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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.

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ComputerTalk with Dave Mason show archive

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.

Consulting Philosophy

1414 clips, strongest first.

Steve finds the missing detail · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave is working through a flash drive that appears on other computers when Evil Steve recognizes a U3 behavior from his own experience. The caller confirms the detail, and Dr. Dave immediately says it is the key and thanks his brother for solving what he had missed.

2:07 · Consulting Philosophy

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A “PhD in making things work” · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave admits that his urge to try everything sometimes leaves him in a technical rat's nest for an entire day. Because he experiments on machines he does not depend upon, the mistake becomes on-the-job training: when a caller or client later does the same thing, he recognizes it, knows the work required and jokingly calls that experience his “PhD in making things work.”

2:19 · Consulting Philosophy

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Protect what cannot be replaced · Proposed air date:

Laura's planned Windows update becomes a layered backup lesson: applications can be reinstalled, but documents and family photographs cannot. Dr. Dave keeps asking questions, discovers her hardware and experience level and changes his recommendation rather than forcing a standard procedure.

7:35 · Consulting Philosophy

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Callers deserve respect · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave calls rude talk-radio screeners a personal pet peeve and says Computer Talk goes to great lengths not to imitate them. Even as Evil Steve supplies the punch line, the policy is clear: every caller deserves respect and the show's screener will be kind when callers treat him kindly too.

0:29 · Consulting Philosophy

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Family photographs and the limits of the cloud · Proposed air date:

A father calls back because he is uneasy about storing his young daughter's pictures online. Dr. Dave validates the concern, explains that privacy controls and companies can fail, and urges people to keep local copies and move their archives forward as formats change.

3:51 · Consulting Philosophy

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Where is the sweet spot? · Proposed air date:

After helping a caller investigate an apparent infection, Dr. Dave says his work often places him between people who neglect obvious risks and people too frightened to plug in their computers. He wonders aloud how to communicate well enough to protect both groups without creating more fear.

1:16 · Consulting Philosophy

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Darlene's first computer · Proposed air date:

Darlene says she has never sat at a computer but listens every week and hopes a mail-order laptop will let her contact her brother from a remote home. Dr. Dave separates the inflated offer from the machine's real value, learns that connectivity is the harder problem and apologizes that he cannot give her an easier solution.

6:49 · Consulting Philosophy

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If you do not know what it is, do not remove it · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave warns a caller not to launch an aggressive cleanup merely because an error mentions the registry, then remembers a friend asking to uninstall a program he could not identify. His response is simple: first learn what it is, because impulsively moving in any direction during trouble can compound the original problem.

1:21 · Consulting Philosophy

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Imperfect and on time beats perfect and absent · Proposed air date:

After a caller's document loses its formatting, Dr. Dave remembers deadlines when he abandoned presentation quality, copied the text into Notepad and printed something usable so business could continue. Evil Steve turns the practical lesson into a joke about their mother having taught Dr. Dave to use Notepad all along.

1:25 · Consulting Philosophy

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The caller who followed through · Proposed air date:

James calls to thank Dr. Dave after a problem that had prevented reliable Internet use for almost a year finally clears. Dr. Dave returns the credit, explaining that people often ask for advice without following it because a simple sounding answer seems too easy, and congratulates James for staying with the plan instead of abandoning his computer.

3:52 · Consulting Philosophy

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Early to test, late to buy · Proposed air date:

As 4K televisions begin to push down the price of ordinary HD sets, Dr. Dave sums up a personal rule: he is an early adopter when testing technology, but a late adopter when spending his own money because price matters. It is a short, practical glimpse of the judgment behind his recommendations.

1:19 · Consulting Philosophy

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Get into the trenches and do the work · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave says that much of what looks like unusual technical knowledge comes from ordinary experience multiplied by willingness: do what other people do not do, get into the trenches, get dirty and learn from the details. He does not demand that every listener become a tinkerer, but he insists that nobody can safely sleepwalk through the technology they use.

1:19 · Consulting Philosophy

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If you don’t know, say “I don’t know” · Proposed air date:

A young phone-store employee surprises Dr. Dave with an informed, enjoyable conversation about Android and Linux. The experience lets Dr. Dave distinguish ignorance from pretense: he has no problem with someone who does not know an answer and gives full credit to the person who simply admits it, but reacts strongly when someone tries to bluff him.

2:19 · Consulting Philosophy

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Protection cannot protect you from you · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave admits that his own family computer became one of the hardest infections he had faced in years and forced him beyond his standard routines. His conclusion is that protection cannot save a user who authorizes the wrong download, especially when malicious software is designed to look legitimate.

2:37 · Consulting Philosophy

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The drive that passed every test and failed · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave tells how a new server drive displayed one strange warning, passed every manufacturer and independent diagnostic, yet repeatedly corrupted its partition. He refuses to lie to support, tests it in an entirely different computer and finally gets it replaced, reminding listeners that experts encounter maddening failures too.

4:32 · Consulting Philosophy

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When technology costs time, money and relationships · Proposed air date:

Dr. Dave remembers an unexpectedly deep conversation with a mother at a client's office who felt that phones, games, computers and Internet service were consuming her family's money, time and relationships. He adds an important professional caution: years of consulting can reveal patterns without making those difficult cases representative of everyone.

3:13 · Consulting Philosophy

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Full episode archive

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.

2015 (15 dates)
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January
2014 (12 dates)
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2013 (26 dates)
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2012 (35 dates)
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2011 (29 dates)
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2010 (33 dates)
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2009 (42 dates)
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2008 (52 dates)
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2007 (52 dates)
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2006 (52 dates)
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2005 (52 dates)
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2004 (40 dates)
December
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January
2003 (1 date)
April
2000 (1 date)
March
Date unknown (2)