April General Meeting

Vibe Coding: From AI Prompts to Real-World Making

Speaker: Christian Falkenberg-Andersen, Retired M.D. and tech enthusiast

What happens when you point an AI coding assistant at problems that are genuinely hard — parametric geometry, physical constraints, vintage hardware, and real materials that have to fit actual human hands? This talk is a frank account of the wins, the weirdness, and the spectacular failures encountered while vibe-coding three distinct maker projects from scratch.

Project 1: Image-to-punch-card for a vintage knitting machine

Punch-card knitting machines from the Brother/Singer era produce beautiful patterned fabric, but the proprietary punch cards are no longer manufactured or sold anywhere. The solution: write a pipeline, largely via AI prompting, that takes any image and converts it into a printable or cuttable punch-card layout sized for the machine's needle bed. We'll look at what worked, what the AI got subtly wrong, and how iterating in natural language compares to writing the image-processing logic by hand.

Project 2: Parametric laser-cut fleece mittens

Off-the-shelf mittens don't fit everyone. This project generates a fully parametric 2D pattern, driven by 15+ hand measurements, that can be cut directly on a laser cutter. The AI helped translate the geometry of a 3D hand into flat panels with seam allowance, thumb gussets, and cuff shaping. We'll discuss where parametric design and LLM-assisted coding are a natural fit, and where the model confidently produced plausible-but-wrong geometry.

Project 3: Parametric women's fleece jacket

Scaling up from mittens to a full jacket amplifies every challenge: more measurements, more panels, more opportunities for the AI to silently introduce errors that only show up when you try to sew the pieces together. This section covers lessons learned about verification, testing physical output, and knowing when to stop trusting the model and pick up a ruler.

Win a pair of custom-fitted designer mittens, featuring Tux!

Five attendees will be selected at random from everyone who submits their hand measurements before the talk. The speaker will sew each winner a pair of custom laser-cut fleece mittens, fitted precisely to their measurements, with an embroidered Tux (the Linux mascot) on the back, produced in embroidery machine format via AI.

They will fit like a mitten. A custom-fitted mitten.

The draw takes place five days before the talk. Submit your measurements to office@cuug.ab.ca or the speaker directly. By submitting measurements you agree to share your hand parametrics for the sole purpose of making your mittens.

How to enter: your hand measurements

All measurements are in millimetres. Defaults are listed below, but please supply your own, otherwise the mittens will fit the defaults, not you.

PARAMS = {
  # Hand measurements (mm)
  "hand_length":           200,  # Fingertip (middle finger) to wrist crease
  "hand_circumference":    220,  # Around the knuckles
  "wrist_circumference":   190,  # Around the wrist

  # Finger length
  "finger_drop":            30,  # Depth of centre valley at fingertip end
                                 # (little finger shortfall vs middle finger).
                                 # Typical: 15-25 mm.

  # Thumb geometry
  "thumb_attach_from_tip": 150,  # Distance from fingertip to top of thumb zone
  "thumb_circumference":    75,  # Around the thumb
  "thumb_length":           70,  # Tip to base of thumb tube
  "thumb_angle":            30,  # Degrees from side seam (30° = natural position)

  # Cuff
  "cuff_length":            70,  # Length below wrist crease

  # Ease (comfort room)
  "ease":                   20,  # Added to hand circumference
  "thumb_ease":             10,  # Added to thumb circumference
                                 # (fingertip ease is automatic: +10 mm)
}

Christian Falkenberg-Andersen was born in Denmark and emigrated to Canada at age 14. His parents lived on a farm and solving problems on the farm is likely where an interest in tinkering started. He completed a bachelor of science, majoring in biochemistry (University of Calgary) and taking a course in instrumentation for scientists sparked a very strong interest in electronics. Subsequently he got a second bachelor of science degree (in electrical engineering) and postgraduate master of science degree in biomedical engineering (studying the nerve conduction of a compound action potential traveling down a nerve, and using FFT to calculate the distribution of nerve conduction speeds for the axon). During his work on his master's degree he entered medical school and received a doctor of medicine degree. Subsequently he qualified for practising medicine with specialty in family medicine. He retired 3 years ago from working as a solo family physician since 1999 in Market Mall. Currently, his activities include a lot of tinkering with the Raspberry Pi and Arduino single board computers, as well as 3D printing. Sewing, cycling (electric-assist bike) and kite skiing round out his activities.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.

