Dave’s Garage: Shop Talk

Dave Plummer and Glen Hodges

Dave Plummer, a retired operating systems engineer for Microsoft going back to the DOS and Windows 95 days, and his co-host Glen talk about technology and answer questions from his YouTube channels: Dave’s Garage and Dave’s Attic. Just 2 high school friends from 40 years ago hangin’ out, talkin’ tech and usually sharing some kind of prairie anecdotes from their youth growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dave is now in Seattle, WA and Glen is in Vancouver, BC.

  1. 1d ago

    Are We Teaching Programming Wrong? | Shop Talk #83

    Are we teaching programming wrong? In Shop Talk #83, Dave Plummer and Glen Hodges explore how programmers learned to think about computers in the early days of personal computing—and whether something important has been lost along the way. The discussion begins with a viewer question about systems thinking and how younger generations can develop the same understanding of computers that earlier programmers gained by working closer to the hardware. From there, Dave and Glen dive into programming education, abstraction layers, memory management, operating systems, Windows internals, neurodiversity, career development, and the skills that still matter in modern software engineering. Topics include: • Learning to code in the 1980s versus today • Systems thinking and engineering mindset • What modern programmers may be missing • Memory allocation, malloc, and abstraction • Understanding what happens under the hood • Windows internals and software complexity • Neurodiversity and problem solving • Career advice for developers • Viewer questions from Dave's Garage and Dave's Attic Plus: the bozoliveshere registry key, Saskatchewan stories, microphones, Joni Mitchell, and a few classic Shop Talk detours. This episode was built from more than 3,000 viewer comments and hundreds of audience questions. Thanks to everyone who comments on Dave's Garage, Dave's Attic, and Shop Talk. Leave your questions in the comments for a chance to be featured in a future episode. #ShopTalk #Programming #SoftwareEngineering #ComputerScience #DavePlummer

    44 min

  2. 4d ago

    Windows: What's Really Happening Under the Hood? | Shop Talk #82

    Dave and Glen explore what’s really happening under the hood of modern computers. From memory allocation and malloc to page faults, caches, printf, BitLocker, networking APIs, and software complexity, this episode digs into the systems most people use every day but rarely understand.Along the way, they answer viewer questions about low-level programming, operating systems, security, engineering tradeoffs, and why software often behaves in unexpected ways.Topics include:When to write your own memory allocatorWhy malloc isn't magicFreeing memory twicePage faults vs cache missesPractical uses of printfBitLocker and securityNetwork programming with select()Operating system internalsEngineering lessons from earlier computing erasShop Talk is driven by viewer questions and comments from Dave's Garage and Shop Talk. Leave your questions below for a chance to be featured in a future episode.#ShopTalk #Programming #SoftwareEngineering #ComputerScience #Windows

