David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
Circa 1958, Marx introduced a steam freight train set, catalog number 4205, that went on to become one of its best sellers. The set remained in production into the 1960s, but with some changes. It provided an introduction to electric trains at an unbeatable price.
The Commodore 8250 disk drive was the highest capacity floppy drive Commodore made for its 8-bit computers. It was a dual drive unit the connected to the IEEE-488 bus used on the PET and CBM line of computers. Each drive stored one megabyte of data on 5.25 inch double sided quad density disks. When you listed the directory on a Commodore equipped with an 8250, the disk read 4133 blocks free.
We’ll leave the TV and the radio behind is one of the more distinct and memorable lines in Joe Jackson’s 1982 hit single Steppin’ Out.
One morning in December, I got a text message from my wife. She’d found some trains in a secondhand store, cheap. They were damaged, but I like fixing up old trains. The highlight of the find was a Lionel 6014 boxcar. It had a busted truck, but was otherwise in reasonable condition. I didn’t have to feel bad about modifying it, and I had just the thing in mind. Restoration is a strong word for what I ended up doing, but some might call it a restoration or a customization.
The Panasonic Business Partner 1650, also known as the FX 1650, is a PC clone from 1989. Everyone was making 286 based PC clones in 1989, but this Panasonic is a little bit different. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing depends on when you bought it. The label on the back provides a clue.
If a plug falls out of an outlet after you plug it in, that’s not how it’s supposed to work. A plug is supposed to fit firmly in an outlet so that it doesn’t fall out on its own. You shouldn’t have to exert very much force to remove it, but you are supposed to need to exert a small amount. If your plug falls out of an outlet, here’s how to fix it.
Since I work for a vulnerability management company, I get tons and tons of questions about patch management. I don’t speak for my employer, and they probably don’t have an opinion since neither product comes close to meeting their needs. But I’m glad to share what I know. Recently, someone asked me which is better, SCCM or WSUS. My answer probably was not what they were expecting me to say.
The Marx 4318 was a low end train set that was the result of a long time collaboration between two large companies while times were still good for both of them. It was an inexpensive electric train set exclusive to W.T. Grant, which was one of the fastest growing retailers in the United States at the time.
Stomper 4x4s were an extremely popular battery powered motorized toy in the early 1980s. They were the first miniature battery powered self-propelled toy vehicle with four-wheel drive, although imitators were very quick to follow.
Back when a 386 or 486 PC was hot stuff, I remember a common insult for a slow PC being, “What is that thing, a 186?” But no one we knew had a 186 PC, and no one really knew why either. In this blog, post, we will explore the Intel 80186, the CPU the PC industry forgot, why a misconception exists that it was a failure, and how both things can be true at the same time.
Although the 80186 powered two infamous PC-compatible flops in the early 1980s, a company founded by two Californians in a garage did use a 186-compatible CPU in a pioneering handheld computer about a decade later. Additionally, the 186 saw use in other embedded applications.