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!

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

Welcome new readers!

We had a 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

As much as I like to have good relationships with the vendors, when I do a review, I have to put the users first. The folks at this company are very pleasant, but the fact is, their printer has been problematic. I have to tell it like it is.

My articles

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

I tried a Claude Code alternative that’s local, open source, and completely free - how it works: I was curious if Block’s Goose agent, paired with Ollama and the Qwen3-coder model, could really replace Claude Code. Here’s how I got started.

Want local vibe coding? This AI stack replaces Claude Code and Codex - and it’s free: You can replace expensive, cloud-based AI coding with three tools. Here’s how.

I used Xcode 26.3 to build an iOS app with my voice in just two days - and it was exhilarating: Want to see what agentic coding really feels like? Come along on my wild, wonderful, and terrifying two-day vibe coding adventure with Xcode 26.3.

Xcode 26.3 finally brings agentic coding to Apple’s developer tools: Xcode 26.3 could be Apple’s biggest leap in AI coding tools, shifting from assistant prompts to autonomous agents that build, test, and update configurations directly inside Xcode.

OpenAI’s Codex just got its own Mac app - and anyone can try it for free now: The new Mac app turns GPT-5.3-Codex into a multi-agent command center. Here’s how.

Anthropic says its new Claude Opus 4.6 can nail your work deliverables on the first try: The frontier model can handle complex, end-to-end enterprise workflows and take on the autonomous tasks you usually do yourself.

OpenAI’s new GPT-5.3-Codex is 25% faster and goes way beyond coding now - what’s new: The Codex team said GPT-5.3-Codex even helped build itself. That’s not at all scary.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• Even though the launch of NASA’s Artemis 2 has been delayed at least until March, it’s still a very exciting mission. This video is a good explainer for Artemis 2 and why it’s so important.

• Anthropic (makers of the Claude AI) say they’re putting safety first.

• This is one of the coolest videos. This guy went to China to find out how inexpensive mini-excavators get built. I love this stuff.

Project of the week

I actually released this right at the end of January, but never posted about it here. This is a new, big upgrade to the free version of My Private Site which adds registration spam and reCAPTCHA protections. This bumps the main product’s version to 4.1.

Gadget of the week

If you have to cut foam, you can use a knife. Or you can use a heated tool that cuts through foam like a hot knife through butter. This set is a great starter kit for foam cutting, whether you’re doing it for DIY projects or model making. Just remember to work in a well-ventilated area because the stank is nasty and probably dangerous to your health.

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.

• Article claims where you were brought up affects your personality. I was brought up in New Jersey. Want to make something of it? Do ya? Do ya?

• Apparently, coffee and chocolate are good for you. You think?

• ZDNET’s Jack Wallen waxes poetic about FreeBSD (a Linux that’s not really Linux, it’s UNIX).

Pixel pic of the week

It’s been cold here in Oregon, so my wife has been crocheting Pixel a bunch of awesome (and warm) sweaters. Here, the little dude models one of his favorites.

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.

Inside Google’s vision to make Gmail your personal AI agent command center: I spoke with Gmail VP of Product, Blake Barnes, to better understand Gmail’s latest AI updates. Behind them lies a much larger idea.

My Claude Code project work

There’s been a ton of interest in Claude Code recently. Here’s a list of my recent ZDNET Claude Code articles. They detail how I used it to build a fairly complex app that runs on Mac, iPhone, and even the Apple Watch.

How to install and configure Claude Code, step by step: Curious about Anthropic’s AI coding tool but unsure where to begin? My walkthrough covers pricing, installation, authorization, and project initialization so developers can get up and running smoothly.

Claude Code made an astonishing $1B in 6 months - and my own AI-coded iPhone app shows why: My complex app, built entirely through agentic coding, reveals the true force multiplier transforming how developers create products at astonishing speed.

10 things I wish I knew before trusting Claude Code to build my iPhone app: Vibe coding sounds effortless, until it isn’t. Building a full iPhone app with Claude Code showed me why baby steps, backups, and testing matter.

I used Claude Code to vibe code a Mac app in 8 hours, but it was more work than magic: The illusion vanished fast once I treated Claude Code like a remote junior developer.

