Which vertical mouse is best, why DOJ’s copyright stance is dangerous, a new Claude Code feature

Plus, 31 gorgeous astronomy photos, a million dollar 3D print farm tour, how to tell if you’re a polymath, and the story behind the Wend puzzle game.

Sep 21, 2026

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 articles

Here’s a quick recap of the articles I published in the last week on ZDNET.

I tested 9 vertical mice in my quest to reduce wrist pain - this $27 model beat them all: After testing nine vertical mice, one surprising $27 ergonomic mouse beat pricey rivals by solving the overlooked problem nobody mentions.

Why the DOJ’s OpenAI copyright stance is the real threat to national security: The DOJ argues that AI training is transformative fair use, but publishers say unlicensed scraping threatens their survival. This copyright fight could shape the future of online knowledge.

Claude Code’s revised projects adds AI orchestration, but local developers must wait: Claude Code Projects could change how developers manage complex AI coding workflows by coordinating threads, sharing memory, and spanning repos, but its biggest benefits are still cloud-only for now.

Must-watch YouTube

Moving on, let’s queue up some interesting YouTube videos for your entertainment and edification.

Are you a polymath? This woman says there are 7 signs. Spoiler alert: it’s not about math.
This guy has been building up a large 3D print farm. Here’s his tour.
The song isn’t all that great, but the dark AI imagery of Data and the TNG crew is very well done.

Vertical mouse of the week

After doing a full series of tests, this is the vertical mouse I’ve settled on. I’ve used it for an additional week after writing the article above. I still like it.

The Unieer A06 had just enough thumb lift and grippiness to make using it noticeably less painful on both my wrist and hand. It has been a very inexpensive win.

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.

Wend is my new favorite word discovery game on LinkedIn. Here are its unwritten rules, now written.
Want to see 31 gorgeous astronomy photos? Here are the winners of the Royal Observatory Greenwich ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition for 2026.
Last week, we talked about how Jackery helped me fix my electrical infrastructure for the Fab Lab. This week, ZDNET’s Maria Diaz has a guide explaining what appliances are not appropriate for battery generators.

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.