Links to useful, informative or bizarre Web pages:

Comic Strips

XKCD	The Oatmeal

Maker Sites and Forums

• Make magazine
• Hackspace Magazine
• Hackaday
• Instructables
• Dorkbot
• 6502.org
• AnyCPU.org
• EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
• Electrical Engineering on StackExchange
• UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Geek Things

• DIY Calculator
• DIY PCB Router
• LeapSecond.com, HP Frequency Standards and Nixie clocks
• Virtual Apollo Guidance Computer
• Mister Transistors Historic Semiconductors
• The Antique Chip Collector's Page
• Frank's Electron Tube Pages
• PA3FWM's homepage of radio and electronics, including neon clock
• British Vintage Wireless Society
• 405 Alive
• CPU World
• Angry Kitchen Appliances simulated 7-segment displays
• RetroThing vintage gadgets and technology
• RetroChallenge, a retrocomputing contest site
• Ben Ryves author of 3D engine for TI-83+ calculators
• SS-50 and SS-30 Busses for 6800 and 6809

Electronics

• KiCAD PCB design
• Eagle CAD (free download, limited version for hobbyists)
• QCAD 2D CAD for Windows, Linux and Mac
• DipTrace, another PCB design tool
• FreePCB, an Open Source PCB design tool for Windows
• Osmond PCB CAD for Mac OS
• Front Panel Express Europe
• IC Die Photography by William Blair
• FPGA for Fun
• FPGA Arcade
• Conrad Hoffman including the Mini Metrology Lab
• Runaway Brainz
• ELM by ChaN
• Matt Evans' Projects Page
• Unimplemented Trap Adventures in Hardware and Software
• Karen's Corner by Karen Orton
• Waiting for Friday weekend electronics engineering
• Entertaining Hacks
• Shed Lab Electronics, Microcontrollers, Programming, Sheds...
• Photons, Electrons, and Dirt, by Glen Akins
• Bald Engineer electronics stuff for enginerds
• Homebrew CPU Ring
• TIM, a relay computer
• Homebrew CPU by Bill Buzbee
• Big Mess o' Wires by Steve Chamberlin. Originally a homebrew CPU, now Apple ][ retrocomputing
• Blondihacks by Quinn Dunki
• Embedded Eric
• Reading Jim Williams by Kent Lundberg
• Emperor of Test Equipment
• Ken Schirriff's Blog
• Jeff Tranter's Blog
• Mr. Modemhead multimeter repairs
• Buttons, Switches, Knobs & Lights oscilloscope repairs
• MyCPU Project
• Grant Searle's Homebuilt ZX80
• Grant Searle's Compukit UK101 on an FPGA
• Ultim809, Matt Sarnoff's homebrew 6809 computer
• Mike's Electric Stuff by Mike Harrison, with all sorts of Nixie tubes
• Philbrick Archive, Op-Amp pioneer George A. Philbrick
• British Amateur Electronics Club
• Small Battery Company
• The Shure SM58 Microphone
• Easy Reflow, build your own solder reflow oven
• Retroleum
• All Transistors transistor data and equivalents search
• Electronic Test Equipment Model Numbers with some photos
• Virtual Ground Circuits useful circuits for splitting op-amp power rails

Modular Synthesisers

• Bristol Communal Modular
• Eurorack at SDIY
• Electric Druid synth and stompbox DIY, with schematics and source code
• Don Tillman's Various Things including in-browser simulators for the Triadex Muse and Don Lancaster's Psych-Tone
• ARP Patents invented by Alan R. Pearlman
• ARP Synthesiser Modules including schematics
• Wireless World Electronic Sound Synthesiser August, September, October, 1973
• Video of the Wireless World synthesiser restored by the original builder
• Another video of the Wireless World synthesiser built by Trevor Pinch
• Wireless World synthesiser article index at SDIY
• Practical Wireless synthesiser article index at SDIY
• Schematics at SynthDIY
• Marjan Urekar's schematics
• Secret Life of Synthesisers
• Trevor Marshall's ETI 3600 and 4600 synthesisers
• ETI 3600 Synthesiser 1973-1975
• ETI Synthesiser 4600 and 3600
• ETI synthesiser article index at SDIY
• ETI 4600 at Synthtopia
• Synthfox Custom Stuff
• Ken Stone's Modular Synthesiser
• Sound generators of the 1980s home computers
• AY-3-8910 Homepage
• MIDIbox OPL3 Module, a PIC-based MIDI FM synthesiser
• PEAC: Practical Electronics Analog Computer 1968, using discrete bipolar transistors
• Practical Electronics Analogue Computer 1978, using 741 op-amp ICs
• Practical Electronics synthesiser article index at SDIY
• Chua's Circuit, an electronic chaos generator

