I vibe coded an iPhone app, how to learn ChatGPT in an hour, and Amazon drops a server from 150 feet and it goes boom
Plus, Windows 12 may be pretty bad, an excavator climbs into a rail car, what Home Depot says about the economy, and a tool kit for new DIYers
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.
Claude Code made an astonishing $1B in 6 months - and my own AI-coded iPhone app shows why: My complex app, built entirely through agentic coding, reveals the true force multiplier that’s transforming how developers create products at astonishing speed.
How to learn ChatGPT in under an hour using my favorite guides and videos - for free: Want to master ChatGPT fast and for free? Here’s the easiest path, with my top handpicked resources.
I tested Opus 4.5 to see if it’s really ‘the best in the world’ at coding - and things got weird fast: Here’s what happened when I pushed Anthropic’s new model through some simple development tasks.
Amazon wants to demolish your tech debt like it did this AWS server - here’s the plan: Amazon just dropped a server off a crane to showcase its upgraded AWS Transform service, revealing how agentic AI could rewrite millions of legacy lines faster than developers ever imagined.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
I like this YouTuber. He has a tool channel, but often takes a deeper look at whatever his topic is than the typical YouTuber. In this instance, he looks at how the recent Home Depot analyst call provides clues to the economy overall.
Caterpillar hydraulic excavator climbing onto a rail car. This is why this newsletter exists. If you watch nothing else this year, watch this.
For our somewhat weekly musical treat, I present, “We don’t talk about Pluto,” to the tune of the popular Encanto song.
Tool of the week
Most people reading this newsletter won’t need this week’s Tool of the Week. But you may know someone who would. This kit contains a fairly complete assortment of tools a new homeowner or apartment dweller might need, especially if they haven’t done any DIY stuff before now.
Since we’re coming up on the holiday gift-giving season, I’m recommending this for that newly “on their own” person so they have a full kitbag (quite literally, in this case) of tools to help them get most basic home jobs done.
It’s also great as a spare kit to keep in the car, at the summer home, at Mom and Dad’s house, under your office desk, or in the server closet in case you need to fix something yourself and don’t want to take the time to run back to the workshop to collect up a set of tools.
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 Ed Bott is in true form with his warning about Windows 12. He writes, “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If you want to know what’s coming next from Microsoft, just look at its past failures.”
There’s a fairly compelling theory that the giant heads of Easter Island actually walked.
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!