How Not to Be Afraid of Fable 5

How Not to Be Afraid of Fable 5

Anthropic switched the most powerful AI on the planet back on over the Fourth of July, right as seven houseguests descended on my Tahoe place. So naturally I kept sneaking inside to build things with it. Four projects, a zero-dollar budget, and one honest question: did I actually need the expensive model, or would a cheaper one have gotten me there just fine? A fixed-up website for real doctors, a cartoon map of Lake Tahoe, a whole cleaned-up digital life, and a genuinely silly little app named after Velma from Scooby Doo. You do not have to be technical to do any of this. You just have to be curious. 📖 Read the full written version on Substack: https://aigenx.substack.com/p/claude-fable-5-real-world-test [https://aigenx.substack.com/p/claude-fable-5-real-world-test] CHAPTERS 00:00 Come sit with me: how not to fear Fable 5 01:51 My friend's website with really old plumbing 02:46 Fable 5, explained (and why it's basically on sale) 04:00 Claude Code, and it's not as scary as it sounds 07:21 Which model when: Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, and the $1,000 consultant 08:25 90 broken links, and the one thing only Fable could do 09:54 "But what have you built?" 10:35 A cartoon map to make you love Tahoe 14:46 I accidentally built myself a team 20:43 Ask Darlene, my ridiculous little app 21:01 Building the app (my first GitHub repo and Vercel) 22:34 Tuning Darlene's funny with Fable 5 24:07 Get creative, don't get scared 24:57 Outro ───────────────── SHOW NOTES The theme under all of it: the skill isn't owning the most powerful tool. It's knowing which days are truck days. The four projects: • The website rebuild — a 2016 site for doctors, 500 links with a third broken. Fable 5 found the new home for ~90% of them. We deleted exactly nine. • The digital declutter — the most valuable thing I did all weekend, and nothing shiny to show for it. • The Tahoe map — the lake's most-loved spots and the nonprofits keeping them alive: https://aigenx-podcast.github.io/tahoe-map/ [https://aigenx-podcast.github.io/tahoe-map/] • Ask Darlene — a silly app that teaches better prompting, my first time using GitHub and Vercel: https://darlene-prompt-prototype-lime.vercel.app/ [https://darlene-prompt-prototype-lime.vercel.app/] Lines worth stealing: • "You do not need to be technical to work with these tools. You just have to be curious." • "The skill isn't owning the truck. The skill is knowing which days are truck days." Tools mentioned: Claude Code, the Claude Chrome extension, Fable 5, GitHub, Vercel, Riverside, Canva. ───────────────── COME FIND ME 📬 Substack (the full essays, every week): https://aigenx.substack.com [https://aigenx.substack.com] 📷 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aigenx.podcast/ [https://www.instagram.com/aigenx.podcast/] 🌐 Website: https://aiforgenxpodcast.com [https://aiforgenxpodcast.com] If this helped, the easiest way to keep figuring this out together is to subscribe on Substack. That's where the real magic lives.

First AI Summer: How I'm Using AI with My Teen So He's Actually Ready for What's Coming

This is the first summer AI is actually good enough to build something real around — and I wasn't going to let it pass without doing something about it. In this episode I talk about why I'm calling it First AI Summer, the card set I built with Claude for my 14-year-old (yes, including the basketball jumpshot analysis and the Minecraft door), and what I think this summer actually means for GenX parents who've been watching this technology arrive for two years and still aren't sure what to do with it. It's not about replacing summer. It's about making the tools work for your actual kid. 📥 Read the full article + download the free Summer of AI Card Set: https://aigenx.substack.com/p/first-ai-summer [https://aigenx.substack.com/p/first-ai-summer] 🎧 Subscribe wherever you listen: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6VlJIqWGmcHl85nDT6Is [https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6VlJIqWGmcHl85nDT6Is] 📬 Weekly AI literacy for GenX — no jargon, no hype: https://aigenx.substack.com [https://aigenx.substack.com] #FirstAISummer #AIforGenX #AILiteracy #GenXParents #ArtificialIntelligence 🎧 Also on — Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-genx-podcast/id1886824309 · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AIGenX.Podcast · Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f285ef2e-c88d-4a82-984a-991d5da421ef/ai-for-genx-podcast 🌐 More episodes + resources: https://aiforgenxpodcast.com

