Cool Tools

Will Walker is a lead human interface designer at Google, working on wearables, digital assistants, generative AI and conversational controls. His design career has spanned across interfaces for hybrid digital maps, 3d printers and volumetric scanners to leading the design of exotic running shoes. He paints, hikes, plants and rennovates a victorian with his daughter, partner and shiba in San Franc...

David Buxton is a tech founder based in London, UK. He loves making stuff, especially with software. He's also a qualified pilot and a pretty good cook.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmrbuxton/ Website: https://hrharriet.com   TOOLS: 0:45 - Workflowy: https://workflowy.com 12:54 - Tern GSD e-bicycle: https://www.ternbicycles.com/uk/bikes/472/gsd 19:47 - Langchain (LLM dev framework):...

Asa Hillis is a furniture maker who lives in Silicon Valley. He is known for creating pieces of furniture that have a timeless quality. Asa combines traditional and modern techniques, including CNCs and 3D printers, to craft his furniture from wood and metal. He is currently managing Behind The Tech Labs in Los Gatos, CA. When he is not working in the shop, Asa enjoys spending time with his wife,...

Natalie Buda Smith is Director of Digital Strategy at the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world. Her career spans three decades in design, technology, and culture. The Library of Congress serves millions daily in their pursuit of researching our rich cultural archives, understanding U.S. legislation, and serving our nation's creative communities through Copyright.   LinkedIn:  http...

Arun is a product designer, engineer, photographer, and writer. Most recently, he was co-founder and product designer at Carrot Fertility. He writes at arun.is .   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:49 - BMI 40b x4 tape measure: http://www.bmitools.com/ads/products/categories/steeltapemeasures/window-tape.html 6:26 - BMI Inklinat level: https://www.bmi.de/en/products-spirit-levels-682-inklinat.php 10:00 - Merc...

Joseph Wright is a fullstack software engineer and data sensemaker in Pittsburgh. You can find Joseph on Twitter @joegle. His website is joegle.com .   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:44 - Benchmade Mini Bugout 533 Folding Knife: https://geni.us/kh2DivE 5:42 - County Comm Glow-in-the-dark parts tray: https://countycomm.com/products/glow-jumbo-parts-tray-armorer-non-slip?_pos=9&_sid=9c8bbb078&_ss=r 10:31 - S...

Ethan Stone has been a business lawyer for over twenty-five years, practicing in large and small firms and in-house. He has been a solo practitioner since 2011. He has represented clients in raising angel and venture capital, selling and acquiring businesses, technology licensing, executive hirings and departures and a wide variety of strategic partnerships, joint ventures, revenue sharing, servic...

Jason Swihart is a freelance digital product strategist with 30 years of experience developing sites and products for the internet. He specializes in providing product development leadership for clients who need guidance and advocacy through the product development life-cycle. Jason works in wood, metal, and plastic, making furniture and other objects for the home as well as collecting and restori...

Jonathan Whitaker is a deep learning researcher and consultant working on generative AI. He also makes and shares tutorials and courses on the latest AI techniques through his YouTube channel and blog, Data Science Castnet.   Blog: https://datasciencecastnet.home.blog/ YouTube: https://youtube.com/@datasciencecastnet Twitter: twitter.com/johnowhitaker   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:39 - Battery powered j...

Graham Briggs was born in northern England in the fishing town of Grimsby. For most of the last 2 decades he's lived in Japan, both in Tokyo and on the Pacific Coast. Most of his career has been in different engineering fields and currently works for a web marketplace company. Hobbies include motorcycling, snowboarding and photography. Website: https://www.nanikore.net/   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:43...

Amber Dohrenwend is an American artist based in Marquette, Michigan. She constructs post-consumer cardboard sculptures, costuming and installations. You can find Amber on Instagram @cardboardcollect.   Personal Website: www.amberdohrenwend.com The Cardboard Collective: www.thecardboardcollective.com   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 1:44 - Bostitch B8 Heavy Duty Stapler: https://geni.us/IV5a9Uk 7:10 - Offset...

Rob Ray is an artist and Associate Professor of Design at California State University, San Bernardino, where he is currently researching the intersections of site-specific mixed-reality technologies and experimental documentary storytelling. He is also a DJ at KDZU, a fictional real radio station possibly based in Goldfield, Nevada. Rob was previously a lead designer for ProtoSpace, the NASA Jet P...

