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Who was Roy Cohn?

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 24, 2022September 12, 2023

Roy Cohn is a polarizing figure in 20th century American history, with some spillover into the 21st. He is best known as a lawyer, but he was also chairman of the board of Lionel, the maker of electric trains, during the 1960s. I will assume that’s why you’re here, before getting into the other things Roy Cohn was known for.

Roy Cohn didn’t think his involvement with Lionel Corporation, the famous toymaker, warranted even a footnote when he was writing his autobiography. But the infamous lawyer and political operative wasn’t just a lawyer, he was also a corporate raider, even if he wasn’t a particularly talented or successful one.

Should I buy a used office chair?

Dave Farquhar Health February 23, 2022February 19, 2022

On the advice of a work from home veteran, I bought a used office chair recently. It was the best advice I’ve received in a long time. Should I buy a used office chair? Should you? Yes, and here’s why.

How many pages should your resume be?

Dave Farquhar Careers February 22, 2022February 22, 2022

Getting your resume correct length is essential. If your resume is too short or too long, it can be a deal breaker and potentially even keep HR from ever seeing your application. So here’s how many pages your resume should be, and some tips for getting it to that length.

The ideal resume is two pages, so it fits on a single sheet, front and back. A single page is also fine, and certainly better than going over two pages.

Lionel’s Trutrack experiment

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 17, 2022June 1, 2022

In 1973, Lionel tried to give its flagging product line a boost with a new track system. It combined elements of some of its other very successful track systems. Here’s why Lionel Trutrack crashed and burned and you’ve probably never heard of it.

Tandy 1000 value

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing February 16, 2022August 8, 2024

The Tandy 1000 was an important early IBM compatible PC. It was by no means the first IBM PC compatible, nor was it the first successful one. But it was notable for being what the IBM PCjr should have been, and it was widely available at Radio Shack stores, making it one of the first mass market PCs. It has some cultural significance, and that cultural and historical significance drives its value.

Today, a Tandy 1000 is generally worth around $250 US. However, that amount does come with some caveats, including condition and whether the unit works.

Filmora not recognizing MP4 files? The fix.

Dave Farquhar Video February 15, 2022February 6, 2022

My son does a lot of video editing. His friends recommended Wondershare Filmora as being more stable than the other things he’s been using. But he had a problem. It wouldn’t see his MP4 files. If you have a problem with Filmora not recognizing MP4 files, here’s how we fixed it.

How Bill Gates became rich

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing February 14, 2022February 3, 2026

There are a lot of misconceptions and, shall we say, incomplete information about how Bill Gates became rich. But it’s an interesting and important story, so let’s cut through some of the misconceptions and the conspiracy theorizing of Gates and his early years.

Bill Gates made his money through software, first programming languages, and then operating systems. By getting into position to sell one or both products to virtually every computer manufacturer, Gates became a millionaire by age 23 and a billionaire by age 31.

Marx Standard Gauge – believe it!

Dave Farquhar Toy trains February 10, 2022March 3, 2022

Marx Standard Gauge? Surely there’s no such thing. Marx was the king of cheap trains, and Standard Gauge trains were the big, over-the-top trains for the wealthy. But near the end of the Standard Gauge era, Marx did made a Standard Gauge train, sort of.

Save as in Office 365

Dave Farquhar Office February 9, 2022September 28, 2022

I was working on some documents in Word and Excel last week and needed to know where the files were. Figuring that out used to be easy: Just use Save As. But that looks really different in Office 365. Here’s what happened to save as in Office 365, and where to find the old one.

The key to not getting frustrated with Microsoft is knowing that when useful functionality goes missing, they usually didn’t get rid of it entirely. They hid it, and in this case, it’s hiding behind the Browse button.

Why the hard drive is called C

Dave Farquhar Hardware February 8, 2022January 29, 2022

The hard drive or solid state drive on your PC is called drive c, which implies the existence of a drive A and B. So what are drives A and B? What does the C drive stand for? Why is the hard drive called C?

Drive letters are a holdover from early microcomputers. The letters A and B went to floppy drives, so if you had a hard drive, it went to the earliest available drive letter, which was C.