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Computer power cord AWG: Why it matters

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 17, 2018March 29, 2023

If you look at your PC power cord really carefully, you’ll see a number stamped on the side followed by the letters AWG. What does a computer power cord’s AWG mean, and should you worry about it? What AWG makes a good gaming PC power cord?

With a typical desktop computer, even a light-duty power cord is sufficient and you don’t have to worry about AWG. High-end computers like servers or gaming PCs with high-power video cards in them do benefit from a heavier-duty power cord, such as 16 AWG or even 14 AWG. Using a heavier cord than the manufacturer specified won’t cause any problems, but a too-light cord can cause various issues.

Marx 999 locomotive variations

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 14, 2018January 27, 2022

Diecast toys first appeared on the market in the 1920s, but the conservative Marx was slow to adopt it. Diecast toys from the 1920s and even much of the 1930s often have issues with breaking down over time. By the early 1940s, toymakers had worked out the issues. So early in 1941, Marx started developing its first diecast train, the Marx 999 locomotive.

Marx intended for the 999 to be a 1/64 scale locomotive to compete with American Flyer’s 1/64 scale O gauge line. It’s unclear how many Marx 999s made it out the door in 1941. Marx did sell limited numbers of them in 1942, but the start of World War II curtailed toy production. I’ve seen 1942 sets that would have included a 999, but Marx substituted whatever other locomotives they had on hand to sell through its inventory. Marx reintroduced the 999 in 1946 and produced it until 1959.

Can you listen to cell phone calls with a scanner?

Dave Farquhar security December 12, 2018September 9, 2023

Can you listen to cell phone calls with a scanner? Can someone listen to your cell phone calls with a scanner? Depending on who you are, I have good news and bad news.

It’s always been possible to listen to analog cell phone calls with a cheap police scanner. But modern cell phones, including smartphones, are digital and encrypted, so listening to them requires costlier equipment like a Stingray device, limiting cell phone snooping to government agencies and others with huge budgets.

Is Atari still in business?

Dave Farquhar Retro Gaming December 11, 2018January 28, 2026

Is Atari still in business? That’s complicated. It might be better to ask is Atari still a company. A lot of things happened to the Atari name through the years and that can make it hard to keep track. It also gives retro gaming people something to argue about.

So let’s look at what happened to Atari. Atari is still a company, and that company actively uses the brand and Atari logo. But the ownership changed hands a lot in the last four decades, and sometimes multiple companies used the Atari brand at the same time.

Alex Madrid error card: Why so expensive?

Dave Farquhar Baseball December 10, 2018August 17, 2023

I came across a Youtube video claiming Alex Madrid’s 1989 Donruss baseball card is incredibly valuable. I checked Ebay and found seven listings for this card for over $10,000. Why is Alex Madrid’s baseball card so expensive? And why are they calling it the Alex Madrid error card? What’s the error?

Hoax is a strong word, but it’s a hoax. If the listings say anything at all about the card, they say it’s an error because the copyright says “Leaf Inc.” instead of “Donruss.” Others are just listing any 1989 Donruss Alex Madrid card they can find at a high price, thinking it’s incredibly rare and expensive. It’s not. There are legitimately valuable cards from the 80s and 90s, but the “Alex Madrid error card” isn’t anything special.

Galvanized village houses and trains

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 7, 2018February 1, 2019

A couple of years ago, I spied a couple of lonely galvanized village houses in the seasonal section at Kmart. My wife told me that galvanized Christmas village buildings were popular and laughed at the irony that I was buying them, not her.

Of course, I wanted them for my train layout, where I use metal buildings. In model railroading, I try to be the opposite of trendy.

Can Roku replace cable TV?

Dave Farquhar Video December 6, 2018December 13, 2021

A Roku device is a favorite choice of cord cutters. It’s cheaper than some rivals like Apple TV, it’s easy to set up, and it’s easy to use. But can Roku replace cable TV?

I was cord-cutting long before cord-cutting was cool, but I think it can. At least for some people.

How to clean off battery acid

Dave Farquhar Hardware December 5, 2018November 21, 2018

If a battery leaked inside your favorite electrical or electronic gadget, don’t fret. You don’t have to throw it out. And you can fix it for a couple of dollars, at most. Here’s how to clean off battery acid.

Computerland: Pioneering national computer store

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 4, 2018November 19, 2018

Computerland was perhaps the first big computer store to go national. It played an important role in the growth of the computer industry in the 1980s. It faded toward the end of the decade but hung on longer than you might think.

The company’s slogan in the 1980s was “Make friends with the future.”

What is Lotus Notes? How IT becomes legacy

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing December 3, 2018July 21, 2025

Lotus Notes and Lotus Domino were a juggernaut in mid-1990s IT. Some people loved it. Most people put up with it. And then people quit talking about it and thinking about it, even though almost every large organization still has Notes running somewhere. But what is Lotus Notes, and why did it fade from consciousness?

Lotus Notes was a popular software platform for e-mail, calendaring and collaboration in the 1990s. It was programmable and extensible, so many Notes shops created custom applications with it that became business critical. IBM bought it in 1995 for $3.5 billion, but couldn’t keep up with Microsoft’s marketing and the ecosystem that built up around it so it lost market share to Exchange. IBM sold Notes and Domino, its server component, in 2018 to Indian firm HCL for $1.8 billion.