Joe Richards is a Summer Camp Director, Maker and thinker on the future of summer camps. Joe speaks on Creativity, Leadership, and Life. Joe has spoken across North America with a variety of youth, camping, and corporate organizations. Joe has been the Executive Director at Pearce Williams Summer Camp & Retreat Facility, in Fingal, Ontario, for 19 years – doing what needs to be done to make sure c...

Ben Gold is a product designer based in New York City who has a mild obsession with tools. He's worked on at places like Tumblr, Google, and currently Microsoft. His newsletter is called The Consumerist, a weekly digest of products that you might find interesting or useful.   Newsletter: https://consumerist.substack.com/   TOOLS: 0:00 - Intro 0:52 - Swann Morton Retractaway Premium Scalpel: https:...

Jeremy Shorr is a STEM education and workforce consultant and futurist who is passionate about innovating the instructional experience for learners of all ages. Jeremy has been recognized as one of the National School Boards Association's "20 to Watch", as the Ohio Technology Administrator of the Year, the Ohio Educational Leader Innovator, one of the Center for Digital Education's "Top 30 Technol...

Luke Stein is a financial economist and professor at Babson College. He does research at the intersection of corporate finance and labor economics, and is an award-winning teacher, including as the 2022 "Professor of the Year" as chosen by Babson's graduate students. You can find him on Twitter and YouTube @lukestein and at lukestein.com.   TOOLS:  0:00 - Intro 0:41 - Wurkkos-brand flashlights (an...

Nabhan Islam is a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) in the biotech industry, based in beautiful Vancouver, BC. As a perennial traveller and outdoor gear nut, Nabhan always has an eye for durable, well-designed gear that makes his life easier and more enjoyable.   TOOLS:  0:00 - Intro 0:54 - Victorinox Cadet Swiss Army Knife: https://www.victorinox.com/us/en/Products/Swiss-Army-Knives/Medium-Pocket-Kni...

Linda Tapp works in her "day job" as an occupational safety consultant, author, and speaker. Evenings and weekends, she writes and publishes Dabble, a Substack newsletter dedicated to encouraging others to try new things along with summaries of what she has "dabbled" in during the previous week and suggestions for getting started with the activities. She has 3 children, 2 dogs, and 1 husband who s...

Ryan is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area who has spent his career helping companies get the most out of enterprise software systems. In his life outside of work he is an outdoors enthusiast who has hiked, biked, and backpacked all over California and beyond. You can find on Twitter @RyanHelft.   TOOLS:  0:00 - Intro  0:56 - Cocoon Air-Core Hood/Camp Pillow https://www.rei.com/product/205187/...

William Osman is a mechanical engineer turned YouTuber. Since 2016 he's been making science and engineer videos that have been viewed by hundreds of millions of times. Notable projects include electrifying carpet to keep his upstairs roommate from walking loudly, a bicycle built entirely out of wood, and inventing and manufacturing a PCB blood squib in 3 weeks for a 3 million dollar YouTube produc...

Adam Grosser is an engineer and an entrepreneur with a love of craft. His passion is building things in and around mobility, like cars, motorcycles, and hydrofoils.    For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/adam-grosser-engineer/   If you're enjoying the Cool Tools podcast, check out our paperback book Four Favorite Tools: Fantastic tools by 150 notable creators, available i...

Josiah Martens is a builder in Eugene, Oregon where he makes music, analog video art, and custom woodwork. As often as he can, Josiah crews on tallships and canoe-camps the rivers of the Northwest.   For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/josiah-martens-builder/  

Mike Basista is a prop builder and general maker. He's willing to try building or making just about anything. He currently lives in Pittsburgh after stops in Michigan and Southern California. You can find him on Instagram @evilgeniusprops and on YouTube @mikeandsheilamakestuff.    For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/michael-basista-prop-builder/

Chris Zukowski is a game marketing consultant who helps small indie game developers understand their audience and communicate with them in a more personal way so they can share their art with the world. Website: http://howtomarketagame.com/free For show notes and transcript visit: https://kk.org/cooltools/chris-zukowski-game-marketing-consultant/

Joel Rosenberg is part of the Special Projects team at Rewiring America. He is an educator and entrepreneur focused on helping solve the climate crisis for his elementary-age daughter, his amazing partner, and the future of everyone on the planet. He has worked on science and engineering education — especially how to teach about energy systems — at the Museum of Science, Boston; the Karlsruhe Inst...