    47 min

  3. May 15

    Why Is Windows Built Like This? | Shop Talk #81

    Shop Talk #81 explores the strange engineering decisions that still shape modern Windows systems today.Dave and Glen dig into GUIDs, COM, APIs, the Windows Registry, backwards compatibility, CPU scheduling, interrupts, abstraction layers, and why software architecture often becomes far more complicated than users expect.The conversation expands into how old engineers approached system design, whether modern abstraction layers hide too much complexity, and why low-level computing knowledge still matters.This episode was built directly from viewer questions and comments. 00:00 - Hey I’m Dave02:46 - Did you ever have some of your code be part of an exploit?04:03 - Considering today’s sheer mass of driver stacks… How would you organize this with the benefit of hindsight?05:06 - You didnt tell us what format the binary UID was in?06:29 - How does a person even get through the maze of gate keepers that exest to even use a solution like you did?07:23 - Has your ESP32 idle monitor led to any optimizations to other code running on the ESP32?07:52 - Am I the only one here who never knew that GUID is pronounced gwid?09:01 - 1) What about the counterpart function, StringToIID()? 2) Out of curiosity, did you ever have any experience with SOM, and if so, what are your takes on SOM vs. COM?09:57 - Have you considered using a bitmask instead of the if with 4 potential checks?10:48 - Why didn’t Windows just use 128 bit ID’s that were interpreted as {uint32, uint32, uint32, uint32} ?12:01 - I am wondering would you be able to make content how to use/read C?12:58 - When are you getting a gang together to give us a proper and correct windows alternative?13:56 - Great stuff except for your misrepresentation of Morse code…14:56 - Why did it have to be Morse code?15:26 - How did the agent get the command in the first place ?18:22 - Might try initializing the array with hyphens, then unroll that loop.19:07 - Where can I get a mezmerizer?20:23 - Is it nibble, or is it nybble?20:46 - Did your optimized function produce uppercase or lowercase hex digits?21:12 - Are you saying you’re the reason why MS always historically represents UUIDs with capitals letters?21:29 - Would have you really get rid of sprintf instead of printf, since IIDtoString should have converted IID to a string instead of print the outcome to the console?21:57 - Can you do a video on COM?22:31 - Looking at your code my first thought was why is this even in a loop, why not just unroll it?23:13 - Couldn’t that function be written with zero branching instructions?23:39 - Were you guys over medicated or under supervised?25:38 - I’d bet all of your electronic toys are cheaper than a boat?26:37 - So are you saying that the guid is unique to each installation/computer since I heard you mention it tied to a mac address?27:16 - Didn’t Microsoft use target big-endian systems also?27:37 - This may be a silly question, but why do these things need to be converted to strings anyway?28:17 - For converting to hex, you index into an array?29:20 - I wonder if your significant little improvement was the one of the reasons Microsoft was able to succeed in the marketplace?29:32 - How do you actually quantify 100% faster? It now takes no time?29:46 - Maybe its a 35000RPM drive because they didn’t use a synchronous motor?30:14 - Next two topics logging and ntp. ?30:38 - When is the Dave’s Garage shirt with Memory is a sort of a compression algorithm with a sense of nostalgia! coming out?30:51 - You mean that Transcend wifi sd card lurking in my drawer wont work any more?31:05 - Canadian Tire Money?31:26 - What the H E double hockey sticks is Canadian Tire Money?31:51 - We’re letting the Americans know about Canadian Tire money now?33:30 - Why was I not already subscribed?

    38 min

  4. May 10

    Why Old Tech Feels More Trustworthy | Shop Talk #80

    Shop Talk #80 explores why old technology often feels more understandable — and sometimes more trustworthy — than the systems we use today. Dave and Glen dig into retro payphones, massive 1980s hard drives, cloud dependency, hardware ownership, restoration projects, and the strange comfort of machines that users could actually understand and repair themselves. The discussion eventually expands into bigger questions about modern software complexity, AI systems, security vulnerabilities, and whether we’re slowly losing visibility into the technology we rely on every day. This episode was built directly from viewer questions and comments. Topics include: #ShopTalk #DavesAttic #RetroComputing #AI #VintageComputers 00:00 - Hey im dave 00:30 - How did we come to this? 03:00 - Does Dave have a list of projects waiting to be done? 04:32 - Your channel is undoubtedly the most rewarding thing that came out of MS, 04:52 - You’re wearing socks and sandals? 05:23 - Wow , you’re awesome ! Can I come over and play? 06:13 - Where did you buy this phone and how did you find out about it? 07:04 - Wouldn’t it be possible to gut the innards of the phone and just wire it to a residential phone? 07:56 - Where can we get one, how much would it cost, and do you help with the setup? 09:08 - So does it work with actual phones or just your virtual phone network? 10:19 - If you call someone from that phone what does the caller ID say? 12:12 - Is your pay phone hardware susceptible to that old hack where a quarter is drilled with a small hole..? 13:03 - Are you going to get the payment card working? 13:55 - Where did you get KEYS ? 14:45 - “Does it even have games?” 15:22 - The key difference between this thing and the modern cloud services disease? … 15:56 - Your Decwriter has an odd color to it…? 16:39 - Did you have to modify the mains feed and/or add battery backup to protect against power failure to prevent damage? 17:21 - The hard disk only spins at 30-FIVE-00 RPM? 19:04 - What does the 3 foot long ribbon cable in the back connect? 19:28 - Do the front panel LEDs show anything meaningful? 19:42 - How much would this have cost brand new, configured this way, in 1979-1983? 20:24 - What are you testing in this video? Other than trolling the bad way of doing things? 20:37 - You (almost?) pulled out the FPU board from the powered on machine?! Whoa! 20:56 - Where’s your static discharge strap? 21:59 - Did that machine arrive that clean or did you have a marathon scrub-fest before starting it up? It’s incredibly dust-free. 22:28 - I watched this to hear a discussion about copyfail. Was it mentioned even once? 22:43 - Are you planning an episode on the recent Copy Fail vulnerability? 23:25 - Do big companies believe they know more of what the user ‘needs’ than the user compared to when we were all younger? 25:04 - This old fart wants nothing to do with AI in my day-to-day life. 25:29 - We should have been talking about this 30 years ago and we didn’t. Is it too late now? 26:08 - The thumbnail with Heather Locklear is pure comedy gold. Well done, sir. 26:58 - What is a toonie ? Loonies were/are a coin, but toonies ? 28:20 - What happened to Robotron: 2084 AI? 28:48 - Phil who? 29:44 - A a re-seat of the boards (snugly) with a blow from an air can will fix the problem. 30:38 - you know it’ll never boot again, right? 31:28 - What good is it if you can’t show it off, right? 32:42 - How long did it take to be able to make a call? 33:58 - Can you please make a video showing how you did it and where to get the firmware 34:13 - Has Dave’s wife ever asked Dave, WHAT did you buy now? 35:01 - Does it do anything without a disc pack inside? 35:34 - I enjoyed it greatly though I understood less than 50% of what you said. 36:44 - Why hasn’t this guy been given an honorary Doctorate? 37:33 - The Friendly Coder… 37:55 - Outakes, behind the scenes, he said WHAT?!?

