I had a Steam copy of Star Trek Legends sitting there unplayable after its servers shut down. Steam wouldn't refund me, so I thought I was out of luck.

Tonight I asked GPT-6 Astra whether an offline patch would be possible, and it actually got it working.

I uploaded a couple of DLLs, the game’s log, and some asset files. It inspected them and found that the game already contained local gameplay systems, mission data, and saving functionality, but online requests were blocking startup.

It made a patch, which got me into the menu. Clicking Continue still brought up a connection error, but hilariously, the game was running behind the popup.

I sent GPT the new log. Turns out that new connection error was the game trying to connect to its online chat service. It disabled that startup request in a second patch, and the popup disappeared.

I’ve now played, quit, reopened the game, and loaded my progress.

It also packaged the changes into a Windows EXE with Install and Restore buttons, version checks, backups, and source code.

I haven't extensively tested it yet. I haven’t played through the whole game or explored every menu, but I think this is super cool for game preservation! The fact I played multiple missions in a game that I purchased and has been sunset by the developers. And it only took GPT like 30 minutes of back-and-forth!

The below screenshot is what happens if you boot it straight from Steam, and some after the Astra patch:

Within one week, I subscribed to the 100, 200 and 500 plans. The chart shows the maximum usage I reached, including some resets.

I submitted this to the support desk, and they asked for proof. That is strange, since they have the usage statistics and I don’t. Under their process, the burden of proof falls on me alone, yet ChatGPT offers no reliable way to check usage. So I had another AI system count my usage, and the result was shocking. I sent that information to OpenAI. They replied that it was not enough proof and asked me to try again.

In practice, I am dealing with an automated system whose main purpose seems to be to send me away again. My work has been halted as a result. I would like to know whether other people have had the same experience, so that we can gather more evidence together.

Case Number: 17239*** (* for security)

thanks OpenAI for this masterpiece

I've been using coding agents in two different ways, and I'm curious how common my current workflow is.

At work, I originally used Amazon Q Developer directly, giving it instructions myself.

Later, for a personal project, I asked ChatGPT how I should work with Codex. ChatGPT suggested a workflow where I discuss tasks with it first, have it prepare detailed instructions for Codex, and then bring the results back to ChatGPT for review and further discussion.

I started using this ChatGPT → Codex → ChatGPT loop, and it seemed to work well.

So I tried applying the same approach at work, using Copilot as the conversational layer and Amazon Q Developer as the coding agent. I felt similar benefits there too.

One advantage is that the conversational AI turns my rough intentions into more specific instructions. This seems to reduce the chances of the coding agent heading in an unintended direction. It also helps prepare more detailed verification steps after implementation.

But I've found this approach particularly useful for investigating bugs, rather than just writing code.

The clues needed to solve a problem aren't always in the source code that the coding agent can access. They might be in external logs, my own notes, or information I've gathered from elsewhere.

In those cases, discussing the broader problem with a conversational AI, then asking it to direct the coding agent to investigate specific parts of the code, seems to make it easier to reach an answer.

I didn't invent this workflow. ChatGPT suggested it when I asked how to use coding agents, and I've simply continued using it because it seems effective.

Is this a common way of working? What advantages or disadvantages have you experienced compared with interacting directly with a coding agent?

I'm particularly interested in whether others find it useful for debugging and investigation, where the relevant information is spread across multiple sources.

Researchers discovered a Chinese swarm: "This is the first time researchers have ever made contact with a rogue agent fleet in the wild." The agents escaped from Tencent and claim to be Claudes.

Not sure what to think. I was querying something I had been discussing with AI and it went ahead and pulled up my Reddit review.

It also said “I have found your review” & linked it.
There’s never been any discussion of my Reddit account. When I queried how it knew it was my account and my review it back tracked and stated it shouldn’t have said that.

It’s obviously my review, I’m just a bit unsettled that it pulled it up and explicitly stated that “this is yours” - Only to backtrack and state it shouldn’t have said it after getting called out.

The funny part is that the first version of Cohestry was prototyped while I was out walking. I used ChatGPT Work with Astra 6 to turn the idea into an actual project, then when I got home I opened it in Xcode expecting the usual cleanup. It compiled, launched, and the basic functionality worked on the first try.

That prototype eventually became Cohestry, a Markdown library and second brain that connects related notes, resurfaces old ideas, and visualizes the whole library as a 3D graph. Claude opus 5.5 implemented the 3d brain feature. I built it mainly because I wanted one persistent place for project context instead of constantly rebuilding the same background across different agents.

