David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
If you’re attaching shelves to a wall, you need to pay attention to weight. How much weight can a screw in a stud hold? And is there any way to increase the amount of weight it can hold?
A screw in a stud can generally hold 80-100 pounds, depending on the grade of screw. There are tricks to increase the amount of weight it can hold.
Model railroading track is measured in numeric values, called a code, that indicate rail height in thousandths of an inch. In HO scale, Code 100 track is the most common. But Code 83 is more realistic, making it popular among those who crave realism. Let’s look at Code 100 vs Code 83.
Largely the difference comes down to cost vs realism. Code 100 is more widely available and cheaper, so you pay a price for Code 83’s better realism, or you might decide the difference isn’t noticeable enough to you.
I know several people using geothermal heating and cooling. My neighbor really wanted me to switch to it. But what is geothermal heating and cooling? What does it cost? it didn’t make sense to me to replace a highly efficient furnace and AC that were working properly. Now that my furnace needs a costly repair, I’m looking at geothermal heating and cooling pros and cons. Here’s what I found out.
Geothermal heating and cooling is very environmentally friendly, and under the right circumstances, saves you a large sum of money every month. It’s not for everyone, but the people who like it like it a lot.
I had a 286 motherboard from the late 1980s with battery damage. A leaky battery corroded two traces completely through, severing them and rendering the board inoperable. Here’s how I repaired the damaged PCB traces with wire.
Fixing broken traces is a bit of a lost art, because it’s easier to just swap the board. But when the board is rare and/or expensive, it makes sense to repair the broken traces instead. These types of repairs can be a bit intimidating, but they’re easier than replacing a chip. And then you’ve saved a scarce board from oblivion.
I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday. She said she’d think about it. Then she asked if she went to Ikea and brought some stuff home, if I’d put it together. I said I would. So, how hard is it to put Ikea furniture together? What tools do you need to put together Ikea furniture? I learned all of that and more.
When you have an older home, eventually the question always comes up of what to do with the old countertops. It’s actually two questions. First, there’s the question of how best to replace them without turning your kitchen renovation into a nightmare that costs ruinous amounts of money. Second, there’s the question of what to do with the old countertops afterward. Let’s tackle both questions.
While methods do exist to resurface existing laminate countertops, it’s usually easier and cheaper to replace laminate countertops with new ones. The old countertops may have other uses around the house. And yes, I will deal mostly with laminate countertops here. Usually laminate seems to be the type people want to replace.
Sometimes you may not be able to find a commercial backdrop for your train layout that you like, for whatever reason. You can make your own train backdrop more easily than you may think. Adding a backdrop makes your layout look finished, and larger. Adding a thin backdrop makes my 8×8 layout look more like 10×10, or perhaps larger.
Are home warranty plans worth it? Do you need a home warranty? As a longtime home owner and landlord, I have experience with home warranties. Here’s when I’ve found they’re worth it, and how I decide when to go without.
Offering a home warranty certainly makes your home more marketable when you’re selling. But when it comes to buying one myself, I don’t bother anymore. Here’s why.
I bought a TV wall mount, and then when I went to set it up, I couldn’t unfold it to attach it. It took some time but I figured out what to do. Here’s what to do when your TV wall mount won’t unfold.
TV wall mounts have to be very tight to support the mass of a TV, and without the mass of a TV on them, they can be difficult to unfold. You may have to get creative to reach the adjustment screws, and try turning them the opposite way you think. If you just can’t reach the screws, a little bit of disassembly may be necessary to get to them, but this isn’t terribly difficult to do.
How do you reboot a modem and router? And does it really do any good? The occasional reboot can be good preventative maintenance, so here’s how to do it, why, and how frequently. And while rebooting is something tech support tends to use as a crutch, it’s also frequently very effective. That’s why it’s always been one of the first things I try when troubleshooting.
There are usually two or even three ways to reboot your router, and there may be more than one way to reboot your modem. Usually the simplest, safest way is just to power-cycle them.