    42 min

  5. May 10

    Will AI Flood the World With Security Vulnerabilities? | Shop Talk EP 79

    What happens when AI can find every vulnerability in software? This week on Shop Talk, Dave and Glen dig into the real-world implications of powerful new AI systems that can identify—and potentially exploit—security flaws across major platforms. Are we about to see a flood of CVEs? Should these tools be limited to reporting bugs instead of exploiting them? And what does this mean for open source, businesses, and the systems we rely on every day? We also revisit Windows Task Manager—why it sometimes feels misleading, what it’s actually showing you, and the deeper trade-offs between accuracy and usability in system tools. Finally, we explore whether scenarios like WarGames are any more realistic today—and whether modern systems are becoming too complex to fully understand or control. 00:00 - Hey I’m Dave 00:34 - Are we about to see a flood of security vulnerability announcements (CVE’s) coming from this? 01:25 - Are we mistaking better answers for better understanding? 03:13 - Are we losing the ability to understand systems we rely on? 05:37 - Am I the only educated person for which all of this looks like a cliff edge coming at society at 100mph? 07:15 - How does a model like Mythos find vulnerabilities in all major operating systems? 08:27 - What is your AI development stack and does it have an orchestration layer? 10:27 - Can a quantum computer do AI? 11:41 - So why did they program it to be able to find the vulnerabilities AND the ability to exploit them? 15:11 - Why sometimes the CPU usage shows ZERO while all system is freezed and not responding? 16:34 - Which number in Task Manager should we actually trust? 18:09 - Is there a story behind the “System Idle Process” and what’s it main purpose is? 19:35 - Why does using GetSystemTimes not show the same CPU usage as the task manager? 20:28 - How should professionals actually measure real system performance? 21:05 - Why not if cpu usage is over 100 set to 100%? 22:00 - Why has TM not been updated to work better with multiple cores and clock speeds? 22:11 - Is Task Manager lying or are we just misunderstanding what it shows? 24:36 - Should tools prioritize accuracy or usability? 24:56 - Would showing raw data actually help users or just confuse them more? 25:43 - Why not stay quiet about the danger and share the vulnerabilities with the companies that need to fix their bugs? 26:22 - Could a modern version of WarGames actually happen today? 26:43 - Could a single bug or exploit realistically trigger a major event? 27:40 - Is complexity now the biggest security vulnerability? 28:39 - Could automation escalate a situation faster than humans can respond? 29:49 - Are safeguards today actually preventing disasters or just delaying them? 30:17 - Is the biggest risk external attackers or internal system failure? 30:43 - How do you even test systems that you can’t afford to fail? 31:37 - Are we building systems we no longer fully understand? 32:08 - How many years did it take to get this Vaudeville act perfected, lol? 33:51 - Are you somehow more funny/relaxed than maybe few months ago? 34:47 - What breaks first: trust in software or trust in data? 35:30 - Outtakes and odd stuff…

    45 min

  6. Apr 27

    AI Won’t Fix This (And Might Make It Worse) | Shop Talk #78

    We’ve been told AI is going to fix everything—but is that actually true? In this episode of Shop Talk, Dave and Glen dig into viewer questions about where AI falls short, what it can’t fix, and why many of the problems in modern software aren’t going away anytime soon. From performance and system design to security risks and patching complexity, we explore the gap between what AI promises—and what it actually delivers. Shop Talk Episode 78 — viewer questions drive the show.