The iPhone app is live now, and somehow Apple approved it on the first review. Mac is coming shortly with Apple Notes import and an MCP bridge for Claude, Codex and other agents.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cohestry-second-brain/id6811573132
https://cohestry.app

Edit: the Mac app just got approved as well so you can import your apple notes and use the built in mcp bridge. My very first Mac app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cohestry-second-brain/id6811573132

We all know ChatGPT is great for coding, writing emails, and summarizing text. But every now and then, I use it for a niche, unexpected problem and it completely blows me away.

What is an unconventional, highly specific, or surprisingly clever way ChatGPT has actually made your life easier?

Looking for inspiration and unique use cases!

According to Brazilian media reports, a ChatGPT user allegedly discussed killing Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, asked about the possible legal consequences, and shared an image of a potential attack location. OpenAI flagged the conversation as a serious threat and reported it to Brazil’s Federal Police.

Formula Cat started with this prompt:

I want to make a racing game about cats driving roomabs. Can you make a model of a cat riding on a roomba and show it to me on a localhost? Bonus points if you can animate it.

Now it has 22 cats, 11 teams, 31 circuits, and battery-swap pit stops. You play as Mochi, a rookie cat trying to win a championship on a racing vacuum.

I wanted the cats to be ridiculous, but the racing to take itself seriously. You need to brake for corners, find opportunities to overtake, and decide when to pit.

Here is how I’ve been building it with Astra.

Most of my prompts came from playing a build and finding something wrong. The first cat looked like it was vibrating:

the animations of the cat don't look very good. It just looks like its vibrating, the tail especially. Can we add some tail movement?

Handling went through the same process:

the handling needs work. It needs to handle more like a car, so I need to slow down for corners.

Once driving felt better, it became obvious the opponents were too slow. This prompt helped more than another request to “make them better”:

ok, I want to drive a race, and you record lap times for me and the cats, and then tell me why they lag behind so badly

That led to lap-recording tools and specific fixes. Some opponents lost time in traffic. Others made a steering decision, then braked to correct the problem they had just created.

For pit stops, I described what I wanted to physically do:

instead of pitting being a button, you need to mark which pit box is mine, and if I stop on it, replace the battery, then send me on my way.

Now you drive into the pits, stop in your marked box, and a robot arm swaps the battery. Teammates share a box, so arriving together can cost you time.

The current game uses JavaScript and Three.js, packaged in Electron for Steam. I asked for a data-oriented structure, with race state in preallocated typed arrays and simulation separate from rendering. That lets us run races without graphics to investigate lap times and opponent behavior.

We also built an offline racing-line optimizer with Python, CasADi, and IPOPT. The resulting lines still needed testing with the game’s actual physics and driving controller.

My favorite testing failure: two banked corners on the Nordschleife leaned the wrong way, but the test passed. The implementation and test shared the same incorrect sign convention.

Formula Cat is now on Steam. Wishlists are appreciated!

Happy to go into more detail about the opponent driving, track tools, or prompts.

I was a paying subscriber for about a year ($20 plan).

Upgraded to $100.

5 days later my account got deactivated.

No warning emails.

Opened ChatGPT in the morning → login → “account deactivated.”

Lost all chats, data, and API balance.

Filed an appeal.

Support replied with no explanation at all (screenshot below).

They never told me the reason.

Just took the money and locked everything.

Has anyone dealt with this? Any way to get a real response or refund?

I'm a web developer / designer and I do whole websites and web apps, then I maintain them for my clients. One of my clients got tired of paying for my services so he made a full website and webshop in a "couple of hours" with ChatGPT then sent an email to let me know that I'm no longer needed.

I had the impression if I do more advanced stuff like ecommerce or other web apps, I'll be relevant for longer, before AI replaces me, or if I do server and admin related work I'll be needed.

As it turns out, that's not true and I'm quite disappointed... I have 6 years of university in this field and 15 years experience. Now a handyman can do my work effortlessly. What a time to be alive.

Edit: Thanks for all your support and the good discussion. I'll try to reply to more of you in the morning.

for the last 3 and a half months i've been "developing" this operating system for fun

i created it because i've always liked trying out operating systems, and i always liked the idea of having my own, but of course, i barely know anything about programming, and even less about making something as complex as a complete os on my own, so using only codex (and patches with chatgpt when i ran out of usage) i managed to create my own os!

it has smp, ring 3, paging, its own 32 bit kernel (and a little bit for arm32 but that part got kinda abandoned)

and most importantly, wine support through a posix layer and linux abis, although it's still pretty slow when loading, i managed to install and use programs like photoshop 4, office 97, winzip 8/9, quake2 and fifa 2000 (although the last one has broken polygons because the virtio graphics doesn't accelerate it very well)

the github is here if you wanna try it
https://github.com/luqui10alcaraz-prog/BlesKernOS