NorthStarNerd.Org

Software Quick Reference Guides

I'm not certain if I've ever mentioned these guides before, but if you're ever in need of a free, downloadable quick reference guide ... Custom Guides is the place to go. You'll find software guides for most common applications hosted upon both the Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Text Books & Manuals That Don't Break the Bank

Every once and a while I stumble across a site which provides manuals and texts without charge (read free), and the web service is actually legitimate! Bookboon.Com is actually one of those sites. In fact, after your tired to working through C Programming In Linux or Concepts in Electronic Circuits, you can visit the travel guides section and imagine your next trip to France! The site even notes they will soon be featured is a Facebook integrated service. As always, a site like this needs to be added to the Engineering Learning Wiki manuals section.

Your Librarian to the Information Age

Folks sometimes ask me ... who do you subscribe to via RSS? If I want to give a categorical answer, I reply ... Librarians. If you can find the Madam Librarian (think Music Man music) of the information age, you will be rewarded. One such person is Ellyssa Kroski who has the iLibrarian Blog. Recently she posted about five excellant open source software eBooks:

• Introduction to Linux: A Hands-On Guide
• Introduction to Firefox
• Blender Basics
  
• Grokking the GIMP
  
• Introduction to OpenOffice

Do you know your internet librarian (or subscribe via RSS)? These books definitely get added to the eBook section of the Engineering Learning Wiki!

The Digital Wave Changes Your Value Plan

Do you know how to work with the digital wave? Think of how many industries have been changed forever because of the internet. The business plan of yesterday is history, but do you know how to adapt?

With that preamble, it's worth taking a look at Chris Anderson's new eBook which is titled "Free"! He is earlier book was "The Long Tail". Chris practices what he preaches; his book Free is available for Free! My thanks to iLibrarian who made me aware of this resource.

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson

Expanding Your Process Control Knowledge

One of the blogs (Modeling and Control) which has been part of the Engineering Learning Wiki's blog / podcast section for a long time, has some great new reference content. Here are the two posts:

• Featured Articles
• Books

Here are a few examples:

• Journal Articles:
• Improve Control Loop Performance
• Virtual Plant Provides Real Insights
• eBooks:
• A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Control Room
• Biochemical Measurement and Control

All of the content is available without charge except the books which do not have an eBook designation.

Blog, Wiki, Tweet ... The Real You??

"It all began in realspace, on a subway train in South Korea. A young woman’s small dog pooped in the train. Other passengers asked her to clean it up, but she told them to mind their own business. That’s when it moved over to cyberspace and became even uglier."

These are the opening lines from the book, The Future of Reputation, written by George Washington University Law School Professor Daniel Solove. The book may be downloaded without charge. He also edits one of the top legal blogs on the web, Concurring Opinions. (listen to a Yale University Press podcast interview with the author)

If you ever doubted the need before, after reading parts of Solove's book you will understand that you need to learn how to manage your online reputation (personal or business). Do you have Google RSS feeds which monitor your name? (the same in the blogosphere or Twitter?). An intelligent company uses the web to learn when customers are angry (or happy). A few additional RSS feeds which use the words <insert your company name + sucks> or similar phrases could save your firm big problems.

While, I can't teach you how to monitor these key areas, here at least is a start (prior blog posts involving both search and RSS):

• Google Alerts
• Google Blog Search
• Keeping Current via RSS
• RSS Software

Hmm ... Should I Ski, or do Research?

Given the temperature is -16 F with a wind chill between -25 F and -35F, guess what the answer is to that question? Cross-country skiing will have to wait till this evening when the thermometer reading approaches -1F.

In the meantime, here is a great site for getting online open source eBooks, Techotopia. If LINUX is your cup of tea (good idea on such a cold morning), then I would link to this great post from the Daily Artisan. The number of LINUX eBooks linked is amazing.

The image below was taken last night out on the open waters of Lake Superior! I also have included the weather forecast from the weather station where I work. It helps explain the penguins! Click upon any image to view full sized.

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Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing

Just a few years ago, using open source software was a major "no no" at most major corporations, including my own. However, the software world has changed so dramatically that open source software is now part of almost any corporate environment. Thus, please link over to the O'Reilly web site and read up on the subject. They have an eBook, which you may download w/o charge titled: "Understanding Open Source and Free Software Licensing". You will be glad you took the time.

While I knew of this book, and other texts that O'Reilly makes available without charge, Jane's eLearning Pick of the Day was a good reminder for me. You will already find this book and other texts in my Engineering Learning Wiki's Manuals Section.

A Statistical Approach

Going back to my high school days in the early 70's I've always needed to know how to use statistics for solving technical problems. Back then I used a slide rule; now I use a high power PC. Hopefully my answers are still correct!

One software package that I have used in recent years is Minitab. Recently I found an excellent online text book which covers Minitab 15 ... from "frequency distribution" to "confidence intervals" and "hypothesis testing". I will add this test to my Engineering Learning Wiki eBook / Manual section.

• Minitab 15 Manual - Thiel College

Engineering eBook PDF Search Engine

Although I advocate open access to engineering knowledge, I respect copyright. Thus, via this blog I have been hesitant to add many postings about free eBooks and manuals ... It seems every post related to this topic attracts the worst elements to my blog (i.e. SPAM and worse discovered via my blog admin interface).

Having said that, I could not ignore this resource, PDF SearchEngine.Com. I conducted many queries and found much to my satisfaction:

1. The service promotes legitimate links
2. The results returned are valuable
3. Like all search engines, your need to learn how to optimize it's use

Here are some sample queries and examples:

• Examples:
  • Sample Query | Sample eBook
  • LabView | Quick Reference Card
  • Lego | The Art of Lego Design
  • MATLAB | Crash Course in MATLAB
  • ProEngineer | Getting Started with ProEngineer

In each case I discovered valuable manuals ... often directly from a university or manufacturer. I've also added this search engine to the manuals section of the Engineering Learning Wiki.