Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest preview video

If you’ve been following my ZDNET articles, you know I’ve been working on a filament management tool called My Filament Stash. Here’s another sneak peek feature that will be in the upcoming release of the product. It’s being built for the Apple ecosystem and will run on iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Mac.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I let Gemini Flows organize my Gmail, and it effectively filtered my inbox (with one sneaky catch): Gmail’s genius Gemini Flows feature fixes filters - but there’s a monthly limit that you should know about.

Anthropic rolls out Claude Tag, your new agentic AI coworker in Slack: Claude Tag could turn your Slack channels into shared spaces where an agentic coworker reads the room, joins threads, remembers context, and moves team tasks forward. Is your workplace ready?

Project of the week

I’ve been using the Anycubic Kobra X for a while now, and I’m pretty happy with it. But it’s time to do a major color print to see how well big projects work on the little machine. As it turns out, I hadn’t yet made an R2D2. This print aims to rectify that situation. Stay tuned. I’ll show it off with supports removed once it finishes its more than 72-hour print process.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• The OpenAI folks managed to connect a plant to an Arduino and a bunch of sensors, hooked it up to GPT, and let it talk. Let us know in the comments below if this is the first step for a flora-flavored Skynet.

• Zion Brock (the guy who designed that cool 3D printed radio from a few issues back) takes a look at Bambu’s new PURE filament, which is supposed to be food safe. Spoiler: it kinda (kinda) is.

• Dude winds and cooks raw filament to make springy springs.

Gadget of the week

We’re so screwed! What? You all know I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old. This device is a screw counting machine. Sam at Samcraft spotlighted it in a recent video and I had to share it. This is a tool you might use in manufacturing (Sam does), to create little packages of screws to accompany products. I don’t need one, but I love the idea.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Weird story about how astronauts have an out-of-body sensation when they return to Earth.

• Why Doc Brown’s DeLorean had to hit exactly 88 MPH to time travel.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott reports that Windows 10 users just got another (very unexpected) year of support.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

If you’ve been following my ZDNET articles, you know I’ve been working on a filament management tool called My Filament Stash. This video is the first of a series that will provide sneak peeks of individual capabilities of the product. It’s being built for the Apple ecosystem and will run on iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Mac.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

Why Anthropic suddenly pulled Fable 5 and Mythos 5 for everyone: Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 are gone. The reason? A US government directive.

AI agents are getting their own search engine: AI agents may soon search for and use their own tools at runtime, thanks to a new open standard backed by Microsoft and Google.

Project of the week

Last week, I told you about the wire shelf drawers I’m putting up in the workshop. This week, I designed and started to 3D print plastic base plates to make those drawers solid.

Each shelf requires two rows of four thin strips and two rows of four wider strips. All told, I need to print 40 thin strips and 40 wide strips, for a total of 80 prints. I’m printing them at the maximum size of my biggest printer, so the Creality K2 Plus is getting a real run for its money. It’s hanging in there like a champ.

I’m using the same XFasten double-sided sticky tape I use for my CNC, which holds very well, leaves no residue, and releases (with effort) on demand. So far, the strips have been holding well.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• This guy uses AI to make 50s retro style trailers of popular movies. In this video, he shows all the tools he uses. Even though he’s using a lot of AI (and arguably producing AI slop), there’s still a lot of work involved.

• Joanna Stern spent a week testing out the new Siri AI. She didn’t hate it.

• My Internet Press Guild colleague Tristan Louis did a TED talk about the challenges of protecting free speech.

Gadget of the week

I am really intrigued by this thing. It’s a power strip under the desk and a charging hub on top of the desk, with a clamp that holds the two parts in place. I haven’t bought it yet, but I’m definitely thinking about it. Might just tidy up the underside of my desk a bit.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• A Microsoft researcher built a goat-powered LLM in Age of Empires II to prove it’s not sentient. That’s the actual headline. That article alone makes it worth subscribing to this newsletter, and you know it. And yes, I both downloaded and read the entire academic paper it references because I’m that much of an advanced geek.

• Apparently, fish oil makes folks less aggressive. Our vet told us to give the pup fish oil. It doesn’t make him yap any less. Want me to be less aggressive? Feed me some crab-stuffed lobster. That’ll do it every time.

• ZDNET’s Charlie Osborne just put out an important article about the 10 signs that someone is monitoring or accessing your accounts. She also shows you how to stop them.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

NEWS ALERT - ANTHROPIC CLAUDE FABLE

So, there’s some bonkers stuff happening out there. Since I wrote the following two articles earlier in the week, the US government has banned foreign access to Fable, including for foreign nationals living in the US. Anthropic responded by turning off Fable for everyone. Stay tuned later today on ZDNET for my in-depth analysis of the situation.

Anthropic’s new Claude Fable 5 is a nerfed Mythos with guardrails attached: Claude Fable 5 brings Mythos-class AI coding power to general users, but with cybersecurity guardrails, fallback models, and pricing that could make developers think twice.

Claude Fable 5 secretly throttled AI researchers, and the internet went wild: Claude Fable 5 gave users access to Mythos-class power, but its hidden safeguards turned a safety feature into a trust problem for Anthropic.

OTHER ARTICLES LAST WEEK

ChatGPT’s new memory upgrade is powerful - and could poison every answer it gives you: OpenAI says ChatGPT’s memory is getting better. But my tests show outdated assumptions, personal profiling, and wrong details that could quietly distort future answers.

How I used Airtable to swap my daily fast-food habit with 5-minute meal planning: I used Airtable to turn daily meal planning into a simple database system, reducing food stress, grocery confusion, and last-minute takeout temptations without counting calories, macros, or points.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Some crazy person made a first person shooter using COBOL. I was a teenage COBOL programmer, and that was the last time I touched that frak’d up language.

• Ever wanted to use aluminum extrusions in a project? This guy tells you all about how to do it and what to look for.

• This dude reinterprets the Gilligan’s Island theme for dark metal (give it about 90 seconds to really ramp up). Come to think about it, the Gilligan’s Island premise could benefit from an intense reinterpretation like they did with the new Battlestar Galactica. It would be like Lost meets Gilligan.

