Colchicine a COVID-19 fighter?

People have been eagerly waiting for vaccines to prevent the Corona virus COVID-19 infection. However, I think we should look for the most effective treatment as well for those who are infected. Cure and continue to live! 

And this news that I've just read is really a new light. Colchicine, if you've heard of it. I haven't, but I'm learning. I really hope this will save more lives from being killed by COVID-19. 

Thanks all researchers and medical teams. 

https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2021/01/660170/surprise-common-drug-colchicine-proves-effective-against-covid-19#utm_source=insider&utm_medium=web_push&utm_campaign=nstjan21-23&webPushId=Njk0Nw==

Types of voltage divider circuits

 Most people would be more familiar with the voltage divider using series resistors. It's also known as Resistive Voltage Divider. 

There's a few more types of voltage divider. Namely, Capacitive Voltage Divider and Inductive Voltage Divider. 

Here's a good webpage explaining the differences of the said voltage dividers. 

https://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/dccircuits/voltage-divider.html

Types of level / range sensors

Random search for electronic kits, found lots of sensors packed with the kits on sales. Ultrasonic sensors are commonly used to introduce range sensor concepts. However, further search will find different types of range or level measurement methods. I found this video to present different types of level sensors nicely. 

 

https://youtu.be/bHxEXlIHSHY

Arduino Simulator

 Interested in programming the Arduino, but haven't had the opportunity yet. I got confused sometimes with the available options. So, have been reading around. 

Try to look for a simulator too, and today I found this website recommending a few simulators. 

https://www.javatpoint.com/arduino-simulator

Read through its first page on using Autodesk Thinkercad Simulator. 

I'll paste here first and try out later. At least I'm briefed through it a bit and pretty much what I've been looking for. Will try it out to be sure. 

As for now, I'll focus on learning KiCAD first. Need to familiarize it to strengthen my schematic and PCB design skills. Today's programs and software are so much advanced and easier to use than earlier years. Can't forget the more capable computers these days are. 

My 1st KiCAD 3D image

 Finally, I managed to draw a PCB and generate a 3D image of the board using KiCAD. Just simple use the Transistor Switch circuit from John Woolsey's tutorial. There's several netlist errors though. I'll ignore that for now. 

It's cool to see 3D drawing and turn it around. That's my target today. 

Familiarize with the footprint creation process as well. 

Searched for parts through Mouser website. 

Will have to watch Youtube tutorial by Shawn Hymel. He's giving a very detailed tutorial there with lost of tips. Thumbs up. 

 

FreeCAD 3D modeler

 Decided to install KiCAD today. At the end of the installation, a text box popped up advising user to install FreeCAD in order to use 3D view in KiCAD. Interesting enough, I just installed the FreeCAD. It's new to me. Need 2GB space for FreeCAD itself. Start it up and being brought into first page with a few sample drawings. Pretty nice. I'll learn it up. 

Nicely developed free CAD drawing tool. 

Circuit Simulation in KiCad

 A beginner reference on how to run circuit simulation with KiCAD. 

https://www.woolseyworkshop.com/2019/07/01/performing-a-circuit-simulation-in-kicad/

Just a quick note as a reminder for myself today. 

Google Meet?

In COVID-19 era. No no... I should use the word era. It should be Crisis. Sorry. Most of the personal meetings have been converted from physical to cyber. That's online meeting / conference. I used Microsoft Teams for work. Heard of Zoom meeting used a lot by many personal calls. Still have many other online meeting tools to consider, such as Facebook video call, WhatsApp call, Telegram call, WeChat call, etc. Now I have to learn new one. Google Meet! Hmm... 

Seems simple to use. 

 

 

Reference: Google Trend. 

Photography for Money?

 I capture a lot of photographs. I mean when it's artistic or meaningful. Can I make money from it? Not sure. Watching TV and they talk about ShutterStock. hmm... interesting. Let's paste here and see if I can make some money out of nice photographs. 

Free Schematic Design Software

In searching for a simple to use electronic simulation tool, I changed search term to Schematic Design Software. Found this website to list out a few interesting EDAs. 

https://www.electronics-lab.com/top-10-free-pcb-design-software-2019/

Good listing. 

I knew Eagle schematics but it's no longer free since it's been acquired by Autodesk. 

Electronic Circuit Simulator

It's been a while I haven't looked around for electronic circuit simulation software. Just random search and found this website to be quite informative. 

https://www.circuitstoday.com/circuit-design-and-simulation-softwares

It listed a few open source circuit simulators. I'm not familiar with most of them, but heard of MultiSim and PSpice before. I'll have to read and go through the software to familiarise.