old school Archives - The Silicon Underground

What scale are Hot Wheels cars?

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 11:00:37 +0000

What scale are Hot Wheels cars, you ask? Unfortunately it varies a bit. They tend to be a bit less than 1:64. But scale isn’t Hot Wheels’ objective. Fitting in the package is. That means the size of Hot Wheels cars is between

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What scale are Matchbox cars?

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 11:00:01 +0000

What scale are Matchbox cars, you ask? Unfortunately it varies a bit. Nominally they’re around 1:64 scale. But scale isn’t Matchbox’s objective. Fitting in the package is. That means the size of Matchbox cars is between 2.5 and 3 inches,

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When Linux won’t boot off DVD or USB

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 17 May 2016 11:00:44 +0000

I went to install Linux (Debian) on an old Asus socket 775 motherboard (a P5LD2) and had a litany of problems getting my installation media to boot. Here’s how I finally got it installed. First, I created a bootable USB

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Share a Windows 10 printer by UNC

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 06 May 2016 11:00:13 +0000

Windows 10 uses homegroups, but if you have systems that don’t understand homegroups and want to share a Windows 10 printer by UNC (the old school way to share a network printer), it’s not obvious how to go about doing it.

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Does a POTS phone use the same wiring as U-Verse VOIP?

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 11:00:12 +0000

A friend asked me a good question: Does a POTS phone use the same wiring as U-Verse VOIP? The answer is, it depends. Outside your house, no it doesn’t. But that’s not your problem. Outside, that’s AT&T’s problem. Inside is where

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New media in Cuba

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:00:09 +0000

I read an ingenious article this week on Slashdot, talking about how Cubans evade Internet censorship (not to mention lack of access) by passing contraband material around on flash drives. It’s so old school, but brilliant. Sure, it’s less efficient

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Can’t get system restore to run? Force it.

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:12:11 +0000

If your computer brings up a window every time you click on a program’s icon asking what you want to open it with, there’s a not-so-obvious way out. Ve hev vays to get a command prompt when executable files won’t

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How to make a virtual DOS machine with networking

Dave Farquhar — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 00:22:58 +0000

If you want a virtual DOS machine running inside a modern PC operating system, with old-school networking and everything, everything you need to do it is at http://lazybrowndog.net/freedos/virtualbox/. It includes a DOS client so you can connect to network shares

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Frequent questions about setting up toy trains and trains and Christmas trees

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 03:38:55 +0000

Here are some train-related questions I’ve received that I really don’t think I ever answered adequately elsewhere. Hopefully this will help. How much track do you need under a Christmas tree? With American Flyer S gauge (2 rail) track, 12 pieces

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My children, right or wrong

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:52:16 +0000

My good friend the Meiers' neighbor (close enough, at a mile away) and I keep talking about this case. Hopefully you're not so sick of Megan Meier to indulge me, because this appears to be a case of a parent being an ally, right or wrong, rather than being a parent.

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