Project and Tool of the Week

We’re all familiar with the robust classic, wire shelving units. I’ve used these for years. They’re versatile, but they tend to be space wasters. With only five shelves, there’s often a ton of space between one shelf and the next.

What I really need is drawers. I need pull-out drawers to organize my filming gear, test equipment, and more. Unfortunately, wire shelves don’t typically come with drawers. I searched all over the Internet and found only one source, which was out of stock for months (and is again).

Finally, I got a note indicating the drawers were back in stock. The reviews were terrible. Almost all said the drawers arrived broken. But since I couldn’t find an alternate solution, I took the chance and placed my order. And, ya know what? They arrived broken. Almost all of them

The drawers are attached to the drawer slides with pop rivets. All of them came either missing or sheared off. So, I bought the pop-rivet gun shown below.

Mine cost me five bucks more than the exact same kit available from Amazon. I wanted it right then, when my buddy was over to help me set things up. So I got it in ten minutes rather than two days, purchased from our little town’s local hardware store. I honestly don’t mind the extra Lincoln, because those folks are incredibly helpful. Plus they have a model railroad running inside the store. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I’ve never used a rivet gun before. It definitely takes some hand strength. But it’s a very cool joining technique. Now that I have one, I’ll probably use it for other projects. Have you used a rivet gun? Have any advice? Let us know in the comments.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• These guys show how to build a lightsaber from common hardware store fasteners and such.

• Headline of the week: ‘Spy turtles’ and ‘spy fish’ being used to monitor Chinese waters, Beijing claims.

• ZDNET’s Erin Carson wrote a great piece on the battle between a data center and the Nashville Zoo.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I set 10 honesty traps for Claude Opus 4.8 - and a legal test broke it: The latest models were pitted against coding, medical, finance, and legal traps, then I cross-checked the results with multiple AIs.

Work IQ is Microsoft’s big bet on agent-first enterprise IT, and I have questions: Microsoft’s Work IQ could make enterprise AI agents dramatically smarter, but the shift to agent-first IT brings serious questions about cost, governance, data exposure, and operational risk.

I had ChatGPT build me a free PDF editor because I didn’t trust it to change my files - it worked! The smartest way to use AI may not be letting it touch your files, but asking it to write software that handles them safely - in the time it takes to make dinner.

Build 2026: Microsoft’s MDASH exits preview with 100+ specialized threat-hunting AI agents: Microsoft’s Build 2026 security news centers on an agentic AI vulnerability system designed to find real exploitable flaws, connect them to Defender and GitHub, and help developers fix them faster.

Project of the Week

Back when we moved into our new home, one of the features that excited me most was an upstairs room I could turn into my office and studio for talking head-style interviews. Unfortunately, even with the air conditioner blowing on full blast, that room often hit 90+ degrees from May through September.

But last year, we had a roof leak and wound up replacing the entire roof. That room now stays within a degree or two of the downstairs temperature, all summer long. Who knew a roof could do such a wonder for insulation quality?

In any case, I’ve been revamping my talking head studio, updating the tech, and rearranging the room. This is a quick photo of the back of the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K I use for filming. Stay tuned. Once I get everything tuned and operating smoothly, I’ll take you on a tour of what’s changed.

It’s super-exciting to be able regain year-round usage of my office.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• This video showcases a warehouse heavily structured around robotic inventory movement for e-commerce fulfillment. It’s a bit hype-y, but it’s still worth a watch just for the tech involved.

• Really fascinating overview of a mill that “re-engineers logs” by producing veneer sheets and repurposing all the aspects of small log Douglas Fir wood harvesting for engineered wood, paper, hog feed, and more.

• Last November, I reported that my all-time favorite TV show, Stargate, was back in production. It seemed like such good news. The original producers were back. Canon was going to be preserved. But then, this week, we found out that Amazon killed the project. Given the depth of the franchise and its enormous staying power and popularity, it seems like a genuinely stupid move. This sucks.

Tool of the week

I just picked up this inexpensive pin-punch set to help me set magnets into 3D prints. The prints have a really tight tolerance, and these flat-ended punches do the trick to pop them into place.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Grades are plummeting in UC Berkeley CS classes. Professors attribute the crash to AI usage.

• Can you imagine dragonflies with a 2-foot wingspan? They existed…about 285 million years ago.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott says he paid Microsoft’s premium Copilot agents to do his work. Apparently, they were confidently bad at it.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

Bambu Lab has an interesting new 3D printer, the X2D. This is set to take over from their 2-year-old flagship, the X1C. The X2D offers two extruders instead of one, but the second extruder is not direct drive. Instead, it’s fed by an external Bowden-style extruder. In this video, I look at how the setup and external design of the new X2D differs from the X1C, plus give it a quick test. So far, so good.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

When my eye doctor got my glasses prescription wrong, AI helped me fix it: An eye exam produced a good distance prescription and a terrible computer prescription. Here’s how AI helped decode the numbers and expose the mismatch.

Anthropic launches Opus 4.8, with honesty as its killer feature: Anthropic’s latest Claude model isn’t just faster or smarter. Opus 4.8 is being pitched as more honest, more careful, and better suited to complex coding projects.

Stopping bugs before they ship: The shift to preventative security: Secure software starts before coding begins. Threat modeling, safer defaults, dependency hygiene, and developer workflow guardrails can help prevent vulnerabilities.

Beyond the cleanup job: Redefining application security for the modern enterprise: Secure-by-design is no longer just a developer concern. Enterprise leaders must treat application security as a board-level responsibility, with accountability, incentives, and customer risk reduction built in.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• I have always been fascinated by the Longaberger building in Newark, Ohio. This iconic structure is shaped like a basket, reminiscent of the former company’s products. Now, it’s up for sale. You can see it from the inside and out. Cool building, even if the company became a basket case. What?

• Vox does a strong analysis of the Taiwan/People’s Republic of China issue. Good explainer.

