David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
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.
If you like long trains, you want them to roll as easily as possible. Lionel figured out a bunch of secrets to lower rolling resistance in the 1970s. If you like tin like me, Lionel’s needlepoint axles and Delrin trucks won’t help you. But there are things that can. Here’s how I get lower rolling resistance for tin trains.
If you’re looking for a nostalgic hobby that won’t cost a fortune, VHS tapes are very underrated. Although not as cheap as they once were, VHS tapes haven’t exploded in value the way other 1980s technologies have. Are VHS tapes worth collecting? I think they have a lot of potential.
VHS tapes have not increased in value to the extent that video games and computers from the same era have. The days of buying the titles you remember as a kid for pocket change may be past us, but you can still buy the majority of the movies you remember for a few dollars.
Is your shop vac blowing dust out the back? Mine always does after a while. Fortunately it’s an easy fix, and you don’t need to replace the unit. If yours just started doing it, stop what you’re doing right away and give the unit a checkup. You may save yourself 20 bucks.
A shop vac or similar wet/dry vacuum blowing dust out the back is always a filter problem: either your filter is clogged, missing, loose, or the dust is too fine. But once you clean or replace the filter, the problem goes away.
The VIC-20 was on the market for about four years, but that was long enough for Commodore to revise it several times in pursuit of lower costs. Here’s a look at the various Commodore VIC-20 models.
The VIC-20 was quickly overshadowed by the Commodore 64, but if anything, that means the VIC-20 provides a more affordable challenge for collectors than its more common sibling. Despite its shorter time on the market, the VIC-20 has numerous variations for collectors to pursue.
Mechanical keyboards are expensive, so it’s understandable to hesitate to spend half a day’s pay on a keyboard not knowing whether it will break. So how long does a mechanical keyboard last?
Mechanical keyboard lifespans are rated in millions of keystrokes, which sounds impressive but is hard to comprehend. Practically speaking, a mechanical keyboard can last decades.