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Guidebolt Public Knowledge-Base. Last updated 2022-05-23. Version 0.43 alpha (work in progress).
Information drives every thought, decision, and action. In our increasingly complex world where logic and trust are hard to weave confidently, it is easy to be misled by noise, incur unknown risks, and waste valuable resources. Truth is the fundamental solution.
Links 1: Various
Web Search: DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing,
Computational Search: WolframAlpha
Common Platforms: Youtube, Wikipedia, Github, Reddit, StackExchange,
Email: Fastmail Protonmail
Common Distributors: Mouser, Digikey, Arrow, Grainger, McmasterCarr,
General Archive: Internet Archive
Online Book/Document Archive: Library Genesis, Sci-Hub
Specification Archive: EverySpec
Datasheet Archive: Alldatasheet
Real-Time Electrical Part Inventory Search: Octopart
Technical Reference: Engineering Toolbox
Material Property Database: MatWeb
Real-Time Team Chat: Zulip
Chat: Fastmail, Discord, Whatsapp, Signal,
Edit: Notion, Google Drive,
Online PDF Tool: Sejda
Utility: RapidTables Conversion, Digikey Calculators,
Earth View: NASA EOSDIS Worldview, NASA ISS UStream, Google Earth
Links 2: Companies
Common (Canada): AMAZON, BESTBUY, HOME DEPOT,
Mechanical: GRAINGER CANADA, MCMASTER-CARR, ULINE
Electrical (Parts): AMS, ANALOG DEVICES, DIODES, EPC, INFINEON, LITTELFUSE, MICROCHIP, MPS, MURATA, NEXPERIA, NXP, ONSEMI, RENESAS, ST, TDK, TI,
Electrical (Infrastructure): SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
Electrical: AMD, INTEL, SAMSUNG
Software: LINUX KERNEL
Pneumatics (Canada): SUPERLOK CANADA, PROAX
Ultrasonics: Crest Ultrasonics
Pneumatics: SMC
Certification: CSA, DLS, INTERTEK, OSHWA TUV, UL,
Domain Name Registrar: NAMECHEAP
Free TLS Certificates: LETS ENCRYPT (recommended)
Internet Service Provider (Canada): TEKSAVVY
Phone Service Provider (Canada): FREEDOM MOBILE CANADA
Insurance (Canada): KASE INSURANCE
Financial (Canada): RBC, ARCADIA SOLUTION
Assorted: ATLAS TOOLS, ANDYMARK, CHIP QUIK, ASROCK INDUSTRIAL, IGUS, 3D FUEL, BASELABTOOLS, ALPHIDIA, NORDSON EFD, KVASER, MOLDEX, METAL SUPERMARKETS, TEQUIPMENT, RCC ELECTRONICS, MLTEST, BHPHOTOVIDEO
Preferred Shipping: DHL
Shipping: UPS, CANADA POST, PUROLATOR
Links 3: News and Forums
Small Universal Forums: Hacker News
Metalworking Forums: Practical Machinist
Wikichip, EEVblog Forum, Reddit Preppers, Reddit Datahoarder, LessWrong
Links 4: Computer Tools
Document Suite: Libreoffice (recommended)
Free, open-source, high-quality, cross-platform alternative to Microsoft Word for producing text documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, basic drawings, and simple databases. Great import/export compatibility for various file formats.
Markdown Editor: Ghostwriter (recommended) (nice: nav menu, html preview)
Password Manager: KeepassXC (recommended) (free, open-source, cross-platform, offline, modern GUI, actively developed, fork of Keepass) (tip: save a non-obvious paper copy of your master password; save database backups regularly)
MCAD: Autodesk Inventor with Product Design and Manufacturing Collection
MCAD Collaborative PDM: GrabCAD Workbench
ECAD: Kicad (strongly recommended)
We use this for most of our schematic-to-PCB ECAD work. This is a good free, open-source, cross-platform EDA suite sponsored by CERN and increasingly supported by the industry.
Visual PCBA Plugin for Kicad: InteractiveHtmlBom
Programming Text Editor: Visual Studio, Atom
CLI Text Search: Silver Searcher, Silver Searcher on Github
Diagram Editor: Draw.io - Free diagramming tool with emphasis on alignment and node-to-node connections. Use online with the browser app, or download the desktop app.
Vector Graphics Editor: Inkscape - Create or edit logos, line art, infographics, and other line-based images.
Raster Graphics Editor: GIMP - Produce, resize, crop, rotate, and retouch your photos and other dot-style image files.
Audio Editor: Audacity - Record your voice or music, manipulate audio clips for your media library, and import-export different filetypes. Great for handling standard audio tasks like other digital audio workstations (DAWs).
Video Editor: Kdenlive - Simple, robust video editor with primary support for Linux. Free and open source. Renders to numerous standard formats, including WebM and MP4 (AAC/HEVC).
Screen Video Capture and Live Streaming Tool: Open Broadcaster Software - Simple on-screen video recording and live streaming program.
3D Animation and Modeling: Blender - Free and open-source with integrated video editor. Supported by the Blender Foundation.
Digital Illustration: Clip Studio Paint - Popular and effective digital drawing program for illustrations and manga. Formerly named Manga Studio. Use with a drawing tablet (ex. Wacom, Huion).
Operating System: Debian, Ubuntu, Windows, Windows 10 Official ISO
(tip: install no more than 1 OS per drive, if possible)
Disk Backup: CLONEZILLA
Compression/Archival: 7ZIP
Torrent Client: QBitTorrent, Transmission
Accounting: GNUCASH
Gantt Charts: GanttProject
Links 5: Intermittent and Special Tools
Disposable Emails: Guerrilla Mail
Free Website Security Test: Qualys SSL-Labs
RAM Testing: MEMTEST86
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