classmate Archives - The Silicon Underground

Why have Marx toys dropped in value?

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 11:00:37 +0000

“Why have Marx toys dropped in value?” you ask? Blame Millennials. Well, actually, my generation bears more of the blame for this one. Blame Gen X. The value of vintage toys tends to follow trends, and those trends don’t necessarily

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Make your own null modem cable

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 04:45:15 +0000

One of my coworkers needed to make a null modem cable last week, and most of the sites he found made it far, far too difficult. All you really need is 3 wires. Here’s how to make your own null

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DD-WRT needs to be saved, but I won’t bet on it happening

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 17:32:04 +0000

A college classmate asked me if there’s anything to the stories that DD-WRT might potentially get locked out due to new FCC regulations. (Link removed in retaliation for Conde Nast’s 11/3/2025 layoffs. Sorry not sorry.) Unfortunately the answer is yes, there

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Twelve percent.

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 11:00:32 +0000

Last week, a former classmate shared a Dave Ramsey article about early savings. Ramsey stated a teenager could save a couple thousand a year, stop saving in their 20s, and still retire a multimillionaire. I agree with the sentiment completely, but I’m concerned that

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Why you need a hobby

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 11:00:56 +0000

As security professionals, we deal with a tremendous amount of stress. Like my boss circa 2015 told me about a week into our tenure together, we tend to be perfectionists, and frequently we’re asked to deal with the most cavalier

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Got tech support scammed? Worry about your credit card, not your computer

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 11:00:20 +0000

A college classmate contacted me a week or two ago. A relative of hers got scammed, and she wanted to know what to do. “Get the charges reversed on the credit card,” was my simple response. “What about cleaning up

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Read this before you buy a car

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:00:01 +0000

My former classmate Judd Slivka, now a journalism professor at Mizzou, pointed me to Long-Term Quality Index, a long-term study of the reliability of used cars co-created by our fellow Mizzou alumnus Steven Lang. Judd called it an outstanding example

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Larry Page’s exile and rebirth

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 07 May 2014 11:00:47 +0000

A lot of people really dislike Google the way I’ve been known for disliking Apple and Microsoft. It never really occurred to me that all three are related, until I read this piece on Google cofounder Larry Page. Much of

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How long does a hard drive last?

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 11:00:25 +0000

If you’re asking how long does a hard drive last, I found this study on hard drive longevity last week. I take issue with the opening paragraph but the rest of the article is very good. The opening paragraph is

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Forget the word “should.”

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 11:00:19 +0000

After talking with another former classmate/newsroom-mate, I wanted to bring out the highlight from yesterday. I’m not saying this would have saved Brian, but it was life-changing for me, and I’d say there’s probably a 10% chance it can be

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