I used Claude Code to vibe code an Apple Watch app in just 12 hours - instead of 2 months: Building my first Apple Watch app with AI felt more like collaboration than automation. Here's why.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• I’ve been really curious about how the Bambu Lab 3D printers know how much filament is left on a spool. This is a really good explanation. For non-Bambu filaments, I use a different method.

• CNBC gives us an interesting and disturbing look at how AI is changing the value of a college degree.

• It’s been a while since I’ve spotlighted a music piece. This is an AI disco treatment of Game of Thrones, which is equal parts unfortunate and amusing. Once again, we see the harbinger of a major fight over the AI use of real person likenesses. YouTube hasn’t taken it down yet, but an argument can be made that they probably should.

Tool organizer and project of the week

This weekend, my wife and I decided that our cleaning tools deserved a long-overdue cleanup. We ordered this 4x4 foot slatwall system from Amazon. It comes as four 1-foot tall strips. We mounted it on the wall. We also picked up an assortment of hooks.

Once you get the bottom strip mounted and level, the other three go in quite easily. The bulk of our project time was spent trying to figure out where the studs are in our wall. Turns out, there is a black plywood or OSB board behind that entire drywall section.

There’s more work to be done. It’s looking like I might 3D print some slats for the small 10-inch wall on the right. And we’re probably going to hang another vacuum to the left of the slatwall. I’ll say this. It sure is nice to turn chaos into organization.

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 archeologists now think Egypt’s pyramids are much older than previously thought.

• Want to know how far you’ve traveled in your lifetime? Boing Boing spotlights a cosmic odometer that can tell you how far you’ve traveled through the universe on Spaceship Earth during your lifetime. Apparently, I’ve flown more than one trillion miles.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott helps Microsoft celebrate reaching 1 billion Windows 11 users. One billion really annoyed Windows 11 users, that is.

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

Here’s a quick two-minute video with a great inexpensive hack for storing tripods. And yes, you can also use this for hanging brooms, rakes, and other tools.

My articles

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

I didn’t need this, but I used AI to 3D print a tiny figurine of myself - here’s how: And now for something completely different, unnecessary, and delightful.

I used Claude Code to vibe code a Mac app in 8 hours, and it was more work than magic: The illusion vanished fast once I treated Claude Code like a remote junior developer.

I used Claude Code to vibe code an Apple Watch app in just 12 hours - instead of 2 months: Building my first Apple Watch app with AI felt more like collaboration than automation. Here’s why.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• I eat a lot more fruit than I used to. And I’m always fascinated by logistics. This video about the logistics of fruit combines those two.

• BBC says people are partying less, and that worries them. My take: there’s a lot less to party about these days.

• This guy built an over-the-top robot to keep his workbench organized.

Gadget of the week

This clamp-on under-desk cup holder intrigues me. I like how it tucks back under the desk when it’s not used. Will I get one? Probably not. I’m pretty happy with my favorite tech purchase of all time, this inexpensive coffee warmer.

Now, if the clamp-on device also kept my coffee warm, then I’d go for it.

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.

• Can you turn a treadmill into a long-bed 3D printer? Apparently, this guy can.

• How were Stonehenge’s rocks moved? Science has a new answer based on tiny grains of sand.

• ZDNET’s Jack Wallen has found a viable alternative to VirtualBox for Linux.

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 ChatGPT to fix a plugin bug in under an hour - no $200 plan required: I stopped paying for ChatGPT Pro and was still able to use Codex to track down and debug a real-world problem fast.

I tried Gmail’s new Gemini AI features, and now I want to unsubscribe: In my testing, Gemini in Gmail misses key details, delivers misleading summaries, and still cannot manage message flow the way I need.

I let Anthropic’s Claude Cowork loose on my files, and it was both brilliant and scary: Let’s just say backups and restraint are nonnegotiable.

Updated for 2026: I put $50 into Bitcoin in 2022 and watched it crash and rally - here's its worth today

Must-watch YouTube

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

• One more Ken Thompson interview: Here, he explains how a disk scheduling algorithm accidentally led to the invention of UNIX.

• Fascinating tour of Google’s DeepMind robotics lab.

• This guy built a real, functional wind tunnel using 3D printing for his Hot Wheels cars. It’s both ludicrous and ludicrously cool. If that doesn’t define “advanced geekery,” I don’t know what does.

