A new Mac Studio, tricks to save cash on a new Kindle, and AI agents as plugins
Plus, a giant new 3D printer in the lab, a flashing red light for the shop, an AliExpress filament scam, and how to feel reeeally old
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. It’s been an exciting week. Let’s dive in.
My articles
Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.
Stop paying full price for Kindles: 5 ways I upgrade for less: Amazon has secret ways to slash Kindle prices and most shoppers miss them. Find out how to stack discounts, earn cashback, and score bonus deals to save big on your upgrade.
I spent $4K on my Mac Studio 3 years ago - should I upgrade to the 2025 model? I've been waiting for Apple's new Mac Studio, and now it's here. But is it worth the upgrade? Let's break it down.
How Cisco, LangChain, and Galileo aim to contain 'a Cambrian explosion of AI agents': This open-source collective proposes an internet of agents. It will be an open, scalable way to connect and coordinate AI across different frameworks, vendors, and infrastructure.
In the lab
This week, we have a new “In the lab” product. In this section, I spotlight interesting products that have come in for review that I definitely plan on covering. This way, you’ll get a heads-up on cool new products as they enter the full review process.
This week, it’s the Creality K2 Plus Combo, another 4-color filament 3D printer. This is the next generation of the K1 Max I reviewed a few weeks ago, now with color.
But the part that excites me even more is that with a 350x350x350mm build volume, it’s 58% larger than the K1 Max’s 300x300x300 build volume — and that was already pretty ginormous. And compared to most of the other popular multi-filament 3D printers like the Bambu X1 Carbon, this beastie has a build volume that’s 155% larger.
That’s gonna take a lot of filament. I can’t wait to try out and show you the mega print I have planned for this thing!
Tool of the week: Tools-I-am-thinking-about edition
Ever since I built my dust collection cart, I’ve had some difficulty determining when the dust bin needs to be changed. I actually thought of sticking a spare Ring camera inside so I could take a peek.
Then I saw this Dust Sentry device, which has a sensor cable that goes inside the dust bin and starts to flash when the dust gets too high. I’m not yet convinced this is the way to go, and (are you sitting down?) I’ve been wondering if there’s a lower-tech solution.
As much as I’d like to add a red alert indicator to my dust bin (and somehow make it play the Star Trek red alert sound), I’m holding off for now.
Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
Apparently, scammers on AliExpress are using a variety of techniques to bilk filament buyers out of their hard-earned cash.
We’re back at the National Archives, taking another look at how they organize and scan their documents.
Want to feel old? Chris Pratt (age 45) tests Millie Bobby Brown’s (born after Windows XP came out) knowledge of 90s tech.
Interesting reads
And now, some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
This is probably the oldest handcart ever found, built before the invention of the wheel. Think about it. Without a wheel, you don’t get automatic coffee makers. Without automatic coffee makers, you don’t get civilization. No wonder they were all going to hell in a handcart.
Headline of the week (I did not make this up): Researchers took a whiff of Egyptian mummies for science — they ‘were surprised by the pleasantness of them’.
My ZDNET colleague Sabrina Ortiz describes How we test AI at ZDNET in 2025.
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:
House of the Head: home for my published music
ZATZ Labs: where I host my published software projects
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!