DaveMason.com
ComputerTalk with Dave Mason
The official archive of all available ComputerTalk with Dave Mason radio shows. Spend some time with Dave. Listen to a full show or explore clips by topic.
3,475 unique clips. Each clip appears in one section. Historical conversations, not current advice. Full episodes remain available separately by date.
1414 clips, strongest first.
Evil Steve explains that a trained designer can name the highlights, shadows and reflections that make chrome convincing, while an untrained viewer can still tell when an effect feels authentic. Dr. Dave turns it into a concise observation about expertise and perception.
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Asked why the underground version of the show has few guests, Dr. Dave says he follows his instinct: most pitches claim to be revolutionary but arrive so polished and clichéd that they offer listeners no real value.
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Evil Steve’s unnoticed flower-order subscription becomes a sharp discussion of fine print, short-term revenue and the lasting “badwill” created when a customer feels tricked.
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A listener says a pencil and paper used properly beats a computer used improperly. Dr. Dave agrees and describes carrying sophisticated equipment while relying throughout the day on a yellow legal pad and a seventy year old fountain pen, because the right decision may be an expensive system or a calendar on the wall depending on the person and organization.
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A listener’s BIOS question becomes a practical consulting story about separating a client’s server and Internet connection, only to encounter a firmware bug in the new router.
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Dr. Dave admits that he may be more competitive with an inanimate computer than with another person. When software will not work or components conflict, he becomes a bulldog who refuses to let the problem defeat him until he can help someone make the system work.
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Because difficult infections reach him constantly, Dr. Dave says he becomes good almost involuntarily—practice forced by the work itself. When a client asks whether he can fix a machine, his private reaction is comically absolute: if he cannot fix it, it cannot be fixed, though he immediately admits that the time and final method remain unknown.
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Technical compatibility details turn into a highly relatable brotherly conversation about planning for extra trips and accepting that projects are difficult.
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Dr. Dave describes a printer problem that rebooted his own computer and the unexpectedly simple combination of causes he eventually found. He uses the story to puncture the myth that experts avoid problems, saying expertise comes from experiencing and solving them repeatedly.
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Dr. Dave describes the anger that can build when customer support feels like deliberate taunting, then says maintaining a sense of humor is critical to his own sanity. He also recognizes that humor meant to break the tension can be misunderstood by the person on the other end.
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Dr. Dave warns that frustration and haste lead people to flail at technical problems, then recommends waiting until they can work calmly and methodically. He admits that converging office problems had left him ready to quit, but says eventually one can chuckle, do the next right thing and find a way out, even when Dr. Dave's own computers and plumbing fail.
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As phones absorb cameras, music and other features, Dr. Dave asks manufacturers to make the central function work well before adding everything else. His practical complaint that he often asks callers to move to a landline turns the broader design principle into a memorable joke.
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When Dr. Dave cannot explain why Dean's computer will not create recovery media, Betty joins the call with a path she discovered during her own earlier problem: contact the manufacturer's executive office, persist and pass the resulting support information forward. The show briefly becomes a live exchange in which one listener helps another and Dr. Dave acts as the connector.
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A broken security update brings what Dr. Dave estimates were a thousand calls by midweek. He feels guilty rushing people, jokes that perhaps he should treat ten people well and rush only the other 990, then admits that early research and confirmation made him look more expert than he felt.
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A relentless friend's unprecedented laptop problem gives Dr. Dave a clear troubleshooting lesson: when attempted solutions become increasingly exotic and feel like flailing, stop and ask which basic fact or assumption may have been missed. He also explains that years of hands-on work create an intuitive sense for a machine that is difficult to reproduce remotely.
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After Ruth praises his knowledge, Dr. Dave says the work is not simply brilliance but blood, sweat, tears and raw determination. He sometimes refuses to let a machine win because finding answers other people do not know requires doing work other people will not do; his joking conclusion is that his personality is uniquely suited to the insanity of the business.
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Dr. Dave describes a client who had become a friend and wanted to discard a four-year-old computer because DVDs stuttered. Dr. Dave asks permission to look, starts with the basics and has it working within minutes, turning an ordinary repair into a clear example of the relationships and restraint behind his consulting.
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A badly infected Windows 98 computer tests Dr. Dave's determination. He saves the important data without the expensive recovery others recommended and reflects on fair pricing and why he loves the work.
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Dr. Dave tells the complete story of restoring an office network after a lightning strike, including the overlooked telephone failure, help from an employee and his rule that even experts sometimes need to stop, relax and look again.
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Dr. Dave protects a friend's identity while recounting how the friend lost a legitimate software key, ignored an employee's warning and demanded a shortcut from an unsafe site. The download nearly destroyed the laptop, giving Dr. Dave a concrete story about how urgency and desperation can turn a solvable problem into a much worse one.
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Pete wants to revive an older laptop so he can pass it to one of his children, and Dr. Dave offers several low-cost checks before suggesting a paid repair. Their joking description of a no good computer for no good kids ends with Dr. Dave calling the father a sweet and unusually honest man.
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After giving Ruth an uncertain first step rather than pretending certainty, Dr. Dave says the worst response to a serious problem is doing anything simply because action feels urgent; if calm is gone, step away and return ready to troubleshoot deliberately.
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Marianne explains that chemotherapy affected her thinking and that a donated computer has helped her focus. Dr. Dave acknowledges that troubleshooting can challenge him even after twenty years, refuses to bury her in risky instructions and guides her toward the person and Internet provider most likely to help efficiently.
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A caller's PDF problem leads Dr. Dave and Evil Steve into the show's familiar free-software theme. Dr. Dave makes the standard explicit: price alone means nothing, and he would not tell a listener to install junk even if the company paid them to do it.
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Browse by year, then month, to find the episodes from that month.
442 proposed broadcast dates, plus 2 undated entries. Dates are based on archive filenames and may be approximate. Some broadcasts survive as separate parts or incomplete recordings.
