Cool Tools

Paleontologist-Futurist Michael Garfield works in mind-jazz across genres to help navigating our world of accelerating weirdness and cultivate the curiosity and play for people to thrived in it. Host of Future Fossils, former Digital Media Strategist for The Santa Fe Institute and host of Complexity Podcast, former Community Manager for The Long Now Foundation and Research Analyst for a stealth Mo...

Mr. Burke is a serial entrepreneur. Mr. Burke has over 34 years of enterprise software company management and start-up experience and has worked for 11 software and technology services companies. Mr. Burke is a father of 3 kids and husband to his lovely wife, Irina. WEBSITE TOOLS: 0:00 – Intro 0:31 –  Leatherman Skeletool 6:13 –  Samsung Galaxy Ring 14:26 –  Kindle Paperwhite 19:27 –  SimpleNote 2...

Christina K. is a home organizer based out of metro Vancouver area. She helps the neurodivergent to the neurotypical find space and peace in their home whether virtually or in person. She also in a previous life was a marketing coordinator helping small and big businesses in the tech space find their voice in a loud world. When not working you can find her baking, watching educational YouTube or c...

Based in Texas, Chordophony, is a software engineer by day who moonlights as a music technologist and sound explorer. He has developed innovative devices and software to facilitate sonic creation and streamline production workflows. Chordophony is an avid collector and enthusiast of music-related tools and instruments. Social Media Links: Instagram.com/chordophony Twitter.com/chordophony TOOLS: 0:...

Data storyteller RJ Andrews is obsessed with data graphics. He helps organizations solve high-stakes problems with visual metaphors and persuasive graphics. He recently produced designs for The White House, Google, and MIT. RJ's newest book is "Info We Trust: How to Create Value with Data Graphics." He is also author of "Florence Nightingale: Mortality and Health Diagrams" and other works. Learn a...

Julian Bleecker, Ph. D., is an accomplished engineer and author with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, an MSEng from the University of Washington, and a Ph. D. from UC Santa Cruz. He founded Near Future Laboratory in 2005 and OMATA, a one-person innovative hardware product design studio, in 2014, which he sold in 2022. Julian has written  It's Time To Imagine Harder  and co-a...

Mac Moss is an Idaho based graphic designer who operates his own one man studio known as mm.s. Heavily inspired by science fiction and the American West, his work has naturally drifted into predominantly the outdoor industry. Outside of work, Mac races competitively at ultra marathon distances.   TOOLS : 0:00 – Intro 1:29 –  Solar Awareness / Lumos Sun Tracking App 11:27 –  Hori Hori Garden Tool 1...

David Rager  is an accomplished Creative Director with over two decades of experience in design leadership, brand building, and environmental experiences. As NASA's current Creative Director, he oversees the agency's visual brand and iconic Graphics Standards Manual and is responsible for reintroducing the NASA Logotype (Worm). Previously, Rager led teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Disne...

ABOUT DANNY KIM: 20+ years of vehicle architecture & prototype development. Inventor w/ 65 issued int'l patents, 22 USPTOs. Focus of HBS case study: Industrial design & sustainable transportation. Former Land Rover mechanic, machinist, woodworker, welder, and vehicle integrator. Reed College, UCB, RISD, & Media Lab. LINKS: LIT Motors Wefunder Flickr Instagram YouTube TOOLS: 0:00 – Intro 1:19 – 48″...

Aishwarya Khanduja is the founder of a stealth entity working to solve wicked problems through lenses of complexity, markets, and power. She's spent the majority of her career thus far being a founder or supporting founders. Her companies span biotech, ed-tech, and the future of work. She writes a weekly letter, essays, technical primers, and other musings on aishwaryadoingthings.com .   TOOLS: 0:...

Adam Hill  (He/Him) is a dad who loves science, cooking, math, engineering, skepticism, espresso, and politics! He has been a teacher, an engineer, and now a software business analyst. Curiosity now and forever! TOOLS: 0:00 – Intro 0:46 –  Burley Bee Bike Trailer 5:20 –  Nanofoamer Pro 12:07 –  Magsafe wallet 16:22 –  Eat Your Books   Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/xFTW8E6aSVI     For show not...

Mia Coots is a Senior at Nokomis Regional High in central Maine and an amazing presenter for the Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine for the Department of Education. LINKS : http://SLAMShow.org TOOLS : 0:00 – Intro 0:53 –  ATEM Mini Switcher 7:50 –  Rode Wireless II Mics 15:22 –  MuteSync 18:50 –  Canva Watch on YouTube   For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/mia-coots-...

