Goodwill's AI basics course, Jules out of beta, and getting ready for GPT-5
Plus, a very cool globe, a very cute Pixel pic, a very easy way to bisect lines and angles, a very bright level, and very much more.
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 articles
Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.
Got 6 hours? This AI training from Google and Goodwill can boost your resume today: Want a free AI course that's fun, accessible, and full of practical value? Here's what the 2025 Google AI Essentials covers - and why it's worth sharing.
Google embeds AI agents deep into its data stack - here's what they can do for you: Google's new agents aren't chatbots. They're autonomous problem-solvers for the enterprise. Here's how they integrate with BigQuery, Spanner, and Gemini to transform analytics, coding, and infrastructure.
Google's Jules AI coding tool exits beta with serious upgrades - and more free tasks: Jules now includes a cleaner UI, reusable prompt foundations, and a more generous free tier. Here's how it compares with Gemini CLI GitHub Actions.
Microsoft rolls out GPT-5 across its Copilot suite - here's where you'll find it: GPT-5 is here, and Microsoft is integrating it into everything from chatbots to developer tools. Here's what's new, what works, and what to expect.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
This guy builds a tracker for the International Space Station using magnets, a globe, a bunch of 3D printing, and some circuits. The little ISS model physically moves around the globe in real time. Just so cool.
Dude shares workshop tips he says only boomers know. He shows some very cool measuring and bisecting tricks that are super simple and mind-blowing.
Middle-Aged Dad Band does Time Warp from Rocky Horror. If you watched Netflix’ excellent The Residence, one of the performers might look familiar. Let me know in the comments how many times you’ve seen Rocky Horror. Me? Back when I was in college, almost every Friday at midnight. So hundreds. probably.
Tool of the week
This laser level came in clutch this week when Denise and I were hanging curtains on two walls in the bedroom. The level lines wrapped around both walls, making it easy to align the rod mounts on perpendicular surfaces.
It auto-levels, which means that even if the thing we set it on wasn’t level, the output would be. The only thing I didn’t realize initially was that I would have to put the level all the way near the ceiling to mark off where we needed to hang the curtain rods.
Putting it on top of a shelf, and then stacking boxes on that, and then setting it to push light out of the top emitter did the job. One charged battery covered us for the entire process of putting up three rods and curtains.
Plus, Denise thought it was cool. It’s always a win when your spouse thinks your cool new tool is actually cool.
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 Sabrina Ortiz has great out-the-gate coverage of the new GPT-5. Stay tuned. ZDNET will have more. I have a bunch of GPT-5 coding articles coming out this week.
Star Trek luminaries discuss the possible future of the franchise at the Star Trek Las Vegas event this week.
Netflix’ enormously fun Wednesday Addams Family sendup is back. Season 2 is now streaming.
Pixel pic of the week
Pixel has been trying out his new sling carrier. He’s cozy here, but ultimately, he decided he didn’t like it. He’d much rather just be held in his mommy or daddy’s arms.
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!