• Ever wonder why car windows have dots on them? This guy has the answer.

Tool of the week

Why would you use a corner chisel instead of just a chisel on each of two right angles? Mainly, for speed and consistency. I like it because I’m just not that good at getting the angles perfect. If I’m using a chisel, it’s because I need to get something trimmed out that’s pretty darned perfect.

Plus, this thing is under $20 and you can set it to a maximum depth. Pretty cool.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Mike Elgan says Google betrayed the web.

• Using a DNS sinkhole instead of an ad blocker.

• ZDNET’s Ritoban Mukherjee digs into a challenging problem nobody wants to face: how to migrate to a new CRM.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

The patching treadmill: Why traditional application security is no longer enough: Find-and-fix security once made sense, but AI-assisted development, continuous deployment, and exploding vulnerability backlogs are changing the rules. The old application security playbook is breaking down fast.

Google’s new Omni AI tool will let you video clone yourself - I’m intrigued (and concerned): Google Gemini Omni aims to do for AI video what Nano Banana did for images - combining realism, style control, avatars, and natural-language editing into one ambitious tool.

OpenAI’s new image watermarks make it easier to spot AI fakes - here’s how: Older metadata could be stripped out. OpenAI’s new approach hides signals in the pixels themselves.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• How Cuban mechanics keep 1950s-era cars running. This video is undoubtedly AI-generated, but it’s still quite interesting.

• Email getting you down? Here’s how it felt to use email in the 1980s. Remember those briefcases? My dad had one.

• My inexplicable Christopher Walken obsession continues. This is Googly Eyes Gardener.

Gadget of the week

I am fairly obsessed by this thing. It’s a lifting platform, which isn’t anything particularly new. But this one is powered and can be controlled remotely. At 150x150mm, it’s the size of a small 3D printer bed, so it’s actually bigger than the typical coaster-sized platform.

But…what to do with it? The most obvious idea is putting a phone stand and a phone on it, to create a simple vertical filming platform. But what else? Please let us know in the comments below. Hopefully, one of you will come up with the perfect suggestion to help me justify getting one.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• A flooded, misidentified tomb offers rare clues about a forgotten pharaoh, Egypt’s royal succession, and later royal tomb design.

• Even the Pope is freaked out by AI.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott says cloud attacks are getting faster and deadlier. He shows four ways to secure your business.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

This new Claude skill saves you from bad contracts - and costs less than a lawyer: I tested Claude for Small Business, which has 31 skills, and the contract review tool is amazing.

I compared how Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude can analyze videos - this model wins: Can AI really watch video, or does it just fake it? I tested my favorite AI tools on YouTube clips and local files to find the best.

How to learn Claude Code for free with Anthropic’s AI courses - one took me just 20 minutes: With Anthropic’s free course library, you can train online and learn about Claude, Claude Code, AI agents, and MCP.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• How we spent our time off, across the decades.

• Silly skit about what it’s like when your boss bans coding with keyboards.

• I’m reading enormously fun Eric Flint’s 1632 alternate history series. One of the main characters is Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus. Dude was a badass.

Gear of the week

Last week, I showed you a completely over-the-top power strip, which is now plugged into my big UPS and installed and running on my server rack. Despite my best efforts, it’s not exactly pretty, but it is functional as heck.

This week, I’m spotlighting a filming cart, which is also pretty much over-the-top. There are three things I like about it: it folds, it has very large wheels, and it supports a ton of attachment points for cameras and gears. This one is on my wishlist in case I ever need a rolling studio. Not cheap, but powerful.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Researchers discovered a 9th-century copy of the oldest surviving English poem hidden inside a Latin manuscript in Rome. This is big, because it means English was studied outside of England three centuries earlier than previously known.

• ZDNET’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has some solid advice about switching to plug-in solar power.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

How we test AI at ZDNET: AI is the hottest topic in tech with new models and products launching daily. Here’s how we test the latest AI developments at ZDNET.

The 5 myths of the agentic coding apocalypse: Agentic AI promises faster coding, but hidden risks in testing, security, and maintenance could derail projects unless developers rethink how they manage, validate, and supervise machine-generated software at scale.

Building an agentic AI strategy that pays off - without risking business failure: Companies are chasing tenfold AI gains, but many projects are failing fast. We break down the real risks and show you how to turn agentic AI into reliable, profitable outcomes.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• When I was a kid, I loved Matchbox cars. Here’s how they were made. So, Hot Wheels or Matchbox? Let us know in the comments below.

• Here’s another great Rex Krueger video. How woodworking became a hobby.

• If you love Stargate SG-1, you know it has an iconic theme song. Here, it’s reimagined as a metal cover. Needless to say, it rocks.

Gadget of the week

I just picked up this completely over-the-top power strip for my server rack. To be clear, nobody should plug 22 devices into this thing. But my server rack is filled, not only with traditional servers, but all the smart home hubs and dongley things that come with pucks on their power adapters.

The very nice spacing of the outer sockets should make those dongles actually fit, without the usual cord extenders that I’ve used on traditional power strips. Also, the maker of this thing is SuperDanny. For some reason, that deeply amuses me. Super…Danny! Best brand name of the week.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• WKRP in Cincinnati is now a real-life radio station, in Cincinnati. Life imitates art, especially when there’s some brand equity involved.

• There’s a massive hidden void in the Great Pyramid of Giza. There’s also a massive hidden void in the brains of most congresscritters, but y’all know that already.

• ZDNET’s Charlie Osborne has an important article about the steps you should take if you’re worried about the giant Canvas learning management system breach. 275 million records. Ouch.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I tested ChatGPT Images 2.0 vs. Gemini Nano Banana to see which is better - this model wins: I put ChatGPT Images 2.0 and Gemini Nano Banana through nine image-generation tests. The winner was clear.

I used Photoshop’s new AI tool to rotate objects in 3D, and it’s pure magic: Adobe’s AI-enabled Rotate Object tool can do some really cool things, but human skill is still crucial for success.

