Just want to have a blog recording the things that are useful for me.
Softwares
- Blender
An open-source (and free) 3D rendering software that is as capable as its commercial counterparts. Even its kind of add-on video editor is powerful enough for casual video editing. - Inkscape
A free (not sure if open-source) vector drawing application. It is powerful enough for all my need to make figures for academic articles. - Gimp
An open-source (and free) image editor. I guess you can call it the “free Photoshop alternative”. I am not an expert in using it. But I can still feel how powerful it is. - Simplenote
I started to use this application recently, because I need a cross-platform app to take notes but Evernote is limiting how many devices I can activate, Onenote is the child of Microsoft (I hate them), and Google Keep is just, you know, Google. I haven’t found anything to complain about it. So, it is my note taking app right now. - Bitwarden
An open-source (and free) password management software. I know there are commercial alternatives (Dashlane, 1password, and etc.) and they are probably better. But this one is free. And it gets the basics done. So, why not? - Mendeley
I know I know. Mendeley is with Elsevier and Elsevier is evil. Hey, but it is free and it gets the work done. Until there is a better alternative (hopefully an open-source one), I will stay with Mendeley for now. - Brave Browser
I don’t know why I still care about the browser I use. I guess I can even live with IE. I used Chrome for many years. But like many people have said, Chrome is a XXXXX (too rude to type it out) and Google is behind it. I don’t really know if Brave is better off than others in terms of the protection of users’ privacy. But at least that is their pitch. So I am trying it out.
Websites
- Wikipedia
Of course the first one has to be Wikipedia. Its very existence is a dream-come-true for me. I grew up with the popular science book in China: One Hundred Thousand Whys. Wikipedia is like an enhanced and extended version of the book. I just love it. - HyperPhysics
This website is a little crude and not that polished. But it is very interesting and useful in certain cases. It has a number of interactive calculation of physical equations with schematic drawings. Overall, good work. - LaTeX Previewer
A useful website for creating vector drawings of latex equations. - LaTeX2PNG
A simple website that converts latex equations to png pictures. - iFixit
Repair guide for everything, written by everyone. - Unsplash
A great collection of high-quality photos of all kinds.