ChatGPT Plus vs Gemini Pro, Claude Code vs Amazon Q

 I recently made a couple of switches:

• ChatGPT Plus to Gemini Pro. I made this switch when ChatGPT failed to do what I asked on a small amount of data. I pasted in a bunch of strings and asked it to create a table with rows in one dimension and columns in another dimension, so I could see what is missing. It returned a sparse table (should have been dense) and forgot a lot of stuff. Gemini was able to produce the correct table. I noticed this a lot before - I would paste in a lot of data (long lists of company products, spending data, etc.) and ChatGPT would be missing a lot of it in its analysis and Grok would produce the correct analysis.
• Claude Code to Amazon Q. Amazon Q feels like it is using Claude under the covers (which may be the case as Amazon is an investor in Anthropic). It is really good. But the reason I switched is Amazon Q is capped at $20/month, while Claude Code will keep spending your money without limit (I was spending $5-$10/day). If I have a really hard software problem, I may break out Claude Code but Amazon Q is my daily driver. The only problem with Amazon Q is it is a bit tough to set up a paid account (the free account is really easy to set up but it will only last a couple of weeks before running out for the month).

Here are some notes I took on setting up Amazon Q in case it helps anyone:

• I set up Amazon Q Developer Pro (the paid version) using my personal AWS Console by first enabling IAM Identity Center, then creating a new user (“Joe Foo”) within it. Initially, I couldn’t assign the user to the Q Developer app directly from the IAM Identity Center because Amazon Q is an AWS-managed application. Instead, I learned that access is granted automatically once the user signs in via the Start URL provided in the Q Developer settings. After some trial and error with login credentials (realizing the correct username is the email, not the display name), I confirmed successful access to the AWS access portal. Finally, I discovered that the critical Subscriptions section (for confirming user access and billing) was hidden behind a hamburger menu (☰) in the Amazon Q section of the AWS Console—an important UI gotcha to remember.
• See Amazon Q Developer: Subscribe users in a standalone account.

How to edit markdown files on Google Drive on iOS and Mac

To edit Google Drive markdown files on iOS, there is a roundabout way to do it using iCloud drive. You can't just use an iOS text editor like Runestone because they can't edit and save directly to Google Drive. What I did was make a folder (called "Obsidian") in iCloud drive on my Mac. Then on my Mac, I pointed Google Drive at that folder to sync it with Google Drive. Now my Mac is syncing the folder to iCloud drive and Google Drive.

Now I can use Runestone, Obsidian, or my iOS text editor of choice on those files. And it is on Google Drive so I can use Google Gemini AI to query those files as well. I can edit the files on my Mac using Obsidian or any Mac text editor.