Gadget of the week

This mouse has 12 side buttons. I want to say something pithy about that, but I’m stuck on the simple phrase, “This mouse has 12 side buttons.” At least my Stream Deck shows icons. But with this, you have to memorize what button 11 does vs. button 9. I love me my mouse buttons as much as the next dude, but 12 side buttons?

I can’t tell if that’s excessive or I need to order one. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.

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 a sign of the times. ZDNET’s Charlie Osborne published a piece entitled “7 ways to lock down your phone before heading to a protest”.

• Ever wonder why some of those classic TV shows aren’t streaming? Here’s the full story.

• Hurricane Helene’s energy created massive ripples 55 miles high, impacting space technology. Here’s that story.

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 took Harvard’s free online coding classes to better catch AI’s errors - and they’re legit: Harvard’s free programming classes teach you how to think, debug, and adapt in an AI-driven world where knowing code matters more than ever.

I’ve studied AI for decades - why you must be polite to chatbots (and it’s not for the AI’s sake): From Alexa to ChatGPT, our interactions with AI are reshaping communication norms. Here’s why how we talk to machines can affect real human relationships.

I tried Gemini’s ‘scheduled actions’ to automate my AI - the potential is enormous (but Google has work to do): Here’s what you can and cannot automate today via Gemini, including 15 ideas to use as starting points - and a bonus banana in a raincoat with an umbrella.

I tested this $150 AirPods Max stand against a cheap $29 one - and here’s the winner: I tried Mophie’s AirPods Max stand. Is it really worth up to five times more than budget alternatives?

Must-watch YouTube

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

• Ken Thompson (the Ken Thompson, one of the guys who invented Unix) talks about how the C language came to be.

• Jeremy Fielding teaches engineering out of his garage and is frickin’ awesome! In this video, he explains how to use relays and power supplies as the basis for automation projects.

• In a wonderfully snarky video, CNET bids farewell to tech that died in 2025.

Tool of the week

I am not at all sure this is a good idea. It’s a handheld MIG welder powered by a normal 110 mains circuit. Besides the obviously questionable build quality, I would think that holding a tool as large as this would make welding control a bit difficult.

That said, this is the entire welding rig. There are no additional big power supplies or anything else. I don’t yet weld, but I don’t know if I’d start here. That said, it’s cool, it’s cheap, and it’s a thing worthy of sharing with you just for the curiosity value.

If you buy this or have one, definitely let us know what you think in the comments.

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.

• Hundreds of Victorian hobnailed shoes have washed up onto a beach in South Wales.

• Scientists have trained rats to play DOOM. However, there is no truth to the rumor I just made up that Anthropic scientists have trained rats to code.

• ZDNET’s Ed Bott says consumers aren’t buying AI PCs. Does this surprise absolutely anyone?

Pixel pic of the week

This is Pixel’s very intense stare. He demands undivided attention, and surprise, he usually gets it. That’s my boy!

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.

Happy Holidays

I hope you all have a Cool Yule and a Happy New Year. Due to the holidays, we will not be publishing next week. The next Advanced Geekery newsletter will be out the week of January 3. We’re wrapping up this final 2025 issue with a big five-article bonanza!

My articles

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

10 things I wish I knew before trusting Claude Code to build my iPhone app: Vibe coding sounds effortless, until it isn’t. Building a full iPhone app with Claude Code showed me why baby steps, backups, and testing matter.

I tested the new ChatGPT Images - it’s a stunning improvement, and enormously fun: ‘Lights! Eggnog! Punching!’ OpenAI just overhauled ChatGPT image generation, and the results surprised and delighted me. I had way too much fun with Gorn.

Here’s every AI subscription I paid for in 2025 - and which ones I’m taking into 2026: Are AI tools worth the money? After reviewing my 2025 spending, I’ve made one big change.

The best AI image generators of 2025: I retested the top tools - there’s one clear winner: I tested six popular AI image tools on logos, photos, pop culture prompts, and social media ads. There’s one no-contest, total knockout winner.

Worried about AI coding? Why the invention of power tools is the blueprint for your career future: Now that AI can write software, where does that leave you as a programmer? The answer lies in the past.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• This one guy has a machine shop in Japan that produces 400,000 screws per day, all on his own.

• What inspired The Thunderbirds? From a real-life mining disaster in Germany to the birth of International Rescue, discover how a moment of global tragedy sparked one of TV’s most iconic series.

