Author: Dave Farquhar

Hide glue vs PVA wood glue

Dave Farquhar DIY
Hide glue vs PVA wood glue

There are many types of wood glue, and it can be confusing which one to use. Specialty glues are more expensive, but are they better? Let’s take a look at hide glue vs PVA wood glue and when each one is appropriate.

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DOS boot menu explained

Dave Farquhar DOS, Retro Computing
DOS boot menu explained

MS-DOS 6 introduced a boot menu capability, a capability PC DOS inherited. This capability had the potential to eliminate custom boot floppies, but not a lot of people used it in my experience. I have them set up on my retro PCs to good effect. So here’s the DOS boot menu explained, with useful examples.

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How to clean a membrane gaming keyboard

Dave Farquhar Hardware
How to clean a membrane gaming keyboard

Membrane gaming keyboards cost less than mechanical keyboards, but they’re expensive enough that they’re worth fixing. Here’s how to clean a membrane gaming keyboard when it gets fouled with debris.

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How to paint baseboard trim white

Dave Farquhar DIY
How to paint baseboard trim white

My friend just bought a new house. And let’s just say the previous owner didn’t take very good care of it. One of the problems he noticed, once he fixed other problems, was beat up baseboard trim. The easiest thing for him to do is paint it. Here’s how to paint baseboard trim white.

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Commodore 64 replacement rubber feet

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing
Commodore 64 replacement rubber feet

It happens on all old computers, and even some not-so-old computers. The rubber pads that sit on the bottom of Commodore 64s to protect the desk surface and keep it from sliding around can fall off, liquify, or otherwise go missing. But even though the last ever C-64 was built sometime in early 1994, you can still get Commodore 64 replacement rubber feet. Here’s how.

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Rebuild machines without making duplicates in Qualys or Tenable

Dave Farquhar security
Rebuild machines without making duplicates in Qualys or Tenable

My friend does vulnerability management for a company that likes to rebuild machines instead of patching them. I don’t judge; that’s how I wanted to patch machines when I was a sysadmin but I didn’t have fast enough storage. But if you do this, you’re liable to end up with duplicate machines in your reports. One unpatched, and the other one (hopefully) patched. Here’s how to rebuild machines without making duplicates in Qualys or Tenable.

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Refurbish a vintage ball mouse

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing

I wanted a mouse for my IBM 5170 and my 386DX-33 systems, but both of them need a serial mouse. I mean old school RS-232 serial, not USB. Finding a serial optical mouse isn’t easy. Plus I wanted something that would look the part. I got an early 90s Microsoft mouse that matches the end of the 286/386 era, and a Logitech C7, but both worked badly. So I had to learn again how to refurbish a vintage ball mouse.

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Led vs lead past tense

Dave Farquhar Windows

Homonyms are terrible things in the English language. One example is led vs lead. Which one is past tense?

If I say “Past Tense Zeppelin” and it means something to you, I just answered your question. If that doesn’t help, I have a story for you to help you remember, and it involves a hard rock band.

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Choose your passwords carefully

Dave Farquhar security
Choose your passwords carefully

I participated in a brief discussion on Twitter the other week about being careful how you choose your passwords. Passwords can and will show up in places you don’t intend. When that happens, you don’t want it to cause a problem. Here’s what happened to me once when I didn’t choose a password carefully.

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How you view message headers in Outlook

Dave Farquhar Office, security
How you view message headers in Outlook

Viewing message headers is helpful for troubleshooting, and also making sure you’re not getting phished. Microsoft moved things around in recent versions of Outlook, so here’s how to view message headers in Outlook–the current version.

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