I asked ChatGPT Images 2.0 to redesign my app UIs - and wow: ChatGPT analyzed two of my apps, flagged issues, and generated new mockups. It’s a game-changer.

Anthropic’s new Claude Security tool scans your codebase for flaws - and helps you decide what to fix first: It uses Opus 4.7 to scan, validate, and generate patches, helping fix dangerous flaws before they can be exploited.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• PBS takes a look at the trend of folks using small, plug-in solar panels to augment their electrical needs.

• Tom Scott visits a giant grocery-processing warehouse that’s all robots, all the time.

• It’s time for more Christopher Walken. Here’s Trivial Psychic from an old SNL episode. It’s five ludicrous minutes of your life you’ll never get back.

Tool of the week

This is one of those inexpensive and irresistable tool add-ons that may or may not be a good idea. Rather than cutting sheet metal by hand or using an air-powered tool, you can attach this thing right to the end of your power drill.

How well does it work? I have no idea. But if you try it out, let us know in the comments below. Wishlisted.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• ZDNET’s Steven Vaughan-Nichols shares his unique perspective on Microsoft’s open-source release of DOS 1.0.

• Steven’s article reminded me that I did a ZDNET piece back in the day on CP/M’s open source release, as well as my very personal history with CP/M.

• Psychology Today explains why intelligent people may feel loneliness differently that other folks. Since all of you are highly intelligent (you’re reading this, aren’t you?), I figured you might be interested. But always know you’re not really alone as long as you’re subscribed here.

Pixel pic of the week

My very good little boy looks a bit suspicious right now. There he is with his very well-chewed buddy (which, IRL, smells more than a little nasty). Also, check out the sweater his Mom made for him. Stylin’.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

This week, I printed a wall-busting bust of Ghostbuster’s Slimer using the Bambu Lab H2D and six spools of filament loaded at once. I gave a still from the video to the new ChatGPT Images 2.0 using GPT-5.5 (both reviewed in the next section) and it generated the thumbnail you see below.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I put GPT-5.5 through a 10-round test: It scored 93/100, losing points only for exuberance: OpenAI’s latest model delivers powerful results but sometimes ignores simple directions, creating a tension between intelligence and control.

I tried ChatGPT Images 2.0: A fun, huge leap - and surprisingly useful for real work: My ChatGPT Images 2.0 results were impressive, but occassionally wrong. Here’s how it handles branding, text, and infographics.

I got an early look at ChatGPT Images 2.0, and it’s impressive - with one exception: OpenAI’s new ChatGPT Images 2.0 promises precision and design control. Here’s how to try it for yourself.

Moonshot AI’s new Kimi K2.6 swarms your complex tasks with 1,000 collaborating agents: Kimi K2.6’s impressive new capabilities could redefine how developers approach complex, multi-step engineering workflows.

Google bets $32B on AI agent cyber force as security arms race escalates: With Wiz and AI agents, Google is gearing up for a cyberwar where machines fight at speeds humans can’t match.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Most of you probably know by now how much I enjoy the Apple TV show For All Mankind. Well, Star City is coming out next month, and it’s the same story from the point of view of the Soviets. Here’s the trailer. I can’t wait!

• I like Morley Kurt’s projects. This time, he turns an old pallet into a desk he sold for $1,200.

• Here’s a fun musical selection, courtesy of my wife. This bluegrass band performs “Gangnam Style”. This is why the Internet was invented.

Tool of the week

Some of you might have noticed an interesting spatula used to remove the Ghostbusters Slimer model from my H2D. The fine folks at BuildTak sent one to me a few years back and it’s sometimes the only thing that works to get a model off of a build plate.

It comes in two sizes, it’s been with me for years, and it’s fairly inexpensive. If you do 3D printing, this should be in your build kit.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases (but not this week).

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• I’ve always found that extra space at the end of a ruler annoying. But here’s why it’s there.

• A 2,000 year old carnyx, an Iron Age trumpet, was found in England, nearly completely intact. It’s quite the find.

• ZDNET’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes drives a bulldozer over an SSD enclosure. Based on his review of the SSD enclosure, I now want a bulldozer.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

I’ve really been enjoying making larger models on the two really big 3D printers in the Fab Lab. This is a remake of a very old model, but the scale and choice of filament make it into something quite impressive.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

• OpenAI’s Codex Desktop can run your computer now - and has its own browser: From coding tool to productivity powerhouse, Codex Desktop adds computer control, automation memory, and plugin support. But can it replace traditional software?

• AI-powered website builders have come a long way - here’s your best option in 2026: Last year, the best we could say about AI website builders is they had potential. This year, we found some that can actually do the job.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Dude uses the baking soda trick to rebuild a pair of glasses. It’s not like you’re going to use the same trick for your glasses, but it’s a real interesting look at how to MacGyver small repairs like this.

• Why towels have stripes. Apparently, they’re not for decoration.

• Look, I know we all hate AI slop. And AI-generated content makes life harder for content creators. But then there’s this video, which is all wrong on so many levels, and yet so incredibly fun. Fake Neil deGrasse Tyson is the hero, and then there’s Fake Elon Musk, Fake Bill Gates, and other, well, you just gotta watch it. Thanks to the Internet Press Guild’s Alfred Poor for pointing this one out.

Gear of the week

I just discovered this company on Amazon. They make a line of tiny gear racks. This one is two feet high, but they have them as short as under a foot high. I’m thinking these might make great home lab server racks, as a way to organize gear that’s normally just piled on a shelf.

I haven’t bought these yet, and they are competing in my mind with something I might custom design for 3D printing or CNC fabricating. But still, they’re cool and potentially useful for small scale racking requirements.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Some psychologists are saying that people who prefer texting to phone calls aren’t being antisocial, they’re protecting the quality of their thinking from the demands of real-time performance. What do you think?

• Apparently, Chernobyl has spawned some mutant fungus that uses radiation as food. Thanks to my Facebook buddy, author David Brin, for pointing out this article.