• Let’s end the year on a musical selection. My wife found this, and it’s delightful. What if Stayin’ Alive had been written in the 16th century?

Tool of the week

These little flexible sponge-like things are a step up from a Swiffer, and can clean dust from non-flat surfaces. Once they get encrusted, just wash them off and squish out the water, and you can use them again.

They’re great in the shop for clearing sawdust from complex surfaces, but make sure you completely dry those surfaces afterwards to prevent rusting.

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.

• Did you know that the Earth had 19 hour days for a billion years?

• Scientists train rats to play Doom. I mean, wouldn’t you if you could?

• ZDNET has an interesting analysis about the costs and benefits of installing a heat pump in your home.

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 to install and configure Claude Code, step by step: Curious about Anthropic’s AI coding tool but unsure where to begin? My walkthrough covers pricing, installation, authorization, and project initialization so developers can get up and running smoothly.

I tested GPT-5.2 and the AI model’s mixed results raise tough questions: Subjected to my battery of 10 text tests and 4 image challenges, OpenAI’s latest model barely edged out GPT-5.1. What are Plus subscribers actually paying for?

Stop using ChatGPT for everything: The AI models I use for research, coding, and more (and which I avoid): From GPT to Claude to Gemini, model names change fast, but use cases matter more. Here’s how I choose the best model for the task at hand.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• We kick off with a fairly long video from Brad at Fix This Build That. In this video, he shows some of his LED projects. That’s nice, but the real gold is when he explains the various ways to install, splice, and customize LED strips. If you want to hack LED strips for something in your space, this video is a must watch.

• The folks at Bambu Lab show off a “cyber city” consisting entirely of 3D printed structures and mechanisms. It’s like the old Lego City idea, but with 3D printing instead of bricks.

• Here’s a delightful 44 seconds of a beaver eating cabbage.

Tool of the week

I saw this little cardboard cutter demonstrated on Tested, and immediately picked one up for Advanced Geekery HQ. Between all the Amazon Prime shipments and all the review products and project components, we receive a never-ending stream of shipping boxes.

Over the years, we’ve tried everything from ergonomic box cutters to mini specialty saws in an effort to reduce the stress on our hands. They all do the job, but nothing has been the “one thing.”

We haven’t yet put this tiny circular saw to the test, but we’re hopeful that it will become our new favorite box cutting tool. And hey, it’s on sale right now.

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 alum Jason Perlow is back with another of his must-read pieces. This time he takes on vibe coding. If you really want to understand the “feels” of vibe coding, read this article. While you’re there, go ahead and give his newsletter a subscribe.

• The New York Times has an interesting piece on why AIs write the way they do.

• Why ZDNET’s shopping editor prefers Best Buy over Amazon. Hint: it’s their holiday price-match policy. Read this to potentially save a few bucks.

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.

Claude Code made an astonishing $1B in 6 months - and my own AI-coded iPhone app shows why: My complex app, built entirely through agentic coding, reveals the true force multiplier that’s transforming how developers create products at astonishing speed.

How to learn ChatGPT in under an hour using my favorite guides and videos - for free: Want to master ChatGPT fast and for free? Here’s the easiest path, with my top handpicked resources.

I tested Opus 4.5 to see if it’s really ‘the best in the world’ at coding - and things got weird fast: Here’s what happened when I pushed Anthropic’s new model through some simple development tasks.

Amazon wants to demolish your tech debt like it did this AWS server - here’s the plan: Amazon just dropped a server off a crane to showcase its upgraded AWS Transform service, revealing how agentic AI could rewrite millions of legacy lines faster than developers ever imagined.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• I like this YouTuber. He has a tool channel, but often takes a deeper look at whatever his topic is than the typical YouTuber. In this instance, he looks at how the recent Home Depot analyst call provides clues to the economy overall.

• Caterpillar hydraulic excavator climbing onto a rail car. This is why this newsletter exists. If you watch nothing else this year, watch this.

• For our somewhat weekly musical treat, I present, “We don’t talk about Pluto,” to the tune of the popular Encanto song.

Tool of the week

Most people reading this newsletter won’t need this week’s Tool of the Week. But you may know someone who would. This kit contains a fairly complete assortment of tools a new homeowner or apartment dweller might need, especially if they haven’t done any DIY stuff before now.

