Hands-on Claude Cowork, GPT-5.6, I review the Kobra X, and I say no to Fable 5
Plus, a great way to lube your 3D printers, a wind-up go-cart, Marques Brownlee on Apple's AI race, and Mary Poppins meets Google Translate.
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
As promised, here’s my review of the Anycubic Kobra X. It’s inexpensive (if you shop around). It has a bunch of annoyances. But it has one huge win: it works. Unlike previous Anycubic printers that failed in oh-so-many ways, this machine has been rock solid. Iterative improvement, for the win!
My articles
Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.
Claude Fable 5 is back, but I’m sticking with Opus 4.8 for daily work: 5 reasons why: Anthropic’s Fable 5 promises mythic AI power, but surprise restrictions make me wonder if it’s more trouble than it’s worth for day-to-day use.
I tried Claude Cowork on my Gmail inbox after Gemini choked - and it saved me hours of work: Gmail’s AI failed at a nuanced research task, but Claude Cowork found the right pitches, quotes, and permissions, proving that connected AI assistants may finally help tackle some aspects of email overload.
I gave Claude Cowork 7 non-coding jobs, and it earned a spot in my toolbox: Claude Cowork is brilliant, unnerving, and far more useful than I expected.
Anthropic’s Claude Cowork heads to the cloud as data shows 90% of sessions aren’t for coding: Claude Cowork is moving to web and mobile. New data shows it’s being used far beyond coding and software development. Can it safely replace OpenClaw for me? Stay tuned.
OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 and ChatGPT Work aim to beat Anthropic on price, speed, and productivity: OpenAI’s latest announcement looks like a lot more than a model upgrade.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
Marques Brownlee has an interesting take on Apple’s part in the AI race.
James Bruton is using giant rubber bands to make a highly-geared yet still mediocre go-cart.
Super-sensitive potassium Xialidiousus! The Google Translate players are back after running Mary Poppins through a bank of translations.
Lubricant of the week
These have been out of stock for a while, but they’re back. Even though shipping will take a few weeks, I just placed my order. They make applying lubricant to your 3D printers and other moving parts about as easy as painting. You just open the stick, and brush on a small amount of lubricant. A set of three should last quite a while. Just don’t store them with the brush down, because they might leak.
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.
If you happen to be in Europe (especially Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain), get ready for next month’s total solar eclipse. There’s probably still time to book your tickets.
Gizmodo suggests that Apple’s getting ready to launch a bonkers-expensive M7 Ultra-based Pro machine sometime in 2028. Better start saving your pennies (if you can find any).
We’re back with ZDNET’s Steven Vaughan-Nichols, who reports that Linus Torvalds no longer considers himself a programmer.
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!