David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
The holes in the ties on American Flyer S gauge track are absurdly small, so fastening American Flyer track has been a mystery for ages. What size fasteners can you use?
American Flyer veterans recommend using #17 wire brad nails, 1 inch long. Drilling pilot holes helps if you have a small enough bit, a #56 or smaller.
I helped a company troubleshoot its vulnerability scans recently. They had multiple Windows domains because of their line of business. This made scans difficult, but we found some solutions. Here are some tips for authenticated scans across multiple domains.
Scanning multiple domains in a single scan can cause account lockouts if the usernames and passwords don’t all match. Possible solutions include separating each domain into its own scan, using completely unique accounts to scan, syncing up the accounts so they have the same username and password, or using Cyber-Ark to match up credentials to machines.
To paraphrase an old commercial, you can’t keep your vintage computer from getting old. But you can keep it from looking old. Clean vintage computers in good condition are more enjoyable, or at least easier to admire for the era they represent. And usually, no matter how neglected the computer is, you can clean it up and make it look nearly new as long as there’s little to no physical damage.
There are many inexpensive household cleaners that work well on vintage computers. That means without spending a lot of money, you can get your vintage computers looking much better.
My son had problems with his computer. Any time he went to Youtube, instead of getting video, he got a prompt that said “Click to enable video converter.” Virus is a strong word, but video converter is software you don’t want. Here’s how to fix it.
Run Malwarebytes, let it scan your system, quarantine everything it doesn’t like, then reboot. That’s all it takes to remove Video Converter. Don’t waste your time with those other websites that give generic information that doesn’t work.
One morning I went to use my Windows 10 PC and brought up the start menu only to get an unpleasant surprise. The contents of the menu scrolled to the end uncontrollably, rendering it unusable. If your start menu keeps scrolling down, here’s how to fix it.
Generally speaking, a scrolling start menu or other menu is due to a fault on some USB-attached peripheral, such as a game controller or keyboard. Unplugging USB devices should allow you to isolate the problem.
What’s the maximum grade for Lionel trains? What’s the recommended grade for Lionel trains? The two are very different, and the first really depends on what compromises you are willing to make.
Generally speaking it’s best to go with a 2-2.5 percent grade on elevations with Lionel trains. But you can push it, if you’re feeling lucky. The shorter the trains you are willing to run and the more actively you are willing to adjust the throttle, the higher the grade you can get away with.
It’s possible to use a modern AC adapter to make a power supply for vintage machines. Sometimes this is desirable, because the modern supply may be more reliable than the old ones. But we have to know how to wire it. Here’s how to find positive and negative DC wires so you can wire the supply up properly when you change its plug.
To find the positive and negative wires, apply power to the AC adapter, set your multimeter to DC, then apply the red and black leads to the output and find a combination that gives you positive voltage. Whichever wire is connected to your multimeter’s red lead is positive, and the one on the black lead is negative or ground.
When IBM announced the IBM PCjr home computer in 1983, the industry expected it to dominate the home market. Who didn’t want a computer that could run office software while offering game console-like graphics and sound capabilities? But it didn’t work out that way. Instead, it flopped like New Coke. Why did the IBM PCjr fail?
The IBM PCjr failed because of three flaws: It was too expensive, too incompatible, and not expandable enough. While its competitors were trying to build new machines with as few compromises as possible, IBM deliberately designed the PCjr to be its second-best or third-best product, so the market went other directions.
Commercial boxes for electronics projects are expensive. You can spend more on the enclosure than you spend on the parts it protects, in many cases. I’ve seen plenty of ideas for cheap enclosures from hardware store products. But I have a source for cheap project enclosures that’s both cheaper and more versatile.
Tin boxes, available at dollar stores and gift stores especially in the fall and winter seasons and in secondhand stores almost year-round, make sturdy and inexpensive enclosures with lots of space inside. They are comparable in size to commercial project enclosures but cost 1/3 as much. And if you know where to shop, you can get them year round at an even lower price.
In 2019, my mom sent me a photograph. It depicts me, sitting in front of a computer, sometime in late 1984 or very early 1985. It was a Commodore 64, and I was playing a game called Micro League Baseball. The computer was a Christmas gift in 1984. A very expensive Christmas gift. But where did it come from? I figured it out.
Old Christmas catalogs are good for figuring out where gifts may have come from, especially when we have photographs to work from. Sometimes the photographs provide visual clues.