• ZDNET’s Erin Carson has a helpful piece on how to polish up your LinkedIn profile so you stand out from the crowd (in a good way).

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

Welcome new readers!

We had another big surge in new subscribers this week. Welcome everybody! Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and make yourself comfortable. Lots of great stuff to read and watch in this week’s issue.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

How I set up Claude Code in iTerm2 to launch all my AI coding projects in one click: Managing multiple Claude Code projects doesn’t have to be chaotic. My iTerm2 setup dramatically reduces friction in my daily AI-assisted coding workflows - here’s how.

Apple, Google, and Microsoft join Anthropic’s Project Glasswing to defend world’s most critical software: Is this AI’s Manhattan Project? 12 tech rivals are banding together, and using Anthropic’s unreleased Mythos model, to find thousands of vulnerabilities before adversaries do.

Two deep dives coming soon from me on ZDNET: “Building an agentic AI strategy that pays off,” and “The 5 myths of the agentic coding apocalypse.”

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• In-depth interview with my ZDNET colleague Steven Vaughan-Nichols. This guy’s a legend and his Linux perspective is unmatched.

• Fun history of hobby shops. I remember Polk hobbies. My dad took me there when I was a little boy.

• Excavations led by the University of Oregon have unearthed artifacts suggesting the oldest human settlement in America was here in Oregon as far back as 18,000 to 20,000 years ago.

Project of the week

Most of my writing time this week has been spent working on two exciting new special feature articles that will be coming out soon on ZDNET. In between keyboarding sessions, I built this helpful little wheeled structure for my workbench, shown above.

I’ve had two of these Harbor Freight workbenches for years. They’ve served me well, but the metal on their legs is super flimsy. Any attempt to weld casters on them would just blow through the metal. But I want to be able to move the workbenches so I can get behind them. Just about everything else in both the Fab Lab and workshop is on wheels.

This project was very easy. For each workbench, I took a 2x4 foot Melamine project board from Home Depot and attached six casters. I bought three sets of four, so that I could have one on each corner and two in the middle (just because the span is a bit long and melamine project panels aren’t as robust as plywood). The benches mostly stay in place due to their weight, but to prevent them from sliding off, I added a heavy duty steel L bracket on each corner.

It was a fairly simple and easy project, but it tackled a toleration I’ve had for years. A side benefit to the mobility is that I now have a new shelf for storage. It nicely holds two Sterilite bins.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Jason Perlow is back with a look at what an alternate history of the technology industry might look like. This brilliant piece is what happens when Jason can write whatever he wants to write.

• How the 2025 Superman movie used 3D printers as a production tool.

• According to ZDNET’s Ed Bott, Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program is no longer a confusing mess.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

• I built two apps with just my voice and a mouse - are IDEs already obsolete? With one hand holding my dog and no keyboard, I advanced two serious development projects using AI prompting, proving that the traditional coding setup may no longer be required.

• I used Gmail’s AI tool to do hours of work in 10 minutes - with 3 prompts: I just had a ‘living in the future’ moment with Gmail, of all things. Here’s what happened.

• Google’s Gemma 4 model goes fully open-source and unlocks powerful local AI - even on phones: Now open-source under Apache 2.0, Gemma 4 brings offline, multimodal AI to servers, phones, and Raspberry Pi - giving developers total local control over edge and on-premises deployments.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• This video shows future Darwin Award winners in hang gliders, being towed by drones. Thanks to my Internet Press Guild buddy Phil Shapiro for sharing this.

• YouTuber Tom Buck shows how he uses a magic arm and a super clamp to mount his talking head camera setup. Simple and elegant.

• In this short video, some guy shows how to fix wooden joists damaged by a plumber. This kind of splice patch can work for a lot of homeowner fixes, so it’s worth knowing how to do.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Scientists have found giant eggs nearly 20 inches long about two miles below an active volcano. They belong to a winged fish known as the Pacific white skate. And yes, people eat them. Apparently, Pacific white skate tastes a bit like lobster.

• Your poop schedule says a lot about your overall health, according to this article. Personally, I think it’s a load of crap.

• Want to save bucks on rising gas prices? ZDNET’s Lance Whitney has five apps that can save you real cash.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

Last week, I mentioned that I was testing out the EufyMake E1 UV printer. In this video, I unbox the machine (and a ton of add-on goodies). I also take you through my first run and first impressions. It’s a cool machine.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I turned casual selfies into professional headshots with Gemini - and the results blew me away: I used Gemini Nano Banana 2 to generate professional headshots perfect for LinkedIn - in minutes.

OpenAI upgrades Codex to automate your workflows - and compete better with Claude Code: Codex’s new plugins push it beyond coding and position it to challenge Claude Code’s growing lead among developers.

How Claude Code’s new auto mode prevents AI coding disasters - without slowing you down: Anthropic’s middle-ground mode aims to reduce interruptions while protecting developers from destructive commands. Here’s why I like this new option.

I’m on Disney+

Looks like me from 2010 is on Disney+ this month. If you get a chance, stream The President’s Book of Secrets. It’s a fun (if somewhat dated) look inside the White House and presidential secret-keeping.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• This guy 3D printed a wonderful analog-like radio for his Dad. It looks great and the story is inspiring.

• If you’ve been following me for any time, you probably know how enamored I’ve always been with the Thunderbirds. This video is a fun, somewhat behind-the-scenes, piece about how they used and reused their shots.

• Since I talked about the new EufyMake E1 UV in this week’s video, I thought I’d show you how one guy hacked the printer to help him solve a manufacturing problem. Creative use of the tech, indeed.

Project (and tool) of the week

I love it when my wife asks me to help solve a problem around the house. Of course, I like the opportunity to help her. Virtue is its own reward. But there’s also often a side benefit. Sometimes her projects require me to get a new tool or two. When I do, I know that tool purchase can be completely justified under the Good Husband clause. I often need to get tools for projects, but the added justification makes me feel virtuous in my tool acquisition.

This time it’s the cool tie wrap tensioner shown above. Additionally, I bought 4-foot long tie wraps. These are, by far, the longest tie wraps I’ve ever used.

