Uncategorized Archives

What to do about Petya ransomware if you already deployed MS17-010

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized June 27, 2017Bo Jackson, breach, NSA, Office Space

Got MS17-010 deployed? Good, that means you’re immune to the Petya ransomware. I still want you to do something.

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Tootsietoys and lead paint

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized March 15, 2017April 9, 20171950s, Hot Wheels, lionel, train layout

When it comes to old toys, a lot of people forget about lead paint. It’s not a bad idea to be concerned about Tootsietoys and lead paint. That said, we also have to be realistic and reasonable. There’s no reason to be Scaredy Squirrel.

Dave Farquhar

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Londontoy: Canada’s answer to Tootsietoy

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized February 1, 2017July 31, 20181940s, Canada, decals, estate sales, tin, train layout

Years ago at an estate sale in St. Louis’ Central West End, I bought a number of Tootsietoy vehicles. When I got home, I noticed some had only the word “toy,” a number, description, and “Made in USA” inside. That was weird. These weren’t Tootsietoys. They were Londontoy.

Dave Farquhar

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What to do between jobs, or in between jobs

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized January 18, 2017January 14, 2017LinkedIn

It’s a good idea to ask what to do between jobs, or in between jobs. What you do in between jobs can help your career, or it can hurt you. So it’s important to take it seriously.

Dave Farquhar

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How many calories are in a full pan of cornbread?

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized November 23, 2016November 21, 2017

There are 2,196 calories in a full pan of cornbread. Posting for a friend.

You probably don’t want to ask. But since you did, I told him and I asked him how many he ate. He yelled at me and called me by my full name. That usually means I’m in trouble.

Dave Farquhar

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Stop cordless phone interference

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized August 24, 2016November 13, 2020panasonic, wi-fi

Cordless phone interference has always been a problem–phones interfering with other things, and other things interfering with them.

That was the draw of 900 MHz phones. There wasn’t anything else running on that frequency at the time, so there was little to no interference. But 900 MHz didn’t sound hi-tech in the age of gigahertz computers. So in the early 2000s, 900 MHz gave way to 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz phones. That brought back the problem, because there’s so much other stuff operating at those frequencies these days, like wireless computer networks. But there is a solution that doesn’t involve digging up a 20-year-old 900 MHz phone and trying to find a battery that works in it.

Dave Farquhar

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Need, er, want a Newegg coupon? Here you go.

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized November 25, 2015

If you’re planning to do some shopping at Newegg this week, you can save $10 off $100 or $25 off $200 with the coupon code VCOBF15. It’s good today through 11/29. I just thought I’d pass that along.

Dave Farquhar

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Use F.lux to help yourself sleep better

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized November 2, 2015October 27, 2015podcast

I was listening to a podcast when the talk went off on a tangent, to a utility called F.lux. Whoever was talking made it sound like it was just for one platform, so I went looking for an alternative for Windows, given that merely 90.53% of us use it. The answer was F.lux! F.lux is also available for Linux, for what it’s worth. So I downloaded it.

The concept is simple. The lighting on our screens can interfere with our sleep patterns, so F.lux adjusts the screen based on what time it is, so that it interferes less.

Dave Farquhar

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Cleaning a PC when fdisk-format-reinstall isn’t an option

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized September 24, 2015September 19, 2015antivirus, chrome, defragmenter, malware, malwarebytes, psi, ublock

There are any number of pie-in-the-sky pundits who will tell you when a computer starts to get slow, to format the hard drive, reinstall Windows, and go on your merry way.

Unfortunately it’s not always realistic. I don’t clean up PCs all that often anymore, but here’s what I do when I need to.

Dave Farquhar

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The freedom to fix our stuff

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized September 11, 2015July 15, 2017capacitor, capacitors, commodore, extra money, samsung, Wall Street Journal, yahoo

This week the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial about the right to fix our gadgets. It was surprisingly pro-consumer. The author wrote about a friend whose Samsung TV broke due to $12 worth of capacitors and how he fixed the TV, with no experience, in a couple of hours. I can relate, though I took the easy way out.

He lamented the throwaway of gadgets being unethical on several levels, and I agree. I also remember a time when it wasn’t this way.

Dave Farquhar

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