It's GPT-5 week, big focus on major new AI release, custom cable holders
Plus, I get the royal treatment, a robot-built cucumber house, a hobby anti-trend, creepy horned bunnies, and a Google search trick
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.
I tested GPT-5's coding skills, and it was so bad that I'm sticking with GPT-4o (for now): ChatGPT has been the gold standard of AI programming tools, but GPT-5 stumbled badly, delivering broken plugins and flawed scripts in my tests.
GPT-5 bombed my coding tests, but redeemed itself with code analysis: I asked GPT-5, GPT-5 Pro, GPT-5 Thinking, and o3 to analyze my code repository - and found surprising differences in detail, reasoning, and actionable insights that could change how you work.
How to use GPT-5 in VS Code with GitHub Copilot: Learn how to unlock GPT-5 in VS Code using GitHub Copilot Pro. Here are the steps, and how to bypass usage limits using your API key.
I went hands-on with ChatGPT Codex and the vibe was not good - here's what happened: I asked ChatGPT Codex to fix my WordPress plugin. It rewrote nine files, submitted a pull request, and crashed my test server. It did recover, but where's the flow?
This week in royal societies
I’ve certainly been called a royal pain often enough. But, now there’s this.
Project of the week
I’m continuing my outdoor security camera overhaul. This week, I’ve been mounting the cables properly on walls and posts. Unfortunately, every cable mount I found on Amazon involved pushing the cable through the mount. I wanted something that would be flexible and easy to modify if my cable configuration changed.
So I jumped in Fusion and modeled up a holder that had space for a screw (concrete or wood) and slots that could range from one up to four (and could be more if I wanted).
3D printing is powerful for this. I cranked out 20 of each size variant using PETG (which is heat and cold resistant). I also printed them in both white and black, which we can use depending on where we want to mount them.
Here’s how they turned out.
This is a big part of why 3D printing is so useful. Once you understand the tools, you can custom create items that can help you complete whatever job you’re working on.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
This YouTuber uses one heck of a Lego robotics build to create a machine that builds a log house out of cucumbers. It’s silly and impressive at the same time.
Interesting take on why third places seem to be vanishing. Shelby Church says they’re not. We’re just not using them.
While we’re on the subject of recreation, here’s a thought-worthy discussion about why we no longer have real hobbies, except for shopping.
Tool of the week
Here’s another tool on my Amazon wishlist. I’ll admit that I’m ambivalent about getting this. I really do need a way of applying side pressure on the workbench, but you have to secure these by reaching under the table to screw the clamps in place.
I have access to some under-bench holes, but not all of them. The bench, an old Harbor Freight model*, has crappy little drawers right under most holes. You can get to some of the holes, but others are blocked by the drawers that only extend halfway out from the bench.
What do you think? Should I get these? Are you planning on getting a set for yourself? Let us know in the comments below.
*That video about the bench is from eight years ago, back when we lived in Florida. I miss the black beard, but I don’t miss the overheated garage workshop. Bonus points if you can name the 3D printers in the background.
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.
Scientists cut open an 815 million year old rock and test very old air. The surprise? Oxygen levels back then were a lot higher than we thought.
ZDNET’s Elyse Betters Picaro shows how you can now tell Google which sites should be in top stories. If you love me, you’ll put ZDNET.com on the list.
These little horned bunnies aren’t creepy at all. Not at all.
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!
I have been having a terrible time with ChatGPT. I have tried to use it as a smart assistant for electronic design and looking up parts. Version 5 made it unusable. I asked it what was eating up most of its time, and it came down to the "do my homework" and "I am too lazy to read this document crowd. - then it hit me - I've been here before. We are back to sitting in front of timeshare terminals, trying to compile code while the computer center is full of people playing games. .. some things never change.
I have that exact same workbench and abandoned all hope of using the bench holes. I just use it now for storage. I have the Bora Centipede work table that I use for projects that require bench holes. I'm going to check out those clamps, they look good.