Midjourney vs. DALL-E 3, tons on Apple's new M3, and a reader's cute robot project
Plus, weirdness from North Korea, a William Shatner trivia question you probably can't answer, the death of a social network, lessons from baseball, and even more.
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. This is an exciting issue. 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:
Midjourney vs. DALL-E 3 in ChatGPT: Which AI does Halloween better? Halloween is over, but this comparison between Midjourney and DALL-E 3 shows some cool capabilities and disturbing tendencies.
How Apple's new M3 silicon compares to the M1 and M2 chips - from GPU cores to transistors: Apple's M3 chipset revolution arrives, swiftly succeeding the M2 -- discover the full family from M3 to M3 Max and how it compares with previous generations.
Does Apple's M3 chip obsolete the M1 and M2? Here's when to upgrade - and why: The M1 and M2 Macs are still awesome, current, well-tested, and well-functioning machines. But let's dive a little deeper.
Apple's M3 iMac disappoints 27-inch display devotees, but does anyone really need that? The curious case of the missing iMac sizes: Apple's surprising move away from a 20-year tradition of dual-sized desktops.
This is an older article, but I updated it to include the M3 architecture and it’s a really strong explainer for all of these technologies.
Apple Silicon, Rosetta, M1, M2, M3, SoC: Why these terms matter to every computer buyer: Mac users: Got questions about Apple's new CPU architecture? Find out exactly what all these terms mean -- and why they matter to your future buying decisions.
We’re also launching a new special feature this week.
ZDNET Special Feature: Automation: Robots, Machine Learning, and AI
ZDNET is launching its newest Special Feature, Automation: Robots, Machine Learning, and AI. Here’s an article I wrote on the topic:
From automated to autonomous, will the real robots please stand up? Science fiction offers representations of robots that are cautionary and aspirational -- but not necessarily practical. How do real-world robots compare to iconic figures like C-3PO or Mr. Data? Turns out, we're surrounded by them.
If you like robots, be sure to check out our reader project below. One of our intrepid readers is making a really cool robot project.
Geek trivia question
This is from waaaaay before my time, but here we go:
What science fiction TV series broadcast a decade before the original Star Trek starred both William Shatner and James Doohan?
Leave your answers in the comments. I’ll post the answer next week and spotlight whichever reader got the right answer first.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
I am absolutely fascinated by large-scale logistics. In this slick video from Europe, we get a look inside how DHL manages its massive logistics operation.
You want your really frikin’ weird? I got your really frickin’ weird right here! In this video, the North Korean Military Chorus (yeah, I said North Korean) along with what is apparently a North Korean girl group by the name of Moranbong Band ('Tree Peony Peak Band) is performing Queen’s I want to break free.
For more of that “Wait, what?” feeling, apparently Great Leader Kim Jong Un selected the girls for the band, and if you wait for it, you’ll get to see a scene on a giant screen of the His Excellency, A Symbol of the Mightyness of Our Country standing in the snow, looking like he’s freezing his peerless greatness off.
I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. Well, you can, but this looks like it’s a real video of a real event. This is truly must watch.
Interesting reads
Here’s some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
Christine Hall, one of my colleagues in the Internet Press Guild, wrote a touching account of the last days of Pebble, a Twitter wannabee that died an untimely death.
Speaking of Internet Press Guild royalty, writer and editor extraordinaire Esther Schindler posted a wonderful read entitled, “Everything I Know About the Tech Industry I Learned From Baseball.”
And then there’s the best headline of the week, coming from my ZDNET colleague Ed Bott: Windows 11 version 23H2 isn't exciting, which is why you'll probably love it. Not only is it a great headline, it’s a very interesting article, too.
Reader projects
I am thrilled to show you Doly, a fun robot project by reader Levent Erenler. Take a look at this cute little thing:
The expressive eyes are what do it. They’re two round display modules that are programmable through an API. Doly also has two arms that can pick up and manipulate objects:
It’s got a neat little spoiler on the back that helps it be expanded and customized:
Levent told me, “As a sole maker, I've taken Doly from concept to reality, and I am eager to share this exciting project with fellow robot enthusiasts. I've already received positive feedback from the community after sharing Doly on Hackster.io, but I understand that not everyone has access to 3D printing or soldering expertise. Therefore, I am currently working on launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for mold and tooling, which will make Doly more accessible to a wider audience.”
If you want to find Levent and Doly online here are some social media links for you to follow: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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.
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!
Space Command (CBC) starred Doohan and featured Shatner.