How I bought a battery for my aged laptop

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , ,

The aged battery in my aged Dell Inspiron E1505 held on better than I expected, but when I went to upgrade the machine–I upgraded it with two unsupported but perfectly functional 2 GB SODIMMs and then installed a Samsung 830 SSD–the battery went downhill fast.

I did the memory first, and the battery wasn’t happy with me. I literally went from about three hours of battery life to 20 minutes immediately after the change. Maybe it was a coincidence, and maybe not. Installing the SSD extended the battery life a little, but not enough to make it useful. It was time for a new battery.

There are pitfalls with buying batteries for aged hardware. Here’s how I negotiated them. Read more

Amiga on x86

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Software , ,

Re-implementing Amiga OS on cheap, commodity x86 hardware always made sense, so I’m not surprised that someone is doing it. Mostly I’m surprised that it took me this long to find it.

Am I interested? You bet. I’m sure I can find some PC hardware to run it on. I certainly don’t see myself using it as an everyday machine, but as something to tinker on, and something to have running next to my everyday machine, I can see it being fun and possibly even useful.

I hope BYOD 2.0 goes better than BYOD 1.0 did

Dave Farquhar Hardware , , , , , , , ,

BYOD is “bring your own device.” It’s the hot new trend in IT, except it’s nothing new. But it was bound to happen, I guess. Companies are tired of buying computer equipment, so they want employees to provide it. And counterculture, nonconformist workers are (I guess) tired of using boring corporate computer equipment. (And here I am, a strong advocate of buying off-lease corporate computers for home use.)

So, since companies don’t want to buy computers, and employees don’t want to use company computers, what’s the problem?

How’s about I tell you a story? Read more

89 business clichés and how to avoid their trap

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard one of these 89 business clichés in the last 6 months, I could buy something nice.

You’ve heard all 89 of these too. The translations are interesting. The common thread is that these clichés tend to be very manipulative, they hide things, and/or are frequently used to justify already-made decisions even if there’s a valid reason to do it differently. Read more

Conquer a musty basement with ammonia

Dave Farquhar Saving money

The most annoying thing about the house we just bought was the musty basement. I’m sure it’s a common problem in 65-year-old houses with basements that are anything less than bone dry, but that doesn’t make it any more pleasant.

Our painter had a suggestion. Fill a big bowl with ammonia and put it somewhere that nobody can knock it over accidentally. He said it would absorb that musty smell very effectively. Read more

Dave vs. Mmm-Bop

Dave Farquhar Music, Personal, St. Louis, War Stories , , , ,

NPR recently released its Songs of the Summer, which invokes memories of summers past by conjuring up (or dredging up, in some cases) songs you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing. Songs like “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley (2006), or “Hips Don’t Lie” by Shakira (also 2006). Or the bane of 1991, the unforgettable “Summertime” by the equally unforgettable DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince.

In 1997, one of the songs of the summer was “MMMBop” by boy-band Hanson. And mercifully, I avoided hearing it. I remember the summer of 1997. While everyone else was listening to that, I was listening to aging bands like The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, and that habit saved me. I managed to make it until 2004 without hearing that boy-band staple. It’s an achievement I’m proud of. Read more