Microcontrollers

• Arduino, very popular Atmel AVR based microcontroller board (link to the forum)
• Uzebox Atmel AVR based video game machine (ATmega644)
• Mignon Game Kit, an Atmel-based handheld game machine
• Mignon Game Kit, Mignon 2.0
• Joybus Protocol used by N64 and GameCube
• N64 Game Controller Protocol
• GameSphere, a homebrew 32-bit game console using ARM
• Talking Voltmeter one of Karen's Microprocessor Projects (PIC based)
• 4-Input Mini Logic Analyser based on Atmel ATmega8
• PIC32 for the Hobbyist by Aidan Mocke (GitHub)
• The Logic Meter based on Microchip PIC32MZ
• Glasgow Interface Explorer based on Cypress CY7C68013A
• High-Res Capacitance Meter based on PIC 16F628
• Two Wire Serial Interface to LCD using CD4094 shift register
• Nokia 1100 LCD Interfacing 96x65 pixels, monochrome, PCF8814 controller chip
• Adding External Memory to the ATmega128

Robotics

• Cybot information by Nigel Goodwin
• Robotic F.A.C.E. at the MIT Media Lab
• Society of Robots (mentions use of carbon fibre)
• Robot-Crawler (6 legs) with PlayStation controller
• Cody's Robot Optical Motion Sensor #1 (CROMS-1)
• Seattle Robotics Society (Washington, USA)
• Dallas Personal Robotics Group (Texas, USA)
• Connecticut Robotics Society
• Twin Cities Robotics Group (Minnesota, USA)
• Boise Robotics Group (Idaho, USA)
• Triangle Amateur Robotics (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
• Portland Area Robotics Society (Oregon, USA)
• Chuck's Robotics Notebook by Chuck McManis

Automata

• Cabaret Mechanical Theatre
• Tim Hunkin
• Positively Creative

Software

• memtest86, A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic
• Memtest86+, An Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
• POV-Ray, The Persistence of Vision Raytracer
• Mozilla, home of the Firefox browser
• Opera Web Browser
• PuTTY, A Free Telnet/SSH Client
• RealTerm, a serial terminal emulator for Windows
• TeraTerm, another serial terminal emulator for Windows
• Subversion version control system
• Git version control system
• IrfanView Image Viewer for Windows
• NetStumbler WiFi detection tool for Windows and Windows CE
• Kismet WiFi detection tool for Linux and MacOS
• The Wireshark Network Analyzer
• Freesco, an open source router and firewall
• FloppyFW, an router and firewall on a floppy disk
• RealVNC remote desktop software
• TightVNC remote desktop software for Windows
• VideoLAN, home of the VLC Media Player
• Clonezilla, Open Source disk cloning and imaging tool
• Audacity, Open Source and cross-platform audio software
• Lightworks, cross-platform video editing package
• Nels Anderson's Mahjongg for MS-DOS and EGA
• Nano VM Java for the AVR
• Cover Your Tracks, find out how unique and trackable your browser is
• DIY Layout Creator, a stripboard circuit layout tool

Networking

• LinkedIn
• LiveJournal

Genealogy

• FreeBMD free index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales
• FreeReg free, searchable parish register information
• FreeCen free, searchable UK Census information
• Ancestry.co.uk
• FindMyPast.co.uk
• MyHeritage
• FamilySearch
• Brother's Keeper family tree software for Windows
• Gramps cross-platform family tree software

Books and Publishers

• WorldCat
• LibraryThing
• The Art of Electronics
• Walt Jung's Website, author of the IC Op Amp Cookbook, the IC Timer Cookbook and many others
• O'Reilly
• Amazon UK
• Abebooks UK
• Alibris UK
• Book Crossing
• Libraries West, including Bristol library catalogues

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

• Wikipedia
• Dictionary.com
• Thesaurus.com
• Acronym Finder
• Acronym Attic
• World Atlas of Maps, Flags and Geography Facts and Figures
• Urban Dictionary
• Uncyclopedia
• Microwave Encyclopedia

Maps

• Google Maps
• The Ordnance Survey
• Open Street Map
• Geograph Britain and Ireland - photograph every grid square!
• Know Your Place - historical maps and images of Bristol
• Know Your Place, South Gloucestershire
• GPS Drawing
• GPS Visualizer
• Geocaching
• HostIP IP address geolocation

Museums

• Science Museum in London (my photos from 2016)
• Science and Industry Museum in Manchester
• Science and Media Museum in Bradford
• National Railway Museum in York
• Locomotion in Shildon
• Discovery Museum in Newcastle
• Museum of London
• The Design Museum Kensington High Street, London (my photos from 2017)
• Bletchley Park
• The National Museum of Computing
• Centre for Computing History in Cambridge
• Museum of Computing in Swindon (my photos from January 2020)
• Jim Austin's Computer Collection
• The Analog Computer Museum
• Internal Fire Museum of Power
• Purbeck Radar
• Penley Radar Archives
• Radar Museum at Bawdsey, Suffolk (my photos from 2014)
• Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) Museum, Lyneham, Wiltshire
• Museum of Global Communication, Porthcurno, Cornwall
• Museum of Technology Spalding, Lincolnshire
• Connected Earth museum of communication at Amberley Museum, near Arundel, West Sussex
• Kelvedon Hatch Secret Nuclear Bunker

