Author: Dave Farquhar

Why Dwight Gooden isn’t in the Hall of Fame

Dave Farquhar Baseball
Why Dwight Gooden isn’t in the Hall of Fame

Why isn’t Dwight Gooden in the Hall of Fame? That’s a fair question. I saw him pitch when he was at his best. And when he was at his best, he was at least as good as anyone else I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. Furthermore, one of his comparables is Roy Halladay, who is in the Hall of Fame. What’s the difference?

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First generation IBM PC monitors

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
First generation IBM PC monitors

IBM produced and sold four monitors for the original IBM PC line. Yes, 4. These monitors were the familiar IBM 5151, IBM 5153, IBM 5154, and the obscure IBM 5175. In this blog post, I’ll explain these early and iconic IBM monitors for MDA, CGA, EGA, and the 5175, and how they relate to one another.

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Reveal codes in Word like Wordperfect

Dave Farquhar Office

If there’s one thing people miss when they switch from Wordperfect to Microsoft Word, it’s the old Reveal Codes function. This lets you view and fine tune document formatting and fix weirdness. Word has a similar function that nobody talks about. Here’s how to enable the closest thing to reveal codes in Word.

This trick works in recent versions of Word newer than Word 2007. So it’s been around a little while.

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386SX vs 386DX: a misunderstood difference

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
386SX vs 386DX: a misunderstood difference

The question of the 386SX vs 386DX is a confusing one. It always has been, even going back to when the chips were new. It doesn’t help that Intel wasn’t consistent. With the 386, SX vs DX has nothing to do with math coprocessors. It has everything to do with width of the data bus.

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Aztech sound cards: Underrated OPL3

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Aztech sound cards: Underrated OPL3

Sometimes when you go through a pile of old parts, you find a diamond in the rough. An Aztech sound card is a great example. They sound like they ought to be standard fare ’90s junk, with poor compatibility and poor sound quality. But it turns out they have a genuine Yamaha OPL3 chip in them. They may be the cheapest way to get a real OPL3 left.

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Right to hire meaning, pros and cons

Dave Farquhar Careers
Right to hire meaning, pros and cons

What is a right to hire? What does it mean? I have taken right to hire jobs before, and interviewed candidates for right to hire positions. But do I recommend them? Let’s take a look at the meaning of right to hire, and the pros and cons of taking a right to hire position.

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What paperwork you need for a mortgage pre-approval

Dave Farquhar Saving money
What paperwork you need for a mortgage pre-approval

A friend is buying a house, or trying. And like many people of a certain age, he has very few adult friends who have ever gotten a mortgage. I have, so I know it’s a scary process. So let’s talk about what paperwork you need for a mortgage pre-approval, and how hard the process is.

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286 vs 386SX

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
286 vs 386SX

The Intel 386 SX CPU quickly replaced the 286 CPU in the early 1990s. For a time, it was a very popular CPU, especially for people who were wanting to run Microsoft Windows 3.0 or 3.1. Yet the two CPUs run at nearly identical speed. So what was the big deal? The 286 vs 386SX argument could be confusing in 1991, and it’s not much clearer today.
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Gas stove not lighting? Try this

Dave Farquhar DIY
Gas stove not lighting? Try this

If your gas stove isn’t lighting, and by that I mean burners are clicking or won’t light, or light unevenly, I have good news for you. You don’t need a new range. I don’t know how many homeowners throw out perfectly fixable ranges over this problem, but I know it’s too many. You can fix this problem for around $2 if everything goes well. Even if everything doesn’t go well, you can fix it for around $80. But $2 is more likely.

If your gas stove won’t light, it’s usually a problem with airflow. Replacing the burner heads usually solves the problem, or you can save money by soaking the burner heads in vinegar.

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IBM Model M vs Cherry MX Blue

Dave Farquhar Hardware
IBM Model M vs Cherry MX Blue

To say the IBM Model M keyboard has a cult following is an understatement. Although it fell out of favor for a time, it’s made a comeback in recent years. Mechanical keyboards as a whole have also made a comeback in recent years. Cherry MX Blue switches are popular because some say they have a clicky IBM like feel. So let’s take a look at the IBM Model M vs Cherry MX Blue.

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