Hi! I'm Dave Plummer. You might remember me from such Windows components as Task Manager, Windows Pinball, Calc, ZIPFolders, Product Activation, etc. Cheers!
Joined June 2010
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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
Here's the links for my conversation with Dave Plummer (@davepl1968):
YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=HsLgZzgp…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/2MAi0B…
Podcast: lexfridman.com/podcast
Big news! We just shipped Task Manager TMOG 1.1.
The free version already shows you exactly which process is heating up your machine, making it loud, stuttery, or draining the battery. 1.1 makes that experience better for more people:
• Text size up to 200% + high-contrast + full keyboard/screen-reader support (because not everyone is 25 anymore)
• New Red & Purple display tints + optional row highlights off
• Network rates in bytes or bits
• Remembers your sort orders and selected devices
• Uses less CPU when you can’t see it, and stops drawing entirely when it’s minimized
Windows and Linux also pick up smarter disk views, a System Pressure tile, a file activity window, Intel GPU readings, SMART health, and the ability to uninstall apps right from the Installed Apps page (Pro).
Native on Windows, Mac, and Linux. One shared measuring core. No Electron tax.
Free download right now:
tmog.org
I'd rather have a bunch of old cars that were paid off 30 years ago.... no payments.
When my now-wife first visited me in Seattle in 93, it was not long after folks had died from bad burgers. So when we ordered a burger, I suggested she ask for it well done, and she asked why.
I said "Well, a few folks just died here from contaminated beef". When I said "here", I meant the local area.
She thought I meant at THAT restaurant, and was kinda annoyed that I'd taken her there :-)
I would have called it count_bits, not set_bits!
This is a 256KB memory board for a PDP-11. The maximum memory is 4M, and it'd take 16 of these boards!
Today I got my FPGA/SRAM replacement working... You can see it as the smaller green card plugged into the bus. 4M onboard on one card!
I made my own RAM! And it almost works!
If you think regular RAM is expensive, try PDP-11 memory. It's like $1000 per megabyte if you can find it.
So, I set out to make my own. With ChatGPT in hand, we got busy in the EasyEDA designer. I've done PCBs before, but nothing this complicated.
We got the schematic done, the PCB laid out, routed, and the Bill of Materials ready for production. With the FPGA code saved away, I ordered 5 of the boards to test.
I’ve never flashed an FPGA before, so I bought an FT232H and wired it up. I installed openFPGALoader and after a few false starts over compressed bitstreams, I managed to get it flashed. All new territory for me!
After a bunch of bench testing, I ultimately put it in a backplane with an M8190. And the good news is it shows up as both 4M of RAM and reserved space for the ROM. The bad news is that access to any ODD memory location fails. So I’ve got something that amazingly almost works end to end, but has a really fundamental problem.
So at this point, my RAM works, but only half as well as it should. I'll keep you up to date!
I bought this on eBay. I can't believe they sell them!
Want to know what happens if you plug it in, check it out: youtu.be/RznOLqu9_Jc
I grew up in a four-generation family hardware store, so every fall I remember people coming in to either try to buy a male-to-male cable or make one.
Why? A fair number of people would string their Christmas lights, finish the job, and realize they'd done it backward. So they'd want a male to make so they could energize the wrong female end that wound up near the outlet!
Trust me... "Don't do it, Len!"
This is a great episode by @TechnoTimLive, where he covers how he sets up a variety of models on older GPUs and uses semantic routing to send requests to the best one for the job...
If you're interested in doing local AI on older or more limited hardware, it's well worth the watch!
youtu.be/ukv-LIOI6_E
Well, I made it past that hurdle, fixed the odd byte issue - now I'm getting a failure on test pattern 3, but it's progress!
If you do anything that requires precision screwdrivers, stop fumbling with bits. Treat yourself... this is my favorite tool in the entire shop, I think, and perhaps my most used (I added a chip extractor to the set).
link.amazon/B0iNtof7Q