The project was fixing the shoe rack shown above. My wife likes this particular shoe rack because it perfectly fits in a corner of our entryway behind the door. But it's made from super-flimsy metal bars press-fitted into equally flimsy plastic sides, causing it to fall apart constantly.

I offered to make her an identical one out of wood and real steel on the CNC. But she wanted this exact unit. She says it took her a while to find it, it’s perfect apart from the fact that it won’t hold together, and she just wanted some kind of fix so it could be used reliably. Cue the engineering challenge.

There is no threading on the rods. They are smooth. Epoxy won’t hold. And there are no fasteners anywhere on the unit. The entire thing is meant to be press-fit so it holds together long enough to exceed the return window offered by the retailer.

I thought of 3D printing a bracket, but that would have the same friction holding problem. Then I thought of using wire rope and turnbuckles, but I couldn’t source anything light and small enough to do the job.

Then, of course, there are tie wraps. I can do anything with duct tape, tie wraps, and an Arduino or two (although I couldn’t figure out a good excuse to mount either duct tape or an Arduino on this project).

The rack is 20 inches wide, so 48 inch tie wraps would work perfectly. The only problem was going to be tensioning these hefty straps. I did some more digging and found the Klein Tools 86570 Tie Tensioning Tool, which works with all different sizes. Once a wrap is tied, you slide it over the loose end. One side of the tool clamps on the tie wrap flap, while the other pushes against the joint.

Bing-bang-boom. Tie wrap tensioned. I so very much love getting new tools! And, as it turns out, Denise is quite thrilled with the fix. Buy a tool. Make your wife happy. Life is good.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Apparently, there were tool builders on Earth 600,000 years before Homo erectus (quiet down, back there!) was active on the planet.

• Scientists have confirmed that “time reflections” are real, a discovery that could lead to unhackable phones and lightning-fast computers by reversing the way waves travel.

• The words “portable wind turbine” just cheer me up. I don’t know why, but it’s true. ZDNET’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has one. He looks at whether it works any better than solar panels.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

YouTube killed my comment alerts, so I vibe-coded a fix to get them back - in just 1 hour: With Gemini and a simple Python script, I rebuilt YouTube email alerts. Now I won’t miss another comment. Here’s how you can do the same.

This AI tool turned my messy browser tabs into something actually manageable: Meet my new secret weapon for automatically organizing online articles, research, and YouTube videos.

As AI agents spread, 1Password’s new tool tackles a rising security threat: AI agents increasingly need credentials to log into your systems. 1Password wants to help secure them. Here’s how.

OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 mini and nano launch - with near flagship performance at much lower cost: The latest GPT-5.4 mini model delivers benchmark results surprisingly close to the full GPT-5.4 model while running much faster, signaling a shift toward smaller AI models powering real-world applications.

Project of the week

This week, I’ve started working on my review of the EufyMake E1, what they call a 3D texture printer. Basically, this is a UV printer that prints on just about anything. So far, I’ve opened the printer and set it up. This is my first print.

Stay tuned this week for my video about setting up the printer and my first impressions. Both A- and B-roll have been shot. All I have to do is edit it, and put it up on YouTube. Early verdict: it’s a very interesting device, with some space management and smell containment issues.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Many years ago, I started Hyperpress, the first tools business built around HyperCard. Here’s an excellent video about HyperCard’s impact.

• Helpful and informative look about how AI is changing manufacturing.

• The United States is phasing out the penny. But what does that mean? This video explains it all.

Product of the week

I found this neat little hex key multitool keychain when browsing around Amazon. It supports 18 tools: a flat-blade screwdriver, No. 3 and No. 2 Phillips screwdrivers, 4, 5 and 6mm Allen screws, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 mm end wrench. You want one. You know you do.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• My former ZDNET associate Jason Perlow is on fire. First, he argues that the current AI revolution is not a sudden disruption but rather the latest wave in a forty-year history of technological job displacement.

• Then, in a separate but equally insightful piece, he argues that the overall decline in site traffic isn’t all AI’s fault. He says the decline of reading is an engineered result of two decades of SEO-driven content.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott is back, analyzing a recent non-apology apology that Microsoft sent to users. Punches were not pulled.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My latest video

Anycubic is back with a new printer. This is a sub-$300 printer that can print up to four colors with four spools of filament. The trick? Instead of a separate multi-filament feeder, they’ve built the filament switching into the print head. This is a setup and first-print video. Stay tuned for more in-depth testing.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

Enterprise AI agents are multiplying fast, and Microsoft wants full control of them: Microsoft has introduced a centralized dashboard to help IT teams monitor AI agents’ visibility, permissions, and security risks.

I tried GPT-5.4, and most answers were really good - but a few had me concerned: OpenAI claims that GPT-5.4 Thinking can do professional tasks, but I’m not so sure if that’s fully accurate.

This new Claude Code Review tool uses AI agents to check your pull requests for bugs - here’s how: Each pull request can cost up to $25. Here’s why companies might still pay to prevent catastrophic bugs.

I thought ChatGPT's voice mode was a gimmick - these 7 use cases changed my mind: Voice Mode fabricated answers the last time I used it, but a revisit revealed that it’s actually useful now.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Interesting video by someone who went undercover to see how Shein makes low-cost goods in its factory village.

• Here’s a short 1999 video with David Bowie about the future of the Internet. Dude was prescient as heck. Gotta love Ziggy Stardust.

• David Pogue does a filked version of Pharrell Williams’ Happy in honor of Apple’s 50th anniversary and his new book.

Gadget of the week

I just bought a second one of these iPad tripod holders. When filming videos like the one above, I often use two iPads as front-facing monitors and cameras. That way, I can see exactly what the camera sees and make sure whatever I’m showing remains in frame.

I had a nice full-cage adapter for my older iPad, but it doesn’t fit these new models. I also had a spring-loaded adapter that sucked so bad I tossed it out last week. Since this adapter works well enough, I bought a second one. It’s not perfect, but it’s solid and does the job.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• My very good boy Pixel loves his stuffed animals. As this WashPo article shows, Pixel isn’t alone. Monkeys, chimpanzees, penguins, mountain lions and elephants all have their favorite toys.

