Author | Lightnews

Dave F

@siliconundergro.bsky.social

2.6K followers 550 following 970 posts

He/him. INTJ. I blog 4-5 times a week about vintage and retro computers. Day job in information security, specifically vulnerability management. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. You can find my blog, The Silicon Underground, at https://dfarq.homeip.net

dfarq.homeip.net

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 5h

I assure you it's not me, the only thing I hate more than heights has a dead friend named Jeff and claims to be 6'3" and 239 pounds.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 23h

Wanna know something awesome? When I posted an easy way to block the White House and other US government accounts, several people re-posted my post, translating it into Spanish and Portuguese.

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 1d

"The White House account has drawn only around 12,000 followers. More than 100,000 users have the account blocked."

makena kelly @makenakelly.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: Inside the Trump Administration's Bluesky Invasion

Spoke with some administration officials who said the move was about "reaching new audiences." It's amounted to trench warfare.
www.wired.com/story/inside...

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks! I've had occasion to use these tricks recently. The majority of physical media I own is CD, but I do own some tapes and records, and some of those deserved to be converted. Some of them...

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 2d

I'm reaching back to my roots a bit for this blog post. You don't need to download anything to tune Windows to work better on your SSD. In this blog post I share the secret settings those utilities set. dfarq.homeip.net/tune-windows...

Tune Windows to use your SSD more effectively

Two settings I've been using since the 90s help SSD performance

dfarq.homeip.net

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 3d

Thoughts and prayers. Psalm 109:8 specifically.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

I don't use Tiktok, but my son said on Tiktok, the phrase No Kings was shadowbanned, so anyone who wanted to talk about it had to use coded language. Imagine how much bigger it could have been if we had something resembling free speech across all social media!

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Reposted by Dave F

TheHerm @herminator12.bsky.social · 4d

A beautiful Bald Eagle circled overhead during our protest in Burnsville Minnesota and the crowd went wild
#NoKings #Minnesota

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

I don't think so. I'm using the list and I see you.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

As a graduate of a journalism school and a prolific writer for student publications during my college years, this warms my heart.

Jeremy Littau @jeremylittau.com · 4d

Student media rules. They are lapping a lot of the spineless media orgs this year and showing how solidarity is the way.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

Thank you for your coverage of the events!

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

This is far from the first time we had anti-pedophile demonstrations in St. Louis. It's about time the local rag gave it some coverage. I can confirm in spite of the pouring rain, there were thousands out demonstrating.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch @stltoday.com · 4d

Undeterred by rain, the protesters held signs and marched across downtown St. Louis, St. Louis and St. Charles counties and the Metro East.

Thousands protest Trump administration in 'No Kings' rallies across rainy St. Louis region

Undeterred by rain, the protesters held signs and marched across downtown St. Louis, St. Louis and St. Charles counties and the Metro East.

www.stltoday.com

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

Yes, filtering this list keeps my feed much more peaceful.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 4d

This link will get you to the MAGA2 list: bsky.app/profile/matt...

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 5d

There's a link to block or mute a bunch of them in bulk.

bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 5d

Here's a tip for everyone: Go to your Settings, then to Moderation, then Moderation Lists, and add the MAGA moderation list. It automatically blocks people with MAGA keywords in their name or profile, making it that much harder for them to get oxygen. There's also a MAGA2 list if you'd like.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 5d

Strong Exodus 8:2 vibes.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 5d

18 years ago today, Gateway 2000 came to an end. It turns out when you build loyalty based on great customer service and then you cut costs by cutting customer service, the loyalty goes elsewhere. #retrocomputing dfarq.homeip.net/bought-gatew...

Who bought Gateway computers?

Gateway's fall was pretty stunning to those of us who witnessed it firsthand

dfarq.homeip.net

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 7d

I was shocked I didn't hear about it when it happened. It shows just how irrelevant he had become, I guess.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 8d

It can be a useful deterrent. If you know you'll have to defend yourself in court, you may choose not to do something simply because it's not worth the hassle and expense of having to get representation and show up in court. Many will need to learn the hard way, but they will learn.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 8d

16 years ago today, SCO fired the most hated man on the Internet, the late Darl McBride. Yes, he died with little fanfare a little over a year ago. If you were using Linux 20 years ago, you know this name. #retrocomputing #linux dfarq.homeip.net/when-sco-fir...

When SCO fired Darl McBride

Once the most hated man in tech, he kept a lower profile until his 2024 death

dfarq.homeip.net

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 9d

Remember dBase? At one time it was the most popular database on microcomputers. But in the mid 1980s it faded. This blog post explores what happened and how a software classic took down two companies. #retrocomputing dfarq.homeip.net/what-happene...

What happened to Ashton-Tate and dBase

Microsoft buying into the same market a year later had something to do with it

dfarq.homeip.net

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 9d

We were talking about the AI datacenters at work today. They build the facilities and rent space, but everyone wants to be on the latest hardware, so 12 months after you build one, nobody wants to use it anymore. So the gain we get will be short-lived. I bet the rate hikes stay though...

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 9d

Cleaning up the air and the water required some hard choices and since they did a pretty good job, some conclude it wasn't necessary in the first place. Same problem we have proving vaccines are necessary.

Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 9d

The major employer in the town directly north of me closed its facilities here in the early 1980s because the EPA told them they could no longer dump unfiltered waste straight into the Mississippi River. There was a waste treatment plant literally next door. They closed instead of running a pipe.

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Dave F @siliconundergro.bsky.social · 9d

This is really cool analysis! Changing the hardware in the cartridge to patch a bug in the software...