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St. Louis thrift stores

Dave Farquhar Saving money, St. Louis June 29, 2017June 25, 2017collectibles, kingston, saving money, Value Village, vintage computer, watson

St. Louis has a number of good thrift stores. They’re good for saving money, and if you’re looking for collectibles, there’s something more thrilling about finding it in a thrift store than a collectibles shop. Here are my recommendations for St. Louis thrift stores.

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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Where to buy vintage computers

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 28, 2017February 13, 20221541, 1980s, commodore, dell, electric trains, estate sales, garage sale, garage sales, IBM, ibm pcjr, intel, Kansas City, Missouri, recycling, survivors, Tandy, Texas Instruments, TI, Value Village, vintage computer, vintage trains

Collecting vintage computers can be fun. I also personally think it’s great that people are interested in preserving that history. Where to buy vintage computers hasn’t changed much over the years. It just may take a bit more work than it used to.

Some people think old computers are priceless. Others think they’re worthless. I don’t recommend wasting your time with people who think a Dell Pentium III laptop is worth $300. Think of the times you found a jewel for five bucks and keep moving.

Dave Farquhar

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The high-dollar cardboard box

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing, Toy trains February 7, 2014July 30, 20171950s, atari, collectibles, lionel, marx, New Jersey, video game, vintage computer

There was one other interesting quote in the Post-Dispatch’s Top 10 collectibles for value this week:

10. Boxes (yes, simple boxes!)
For a starter, wooden boxes of all types with and without locking mechanisms, souvenir boxes, tea boxes, cigar boxes, jewelry, knife boxes and the list goes on for value. If you can put something in it, somebody wants to give you money for it.

Don’t get too excited, but a box doesn’t have to be made of wood to be valuable. Even a cardboard box can have some value, depending on what came in it. But don’t get too excited. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Does your spouse know who your collecting buddies are?

Dave Farquhar model railroading, Retro Computing, Toy trains March 22, 2013July 15, 2017atari, marx, survivors, train layout, vintage computer

The story of the 1967 train layout and stash brought up a couple of good questions, even as more facts failed to emerge. If something were to happen to you, would your spouse know how to deal with the collection you’ve left behind?

I think it’s a valid question, and not just for trains.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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The Byte digital archive

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing September 23, 2012July 31, 20161980s, amiga, apple, Apple Macintosh, atari, atari st, commodore, Commodore Amiga, irving gould, jack tramiel, Jerry Pournelle, macintosh, motorola, public domain, vintage computer, XT

Here’s a treasure trove for retro computing enthusiasts. Archive.org created the Byte digital archive. It’s exactly what it sounds like: A collection of digitized issues of Byte magazine available online, free.

Numerous archives of vintage computer magazines exist, many of which are of questionable legality so I’ll refrain from saying anything specific about that.

Dave Farquhar

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Floppy disks for Commodore and other vintage computers

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing June 12, 2011September 9, 20181541, 1571, 1980s, apple, atari, commodore, IBM, vintage computer

It’s been many years since 5.25-inch floppy disks suitable for Commodore, Apple, Atari, and other vintage 8-bit computers (not to mention IBM PCs and PC/XTs) have been something you can buy at the store down the street. I found some 360K DS/DD disks on Amazon, but they aren’t available in huge quantities.

Dave Farquhar

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Meet Chrysalis, the future of Bit Torrent

Dave Farquhar net.culture May 12, 2011vintage computer

What do you think of when you think of Bit Torrent?

I think of the place to quickly download ISOs of Linux distributions. My coworker one cube over calls it “that pirate thing.” Most people probably agree more with him than me.

But it seems the creators have come up with a novel use for it, by adding social networking elements to a new client called Chrysalis.
Read more

Dave Farquhar

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Nonstandard configuration on a vintage PC? Maybe it was gray market

Dave Farquhar Retro Computing April 17, 2011March 26, 20241980s, 1990s, acer, DEC, dell, IBM, infoworld, markup, Michael Dell, New York, Packard Bell, vintage computer, XT

I saw an interesting question about the configuration of mid-1980s (pre-PS/2) IBM PCs on a vintage computer forum this week. The question regarded how various machines came from the factory, especially when some collectors have PCs they bought from the original owners, including an invoice, showing the machine didn’t match known factory configurations. This made me think of the gray market.

The gray market referred to the practice of discounters getting genuine IBM PCs and reselling them, sometimes modified. The most famous gray marketer was Michael Dell–the “Dell” in Dell Computer Corporation–who got his start by upgrading bare-bones IBM PCs and selling them out of his dorm room and later, out of a condo. Eventually he decided he wanted a steadier supply, and started manufacturing, becoming the company we know today.

But Dell was far from the only one. Read more

Dave Farquhar

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