Siemens and Sony mix reality, the Meta 3 for glasses wearers, and a 5G explainer
Siemens and Sony mix reality, the Meta 3 for glasses wearers, and a 5G explainer
Plus, a T even bigger than T.rex, more Christopher Walken (kinda), great advice on passwordless tools and technology glasses, and Amazon's robots.
I’m David Gewirtz. Welcome to this week’s Advanced Geekery newsletter. It’s been an exciting week. Let’s dive in.
Baby, it’s cold outside
It got down to 14 degrees here, with a layer of ice on top of everything. We didn’t get even a foot of snow, but weather here in Oregon did prevent car travel. Here’s to everyone, hoping you’re all safe and warm!
My articles
Let’s kick it off with a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET:
Meet the industrial metaverse: How Sony and Siemens seek to unleash the power of immersive engineering: In a quest to transform engineering, Siemens and Sony are teasing a new mixed-reality headset at CES 2024. See what sets the yet-to-be-named device apart from its consumer-grade counterparts.
Siemens' CES showcase: Transforming industries with mixed reality, AI, and more: CES isn't all consumer or electronics. See how this enterprise vendor is shaping the future of mixed reality, AI, and sustainable solutions in various industries.
I bought custom lenses for my Meta Quest 3, but not every eyeglass wearer needs them. Do you? Confused about how glasses work with Meta's headset? Our own myopic David Gewirtz writes his prescription for how you can achieve optimal VR compatibility (with lots of photos).
ZDNET Special Feature: 5G and Edge Computing: What's Next
ZDNET is running an interesting Special Feature, 5G and Edge Computing: What's Next? As part of that collaborative project, I wrote this explainer:
5G and edge computing: What they are and why you should care: ZDNET's David Gewirtz takes a deep dive into 5G and edge computing. Yes, 5G comes with your phone. But how is it really being used? And what can it enable us to do? We have answers, so dig in.
Must-watch YouTube
Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.
This video from NBC is as disturbing as it is fascinating. As of 2022, OSHA reports that Amazon employed 36% of American factory workers. That alone is shocking. But then, the push for robotics becomes even more worrisome.
We pundits are always trying to predict the future. So how did the folks back in the day do? Here’s a look at how people in 1899 imagined the year 2000.
We continue our ongoing fascination with Christopher Walken. Among the giggles, this kid does a pretty fair imitation of Walken singing Baby, It’s Cold Outside. And don’t worry, I have more Real Walken queued up for future issues. I know. You’re welcome.
Interesting reads
Here’s some good stuff from around the Internet, well worth reading.
We’re back with more Ed Bott guidance. This time, he discusses how the future may be passwordless, but it's not here yet.
Jason Perlow shares another of his pearls of wisdom (see what I did there?), with his piece on why IT pros over 50 should switch their glasses to technology lenses. Did you even know there was a category of lenses called “technology lenses”? He explains.
You think T. rex was big and scary (and probably very smelly)? Tyrannosaurus mcraeensis was even bigger.
Reader 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!