Third floor conference room C

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54). Additional parking is available at The CORE and Holt Renfrew Parkades just east of the meeting location.

5:30 PM, Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

March General Meeting

High Altitude Balloon Science

Speaker: Dr. Matthew Patrick

High altitude balloons carry scientific instruments and technical payloads to stratospheric altitudes. This talk will go over some of Dr. Patrick's experiences working on NASA and CSA balloon projects, the science behind balloons and their payloads, as well as some community launches at Calgary Protospace which anyone can take part in.

Dr. Patrick did his PhD in space physics at the University of Calgary. His research was on mapping energetic electron precipitation using data from X-ray spectrometers flown on long-duration high altitude balloons.

Slides from this presentation are available (PDF), along with a recording of the presentation.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.

Third floor conference room C

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54). Additional parking is available at The CORE and Holt Renfrew Parkades just east of the meeting location.

5:30 PM, Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

February General Meeting

Taking advantage of a glitch for... speedrunning?

Speaker: Rebecca Reid, Senior Software Engineer, Black Duck

Speedrunning is a niche but popular way to play video games. In it, players called speedrunners take advantage of every strategy they can to complete games as fast as possible. Sometimes, this involves breaking the game in highly convoluted ways.

This talk will go over a specific glitch used in "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" that runners perform to complete a game meant to take 30+ hours in 4 minutes.

Rebecca is a Senior Software Engineer at Black Duck, working in their C++ Compilers team. She has some first-hand experience with speedrunning, having once held a record for "Crypt of the Necrodancer." She is also a CUUG Director and Past President.

Slides from this presentation are available in PowerPoint and PDF format.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.

Third floor conference room C

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54). Additional parking is available at The CORE and Holt Renfrew Parkades just east of the meeting location.

5:30 PM, Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

January General Meeting

Making Things Just Work: from Computers to Pipes

Speaker: Roy Brander, CUUG Life Member and retired Senior Infrastructure Engineer, Calgary Water Resources

Roy Brander has been a CUUG member for 35 years this year, with 25 of them as an employee of the City of Calgary and its Water Resources departments, developing their CAD and GIS systems, but also worked as an Infrastructure Engineer managing their pipes.

For January 2026, Roy will be covering multiple topics:

• He was unable to properly install Linux Mint on a Windows 11 laptop that had been installed with "RST" (RAID) driver support at a low level in the hard drive interface - one Linux cannot use. A workaround was developed.
• Rather than solving that problem entirely, the workaround was sufficient, and there will be a short editorial discussion of just kludging your way through a lot of computer solutions, that "doing it right" may sometimes be just not worth your time.
• This will segue into a short presentation of all the things you can do with now-near-worthless old equipment: Two "media player" Linux machines, and an all-day webcam, watching a construction site, when the machine had no other uses...something of a sequel to his 25-year-old "BSDwall" project that gave a second life to about 25 old 486 machines from DeVry, headed for a dump.
• And then the conversation will take a sharp right-angle turn into the real (or "real") story of the Calgary Watermain Break: What went wrong this time, and (probably) why. The story he couldn't get out in his multiple media interviews, because they just cut and paste what serves the narrative.

Roy Brander is a CUUG Life Member. He has given a number of presentations on a wide variety of subjects, including the BSDWall project, the MEPIS Linux distribution, the Titanic, management of Calgary's water mains, and the ASUS Eee PC and Moore's Law. Roy has retired from his position as the Senior Infrastructure Engineer for Water Resources, The City of Calgary, and now lives in a Vancouver condo overlooking Stanley Park. He'll be coming to us virtually from there, via Teams.

A recording of this presentation is available.

December 30, 2025: Uh-oh!


January 16, 2026: Fixed!

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Fourth floor, Black Duck office ← NOTE LOCATION! Same location as last November's meeting.

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54). Additional parking is available at The CORE and Holt Renfrew Parkades just east of the meeting location.

5:30 PM, Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

December Holiday Social

CUUG December Holiday Season Social Evening

It's December, and as in past years, CUUG members and their invited guests will get together for a social evening at the Regency Palace restaurant on Tuesday, December 9, 2025. We'll have a private room and have food from the buffet. Attendees pay for their own drinks.

