David L. Farquhar

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Firefox needs to adopt the Ubuntu model

Dave Farquhar Software June 25, 2011June 25, 2011chrome, firefox, ubuntu

Firefox has an identity crisis.

Used to being the #2 browser and eroding share from IE, Firefox sees its share eroding slightly–or not growing as fast as it used to, depending on who you ask–and the upstart Chrome gaining.

What Firefox has done is tantamount to panic.

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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Stress test computer hardware with Prime95

Dave Farquhar Hardware June 24, 2011November 22, 2018data recovery, excel, memory slots, overclocking, prime95, SUBSYSTEM, Task Manager

Let’s say you’ve just bought a used PC with a short (typically less than 2 weeks) warranty. Or a new PC that’s not the brand you know and trust. Maybe you’ve built a new PC and you want to make sure it’s going to hold up before you start using it every day. Or you have a new server, and you want to make sure it’s going to hold up under heavy loads. What should you do to stress test computer hardware (or burn in computer hardware) like that?

Do what overclockers do.

Dave Farquhar

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Review: X-Kim GPTL-00A

Dave Farquhar Hardware June 23, 2011KIM, Micro Center, NES, nintendo, nintendo nes, playstation, sony, sony playstation

I think the last time I saw a halfway original idea for a game was around 1992. Everything I’ve seen since then has just been a re-hash of something old, with incrementally better graphics to make it prettier to look at, better AI to make the game harder to beat, and perhaps a new setting.

So I don’t play a lot of games. And when I do, I’d rather play an old game for an old system, which of convenience’s sake usually means running an emulator. But video games on a keyboard–even a really good keyboard–isn’t much fun, so I bought myself a cheap USB game controller.

Dave Farquhar

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And that didn’t take long: Firefox 5 is out

Dave Farquhar security, Software June 22, 2011firefox

Firefox 5 was released yesterday with comparatively little fanfare. Firefox 4 only came out 3 months ago. And realistically, this is more deserving of a version number like 4.1, not 5.0. It’s a marketing decision more than a technical one. But it contains 8 critical bug fixes, a few stability fixes, and a few rendering fixes, so it’s worth grabbing, and treating like a point release, not necessarily with the usual trepidation that accompanies a major release.If your browser hasn’t already grabbed it and prompted you for installation, I recommend you go get it.

And a new version, most likely to be called 6.0, is expected in another three months.

Dave Farquhar

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First impressions: Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper

Dave Farquhar security, Windows June 22, 2011antivirus, AOL, apple, Bit Defender, malware, PE, Standalone System Sweeper, Windows XP

Microsoft has released an antivirus/antispyware live CD that runs in the Windows PE environment called Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper. I wouldn’t use it as a full replacement for a Linux-based live CD from an antivirus vendor such as Bit Defender, which I’ve written about before. It is, however, a good supplement–a second opinion. Nothing catches everything, after all.

The idea behind all of these is to boot into a sterile environment to scan a dormant hard drive for things that evade or disable your normal antivirus software. The need for this grows just about every day, as there’s a lot of really nasty stuff out there these days. It’s not a substitute for normal antivirus software–it’s what you call on if and when normal antivirus software fails and a malware infestation prevents normal use of the computer.

Dave Farquhar

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Removing the Windows XP Repair scareware

Dave Farquhar security, Windows June 21, 2011antimalware, antivirus, Bit Defender, CA, firefox, firewall, malware, Microsoft Security Essentials, Open Office, oracle, Standalone System Sweeper, Windows XP

Windows XP Repair is a fake system optimization and repair tool. It takes over the computer almost completely, and it’s a pain to remove. Worse yet, there’s at least one version floating around right now that standard no antivirus/antimalware tool I threw at it recognized.

Here’s how I removed it for someone.

Dave Farquhar

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How young is too young for a credit card?

Dave Farquhar Saving money June 20, 2011April 15, 20171990s, discipline, Discover Card, interest rates, minimum payment, Missouri

MSNBC columnist (and one of my former college instructors) Bob Sullivan asked an interesting question last week. How young is too young for a credit card?

I think the credit industry used to draw the line somewhere around age 19 or 20. But things changed a lot in the 1990s.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Analysis: Samsung “green” memory

Dave Farquhar Hardware, Saving money June 19, 2011June 19, 2011amd, Blade, intel, kingston, KWH, Micro Center, Missouri, samsung

I was at Micro Center today, picking up CD jewel cases and USB flash memory and a cheap USB game pad. And to buy a little extra time–I had one son with me and the other was home napping–I wandered around. In the memory aisle, I spotted some Samsung “green” memory. Manufactured with a 40nm process instead of the usual 60nm process, the modules are 2/3 the size of conventional modules, run cooler, and use up to 47% less power.

Is it worth paying extra for? As always, it depends.

Dave Farquhar

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