Here's a topic list for my chat with Lex: 1:22 - First computer 7:00 - Dropping out of high school 14:41 - Joining Microsoft 16:53 - MS-DOS 20:05 - Windows 95 26:52 - The man behind Windows 31:48 - Debugging 37:05 - Task Manager 42:14 - 3D Pinball: Space Cadet 47:13 - Start menu and taskbar 58:12 - Blue Screen of Death 1:00:21 - Best programmers 1:08:22 - Scariest time of Dave's life 1:15:50 - Best Windows version 1:17:40 - Slot machines 1:21:23 - Autism and ADHD 1:40:43 - Fastest programming language 1:44:48 - Future of programming

Small room. Big dreams. Strong desk. I needed a Flexispot adjustable height desk. I am a big-time YouTube celebrity. It's a marriage made in heaven, right? Surely there's a hotline I call and then send three of them, based on the vibe I get on YouTube. Well, until you see their paperwork. All kinds of terms where you have to submit the video for their approval and cover all their product features and NO I DO NOT WORK THAT WAY. Less than 1% of my episodes are sponsored, since I refuse to ooze sincerity for the highest bidder. So, I usually just feature stuff I like and make it up on the Amazon affiliate referrals! So I bought my own damned desk. Top-of-the-line, a four-leg unit so strong you can surf on it. Motors so powerful they could lift your prom date. Technically, it's the E7B-Plus-Max with a Bamboo top because bamboo is stronger, I'm told. I ordered it on the 17th, and it arrived yesterday, so 3 days, including the weekend! First off, it's REALLY well packed. You won't get a damaged corner or bent frame unless someone drives over it. Lots of packaging to get rid of, as you can see! The assembly process is simple enough. DO NOT ATTEMPT it with the little included hex key. That's like the 5th level of Dante's Inferno. Get an impact driver, set it to a low setting, and use the right hex bit. Then it's easy. The holes for mounting the frame to the wood top are pre-drilled, so you don't have to guess. All in all an excellent product. You probably do NOT need one this sturdy, it's going to be halfway to a workbench for me... just needs a vice! So, on Dave's Nonsponsored Product Review Showcase (DNPRS), I rate it 5/5! Here's my link if you want to go shopping :-) link.amazon/B08tbLcAy

Doc: "Maybe you should get yourself tested." Me: "Nope, I'm fine. I've been married 30 years, doc" Doc: "How certain can you be?" Me: "I've never written a line of PHP in my life!" Doc: "Ok... but your wife?"

There are two full-size ashtrays in this photo, just as the Lord intended. This is the shifter for my Muncie M20 in my 1969 Pontiac 2+2 L36 427/390 4-spd conv. The real nerds can tell from a look that the car has disc brakes.

When I was a kid, I wondered about two things: 1) What year felt like "The Future". I decided 1984. 2) How old would I be in the year 2000? Holy cow... 32? That's ancient!

My 1970 Lincoln Mark III dash at night... 13,194 miles!

Some fall colors in the driveway!

Have you ever printed a banner on a dot matrix printer? Here's my PDP-11/44 connected to the DECWriter III, printing a "2.11 BSD UNIX" banner. Pretty cool that it has smooth proportional fonts, too! Chat with my PDP live at pdp1173.com

I think the NFL should establish a mandatory post-injury flight-risk protocol, especially for international games. A player shouldn't automatically be prohibited from flying because of a bruised leg, but significant lower-extremity trauma (like his cleat injury) deserves special attention before a 10-hour flight. The medical basis is established: prolonged immobility increases the risk of deep vein thrombosis, and a recent injury can further increase that risk. I'm not a doctor; I'm not saying it's even related. But I'd think twice about sitting on a 10-hour flight with a massive leg clot!

Can you be a good parent with terrible executive function? Yes. Can you be a good single parent? Of course, but it's much harder. With four kids in sports and activities and a busy life on top of that, I've relied on my wife to create a color-coded schedule for us. I store things visually, so once I've seen it, I have at least a chance of remembering where I'm supposed to be and when. I think it's like that - you need to "cheat" and use whatever tools and techniques help you to stay on track, even though a "normal" person might just do so naturally. So it's more work, but not a disability.

I build for myself. And the times when something has proved popular have been the times when I did a good job of making something for MYSELF that I wanted, which, by serendipity, other people also wanted. If you can build something with the attitude that you're making it the BEST possible version of what YOU want, odds are you'll produce something good. Maybe everyone won't feel that way. Or maybe you have bad taste. There are no guarantees, but trying to guess and anticipate the supposed needs of others while building something you're uninterested in generally leaps to slop. My best projects - from Pinball to Task Manager to TMOG - have been things I was making because I was in love with the idea itself, and wanted it! tmog.org

When I was restoring my '70 GMC, I enlisted the "help" of my kids, mostly with the teardown. Neither one is going to rebuild a big-block Chevy on their own any time soon, but by taking everything apart while I explain it, they at least know what's inside the stuff and how it works! If you don't have a truck to restore, don't make the perfect the enemy of the good: build a birdhouse with them!

My Dad and Grandma, circa 1950. I was the fourth generation to work there. But then I pivoted from Hardware to Software ;-) Is it weird that they had rifles for sale in the front window of a family hardware store in Canada in the 1950s? It wasn't remarkable at the time...

Text mode? I'll take it up a notch, Alex! ;-) Here's the @Dell Prox Max with GB300 running TMOG, emulating AND training on 192 instances of Robotron, plus running the PDP-Gary AI in the background. It's pulling 1000W and only half busy... quite the machine! tmog.org supports Windows, Linux, and Mac!