If you are a CUUG member and would like to join us, please e-mail office at cuug.ab.ca so that we can get an approximate count of how many people to expect. If you would like to bring a guest, please let us know your guest's name as well.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Regency Palace Restaurant

5:45 PM, Tuesday, December 9, 2025

This event is for CUUG members and invited guests.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

November General Meeting

Browser Extensions: Small Add-ons, Big Risk—What to Do About It

Speaker: Franz Erasmus, Senior Cyber Security Manager, Iron Spear

Please note the change in location.

Browser extensions have become everyday tools for productivity and convenience—but they also represent one of the most underestimated attack surfaces within organizations. This talk explores the security, privacy, and compliance implications of browser extensions, including real-world cases of malicious code injection, credential theft, and unauthorized data access. Franz will share practical strategies for assessing and managing extension risk without compromising usability, as well as guidance on building governance frameworks that balance productivity with security.

Franz Erasmus is a Senior Cyber Security Manager at Iron Spear Information Security, a Canadian-owned advisory firm providing practical cybersecurity solutions across North America. With over 20 years of experience spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Franz has helped organizations across finance, energy, defence, and transportation strengthen their cyber resilience.

A certified CISSP, CISA, and CIPR professional, Franz specializes in security program design, incident response, penetration testing, and AI security governance. He is recognized for bridging the gap between technical depth and business priorities, ensuring security programs are both actionable and sustainable.

Slides from this presentation are available (PDF), along with a recording of the presentation.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Fourth floor, Black Duck office ← CHANGED LOCATION! Same building, different floor.

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, November 25, 2025

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

October General Meeting

Technocreep Ten Years After

Speaker: Dr. Tom Keenan, FCIPS, I.S.P, ITCP; Professor, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, University of Calgary

When he wrote the book Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy a decade ago, Tom Keenan thought "Technocreepiness" would invade our lives in a linear fashion. Instead we have seen an exponential increase. From hidden facial cameras in shopping mall directories to smart homes that can bust the dog stealing a hamburger, the pace is accelerating. Are there things we should do now?

Tom is both a seasoned IT professional and a popular professor at the University of Calgary. He taught Canada's first computer security course in 1977 and was involved in the creation of the country's first computer crime laws. He has spoken on five continents and is the author of over 2,000 academic and professional publications. A frequent guest on radio and television programs, Tom has served as an expert witness in civil and criminal cases and is known for his ability to demystify complex subjects and tease out the "news you can use."

He is Vice Chair of the Information and Communications Technology Council, and a Fellow of the Canadian Information Processing Society and the Canada Global Affairs Institute. His 2014 book Technocreep: The Surrender of Privacy and the Capitalization of Intimacy introduced ideas like image fakery, identity theft, and creepy surveillance technologies that are now in the news almost every day.

Slides from this presentation are available (PDF), along with a recording of the presentation.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Third floor conference room C

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-Transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

September General Meeting

ChatGPT-5 for Technical Geeks: From Tutor to Research Companions

Speaker: Jorgen Nielsen, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, University of Calgary

There is significant hype regarding the emerging AGI that ranges from a dismal dystopia of a wandering purposeless society ruled by bad actors to "it's just a fad and will pass" to a promise of a turbocharged economy that will result in universal wealth creation. Everyone has an opinion, and an additional one is not needed. Instead, this talk will have a narrow focus specifically on ChatGPT-5 as an assistant in technical learning and research. How close are we to a personal engineering student tutor for learning a technical field such as electromagnetics, physics or circuits? Can this be extended to a research companion? Is ChatGPT-5 creative, innovative? Can it come up with the next patent? Will it allow the West to regain its innovative prowess, which seems to have atrophied?

Jorgen Nielsen is currently an academic at the University of Calgary in the Department of Electrical and Software Engineering. His current research interests are in applied electromagnetics for antennas, sensors and wireless communications as well as machine learning for signal processing algorithms.

Slides from this presentation are available (PDF), along with a recording of the presentation.

707 Fifth

707 - 5 St. S.W.
Third floor conference room C

Parking is available one block south of the meeting location, at the Centennial Parkade (Lot 54).

5:30 PM, Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Snacks at 17:30. Meeting begins at 18:00.

Attendance is free for CUUG members, or $10 (cash or e-transfer) at the door for non-CUUG members.

RSVP to office at CUUG if you plan to attend.

2025 Board of Directors

At the June 2025 Annual General Meeting, the following people were elected to the Board of Directors for 2025/2026:

• Alan Dewar (President)
• Greg King (Secretary-Treasurer)
• Alex Chow
• Dick Miller
• Rebecca Reid