Arts And Crafts - Swift Rockies, Calgary, Canada, July2026

What is Craft? What has the evolution of three of my hobbies taught me about its meaning? What does craft even mean in the age of AI?

Transcript

1. Arts And Crafts Swift Rockies | Calgary, Canada | July 2026 designatednerd.com | mastodon.social/@designatednerd
2. !
3. ! "You're absolutely right!"
4. LOOKS GOOD TO ME
5. https://www.colincornaby.me/2025/08/in-the-future-all-food-will-be-cooked-in-a-microwave-and-if-you-cant-deal-with-that-thenyou-need-to-get-out-of-the-kitchen/
6. https://beige.party/@Lana/116186342870223575
7. https://www.reddit.com/r/Common_Lisp/comments/1screye/writing_lisp_is_ai_resistant_and_im_sad/
8. https://mastodon.cloud/@jasongorman/116801160107849045
9. https://front-end.social/@Wilto/116579150621711769
10. https://mastodon.social/@stroughtonsmith/116206212302413348
11. The end of the craft of software development?
12. What is Craft?
13. https://www.etymonline.com/word/craft
14. Craft
15. Crafting
16. The Senior Developer to physical crafting pipeline
17. !
18. → Woodworking
19. → Woodworking → H/O Scale Railroads
20. → Woodworking → H/O Scale Railroads → Knitting/Crocheting
21. → Woodworking → H/O Scale Railroads → Knitting/Crocheting → Quilting/Sewing
22. → Woodworking → H/O Scale Railroads → Knitting/Crocheting → Quilting/Sewing → Glassblowing/Flamework
23. https://posts.rat.pictures/@hannah/116392468422804470
24. https://posts.rat.pictures/@hannah/116392473799650765
25. Story time!
26. !
27. Late 2020: Hm, I have some leftover budget from restaurants...
28. Woodworking?
29. Woodworking (no room )
30. What else cuts wood?
31. ! Lasers
32. I blame Cate and Jazbo for this
35. The ouroboros of crafting
37. https://shop.glowforge.com/collections/all-designs/products/stackable-tiny-micro-milk-crates
39. You thought you had one hobby
40. You thought you had one hobby Turns out you now have several
41. Woodworking :: Vector Design Kotlin Multiplatform :: Docker
42. Docker architecture diagram https://www.jackson-pollock.org/convergence.jsp
43. Affinity Designer
44. Affinity Designer * - well before they were bought by Canva
45. Affinity Designer * - well before they were bought by Canva * - even weller before I worked at [current employer]
48. Starting with the tools others have built
49. Noun Project vectors https://thenounproject.com/
53. Box-o-matic https://www.boxomaticapp.com/
55. https://www.etsy.com/listing/979919301/contemporary-end-table-laser-cut-svg
57. Find something weird and run with it
58. ! Slicer for Fusion 360
59. ! Slicer for Fusion 360 * - Mostly dead
66. Adulting!
68. Woodworking!
69. The Amish
70. https://www.amishfurniturefactory.com/amishblog/amish-alternative-energy/
72. (not my house, but basically this) https://flickr.com/photos/mookies/834807934/
76. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvO6zaIUO18
80. Giving a
81. What is Craft?
82. Craft is caring about quality
83. Craft is caring about quality (no matter how you make something)
84. Craft is caring about quality (no matter how you make something)
85. Can AI and Craft work together?
86. 3D Printing
87. Jay Leno
89. https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/jay-leno-partners-with-stratasys-to-3d-print-custom-parts-for-classic-vehicle-and-supercarcollection-164385/
90. ! !
92. https://makerworld.com/en/models/2587482-we-do-not-test-on-animals-we-test-in-production
93. https://makerworld.com/en/models/2424393-remember-kids-electricity-will-kill-you-sign
94. https://makerworld.com/en/models/88779-filament-spool-shelf-honeycomb
97. https://makerworld.com/en/models/1714159-corner-clamp-adapter-for-irwin-quick-grip
99. !
105. Craft?
106. Something you know well: "OMG this thing AI did is garbage!"
107. Something you don't know well: "OMG this thing AI did is amazing!"
109. Not everything needs craft
110. Not everything needs craft (but it can breed craft)
111. AI can help you get past the starting line
112. Craft can help get you past the finish line
113. Obligatory Summary Slide
114. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality
115. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality → You do not always have to build things with craft
116. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality → You do not always have to build things with craft → Building things without craft and wanting them to be better is often what leads to craft
117. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality → You do not always have to build things with craft → Building things without craft and wanting them to be better is often what leads to craft → More knowledge is composable than you'd think
118. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality → You do not always have to build things with craft → Building things without craft and wanting them to be better is often what leads to craft → More knowledge is composable than you'd think → AI helps open doors that were previously locked
119. Obligatory Summary Slide → Craft, at its heart, is caring about quality → You do not always have to build things with craft → Building things without craft and wanting them to be better is often what leads to craft → More knowledge is composable than you'd think → AI helps open doors that were previously locked → You still have to walk through the doors yourself
120. ! Thanks, eh! (sorry the president is being a to y'all) !