• Archeologists have found stone tools dating back 2.1 to 2.4 million years ago, but the earliest known humans lived 1.7 million years ago. So who made these tools?

• Speaking of fossils, ZDNET’s Kyle Kucharski makes the case that the new MacBook Neo is obsoleting Windows laptops.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I used Nano Banana 2 to make perfect sketchnotes: 5 lessons learned (and how I broke Gemini): The results were fascinating, impressive, and sometimes surprisingly bad. Here are five tips that can help you get better results faster.

OpenAI’s new GPT-5.4 clobbers humans on pro-level work in tests - by 83%: GPT-5.4 is also more reliable, producing 18% fewer errors and 33% fewer false claims than GPT-5.2, according to OpenAI.

ZDNET Special Feature: Cybersecurity in the New AI Era

ZDNET is running a powerful Special Feature, Cybersecurity in the New AI Era. As part of that collaborative project, I wrote these in-depth analysis pieces:

Why enterprise AI agents could become the ultimate insider threat: Generative AI is moving from chatbot to autonomous actor. When agents can launch other agents, spend money, and modify systems, the line between productivity tool and insider threat disappears.

Why encrypted backups may fail in an AI-driven ransomware era: Think your encrypted backups are safe? AI-driven ransomware now infiltrates networks, corrupts recovery points, and silently targets backup systems before you ever realize your data protection strategy has failed.

Project of the week

Last week, I showed you how I cleaned up my workbenches. That gave me room to be able to film the unboxing and setup of this newly-released Anycubic Kobra X (the white machine in the middle).

This is a color-switching printer, but there’s no special separate filament holding box (like the one you can see above the Anycubic Kobra 3 on the right). Instead, the entire color-switching apparatus is built into the print head. It’s an interesting approach, even if there’s a wild mess of feed tubes exploding from the top of the machine.

Stay tuned. I’m currently editing the setup video, which I expect to be able to show you next week. Then, coming up after I put the machine through its paces, will be the usual testing and review.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Deep dive on how undersea cables are used to link the Internet and AI processing across the world.

• With the second season of Fallout now streaming all episodes, Todd Howard of Bethesda shares the company’s strategy. This video isn’t on YouTube, but it’s still very interesting if you’re into game and media business strategy.

• Boston Dynamics robots dance to Queen on the America’s Got Talent TV show. Yes, it’s incredibly entertaining until these things come for you in the middle of the night.

Product of the week

I don’t think I shared my Blu Tack obsession with you before. This is a sticky clay-like substance that serves as both an adhesive and a modeling compound. I use it to prop up or secure objects I’m photographing, although I’ve also used it to hold awkward electronic connections when I’m soldering them in.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Great phrase in this NY Times story: “Some of the first people living alongside artificially intelligent robots are octogenarians who came into a world without color television.”

• Scientists discover massive underground mystery tunnels in South America.

• ZDNET’s Lance Whitney compares the MacBook Air with the new MacBook Neo. Which one are you going to get?

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

7 AI coding techniques I use to ship real, reliable products - fast: What separates casual vibe coders from the elite builders? It’s not prompts. It’s systems. Here’s the exact framework I use.

Coming soon: I’ve been working on the intersection of AI and cybersecurity. Stay tuned for these two articles coming in the next week or so on ZDNET.com.

• Why encrypted backups may fail in an AI-driven ransomware era

• Why enterprise AI agents could become the ultimate insider threat

Project of the week

I am so seriously pumped about being able to show you this picture. This is the back corner of my workshop. Many of you have seen these workbenches on my videos. But have you ever, ever seen that back workbench so clear? I sure haven’t.

I think this is the first time that bench has been clear of junk since I set up this shop. It’s always disturbed me. That long stretch tends to become a hot zone for everything I do on the two Harbor Freight benches in the middle of the room (on the left, in the image above).

Clearing the long bench was so intimidating. I finally took everything that didn’t belong there, and moved it to the middle benches. That cleared the long bench. Then, over about a week, I went into the workshop for ten minutes at a time. I actually set a timer. Each time, I made myself spend ten minutes putting things away.

Now the question is, how long will this stay clean? I have two big box openings to film. I’m telling myself I’ll move the parts of the projects I’m opening just as soon as I finish filming. We’ll see. Do you have similar hot zones? Let me know in the comments.

Also, see the Reader Projects section below. You don’t just have to build something. If you’re proud of your clean workbench, feel free to send me a picture and a paragraph. See the section below for how to do that. I want to be sure I notice it in and among all my other email.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Jensen Huang tells about the first few months of Nvidia. Here, he’s telling the story in 2009. Keep in mind this is 15 or 16 years before his company becomes the world’s most valuable company. So while it was a formidable company at that point, in this video he has no idea what his company is about to become.

• For equal time, we’re also looking at the new chip fab that Intel is building in Arizona.

• In honor of Robert Picardo’s role in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, we present his noir-ish musical musings, “Spent my life as an actor.”

Product of the week

This is a little “hidden storage secret book box electronics hider,” sold on Amazon. What intrigues and disturbs me about this, in equal measure, is how the maker is using actual old hardcover books to form the compartment around three pieces of wood.

I’m intrigued, because it is an interesting and fairly simple project. I’m disturbed, because the maker is destroying books. I still, even though I read almost entirely on screen, think of books in their original form as something sacred.

In any case, I thought you’d find it interesting, although I’m definitely not advocating you go out and run your books through your bandsaw. If you do, I definitely want to know about it. We can feature your project. Once again, see the Reader Projects section below for instructions on how to send it in.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• ZDNET’s Jack Wallen talks about how he almost fell for (but didn’t) a LinkedIn job scam. It’s all about being diligent.

• Here’s another scam warning, this time from ZDNET’s Lance Whitney. He explains why you get calls from spammers who say nothing once you answer.

