Does VR make me barf, what not to do with AI, and how I doubled my Bitcoin investment
Does VR make me barf, what not to do with AI, and how I doubled my Bitcoin investment
Plus, wacky stuff from Temu, my experiences paying for Twitter/X, official merch, George Washington's weird election, and how cookie cutters tell the future.
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. It’s been an exciting week. Let’s dive in.
My articles
Let’s kick it off with a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET:
Can a claustrophobic guy with glasses learn to stop worrying and love Meta's Quest 3? First-person shooters give me motion sickness. Face masks make me feel claustrophobic. Can I even dream of conquering my VR fears? With Quest 3, the answer is yes - and I've been having a lot of fun doing it.
20 things to consider before rolling out an AI chatbot to your customers: Chevrolet of Watsonville used ChatGPT for customer service. Don't be like Chevrolet of Watsonville. Things did not go well.
How I more than doubled my Bitcoin investment in 2023 (and still lost money): It's becoming a New Year's Day tradition to check in on the value of my amusing little Bitcoin investment. How did I do this year? Read on.
I paid for Twitter Blue (aka X Premium) for six months. Was it worth it? Let's look at the numbers.
Merch! There be merch here!
Why yes, I do have House of the Head merch. Since so many of you (okay, four of you) reached out and asked if there were T-shirts, I bring you The First Official House of the Head T-shirt.
This glorious work of apparel design is available in a variety of colors and sizes. If you want one, click on over to Etsy and pick one up. Advanced Geekery readers, you folks can take 20% off with the coupon code HEADGEEK24.
As a reminder, the EP is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, Tidal, and about 150 additional services right now. For direct links to the tracks, visit HouseOfTheHead.com. Please give it a listen. Comment and tell me what you think. And check the article below for the complete back story about making this album:
How AI helped get my music on all the major streaming services: If I can launch an album onto Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, iTunes, and the rest, so can you. Here are all the ways that AI tools did and did not help. For the record, no AI was used in the creation or mixing of this music.
Oh, and there’s more to come. Sometime late in February, I’ll be releasing my second EP with three more all-new original songs.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
For a really great discussion of the benefits of 3D printing and on-demand manufacturing, check out this video.
Worried about the 2024 elections? As it turns out, the US has had weird elections going all the way back to when elections first began. Here’s why the election of George Washington was weirder than you think.
I feel the need, the need for speed. NASA is bringing supersonic planes back and I, for one, can’t wait. Well, yeah, actually I suppose I can wait, but still. Coolness.
The wacky life of a product reviewer
Most folks don’t understand how weird life can be when you’re a fairly well-known product reviewer. I’m not complaining. This is the best gig I’ve ever had. But you just never know what’s going to show up. Sometimes it’s semi-trucks unloading giant crates you’re not sure will fit through the front door. Other times, it’s very eclectic selections of gifties from Temu:
I think these were gifts for the holidays, or maybe they were thanking me for my recent articles about them. In any case, it was really nice. Big thanks to Temu! My wife has laid claim to the cactus coasters and you can never have too many milk frothers. I’m giving the DIY garden to the neighbor’s kid, who will love it.
As happens after I’m done evaluating many of the review items I get in, the rest of these items will be donated to local community causes.
Stay tuned, because I do have three Temu-related articles coming in ZDNET. And if you want to see what really happens to the big items that come in for review, check out this video:
Interesting reads
Here’s some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
Do you think all the scientists were snoozing through 2023? Nope. Here are six mysteries that scientists cracked in 2023, and one they didn’t.
Cory Doctorow talks about AI as a bubble, and then explores what type of bubble it’s likely to be. I always find Cory worth paying attention to, and this is no different.
The Old Gray Lady has an interesting way to look at future trends: what’s happening in cookie cutters.
Reader 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.
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!