throwaway kid’s sitcoms, Disney insinuates that open source software contains spyware and using it is a ‘rookie mistake’.

Open source software rarely contains viruses or spyware. Since it’s open for examination, changes to the code that have any funny business in them tend to be rejected. For that matter, code with unintended bad consequences tends to either be rejected, or quickly changed.
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Two more questions about wireless security

Dave Farquhar security , , ,

I got two good questions last week, via Facebook, that I answered briefly in the comments, but are worth further exploration: Does it beef up wireless security to hide the SSID and only allow the MAC addresses of hardware you own?

Those are good questions. Smart questions. I like those kinds of questions.

Unfortunately, neither measure gets you a whole lot. Against a sophisticated attacker, that buys you minutes, compared to the security of a strong password, which buys you years. It’s like having a locked screen door in front of the vault door at Fort Knox. (Assuming you’re using a strong password–if you’re using a weak password and these measures, it’s like having multiple locked screen doors.)

Then again, not everyone is a sophisticated attacker.
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A tool for learning Windows and Office keyboard shortcuts

Dave Farquhar Windows ,

Sometimes my coworkers will watch me write, because they like a freak show. I guess they’ve never seen someone who uses the mouse as little as I do. If I know a keyboard shortcut, I use it. It’s faster, I say, and they agree I have a point.

This morning I found a tool called Keyrocket, via the Raymond.cc blog, for learning Windows and Office keyboard shortcuts. Think of it as a helpful, non-annoying, non-evil Office Assistant. Read more

Security doesn’t have to be intimidating to be effective

Dave Farquhar security ,

I got into a conversation the other day about physical security, basing the physical security of a particular facility. “You have to sign in when you enter. Well laddy da!”

Actually, there are times where that’s completely appropriate. But they actually missed something, too. The facility they were making fun of has a locked door and a log.
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Advice on avoiding college debt–at least for Missouri residents

Dave Farquhar Saving money , , , , ,

The business section of the Post-Dispatch had a good article on avoiding college debt. It’s tricky, as even Mizzou costs $22,000 a year now. I’m pretty sure when I was a Tiger, it was more like $10,000 a year, though I had scholarships that knocked that down even more.

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I may have found a few-compromises 7-inch tablet

Dave Farquhar Android, Hardware , , ,

So I was tempted when I saw a refurbished Acer Iconia 7-inch tablet for $151. Its specs are outmoded but respectable–dual core 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB of storage, and a microSD slot. And Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is available for it.

But there’s something better around the corner. I say few-compromises, because I haven’t seen a no-compromises 7-inch tablet yet. The 7-inch sector is all about value.

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Remembering Rossino’s

Dave Farquhar St. Louis , , , , , ,
Remembering Rossino’s

I thought of Rossino’s, a hideaway Italian restaurant in St. Louis’ Central West End the other day. And then today, I saw the obituary for Nina Lee Russo, one of the owners of the secluded yet popular restaurant.

The obituary mentioned the restaurant closed in 2006, when the second generation wanted to retire. But the obituary mentioned some other facts that explained a few things. Read more