• Scientists used X-rays from a particle accelerator at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to reveal the iron-based ink of lost scientific treatises by Archimedes that had been erased and overwritten by a monk in the 12th century. Oddly, there was no mention of Indiana Jones (Google it).

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

Welcome new readers!

We had another big surge in new subscribers this week. Welcome everybody! Grab a cup of your favorite beverage and make yourselves comfortable. Lots to read and do below.

My latest video

What happens to all the 3D printers after I finish reviewing them? You’ve asked. I answer. In this video, I walk you through what really goes on behind the scenes once a printer’s review cycle is complete.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

5 custom ChatGPT instructions I use to get better AI results - faster: Want better ChatGPT responses? I use custom instructions to keep its answers tight and helpful. Here’s how.

Inside Google’s AI plan to end Android developer toil - and speed up innovation: I spoke with Sam Bright, VP and GM of Google Play and Developer Ecosystem, about how Gemini’s expansion in Android Studio can help human devs do more faster - and better.

Is free AI enough? How to choose the right chatbot for you - and when to upgrade: You can do a lot with free AI. But you can do even more if you upgrade. Here’s how to decide between all your options.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 delivers frontier-level AI for free and cheap-seat users: Anthropic is positioning Sonnet 4.6 as a practical daily driver. In many cases, it’s even faster than Opus 4.6.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• Solid piece by PBS about the changes colleges and students are facing because of AI.

• Dude hand-built a small bottling factory in his garage.

• This is what might happen if Encanto’s “We don’t talk about Bruno” went through Google Translate before it was performed. I love the Internet.

Fastener of the week

I have a project where I need to screw into the end grain of either plywood or MDF. Normally, screws don’t hold all that well when driven into end grain, even when glue is added.

But the flat-pack furniture companies have been screwing into end grain for years. Even though you might think they won’t hold, somehow they do. The trick is confirmat screws, named after the Latin word confirmare, meaning “to strengthen” or “to make firm”.

These have a thick shank and a particularly robust thread. Don’t trust the listings, which say you don’t need to pre-drill. You must pre-drill, otherwise you risk blasting apart the wood sheets. But if you do pre-drill, with a bit slightly smaller than the width of the confirmat screw, these screws should hold fast.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Crazy story about what happened when Forbes sent email 20 years into the future.

• Scientists may have found evidence of a 7-million year old bipedal human ancestor.

• ZDNET’s Lance Whitney on why you might want to change your DNS provider for better PC and Mac performance.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!

Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.

My articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I tried to save $1,200 by vibe coding for free - and quickly regretted it: I wanted to believe this free AI coding tool could replace Claude Code. But it isn’t ready for prime time yet.

I’m a ChatGPT power user: Here are 7 useful settings that are turned off by default: Stop using ChatGPT on factory settings. Here are the top adjustments I use to make it a pro tool.

OpenAI’s new Spark model codes 15x faster than GPT-5.3-Codex - but there’s a catch: OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark promises ultra-fast, conversational AI coding, if you can tolerate a few trade-offs.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

• It’s no secret I very much enjoy the Stargate franchise. In this entertaining as heck video, Michael Shanks (“Daniel Jackson”) does a rant about the Zat gun.

• Trailer for Spider Noir. Nicholas Cage does a noir version of Spider-Man. Need I say more?

• I’ve introduced you to Rex Krueger’s videos before. In this installment of his history of wood, he talks about the rubber tree and its amazing story.

Project (and fastener) of the week

I put my CNC to work making a mobile modular apple box. Apple boxes (boxes of apples from the orchard) were used in the early days of Hollywood because they were robust and made from solid wood. Movie workers used them for all sorts of things, including to make shorter actors appear taller. Today, “apple box” is a term of art. You can buy pre-made apple boxes in a number of standard sizes anywhere good movie-making supplies are sold.

I, however, wanted to make something that just perfectly fits my Fab Lab carts, so I can easily slide heavy gear onto and off of the lower shelves of the carts. I also wanted to use it just as a dolly, and as a little mobile wagon. So I made the mobile dolly base and the apple box separately, then used the little toggle clamps to enable the modules to be attached together in both orientations.

Here’s a quick hint for using the toggles. You can spin the Y shaped portion around to tighten or loosen it. That fact (which I only discovered fairly late in the process) makes it much easier to properly fit the clamps to the modules being clamped together.

Live and learn.

P.S. Also, if you look at the tool path on your CNC before you cut, you might not cut right through your hold-downs. Don’t ask me how I learned that one.

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Interesting reads

And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth checking out.

• Here’s some big news in the 3D printing world: MyMiniFactory acquired Thingiverse. Hmm.

• My state of Oregon is known for lots of things. Good coffee. A really big fungus. And the oldest-known sewn clothing ever made.

• ZDNET’s Chris Bayer has some tips for resetting your Roku TV’s cache. My Roku TV has been acting up for a while, so maybe I’ll give this a try.

Send in your projects

I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two here. Your project doesn’t have to be a big Kickstarter launch. If you’ve built something cool, it has some pretty pictures, and you’re proud of it, I might be able to share it here.

If you have a photogenic reader project, send an email to me at david@zatz.com with the subject “READER PROJECT,” a few pictures, and a short one-paragraph description. If you have a social media link or a link to the project, include that, too.

Both my EPs are now streaming

Available on all your favorite streaming services.

More clicky

I’ve got a lot happening all over the web. Here are links to my various stuff:

• All my chewy goodness on ZDNET

• My Advanced Geekery YouTube channel

• House of the Head: home for my published music

• ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects

• The socials: Facebook | Twitter/X | Instagram | LinkedIn

• The Twitter wannabees: Bluesky | Threads | Mastodon

Feel free to dig around, visit, and say hey!

Leave some comments

Substack supports comments, so feel free to leave some. I promise to read them. Just, please, let’s keep our personal politics out of any discussion.

That should do it for this week. This newsletter is really starting to pick up subscribers. Please help it out by sharing links on all your socials.

Have a great week!