to buy

(updated 2016-March-05)

If you want to send me any of this stuff as a birthday or Christmas present, I would be ever so happy. If you have any recommendations, please tell me.

In no particular order,

• A copy of the recently-released book "The Art of Electronics 3rd Edition" https://blog.adafruit.com/2015/03/02/new-site-the-art-of-electronics-3rd-edition-by-horowitz-and-hill/
• A new hot end for my Prusa i3 RepRap printer (does http://reprap.org/wiki/Hot_End_Comparison have any recommendations?)
• more magnetic trays http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-magnetic-parts-holder-97825.html
• chocolate
• Thermal camera. Perhaps the "Seek Compact" from http://www.thermal.com/ ?
• A copy of the book "Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs" http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?StructureAndInterpretationOfComputerPrograms
• polarized film sheets (to see if it's really true that punching a hole in one of the sheets in a certain stackup of polarized sheets can make that hole *more* opaque, as described in Visual cryptography: the polarized amulets of Henry Segerman ).

(older stuff)

(updated 2011-11-27)

"Expensive? No, expensive is trying to do without a tool you need." -- John Russ

contents:

• stuff I'm thinking about buying for other people (Christmas and b'day presents)
• stuff I plan to buy
• stuff I wish I had (wishlist)
• #unsorted

related local pages:

• todo.html
• to_program.html
• hardware_david_uses.html
• search_tools.html has some product reviews and price-search links
• robot_links.html
• movies DAV hasn't seen yet

stuff to buy for other people (Christmas and b'day presents)

• (shh! it's a secret!)
• calendars ?
• dictionary: one that stays flat open
• Tape recorder (recorder, not just player) to use with Donald Sauter's method of improving vocabulary: [FIXME: document in learning.html ] ($25 for microcassette recorder, $1 per tape, at Office Depot -- or would full-size recorder and tape be better? ) http://www.ludism.org/mentat/learning_20vocabulary_20words

stuff I plan to buy for me to use

Stuff I plan to buy for me to use ... but I'm waiting until after Christmas in hopes that someone will get them for me.

(tools and materials I want in my home workshop. see also http://massmind.org/techref/supplies.htm .)

• [got one now -- thanks!] pizza cutter
• 3x5 inch cards with grid lines (I have a few, but the store I bought them at hasn't had any the last time I tried to get some)
• 4x6 inch cards with grid lines
• Desk-top CNC machine parts: perhaps "Huxley" or WolfStrap or Doboz . The motors and kits mentioned at Mendel Buyers Guide will work with any of those machines.
• electric shaver (the one I have stopped working ... I took it appart and patched it up; I hope that patch will hold a bit longer ...)
• digital camera (the one I have stopped working ... Paul and I took it appart and patched it up; I hope that patch will hold a bit longer ...)
• post-it notes (do they make 3x5 inch?) (3x3 inch)
• rubber spatula (The kind that's best for scraping the last bit of peanut butter out of its jar)
• ink pad and rubber date stamp in ISO date notation: "2008-12-31" for the last day in 2008.
• Business cards. Simple, with just my name (David Cary) on it. And perhaps my phone number (918·813·2279). And maybe a few other tidbits of information. and what else ? email address ?

  See business_card.html to see what I'm currently putting on my business card.

  Some business card ideas:

