Author: Dave Farquhar

Lionel scenic plots

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
Lionel scenic plots

Lionel scenic plots debuted in 1927 with the #195 illuminated terrace, a 19×22 inch platform built to provide a landscape for three houses, two #56 lamp posts, and a #90 flag pole.

The plot, and the various others that followed, solved two problems. They provided instant scenery for temporary floor layouts, and instant scenery for more permanent layouts for those who didn’t have the ability or confidence to attempt to scenic their layout themselves.

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Add serial and PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer

Dave Farquhar Hardware
Add serial and PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer

A lot of modern computers don’t come with PS/2 ports anymore, the reason being that USB replaced most of the ways we used to connect external peripherals to computers. But sometimes you need those ports on a modern or modern-ish computer. Here’s how to add PS/2 ports to a Dell Optiplex computer.

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Watermelon KPI meaning and examples

Dave Farquhar security
Watermelon KPI meaning and examples

A former Microsoft executive referenced watermelon KPIs the other day on social media. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard that term, but I see examples of watermelon KPIs frequently. Let’s talk about what watermelon KPIs are, how to recognize them, and why they are bad, but people still love them.

A watermelon KPI is a statistic or metric that looks good, but upon further examination, is actually bad. Like a watermelon, these KPIs are green on the outside, but red on the inside.

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Tandy 1000 and 1000SX upgrades

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Tandy 1000 and 1000SX upgrades

I watched a YouTube video recently about a Tandy 1000sx and he inquired about what kind of upgrades he should try. So let’s explore some options for upgrading a Tandy 1000 SX, or the models it replaced, the Tandy 1000 and Tandy 1000A.

The Tandy 1000 and Tandy 1000SX have ISA expansion slots, giving them more options for upgrading than the IBM PCjr or the compact all-in-one Tandy 1000EX or HX. But the Tandy 1000SX with five slots can go a step further than the 1000 or 1000A, which only have three slots.

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What the build dates on Lionel trains mean

Dave Farquhar Toy trains
What the build dates on Lionel trains mean

Here’s a question that comes up from time to time on train forums. What do the build dates on Lionel trains mean? In the Lionel postwar era, not a lot. At least not if you’re looking to figure out the actual age of the model.

The build dates on Lionel postwar trains, and largely for MPC-era trains as well, indicate when the model was first released, not when the example you hold in your hands was built.

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Rebuild an XLSX file in Python

Dave Farquhar Software
Rebuild an XLSX file in Python

I ran into a compatibility issue with the formatting in an Excel file. When I tried to open the file in a Python program using Pandas, as one does, I got the following error: ValueError: Colors must be aRGB hex values.

Very old versions of xlrd (version 1.2.0) can get around the color problem and open the file anyway, but Pandas requires version 2.0.1 or newer. I got around the problem by using an old xlrd to open the file and rebuild the file with a current version of xlsxwriter so Pandas could open the resulting file.

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Are Ecosmart light bulbs good? My experience

Dave Farquhar DIY
Are Ecosmart light bulbs good? My experience

I’ve been buying Ecosmart light bulbs at Home Depot since the summer of 2015. Ecosmart is Home Depot’s house brand. At the time I started buying them, they seemed like good bulbs for the money. The last time I bought bulbs, they had pretty much crowded everything else off the shelf. So let’s talk about Ecosmart light bulbs and whether they are any good.

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Amiga 500 motherboard revisions

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Amiga 500 motherboard revisions

There were four major revisions of the Amiga 500 motherboard released, and that matters if you are trying to upgrade them. Fortunately, if you know what to look for, you can quickly distinguish between all four, and you can even identify them without opening the case. Although it is certainly easier to identify them if you can see the entire board.

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Update Windows without rebooting

Dave Farquhar security
Update Windows without rebooting

Of course, saying you can update Windows without rebooting is a bit of a misnomer. Some updates don’t require a reboot, but with the ones that do, there isn’t really any getting around it. You can delay the reboot, but if you never get around to rebooting, you have a partially applied update indefinitely.

But here’s how I used to use delayed reboots to help me get more done in my maintenance window.

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Prevent tools from rusting

Dave Farquhar DIY
Prevent tools from rusting

A common problem with tools, whether we are talking garden tools or hand tools, is the tools rusting in storage when we aren’t using them. Here’s how to prevent tools from rusting in your garage, your shed, or your toolbox.

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