An amazing AI coding run, an Apple Watch trick, and a USB-powered salt shaker
Plus, stone blocks from the Library of Alexandria, my latest video, a cozy library nook, the Artist corporation, and new Meta smart glasses
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. It’s been an exciting week. Let’s dive in.
Advanced Geekery is published weekly on Substack and LinkedIn. Same content. Choose your favorite delivery method. Back Issues.
My latest video
I continue testing the Anycubic S1 and the Creality K2 Plus. In this video, I show you a gorgeous print from the K2 Plus, and a multicolor X-Wing fighter printed on the Anycubic S1. This print was printed to resemble an old school plastic model kit, which I then had to assemble.
My articles
Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.
I got 4 years of product development done in 4 days for $200, and I'm still stunned: Can $200 buy years of productivity? My latest AI experiment turned side projects into full products almost overnight, and the possibilities suddenly seem endless.
This Apple Watch setting keeps me from annoying my partner during work sprints: Constant timers help me work faster, but they bother my partner, so I turned noisy alerts into private wrist taps. Here's how.
OpenAI has a new agentic coding partner for you now: GPT-5-Codex: From cloud hand-offs to GitHub reviews, GPT-5-Codex is optimized for agentic coding and designed to supercharge developer workflows.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
Intriguing TED Talk about a new corporate structure designed for artists.
This guy dresses like a Regency gentleman, all the time. He’s kind of like a modern Teddy boy for a different historical era. What? I have a Britbox subscription, and I’m not afraid to use it.
Dude took advantage of a weird architectural quirk in his rented home and built a cozy one-person sized library into a nook on his stairs.
Product of the week
I can’t decide if there’s something fundamentally wrong with the universe, or right with it, when a salt shaker needs a USB charger. I’m also not sure if there’s something fundamentally wrong or right with me, because I own one of these things.
Okay, confession time. It’s nice. You push the little button over the charging port and when you flip the shaker upside down, it grinds whatever salt or pepper you put into it. You can adjust the grind coarseness and it even comes with an LED light. Didn’t I mention that? It’s a salt shaker with its own light. A single charge lasts for weeks.
I’m not sure how long this device will survive, since coarse pink Himalayan salt seems to be one of the most abrasive substances on planet Earth. I’m also still trying to get over the silly brand name: AmuseWit. That said, my wife and I use it every day. May the salt be with you.
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 very helpful, very in-depth article on installing WP-CLI (for those of you who are WordPress geeks).
Meta has new Ray-Ban smart glasses. ZDNET tested both generations. Read to find out what ZDNET’s Kerry Wan recommends.
They don’t build them like they used to. Archaeologists just pulled Lighthouse of Alexandria foundation blocks from the Mediterranean.
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!