  • Bar-codes on ICs and Business Cards http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Bar-codes_20on_20ICs_20and_20Business_20Cards
  • ...
• kitchen scissors
• magnetic viewing paper http://blogofwishes.com/weird-things/magnetic-viewing-paper/
• Work bench. The "test bench" photo at http://timefracture.org/lab.html shows what I'm looking for. (The rest of that lab is also cool).
• "clamp" "extra hand" "third hand". The one at the corner of the workbench above would be great, but a little overkill for my needs. Panavice sells some nice ones through DigiKey: http://dkc3.digikey.com/PDF/T043/1257.pdf Digikey: PanaVise: $21 for the base, $34 for head = $55. ($54 when purchased together). $54 396PV-ND Wide Opening Station (366 head / 300 base) (... or perhaps I want the $33 Circuit-board holder head 315PV-ND)
• kitchen timer. (Do any exist that, after it counts down and goes "ding", it counts back up ?)
• [got one now! Thanks!] label maker
• oscilloscope and other test equipment -- see #scope
• "glomper clips", aka "IC test clips" http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=500003+1001455&Ntk=gensearch_001&Ntt=IC+test+clips&Ntx= (Newark prices:)
  • $20 MCM 22-670 for 40 pin DIP ICs 22-670
  • $16 MCM 22-665 for 28 pin DIP ICs 22-665
  • $13 MCM 22-660 for 24 pin DIP ICs 22-660
  • $15? MCM 108-3353 for 14 pin SOIC 108-3353
• The Art of Electronics book by Horowitz and Hill
• [I already have both of these "Head First" books now. Thank you!] Head First Java and Head First Design Patterns book by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Freeman with Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates ISBN 0-596-00712-4 it's not ForDummies. Rather, it assumes the reader is "wickedly smart" and has quite a thorough grounding in JavaLanguage (from OreillyAndAssociates' HeadFirstJava book, in fact). The examples are all in Java, and it compares rolling your own pattern implementations with using the classes and interfaces in Java's standard library. A couple characters, Mary and Sue, seem to be PairProgramming the pattern solutions. -- http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HeadFirstDesignPatterns
• manila file folders $1/10 at Big lots; $6/100 at Office Depot
• magnetic white board
• books to read: "Good books about TimeManagement" recc. at http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?TimeManagement
  • * TimeManagement from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern ISBN 0-8050-6469-9
  • * TheProcrastinatorsHandbook by Rita Emmett ISBN 0802775985
  • * ''Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity'' book by David Allen ISBN 0670899240 "a must read" -- http://speakeasy.org/~lion/nb/html/footnotes.html#000002 , http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?GettingThingsDone , http://riters.com/transitiveworld/
• "Hacker's Delight" book by Dr. Henry Warren. "an outstanding collection of algorithms" -- recommended by Scott Dattalo http://massmind.org/techref/method/bits.htm
• [FIXME: robot_links.html#parts ]
• parts for "Build a Variable Voltage Supply for Cheap" http://www.seattlerobotics.org/encoder/200112/variable.html
• are the Printed Circuit Boards PWBs designed for PIC (but sold unstuffed) http://www.jameco.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/jameco/home.d2w/report?search=&sort=&startRowNum=1&totalSize=69&cgrfnbr=874&cgmenbr=91&ctgys=505%3B560%3B874%3B&Next.x=34&Next.y=15 worthwhile ?
• Bible on audiotape -- in Espanol (Where can I buy this ?)
• Bible on audiotape -- in Deutsch (Where can I buy this ?)
• buy small scales (maybe up to 2 pounds) to help design UAV, get correct amount of postage on packages, etc. $19 at Office Depot
• "To build 'bots, you need tools." http://www.robotmag.com/misc/gifts.html
• Desolder wick
• $14.99 PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/77e6/
• "Which digital logic family should I buy ?" http://massmind.org/techref/logic/family.htm
• "simple green"
• 5x8 inch writing pads (about $5 for a stack of 12 pads, 50 sheets each) (I go through a whole stack every couple of months)
• USB hub (I have several USB things I want to plug in, but my laptop only has 1 USB port) (Should I get the kind that only plugs into the laptop, or the kind that also plugs into the wall?)

stuff I wish I had

• the top books on my list of books to read: book.html .
• "lead holder" -- a mechanical pencil that can hold lead of at least 1.0 mm diameter. (see 43folders: Pencil )
• [Got one now -- thanks, Paul!] portable soldering iron -- perhaps http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/69d3/
• FPGA development kit -- perhaps
  • The NanoBoard supports multiple target devices in the form of swappable FPGA daughter boards, providing an FPGA vendor-independent and reconfigurable development platform. http://altium.com/nanoboard/ (see http://www.altium.com/learningguides/AR0125_HoneyIShrunkTheBoard.pdf )
  (see todo.html#FPGA )
• tools to buy: spectrum analyzer ?
• software tools to buy: consider "Mathcad, Cadence (SPICE and Layout), Electronic Workbench" -- recc. http://www.circuitsage.com/procedure.htm
• software tools to buy: consider Mathematica (I think Erik Weissmann recommends this -- http://mathworld.com/ )
• function generator. Perhaps $189.95 Jameco #66069 Mfg Ref #FG-8002 (0.02Hz-2MHz) (list of Jameco function generators with prices)
• Tiny R/C Digi Q Cars http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/5ad6.shtml "World's 2nd smallest R/C car with overall length of 50mm" infrared control [machine vision]] ... (see robot_links.html#caterpillar_mini_rover
• "SENSOR PIEZO FILM DESIGN KIT" from Measurement Specialties Inc. http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Criteria?Ref=5159&Site=US&Cat=32375445
• I have a scanner ... but it's slow and annoying. I hear that Fujitsu and PaperPort scanners are much faster and more pleasant to work with.

stuff I already recieved

• A soldering iron, say 40W -- Thanks, Paul!
• A roll of solder with flux core (electrical solder not plumber's)
• dremel tool -- Thanks, Paul!
• microprocessor development kits already got both the Microchip PIC dev kit and (I think) a Atmel dev kit. (OK, I bought these myself)

unsorted

• [books to read] How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HowTheMindWorks
• online wishlist application http://steve-parker.org/wishlist/

started 2004-05-01:DAV

errors , bug reports to

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