David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more
The Amstrad PC1512 and PC1640 were inexpensive Korean-made PCs that took Europe by storm in the mid 1980s. Amstrad was the UK’s largest computer maker, and it hoped to replicate that success in the United States as well. Here’s an overview of those machines, and why that effort was less than an overwhelming success.
My roundup of Commodore motherboards turned up on a vintage computer discussion board. A minor aside that I mentioned in passing turned into a major topic of discussion. And then the conversation turned in an entirely different direction. What about going with an FPGA solution, rather than vintage hardware? With an FPGA approach you can be certain you’re getting what you want. But what are the drawbacks of FPGA vs retro hardware, if any?
A purist will object to modern FPGA approaches, usually for more than one reason. But there can be practical advantages to an FPGA solution, and it’s also possible to blend it with a more traditional approach.
I built a shiny new server recently. Then I spent three hours trying to migrate my site to it. So it goes. But even after the site mostly worked right, WordPress gave me a critical error on my website every time I tried to save a post. Here’s how I fixed the problem.
The message there has been a critical error on your website, please check your site admin email for instructions can be scary, especially when you check your e-mail and there’s nothing there. I found the WordPress dashboard can help.
Someone asked in a vintage computer forum recently what the correct monitor would be to use with a VIC-20. Commodore never sold a white monitor the same color as the VIC. Its first color monitor was the 1701, which matched the C-64. If you want a period correct Commodore VIC-20 monitor, you have a couple of options. If you want a holy grail story, the matching monitor for the VIC-20 is a good one.
Commodore cancelled the VIC-1510 monitor for the VIC-20. But there were some third party monitors from the 1980s that look the part.
I had an issue in a document with a hyperlink to an existing file. The file existed on a network drive, so the link worked fine… until someone with different drive mappings than me had to look at the document. Then the link didn’t resolve and the person got an error message. A confusing error message. It turns out it’s tricky to make a Word hyperlink UNC path.
Fixing it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. Read more
The late majority is an important concept in marketing and business. This is the phase when an idea goes completely mainstream. If it’s your idea, this is the phase when you’ve made it. If you’re competing against this idea, you’d better be ready to be counter culture. I’ll provide you the definition, and some examples from somewhat recent history.
Zip and gzip are two similarly named utilities, and they perform similar functions, but they are unrelated. They also have slightly different use cases. Let’s take a look at gzip vs Zip.
Simply speaking, Zip and gzip are implementations of the same compression algorithm for different operating systems, so they are similar but the file formats aren’t compatible. Zip originated with MS-DOS, while gzip originated with Unix-like operating systems, notably Linux.
While an outlet or electrical appliance will work if you wire it in reverse, it’s a safety issue if you get it wrong. So which side of an outlet is hot? In this blog post, I’ll tell you which side is hot, then tell you a silly story to help you remember it.
The Crystal Palace in St Louis was a short-lived but legendary night club. It predated Gaslight Square, but moved west on Olive to join the up-and-coming district as it grew in popularity. The move benefited both. During its heyday on Gaslight Square, it was a combination saloon and 300-seat theater.
The Crystal Palace only operated for about 16 years, but it put St. Louis on the map, attracting national acts. Its mix of Victorian architecture, a cobblestone sidewalk, traditional lights, and antique decor inside is still widely imitated.
You probably only have to ask the question twice to get two opposite answers. Are password generators safe? As a security professional, I’ll explain the problems with password generators. Then I’ll tell you why I use them anyway. Most importantly, I’ll tell you how I use them safely.