Author: Dave Farquhar

WordPress Jetpack stats won’t load? Try this

Dave Farquhar Wordpress

With much fanfare, Automattic released a new version of Jetpack Stats for WordPress in March 2023. And sometimes the page doesn’t load, giving the spinny ring of death. Wait all day if you want, you’ll just get the ring. Hitting F5 to reload the page will almost always cause this to happen, as will your computer going to sleep while the page is open. But sometimes I’ve seen it happen on its own as well.

The fix is easy but non-obvious.

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Marx 400 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx 400 locomotive

The Marx 400 locomotive was Marx’s entry level plastic locomotive that it sold in inexpensive electric sets.

Introduced in 1952 as a windup and in an electric version in 1953, the 400 was an 0-4-0 steam locomotive made of plastic. Initially, it supplemented pressed tin engines, although plastic eventually overtook metal in the most inexpensive sets. But in 1953, plastic was still somewhat new and novel. So a set with a plastic engine and tender could actually sell at retail for about 10% more than an all metal set.

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Is a smartphone a computer?

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Is a smartphone a computer?

Is a smartphone a computer? The short answer is yes. The reason why I answer that way is a little bit more complicated, but a smartphone meets every definition of a computer.

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How frequently Linux updates

Dave Farquhar security
How frequently Linux updates

Unfortunately, how frequently Linux updates is not a straightforward question with a straightforward answer. Linux and related software get updates when the updates are ready. This can confuse security professionals who are used to companies like Microsoft and Adobe releasing updates on a predefined schedule.

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Stereo SID for Commodore 64 and 128

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Stereo SID for Commodore 64 and 128

The Commodore 64 came equipped with a powerful sound chip called the SID, acronym for sound interface device. In its later years, one of the ways Commodore enthusiasts extended the usefulness of their machines was by adding a second sound chip. Let’s talk about this capability and how many people took advantage of it.

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Marx train set 4222

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx train set 4222

The Marx 4222 steam type electric freight train set was a hybrid set from the early 1950s with a plastic 400 locomotive and four wheel plastic tender paired up with 6 inch tin freight cars. At least four variations of this set exist. They all came with the same locomotive and tender and a New York Central 20102 caboose. The differences in the variations are in the type and number of freight cars.

This specific set illustrates the challenges of collecting Marx sets. Marx used the same catalog number on multiple variations in the same decade. It’s not something Marx did all the time, but someone at Marx must have liked the number 4222.

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Why the Atari Jaguar is so expensive

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming
Why the Atari Jaguar is so expensive

Atari’s final game console of the 20th century was a console called the Jaguar. It entered a crowded game console market when it was released in late 1993, and it left the market in 1996 with more of a whimper than a roar. Today, it is a prized collectors item. Here’s why the Atari Jaguar is so expensive.

Launched in November 1993 at a price of $249 and soon reduced to $199, and then to $159 and $99, the Jaguar is worth considerably more than that today. Read more

Phone charger won’t plug in? Check this

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Phone charger won’t plug in? Check this

The other day I went for a walk, threw my phone in my pocket like I always do, and didn’t think anything of it. But then when I got home, the charger didn’t want to plug in. Here’s what to do if your phone charger won’t plug in or your phone doesn’t want to charge when you plug your charger in.

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IBM PC DOS 2000: An underrated DOS

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
IBM PC DOS 2000: An underrated DOS

What’s the ideal operating system to run on a retro PC? There are several names you hear over and over again. MS-DOS 6.22 is probably the most frequent option. MS-DOS 3.31 is one that comes up from time to time. Then there’s FreeDOS, and SvarDOS, an open source DOS optimized for 8088-class PCs. I don’t think enough people talk about IBM PC DOS 2000. I think it’s an underrated choice.

IBM PC DOS 2000 was derived from the same code base as MS DOS 6.22, so it has a very high degree of compatibility with the most common and most popular retro DOS. But it also has some advantages.

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Marx train set 761

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Marx train set 761

The Marx 761 train set was a windup set headed by Marx M10005 diesel engines, one with a clockwork motor and one unpowered, along with freight cars. It allowed Marx to use up slow selling obsolete inventory. Marx sold it from 1951 to 1953, when presumably it had worked through its surplus of locomotives.

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