David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord
I’ve been building PCs for more than 20 years and I tend to keep them a very long time, so it occurred to me that someone might be interested in what I look for in a motherboard to ensure both a long, reliable life and a long useful life.
Technology has changed a lot but what I look for has remained surprisingly consistent over the years.
The IBM PS/2 line was a fairly radical departure from the older IBM PC line. This was deliberate, as IBM wanted to disrupt the clone industry, which it saw as a threat to its business. Here’s a look back at the IBM PS/2 vs PC, the line it replaced.
IBM succeeded with the PC because it created an ecosystem, not just a PC. IBM’s misstep was creating an open architecture and then trying to close it back up after the fact with the PS/2. In IBM’s defense, it’s not clear whether they knew this at the time. If nothing else, in the case of the IBM PS/2 vs PC, IBM created a classic case study of open architecture vs closed.
It’s frustrating to watch baseball and get constant interruptions from black screens that say “loading, please wait.” Here are six ways to fix problems with MLB.tv loading please wait on Roku.
Can you replace a battery in a tablet? That’s a good question. It’s almost always possible. The question is whether tablet battery replacement is practical. Some companies make it really easy to replace a battery, and some make it really hard.
Is the Linksys WRT54G obsolete? Depending on how many devices you have and how fast your upstream connection is, it may be.
Overclocking didn’t start in the 90s, and it wasn’t limited to PCs either. Here’s a history of overclocking from a guy who did it some, and talked to guys who did it a lot in the 80s.
I don’t recommend overclocking, and today Microsoft can prove it’s a bad idea. But overclocking has a long and colorful history. It’s less common than it used to be, perhaps. But it’s not completely extinct.
Someone asked me the other day about buying used computer parts. I recommend it actually, although I more frequently buy the whole computer. But you can save a lot of money and get higher quality by buying used computer parts.
I recently saw advice to buy a Cisco RV130W instead of buying an Asus router such as an RT-AC66U and souping it up with Asuswrt-Merlin. I can see both sides of the argument but in the end I favor the Asus solution when I consider Asuswrt-Merlin vs Cisco. Here’s why.
Now, if you’re arguing business vs personal use, there’s no contest. In a business setting, buy the Cisco.
I’ve been using DD-WRT for years, but a friend convinced me to try Asuswrt-Merlin and now I’m a convert. DD-WRT is still my second favorite solution, but here’s why I favor Asuswrt-Merlin vs DD-WRT.
Consumer routers drive security professionals like me crazy. I’m happy to say I finally found a router that doesn’t drive me nuts. I want you to buy an Asus RT-AC66U. I’m going to tell you why, and I’m going to tell you how to configure it. Here’s how to set up an Asus RT-AC66U and how to optimize an Asus RT-AC66U.