Author: Dave Farquhar

Why is lumber so expensive?

Dave Farquhar DIY
Why is lumber so expensive?

I remember when a 2×4 cost $3. And before you tell me I’m a grumpy old man, that was less sometime in 2019 or 2020. At the moment I’m writing this, a 2×4 costs $8. So what’s going on? Why is lumber so expensive? And will prices ever come back down to normal?

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Vulnerability management metrics

Dave Farquhar security
Vulnerability management metrics

I am 75% confident your vulnerability management metrics are too complicated. I’m 75% confident because I’d need to see examples from about twice as many organizations than I’ve seen in order to be 95% confident. But I’ve probably seen 150 more samples than most people. But I have bad news for you. I’m 75% confident your vulnerability management metrics are too simplistic. How can you be both? Measuring the wrong things puts you in situations like that. So let’s talk about NIST’s recommended vulnerability management metrics, and how to more closely align with their recommendations.

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How long it takes to get a security job with no experience

Dave Farquhar security
How long it takes to get a security job with no experience

I was involved in an interesting discussion about how long it takes to get a security job. But here’s an even more important question. How long does it take to get a security job with no experience? That’s a tougher question. I’ll also argue there’s no such thing as no experience. But to keep the search engines happy, here’s how long it takes to get a security job with no experience (except there’s no such thing as no experience!).

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Remove cigarette smell from books

Dave Farquhar Saving money
Remove cigarette smell from books

One of the best estate sales I ever attended was a sale in a modest St. Louis suburb that happened to be the estate of a computer programmer. The sale had almost everything I look for. Books, music, vintage computer gear, and even recent-ish computer gear. There was only one problem. Her books smelled like an ashtray. So I had to learn how to remove cigarette smell from books and other items.

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Automatic updates vs managed updates

Dave Farquhar security
Automatic updates vs managed updates

Just turning on automatic updates is one of those bumper sticker-style solutions to IT problems that won’t go away. It sounds really good, and of course it would be cheap. And since nobody’s doing it, it sounds like a new idea. As someone who’s been working in this space more than 20 years, I can tell you there’s a reason nobody does it. And it’s a good reason. It’s even a reason most proponents of bumper sticker-style solutions love to cite as a reason not to do something: unintended consequences.

While allowing systems to auto update seems like a cheap way to solve a difficult IT problem, the unintended consequences can be devastating. There are reasons to do automatic updates in limited circumstances, but it’s easy to cause bigger problems than you solve.

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What do Home Depot prices mean? How to decode them

Dave Farquhar DIY, Retail
What do Home Depot prices mean? How to decode them

Retailers can and do use prices to manipulate you. But rumors of hidden codes in prices also abound. Home Depot is no exception to that. So what do Home Depot prices mean? Here’s how to find the hidden meaning in prices so you know when you might have found a bargain, and how long that bargain might last.

There are rumors that you can tell how long an item will be on sale from the numbers in the price, but those numbers don’t match what I found at my local store. Still, there are tricks for finding closeouts and other sale items.

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FFMPEG can remove audio: Here’s how

Dave Farquhar Video
FFMPEG can remove audio: Here’s how

FFMPEG is a very versatile command line video editing tool. You can use it to do lots of things, and the last time I used it, I used it to convert between formats. But you can also use it to remove audio. Here are two options to use FFMPEG to remove audio, depending on what exactly you want. But most importantly, both options are fast and you won’t lose any quality.

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Windows vulnerabilities on Macs in Qualys scans

Dave Farquhar security

Alien vulnerabilities are the kiss of death for any vulnerability scanner. There’s no faster way to lose credibility with a sysadmin than to show them a scan of Linux or Mac hosts with Windows vulnerabilities in it. Recently I had to troubleshoot one such issue. Here’s how you can end up with Windows vulnerabilities on Macs in Qualys scans.

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Mower deck clogs with grass? Try this.

Dave Farquhar DIY
Mower deck clogs with grass? Try this.

If your mower deck keeps clogging, you’re not alone. It’s a common problem, especially in the spring. I wish I could tell you there’s one weird trick to fix everything. That’s not quite the case, but there are several things you can do when your mower deck clogs with grass that will help.

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Pantera’s Pizza history

Dave Farquhar St. Louis

On Fridays, a lot of families order pizza to celebrate the weekend’s arrival. In the 80s, we often went out for pizza instead. And while for a lot of Gen Xers that meant Pizza Hut, it wasn’t the only game in town. In eastern Missouri, including St. Louis, the dominant pizza chain was Pantera’s. Let’s take a look back at Pantera’s Pizza and its history.

Pantera’s Pizza is a mostly defunct pizza chain that specialized in a 5-pound pizza it called The Hunk, and its commercials featured two characters named Betty and Mario, often containing the catchphrase, “What a hunk!” It was up to the viewer to decide whether Betty was referring to the pizza, Mario, or both.

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