Roku's Amazon deal, ChatGPT saves the day, how I fixed the Creality K2
Plus, behind the scenes of Fallout, bending metal, nasty customer service, no mo Wemo, best time travel movies, and a cool sanding tool
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. It’s been an exciting week. Let’s dive in.
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My latest video
It’s taken a few months, but I finally received the parts, was able to clear a large enough work area, and blocked out the time. It took more than six hours over three or four days, but the ginormous Creality K2 Plus is now working.
My articles
Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.
How I used ChatGPT to quickly fix a critical open-source plugin - without touching a line of code: When a critical plugin failed, I used ChatGPT to fix it, restoring site security quickly, without touching a line of old code. Here's how.
I love Roku for keeping its ads unobtrusive - which is why this Amazon deal worries me: Roku is teaming up with Amazon in a surprising ad-tech deal that could reshape how ads reach your TV. Could this change how you stream forever?
How agentic AI is transforming the very foundations of business strategy: PwC's AI chief explains how forward-thinking leaders are preparing their people and processes for this unprecedented transformation.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
Do you like time travel movies? It’s one of my favorite genres. These folks ranked their picks for the 12 best time travel movies. Do you agree? Let us know what they missed in the comments.
If you haven’t seen Fallout on Prime, you’re in for a treat (although it is disturbingly gory and violent). You don’t have to be a Fallout fan, but if you are, this show is so good. For those who can’t get enough, here’s a behind-the-scenes video about the Fallout series.
Have you ever wanted to bend sheet metal, but don’t have one of those big metal brakes? This guy shows four techniques for getting excellent bends using a few simple steps.
Tool of the week
I don’t know about you, but I have a bunch of sanding blocks. So why would I need to buy another one? I thought that, until I saw this tool. What makes it special is that it has a variety of curve radii (yes, “radii” is the plural of “radius”). That way, if you need to do any inside curve sanding (which I often do when removing items from the CNC), this tool will help you fit sandpaper to just the right curve.
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.
Do you have Wemo devices in your home? Not for long, apparently. ZDNET’s Artie Beaty explains that Belkin is about to turn your smart devices into so much electronic scrap.
MIT is testing out a 3D printing technique to repair bridges on-site.
Want to get angry? Read this article about intentionally dropped customer service calls and what the industry calls “sludge”.
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!