    47 min

  7. Apr 17

    Will AI Fix This? (Why Software Keeps Getting Worse) | Shop Talk EP 77

    Will AI fix modern software — or just make the same problems faster? In this episode of Shop Talk, Dave and Glen dig into a question that keeps coming up: if AI can write code, why does software still feel slow, bloated, and unreliable? From abstraction layers and performance tradeoffs to the reality of debugging versus generating code, this conversation breaks down what’s actually happening under the hood — and why better tools don’t always lead to better software. Topics include: • Why modern apps feel slower despite faster hardware • The hidden cost of abstraction layers • What AI is good at (and where it falls short) • Debugging vs writing code • Why software complexity keeps growing If you’ve ever wondered why your computer feels slower than it should — or whether AI is really the solution — this episode connects the dots. --- Shop Talk is where we answer your questions and go deeper into the ideas behind the videos. #ShopTalk #Software #AI #Programming #Tech

    53 min

  8. Apr 13

    Why Are We STILL Getting Hacked Like This?

    Most modern hacks aren’t happening because of genius attackers… They’re happening because of simple decisions developers keep making. In this episode of Shop Talk, Dave and Glen break down: Why third-party scripts are still one of the biggest risks on the web How modern dev stacks are increasing complexity (and attack surface) Whether AI is helping developers… or making things worse What actually separates a good developer in 2026 And as always — we’re answering real questions from viewers. If you’ve ever wondered: “Why does this keep happening?” …this episode is for you. Question of the Week: Why are we still linking to code we don’t control? 📺 Shop Talk is where we dig into your questions, ideas, and opinions about software, systems, and the industry. Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode. 00:00 - Start 00:18 - Hey I’m Dave 00:40 - It ticks me off every time I see a website linking to third party script files on a server they do not control. 02:43 - Dependencies, control, and attack surface 04:50 - Will we get to a point of eliminating the ability to run scripts? 06:02 - What does that say about control over these systems? 09:29 - Are we trusting systems too much? 10:44 - If you must use third-party scripts, what’s the right way to do it safely? 12:27 - Tooling, abstraction, and complexity 13:17 - Because XMLHttpRequest is too hard for people? 13:58 - What are we actually paying for now — complexity or value? 15:00 - Why does this guy have a VW shirt? 16:52 - Understanding vs generation 17:16 - Using AI to generate code… does that mean fewer developers actually understand what they’re building? 18:04 - If AI is just aggregating existing knowledge… is it actually creating anything new? 18:57 - AI is a large percent smoke & mirrors… 20:52 - Is it possible Claude is leaking itself on purpose? 21:28 - Ownership, testing, and risk 22:10 - If developers even accidentally read leaked code… can that affect their ability to work legally in the future? 22:39 - How do you test the restore? 23:55 - What matters for developers now 26:25 - Windows 11 is malware that installs itself despite user wishes… 27:11 - I’m rather enjoying using AI to pump out code and never having to hear another developer tell me how they are the best… 27:40 - Human side of technology 30:25 - Did wanting better hardware back then actually make you a better programmer? 30:57 - There used to be an app called The Simpsonizer… I guess AI can do that now… 32:53 - Are we losing something creative now that AI can do everything instantly? 36:20 - The Friendly Coder…

    37 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Dave Plummer, a retired operating systems engineer for Microsoft going back to the DOS and Windows 95 days, and his co-host Glen talk about technology and answer questions from his YouTube channels: Dave’s Garage and Dave’s Attic. Just 2 high school friends from 40 years ago hangin’ out, talkin’ tech and usually sharing some kind of prairie anecdotes from their youth growing up in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Dave is now in Seattle, WA and Glen is in Vancouver, BC.

Information

  • Creator
    Dave Plummer and Glen Hodges
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    83
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Dave Plummer and Glen Hodges
  • Show Website
    Dave’s Garage: Shop Talk

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