Bristol and South Gloucestershire Stuff

• Bristol Uni Centre for Public Engagement
• Bristol City Council
• South Gloucestershire Council
• Stoke Gifford Parish Council
• Bradley Stoke Town Council
• Laptop donations in the Bristol area
• Met Office weather for Stoke Gifford
• Wttr.in weather for BS34
• Bradley Brook water level at Bradley Bridge on Beacon Lane
• River Frome water level at Frenchay
• UK Lightning Map
• Visit Bristol (Bristol Tourism and Conference Bureau)
• M Shed, formerly the Bristol Industrial Museum
• Brunel's Other Bridge, the swing bridge near the Cumberland Basin
• We The Curious, formerly At-Bristol Science Centre
• The Exploratory (no longer open)
• Ignite Bristol: Enlighten us, but make it quick (YouTube videos)
• Bristol Museums and Galleries
• South Gloucestershire Museums
• Aerospace Bristol
• Oakham Treasures museum in Portbury
• Weston Helicopter Museum
• BCS Bristol and Bath branch
• About Bristol, Pictorial Tours of Bristol
• Bristol Railway Archive: history of railways in and around Bristol
• Bristol Industrial Archaeological Society
• The Severn Bore page
• South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group

Bristol and Bath Events

• Bristol Light Festival 2nd-11th February 2024
• Bristol Jack in the Green (and also here) 4th May 2024
• Bristol Model Railway Exhibition 3rd-5th May 2024
• Bath Digital Festival, 14th-16th May 2024
• Bristol Volksfest 7th-9th June 2024
• Bristol Pride 29th June-14th July 2024
• Bristol Harbour Festival 19th-21st July 2024
• Bristol International Balloon Fiesta 8th-11th August 2024
• Bristol Model Engineers Annual Exhibition -- when?
• Bristol Microcar Club Rally when? 2024 at Sweets Tea Rooms
• Bristol Open Doors Day when? 2025 (now a biennial event)
• Bristol Technology Festival 7th-11th October 2024
• An Adventure In Technology

National Events

• RetroTech, formerly the National Vintage Communications Fair, every May (12th May 2024)

Web-Museums

• TekWiki, a wiki for the community of Tektronix oscilloscope enthusiasts
• List of HP Application Notes at HP Memory
• HP Application Notes at the HP Archive
• EB5AGV's Test Equipment Collection
• Virtual Museum of Vintage Electronic Counters
• Heathkit Virtual Museum
• CPU Shack museum of microprocessors
• Atari Archives, including the Creative Computing archive
• The Canon Camera Museum
• Rochester Avionic Archives
• Do You Remember
• Electronic Handheld Game Museum
• Richard's Radios and AVO meters
Kevin Chant's AVO page
• Snellings Museum of Sound and Vision
• Total Rewind virtual museum of vintage VCRs
• Rewind Museum vintage consumer electronics
• International Slide Rule Museum
• Calcuseum vintage electronic calculators
• John Wolff's Web Museum of Calculating Machines mechanical and early electronic calculators
• The Museum of HP Calculators
• HP Computer Museum
• Kenneth Kuhn's HP Museum
• HP Memory Project
• 8-Track Heaven
• Wiki Boombox
• Quadruplex Park, the museum of broadcast technology
• The Museum of RetroTechnology
• The Valve Page
• The Valve Museum
• Virtual Valve Museum
• Industrial Alchemy, featuring lots of display technologies

Technical Specifications and Info

• USB - Universal Serial Bus
• PNG - Portable Network Graphics
• IEEE 1394 - Also known as FireWire
• Royal Society of Chemistry Periodic Table

Engineering

• The Most Advanced Scotch Tape Dispenser in the World
• Animated Engines
• Stirling Engines
• Rusty Iron Workshop, old stationary engines, tractors and machinery
• Dan's Workshop: advanced home workshop projects
• Morse Tapers for mounting drills and chucks
• Story of Paxman Diesels
• Hammerite
• WD-40
• The Duct Tape Guys
• Colchester Lathes
• Jubilee Clips
• Plasti-Dip, UK plastic coating supplier
• Online Graph Paper and Grid Paper (PDFs)
• Engines of Our Ingenuity, a radio programme and podcast

Fonts and Typography

• Font Freak
• Cool Archive
• Dave's Free Fonts

Well, I like them, anyway...

• The Theatre Organ Home Page - mentions Leslie speakers
• New Yankee Workshop featuring Norm Abram

Bizarre

• How to tell if you're an 80's throwback
• The Original 5¼" Disk Sleeve Archive
• The Dialectizer