My Starfield PC build, AI's Oppenheimer moment, a practical Starfield spaceship filming model, and more
It's Advanced Geekery for the week ending October 7, 2023
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:
How I built the ultimate low-profile Starfield gaming PC for under $1,200: I fired up my power screwdriver and built the Starfield gaming rig of my dreams that's spouse-approved and quiet enough to be in a family room. Check out my components.
ChatGPT's new web browsing feature is a big disappointment. Use this plugin instead: OpenAI's popular chatbot once again offers web browsing for premium users. Should you enable it? My tests were quite discouraging. Good thing there's a better option.
We’re also launching two special features this week.
ZDNET Special Feature: The Intersection of Generative AI and Engineering
ZDNET is running an interesting Special Feature, The Intersection of Generative AI and Engineering. I wrote the exploration of software engineering and AI:
Is AI in software engineering reaching an 'Oppenheimer moment'? Here's what you need to know: Explore the AI revolution within software engineering, including its coding advancements, sweeping impact on diverse sectors -- and ethical implications.
ZDNET Special Feature: How AI is Transforming Organizations Everywhere
ZDNET is running an interesting Special Feature, How AI is Transforming Organizations Everywhere. I spoke to a bunch of executives and got their take on how AI is impacting their organizations:
AI is transforming organizations everywhere. How these 6 companies are leading the way: From enhanced efficiency to public safety to life-changing treatments: dive deep into how companies like Ericsson, Abpro, and Hexagon are harnessing the power of AI, and even saving lives.
More about my Starfield fun
Here’s another look inside my finished gaming PC:
And, for those curious, here’s my character:
As our last Starfield item, take a look at the first item on the YouTube list below. There’s an amazing build of a physical, real-world Starfield space ship by the folks at Adam Savage’s Tested.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
This is one video in a whole amazing playlist from Adam Savage’s tested. These folks build a 3D printed filming model (a real, practical model) of the Starfield Frontier. Over the course of a few days, I actually watched the whole playlist. It’s that good.
For this week’s incredibly ambitious geeky musical selection, I point you to a blending of the game Mass Effect and The Pirates of Penzance. Spock would love it (if you caught how this reference is tangentially relevant, let us know in the comments).
And, in our disturbing video of the week, we’ll take a look at a Vox video about why Sudafed PE is still on the market, but doesn’t work any better than a placebo.
Interesting reads
Here’s some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
Apparently, the Pythagorean theorem predates Pythagoras. Is nothing sacred?
Want to know which streaming service mercilessly kills its own series more than any other? Variety has the answer.
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!
Reader projects
I’d like to regularly spotlight a reader project or two 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.
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!