I broke Google's AI, Vision Pro availability, and I kind of broke Meta's AI, too
Plus, a some disturbing stories behind landmarks, another fun place to install Linux, a full-sized Stargate, and more Christopher Walken
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.
I tested Meta's Code Llama with 3 AI coding challenges that ChatGPT aced - and it wasn't good: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently unveiled Code Llama, a 70B parameter AI designed for coding. But how does it stack up against giants like ChatGPT? I put it to the test.
I ran Ubuntu Linux inside MacOS Xcode and you can too with this odd little hack: Learn how to navigate the installation of Ubuntu within MacOS Xcode and you'll earn some major bragging rights.
Want an Apple Vision Pro? Your delivery could be surprisingly quick: Is the luster off the Vision Pro? I certainly didn't have to wait to get one.
I confused Google's most advanced AI - but don't laugh because programming is hard: Let's explore Google's newest AI smarts: See how Gemini Advanced's Python editing feature blends technology with unintended entertainment.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
I mean, what do you say about a guy who has a full size Stargate coming out of his floor, and it’s controlled by Alexa? Psychological profile aside, this is a whole lot of over-the-top awesome.
Here’s a fascinating and disturbing story about the lost neighborhood that was decimated in the 1850s to make room for New York City’s Central Park.
It’s been too many weeks between Walkens. Here I bring you the glorious rendition of Three Little Pigs as read by Christopher Walken.
Interesting reads
Here’s some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
Apparently apes have a twisted sense of humor, just like us humans.
I’ve long been fascinated by the story of the Georgia Guidestones. This in-depth story delves inside their creation and destruction. Reading the article, I also found out something very distressing about transistor co-inventor William Shockley.
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!