Josué Moreno, a Spanish composer and sound artist, has made Finland his home, where he inspires the next generation of musicians as a teacher at the prestigious Sibelius Academy's Music Technology Department. Known for pioneering Urban Sonic Acupuncture, Josué seamlessly blends the vibrancy of live electronic compositions with the innovative realms of Computer-Assisted Composition and Generative A...

K e rn Kelley  is a Technology Integrator at Maine School Unit #19. Starting his teaching career in New Zealand, he has provided support to educators for over two decades and conducted professional development across the globe. He advises a  student produced technology show  for the Maine Department of Education at MLTI.me and brings his student presenters, the Student Leadership Ambassadors of Ma...

Rich Edwards  is the CEO of  Mindspan Systems , which helps community financial institutions transform themselves with data-driven strategies and technologies. Rich has worked extensively with banking, insurance, and financial services clients worldwide during his career. He has led product strategy in data center automation and artificial intelligence, including the launch of IBM Watson Developer...

Brent Deverman  founded and sold a China-based internet startup providing services to tourists and English speakers based in Shenzhen, China. With over 20 years of experience in software development, analytics, digital transformation, and e-commerce development, Brent has also executed technical projects for HSBC, CNN, DFS, and AIA. He graduated from Michigan State University with a dual degree in...

Chris Butler is a chaotic good product manager, writer, and speaker. He has extensive experience in product management leadership at Microsoft, Waze, KAYAK, Facebook Reality Labs (aka Meta), and Cognizant. He is now Group Product Manager in Google's Core Machine Learning team. He is also the co-founder of The Uncertainty Project a community focused on decision making and strategy. LINKS: LinkedIn...

Bud Thorpe is a long time photographer, a life long educator, and former paramedic. He and his wife specialize in creating artwork of dogs (and their well behaved families). They run the Dog Art Gallery in historic Portsmouth New Hampshire. He teaches studio lighting for photographers online at The Master Lighting Course. His website is BudThorpe.com . TOOLS : 0:00 – Intro 1:03 –  Knipex 12 62 180...

Davey Rogulich is a Stagehand and Maker from Albuquerque, NM. He has toured internationally with Tricklock Theater Company and throughout the US with "Blue Man Group" and "Cathy Rigby is Peter Pan!". He is currently the Technical Director of NDI New Mexico at The Hiland Theater in Albuquerque and the owner of Davey Craft & Tools. His hobbies include woodworking, leather working, aircraft restorati...

Mike Harris legal assistant, bookworm and amateur photographer who likes the surreal and the silly. Mike writes a newsletter called ThinkTrove , where he wrangles the week's wonders.   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 1:02 - Fidget cube: https://www.antsylabs.com/collections/fidget-cube 5:34 - MyNoise. Net: https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/japaneseGardenSoundscapeGenerator.php 11:46 - Inoreader: https://www.i...

Casper Kelly is a writer/director of weird TV and movies including the viral short Too Many Cooks and the 2023 horror movie Adult Swim Yule Log. His website is casperkelly.com and he's on Twitter and Instagram @heycasperkelly.   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:43 - Chromadepth glasses: https://geni.us/cbvJf 4:53 - Mage.space: https://www.mage.space 21:51 - Tiny Habits; https://bjfogg.typeform.com/to/QXc0WJ?...

Marc Payne is an IT specialist working for the Federal Government. My passion is flipping items via thrift stores, yard sales and retail arbitrage on Ebay and Amazon. You can find Marc on Twitter @houseofpayne.   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 2:24- Index cards: https://geni.us/Jc1f7 7:54 - Box resizer: https://geni.us/xGGHI 12:34 - Scotty peelers: https://geni.us/qUEr9Dy 17:12 - 3" packing tape dispenser: h...

Theodore Gray is a co-founder of Wolfram Research and creator of the Notebook user interface (since lovingly copied by Jupyter Notebooks). He is the author of several books and iPad apps including the NYTs best-seller The Elements, and writer/director of Disney Animated (BAFTA award winner and Apple's iPad App of the Year 2013). His latest book is TOOLS , which is all about his favorite tools.   W...

EDITOR NOTE: Due to technical audio issues, this episode might sound better for those listening at 1.5x or 2x speed.   Tom Robertson is an IT professional, currently leading IT at FreshBooks out of Toronto, Canada. Tom has a background in theatre, and has written and produced several shows in the Toronto area. In his spare time, he enjoys computer related hobbies, and has built a retro arcade cabi...

Miles Hunter is a UX researcher, based out of Seattle but originally a Brit. Learning to woodwork. I enjoy restoring things, everything from old tools to video and photos.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mileshunter/   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:53 - Evaporust rust remover: https://www.evapo-rust.com/evapo-rust-remover/ 5:29 - Incogni - personal information removal service: https://incogni.com/...