Darren Plus One: The Claude AI Setup Nobody Told You About

My friend Darren downloaded the Claude app. Then held up his phone and asked me: "okay, what do I press?" Nobody told him about the setup. Nobody told any of us. 🎧 Follow the show — Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-genx-podcast/id1886824309 · Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6VlJIqWGmcHl85nDT6Is · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AIGenX.Podcast · Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f285ef2e-c88d-4a82-984a-991d5da421ef/ai-for-genx-podcast 🌐 More episodes + resources: https://aiforgenxpodcast.com 📬 Weekly AI literacy for GenX — no jargon, no hype: https://aigenx.substack.com

Why Your AI Keeps Forgetting You: The Truth About ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini Memory

Ever feel like your AI is giving you a "blank stare" mid-conversation? In this episode, we’re breaking down the confusing world of AI memory using three simple mental models: The Desk, the Post-it, and the Filing Cabinet. Whether you’re using ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, each tool handles your data and your "history" with a completely different philosophy. We dive into why ChatGPT seems so eager to remember, why Claude is the "careful" editor, and how Gemini uses the entire Google ecosystem to know your schedule before you even type a word. In this episode, you’ll learn: * The Context Window: Why your AI "desk" has a size limit and what happens when it gets full. * Context Rot: Why AI performance sours the longer you talk (and how to fix it). * Privacy & Training: The hard truth about who is "learning" from your conversations and how to flip the "off" switch. * The 6-Step Playbook: Practical steps to audit what your AI knows about you and keep your "digital identity" sharp. 🎧 Follow the show — Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-genx-podcast/id1886824309 · Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6VlJIqWGmcHl85nDT6Is · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AIGenX.Podcast · Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f285ef2e-c88d-4a82-984a-991d5da421ef/ai-for-genx-podcast [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f285ef2e-c88d-4a82-984a-991d5da421ef/ai-for-genx-podcast] 🌐 More episodes + resources: https://aiforgenxpodcast.com 📬 Weekly AI literacy for GenX — no jargon, no hype: https://aigenx.substack.com

My Nano Banana Bear is Breaking the Electric Grid 🐻⚡️

Every time I ask Gemini (aka Nano Banana) to put a bear in one of my Tahoe hiking photos, I feel a little bit of "eco-guilt." But how much energy does a single AI prompt actually use? In this episode, I’m diving deep into the hidden "electric bill" of our AI habits. From the massive data centers that run "hot and heavy" to the recent shocking news of OpenAI sunsetting Sora due to a $15M-a-day price tag, we’re breaking down the math of the machines. In this video, we discuss: * The 2030 Projection: Why AI compute might soon use more power than the entire country of Japan. * The "Math Factory": A beginner-friendly look at what happens inside a data center (and why they need so much water). * The Sora Obituary: Why the world’s most famous AI video tool was "killed" by its own electric bill. * The Microwave vs. The Lightbulb: A breakdown of what a text prompt costs vs. an AI image or video. * 5 Tips for Responsible AI: How to use these tools without burning down the grid (literally). * If you’re a GenXer trying to navigate this "lightning speed" tech world, this is for you. We don’t need to stop using AI, but we do need to start looking at the "Energy Guide" sticker. Resources mentioned: * My Substack: https://aigenx.substack.com/ [https://aigenx.substack.com/] * The "AI for GenX" Podcast #AIforGenX #NanoBanana #SustainableAI #DataCenters #OpenAI #Sora #GenX #TahoeHikes #AIComputing 🎧 Follow the show — Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ai-for-genx-podcast/id1886824309 · Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6L6VlJIqWGmcHl85nDT6Is · YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AIGenX.Podcast · Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/f285ef2e-c88d-4a82-984a-991d5da421ef/ai-for-genx-podcast 🌐 More episodes + resources: https://aiforgenxpodcast.com 📬 Weekly AI literacy for GenX — no jargon, no hype: https://aigenx.substack.com