Louis County Archives - The Silicon Underground David L. Farquhar on technology old and new, computer security, and more Sun, 18 Jun 2023 02:52:08 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://kerosin.digital/rss-chimp16321610 I replaced an outlet with a GFCI and my light switch quit working https://dfarq.homeip.net/gfci-light-switch/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gfci-light-switch Tue, 15 Dec 2015 12:00:05 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7966 I once had an electrical outlet with a light switch next to it, in a bathroom. When I replaced the outlet with a GFCI, the light switch quit working. When you have a GFCI and a light switch is involved,

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]]> 7966 My second 1935 Goudey: Grimes, Klein, and Cuyler https://dfarq.homeip.net/my-second-1935-goudey-grimes-klein-and-cuyler/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-second-1935-goudey-grimes-klein-and-cuyler Sun, 04 Jan 2015 11:00:54 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7491 Sometime around the sixth grade I realized that prices on modern cards were very volatile. If a star player had a bad month, his card prices were likely to suffer, while a good month or good season could send prices skyward. I have

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]]> 7491 My first 1935 Goudey card: Joe Vosmik https://dfarq.homeip.net/my-first-1935-goudey-card-joe-vosmik/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-first-1935-goudey-card-joe-vosmik Sat, 03 Jan 2015 11:00:42 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7490 Dad and I were at the late, lamented World of Baseball Cards on Lemay Ferry Road in south St. Louis County sometime in the late 1980s, flipping through vintage cards. Among the old cards in the pile was a 1935

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]]> 7490 Why accordion-style flexible drain pipe is against code https://dfarq.homeip.net/flexible-drain-pipe/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=flexible-drain-pipe https://dfarq.homeip.net/flexible-drain-pipe/#comments Tue, 02 Dec 2014 11:00:54 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7452 From time to time I see accordion-style flexible drain pipe (also sometimes called flexible waste pipe) in use, much like the one below. St. Louis County inspectors take an exceptionally dim view of these, and I always wondered what the

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/flexible-drain-pipe/feed/ 2 7452 The Ferguson race riots: An outsider’s perspective from not far outside https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-ferguson-race-riots-an-outsiders-perspective-from-not-far-outside/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-ferguson-race-riots-an-outsiders-perspective-from-not-far-outside https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-ferguson-race-riots-an-outsiders-perspective-from-not-far-outside/#comments Tue, 12 Aug 2014 11:00:56 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7311 A Ferguson police officer shot and killed Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African-American man, on August 9, 2014. The night after, riots broke out. Ferguson is an inner-ring suburb in north St. Louis County. As such, Ferguson is now approximately

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/the-ferguson-race-riots-an-outsiders-perspective-from-not-far-outside/feed/ 8 7311 I am not in jail. https://dfarq.homeip.net/i-am-not-in-jail/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=i-am-not-in-jail https://dfarq.homeip.net/i-am-not-in-jail/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2014 11:00:52 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7117 The bank vice president apologized for calling the police on me. That’s neither the beginning nor the end of the story, but it seems to me that police involvement of any kind is a sign that your real estate deal

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/i-am-not-in-jail/feed/ 7 7117 How I fixed an Americana (GE) anti-tip bracket that didn’t work https://dfarq.homeip.net/how-i-fixed-an-americana-ge-anti-tip-bracket-that-didnt-work/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-i-fixed-an-americana-ge-anti-tip-bracket-that-didnt-work Wed, 12 Feb 2014 11:00:43 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=7035 I’m fixing up a house that has an Americana (a GE budget brand) gas range in it. One of the last things I did before getting the St. Louis County inspection was to check to see if it had an

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]]> 7035 Check your smoke detectors, please. And make sure you have more than one. https://dfarq.homeip.net/check-your-smoke-detectors-please/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=check-your-smoke-detectors-please https://dfarq.homeip.net/check-your-smoke-detectors-please/#comments Tue, 22 Oct 2013 11:00:45 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=6883 Early Monday morning, a fire broke out a couple of streets over from me. Sadly, there was one casualty, a seven-year-old second grader who attends the same school as my oldest son. His older sister heroically came and got him

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]]> https://dfarq.homeip.net/check-your-smoke-detectors-please/feed/ 3 6883 Remembering Rossino’s https://dfarq.homeip.net/remembering-rossinos/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=remembering-rossinos Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:15:21 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=5824 I thought of Rossino’s, a hideaway Italian restaurant in St. Louis’ Central West End the other day. And then today, I saw the obituary for Nina Lee Russo, one of the owners of the secluded yet popular restaurant. The obituary

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]]> 5824 Oh well, whatever, nevermind. 20 years later https://dfarq.homeip.net/oh-well-whatever-nevermind-20-years-later/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=oh-well-whatever-nevermind-20-years-later Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:39:41 +0000 https://dfarq.homeip.net/?p=4245 Rob O’Hara beat me to the punch with his excellent analysis of Nirvana’s seminal Nevermind, and I find myself not disagreeing with a word of it. So rather than duplicate his work, I’ll talk about how I came to learn

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