Since we’re coming up on the holiday gift-giving season, I’m recommending this for that newly “on their own” person so they have a full kitbag (quite literally, in this case) of tools to help them get most basic home jobs done.

It’s also great as a spare kit to keep in the car, at the summer home, at Mom and Dad’s house, under your office desk, or in the server closet in case you need to fix something yourself and don’t want to take the time to run back to the workshop to collect up a set of tools.

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 Ed Bott is in true form with his warning about Windows 12. He writes, “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you want to know what’s coming next from Microsoft, just look at its past failures.”

• There’s a fairly compelling theory that the giant heads of Easter Island actually walked.

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.

Happy Thanksgiving

This week, we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. I hope you all have a fine feast. Due to the holiday, we will not be publishing next week. The next Advanced Geekery newsletter will be out the week of December 8.

My latest video

The Elegoo Centauri Carbon has been a bit controversial. It has multi-color 3D printing bones, but it only supports single color printing. In my full review, I dive into that issue, as well as other concerns. Kudos for this very inexpensive, very nice printer.

My articles

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

How to vibe code your first iPhone app with AI - no experience necessary: You can easily create an app today, using AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude. Here’s how.

How Microsoft’s new plan for self-repairing data centers will transform IT roles: Microsoft is pushing enterprise computing toward self-running platforms where AI agents watch, diagnose, repair, and optimize systems continuously. Here’s its vision, and what it hopes to solve.

Microsoft’s new AI agents won’t just help us code, now they’ll decide what to code: From Agent 365 to Foundry’s MCP tool catalog and new IQ services, Microsoft is moving beyond copilots and toward a future where software development becomes an automated assembly process.

Google’s Antigravity puts coding productivity before AI hype - and the result is astonishing: This new AI coding environment looks like a real winner. Here’s why.

OpenAI’s Codex Max solves one of my biggest AI coding annoyances - and it’s a lot faster: GPT-5.1-Codex-Max is ready to take on your next massive coding job. Here’s what’s new.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• My absolute favorite science fiction series is Stargate. The SGC has been shut down for about 15 years, but now there’s news. Some of the original production and writing team on Stargate SG-1 are back, and Amazon has greenlit a new series.

• Interesting exploration of how self-storage is consuming America’s dollars.

• Want to make a Star Wars prop? Here are the three secrets of Star Wars set design.

Gadget of the week

I’ve been working on an app that reads NFC tags. All was good until I stuck one onto a metal rack, and… nothing. All that coding work flashed front of my eyes. Was the entire project doomed to failure? Did I someone miss the fact that NFC tags don’t work on metal?

Well, yes, I missed that fact. But there is good news. You need to get what are weirdly labeled as “anti-metal” NFC tags. They’re a slight bit more expensive than regular NFC tags, but they work just fine on metal racks. So now you know.

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.

• This is a fun list. Nature lists seven basic scientific discoveries that changed the world.

• One of my biggest regrets was spending a week camping and climbing my way through Alaska and not eating any of the local salmon. That’s okay. We’re having some for dinner tonight. But did you know that there are 73 million year old salmon fossils?

• ZDNET is running its pick of the best products for 2025. Check them out.

Reader Project Spotlight: Adaptive Music Master

Vinny Livoti from Enabling Devices tells us his team has been investing heavily in 3D printing to improve both the look and functionality of the adaptive products they create for people with special needs. He says 3D printing has become essential because a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works in this field, and customization can make all the difference.

He points to their new Music Master as a perfect example. Vinny tells us they designed it so a severely challenged person can play music using any capability switch they’re able to control. The amp-style body was designed in-house to echo a retro amplifier, complete with a cloth-front appearance. It’s entirely produced on their own 3D printers. Vinny says they print, assemble, and finish each unit right in their New York shop. Sales are still modest, he notes, because the special-needs market doesn’t always bring high volume, but the Music Master shows exactly how meaningful a custom-built device can be.

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

As promised, here’s my winch video. I demonstrate how the track, trolleys, straps, ratchet tie-downs, and mounting hardware work together. I also show my first real-world lift with a boxed machine weighing around fifty pounds.

Along the way, I share practical lessons and the mistakes I corrected. You’ll also see how small improvements, such as printable alignment gauges and adjustable straps instead of fixed-length lifting loops, make a big difference.

