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Forget the word “should.”

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized October 18, 2013October 17, 2013classmate, dell, hp, journalism

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 life-changing for you, too. If you’re one of the 90%, it’s more likely to be merely helpful.

The problem is the word “should.” And while I generally think striking words from the English language is a bad idea because language control is thought control, this is one instance where I don’t think thought control is a bad thing. “Should” is a club that we use to beat ourselves up with far too often. Read more

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He started his career as a part-time computer technician in 1994, worked his way up to system administrator by 1997, and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He invests in real estate on the side and his hobbies include O gauge trains, baseball cards, and retro computers and video games. A University of Missouri graduate, he holds CISSP and Security+ certifications. He lives in St. Louis with his family.

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Goodbye Amazon Affiliates, hello Viglink

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized August 18, 2013November 29, 2015costco, dell, hp, IBM, Jeff Bezos, Missouri, New York, viglink, Washington Post

I’ve been an Amazon affiliate for more than a decade, which meant that if I mentioned a product, posted a link to Amazon and someone clicked the link and bought it, I got a little bit of money. It didn’t make me rich, but in a good year, I made a couple hundred dollars, which paid for the upkeep of the site.

Well, Amazon and the state of Missouri are fighting, so Amazon is discontinuing the affiliate program for Missouri residents. The loss won’t break me, but by the same token, it’s nice to have that money coming in to pay for things like equipment upgrades. I found Viglink, and I’m going to give that a try.

Dave Farquhar

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How many Fortune 25 companies does it take to change a light bulb?

Dave Farquhar Humor/Satire, War Stories July 30, 2013July 29, 2013AIX, compaq, EDS, hp, IBM, irony, unix

I’m working right now for a Fortune 25 company. This story is going to sound like bragging, so I’ll ask forgiveness in advance. Maybe if I mention I’m a contractor, then it’s not bragging quite so bad. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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EMET protects against what your antivirus cannot–and it’s free

Dave Farquhar security July 1, 2013November 29, 2015antimalware, antivirus, Brian Krebs, firefox, hp, microsoft word, optimizing windows, randomization, vulnerability, windows 7, Windows XP

A few years ago, Microsoft quietly released a security tool called EMET–the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit. EMET is now in version 4.0, and it’s probably the best security tool you’ve never heard of. And that’s a real shame.

Modern versions of Windows and modern CPUs include several security-enhancing technologies that aren’t necessarily switched on by default. EMET is a wrapper that forces software to use these technologies, even if they weren’t designed from the get-go to use them. The idea, then, is that if a badly behaving data file tries to exploit a traditional vulnerability in one of these programs, EMET steps in and shuts it down. A real-world example would be if you visit a web page that’s playing a malicious Flash video, or that contains a malicious Acrobat PDF. The malicious data loads, starts to execute, and the minute it misbehaves, EMET slams the browser tab shut. You won’t know right away what happened, but your computer didn’t get infected, either. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Snickering at the Emachine

Dave Farquhar Hardware, War Stories June 22, 2013August 12, 2018datacenter, DCS, dell, emachine, hp

For several years, I administered a command and control system for the U.S. Air Force. I sat in a datacenter, surrounded by racks jam-packed full of servers, and they kept the building at 64 degrees year round. I quickly learned to keep a jacket handy. I did several things, but mostly patch management.

Our system consisted of a diverse collection of Dell 1U and 5U servers, HP blades, and a couple of Sun SPARC boxes. It was a professional-looking setup, and except for the times we were doing massive system upgrades, the system generally worked as well as it looked.

Then we got a neighbor.

Dave Farquhar

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Windows vs. Linux kernel performance

Dave Farquhar Linux, Windows May 13, 2013December 3, 20181990s, acer, amd, apple, dell, hp, intel, lenovo, NSA, oracle, sp3, unix, vista, windows 8, windows nt, Windows XP

An anonymous Microsoft developer spilled some juicy opinions about why Windows kernel performance isn’t all it could be and answered some longstanding questions about Windows vs. Linux kernel performance in the process. Although he has recanted much of what he said, some of his insights make a ton of sense.

Dave Farquhar

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Notes on the Compaq Presario SR2011WM

Dave Farquhar Hardware May 12, 2013December 11, 2016compaq, garage sale, hp, micro atx, pentium d, windows 7, windows 8, Windows XP

I’ve been working on a Compaq Presario SR2011WM. It’s a basic, low-end, single-core Celeron D system from 2006 or so. It can take up to 2 GB of RAM, runs Windows XP adequately, and has SATA ports, so you can put an SSD in it if you want. But don’t be fooled by the name–the Celeron in this machine is single core, and has a Prescott-era Pentium 4 core in it at that, not a low-TDP, Pentium D-style core.

In case you’re wondering, the easiest way to get it to boot from USB is to plug in a USB drive, hit ESC as the system runs POST, then select your USB drive from the menu.

Now let’s talk about options for upgrades. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The trouble with bringing your own software

Dave Farquhar security, Software May 3, 2013November 22, 20181990s, adobe creative suite, apple, hp, macintosh, micron, Microsoft Office, Missouri, office 2007, pc magazine, university of missouri, windows 2000, windows 7

PC Magazine is advocating a bring your own laptop, with your own software approach to business. It likens it to mechanics who bring their own tools.

The trouble is that while mechanical tools in a toolbox operate autonomously and don’t interfere with one another, software residing on a computer does. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Mark Hurd doesn’t sound like he’s just what Dell needed

Dave Farquhar Hardware March 25, 2013March 24, 2013apple, asus, compaq, dell, hp, IBM, macintosh, mark hurd, Michael Dell, oracle

Word on the street is that Blackstone Group has a plan for turning around Dell: Buy the company, take it private, and install Mark Hurd as CEO. The thinking is that he’s available, has experience, and would have baggage keeping him from being the CEO of a public company.

I just see one glitch. Available != good fit.

Dave Farquhar

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Commodore was more than a stock scam

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing March 15, 2013October 27, 20171980s, 1990s, amiga, apple, atari, Chuck Peddle, commodore, debts, dell, hp, IBM, intel, irving gould, jack tramiel, stock scam, Texas Instruments, TI

From time to time, I see the phrase “Commodore stock scam” or something similar come up in discussion or in books. Commodore, in case you don’t know, was a high-flying computer company in the 1980s that was literally making computers as quickly as they could sell them while Apple struggled for its survival, and was in the enviable position of being the main supplier of chips for its competitors. Imagine if Intel sold computers at retail next to HP and Dell, while still selling chips to Dell. That was Commodore in 1984. I don’t have 1984 figures, but in 1985, Commodore had 38% of the computer market all to itself. IBM and its clones, combined, had 49%. Apple had 13%.

But a decade later, Commodore had squandered all of that away and was out of business. That’s why Robert X. Cringely sums up Commodore as Irving Gould‘s stock scam, then goes back to writing about Apple.

The real story is more complicated than that. More interesting, too.

Dave Farquhar

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