My articles

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

How small businesses can survive AI shopping: 7 essential steps: With AI shopping agents quietly changing how we buy stuff, SMBs must adapt quickly or risk becoming invisible online.

I’m a Photoshop diehard, but Canva’s free tools won me over - and saved me money: Adobe’s subscription limits and AI stinginess pushed me over the edge. Canva offers freedom, flexibility, and serious savings. See if switching makes sense for you, too.

You’ll code faster and spend less with OpenAI’s new GPT-5.1 update - here’s how: This update could reshape how apps embed AI intelligence.

Must-watch YouTube

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

• Christmas comes early this year. On December 17, the new season of Fallout will be on Prime Video. Now we have a trailer! If you haven’t seen the first season, and you can stand a little (ok, maybe a lot) of gore, this show is a delight for any Fallout gamer.

• This former wired writer shares his really interesting view of the macro changes in our world based on AI, clean energy, and bio engineering. He referenced three previous periods when there was massive change due to technology in society.

• For this week’s musical selection, I have the Top Gun theme. Oh, you’ve heard it before, have you? But have you heard it presented by HM Royal Marines? Per Mare, Per Terram!

Tool of the week

I’d like to say that I’m looking at other lifting alternatives beyond the winch, and while that’s true, I have to come clean. I’m spotlighting this product solely because whoever prepared the product for Amazon was smart enough to put a cat on it. That said, it looks pretty cool.

This model has a remote control and lifts to about 14 inches. They have others that go up to about 45 inches. Am I getting one? Not this week, but it’s in my wishlist in case I decide I want one in the future.

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.

• Interesting story on what the ancients thought when they found fossils.

• Have you ever heard of a Muntjac Deer? Most folks haven’t and until now, it' hasn’t been captured by a lens. But here it is, and it’s definitely something you’d expect to have been created by a creature effects shop in Hollywood.

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’m back with a rant (and some useful tips). Ever unbox a brand-new 3D printer only to find it’s badly broken? You’re not alone. In this episode, I share what really happens behind the scenes when 3D printers arrive dead-on-arrival, and how a simple decision can make or break your warranty.

My articles

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

The best free AI for coding in 2025 - only 3 make the cut now: I’ve been subjecting AI models to a set of real-world programming tests for over two years. This time, we look solely at the free offerings. There are three worth your attention. The others, well, they need work.

ZDNET Special Feature: How small businesses can work smarter in the age of AI

ZDNET is running an interesting Special Feature, How small businesses can work smarter in the age of AI. As part of that collaborative project, I wrote these articles this week as well:

• I run a very small business. Here are 21 simple ways AI saves me time every day: From coding to marketing to YouTube production, here’s how a two-person company harnesses AI to outperform teams ten times their size, all while spending less than their QuickBooks subscription.

• How to actually use AI in a small business: 10 lessons from the trenches: It’s not about proving you can use AI. It’s about using it wisely. Let’s cut through the hype with practical tips on how small companies can get real results.

• 5 must-have cloud tools for small businesses in 2025 (and my top 10 money-saving secrets): Are you overpaying for cloud tools? Here’s what you actually need, and how small changes can save you thousands a year.

I have a winch!

I am unreasonably satisfied with myself. A friend and I spent yesterday installing this little winch in my workshop. It’s intended mostly for lifting the 50 to 100+ pound cartons from 3D printers and other review items. And yes, there will be a video. But for now, feast your eyes on my winch. I have a winch. I really, really do!

Must-watch YouTube

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

• How a production studio is using a special moving platform and video walls to make car chases (and other in-vehicle shots) seem much more realistic.

• Want to see AI video go down an problematic rabbit hole? This creator asks what would happen if The Avengers got disco fever? No wonder the talent agencies are flipping out.

• And because nothing says fun like the Star Trek Next Generation crew with mullets (including a glorious Picard mullet), we also go very deeply questionable with this glam metal power ballad. I couldn’t look away.

Winch of the week

You couldn’t possibly think I would spotlight something other than the winch, did you? Here it is. Did I mention that I have a winch?

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 Lance Whitney has an important article about the ‘Hi, how are you?’ text scam. This is a must-read piece.

• You want another scare? This is a deep dive about how thousands of North Korean operatives have secretly infiltrated US and European companies as remote IT workers.

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!