*Happy Techie noises* · 7:56am Aug 4th, 2019
For the past week, I've been looking all over the internet for digital copies of Peter Rony's Bugbook series on computer logic. Apparently, back in 2009, he released the entire series for free on his personal website, since the books had been out of print for decades already and he still held the copyright.
Only problem with that? His website's been down since 2010, which happens to be the oldest archive that the Internet Archive has of his site.
Just about every other site I've visited while searching for the elusive Bugbooks have turned out to be shady "Ebook subscription" services nagging for me to create an account. Not even Archive.org had the pdfs of his Bugbooks saved.
But *finally*, I found a site. It's a small, seemingly nonprofit online library that provides free ebook downloads to anybody, and will politely take down anything that the original authors may request to be taken down. Their server recently had a meltdown, according to their site, but they've rebuilt some 93% or so of their database. Out of curiosity, I typed in Bugbook into the search bar on their site, and lo and behold, there they were!
While they only had 3 books by Peter Rony, with the first and second Bugbooks being two of them, they were far from having the full collection that was supposedly offered on Peter Rony's personal website. Though, it's possible that the rest of the series might've been lost in their server meltdown.
Either way, I've got 2 books down, and a lot to go. Though, for my personal purposes, the first two books are really all I need.
Also, yes, I am very much like Twilight Sparkle when it comes to searching for and finding the books I want to read. I will not stop until I find them.
EDIT: Wow, they just hit 94% recovery right after I finished writing this blog.
Now go and heckin' support them with Bitcoin and/or Amazon gift cards. They're my new favorite online library. 
https://b-ok.cc/
HOLY HECK THEY HAVE AN ARTICLE DATABASE TOO.
http://booksc.xyz/
I am very happy right now.
Can't be totally sure how legitimate this is, but this site seems to have them on sale for a few dollars each?
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Peter-Rony
--Sweetie Belle
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Oh, I've seen that before. The link for that is to the sale of exercise and assignment sheets that are supposed to be used with the textbook. Since I'm not teaching a class, just the textbook is enough for me. Bugbook 2 is the specific book in Peter Rony's series that I needed.
EDIT: Though, it does look like some of the links on that page are for the actual books themselves in pdf format. Honestly, it seems just a little strange considering how Peter Rony released all the books in his series for free back in 2009. The main reason why his site is down looks to be because he didn't properly verify the site info and so it got taken down. Either way, if I need additional books in the series then I'll take a look there. The ebook library I got Bugbooks 1 and 2 from doesn't have the full series.
5099298
Shame the other ones don't seem to be around for free anywhere I've spotted. Archive.org has similar books, just not the bugbook ones. Radio Shack used to have good electronic books, and they have those:
https://archive.org/details/tandy_books?tab=collection
And I found a youtube video series where someone was building an 8 bit computer, which is kinda interesting:
Edit: Of those books, especially this one, IIRC:
https://archive.org/details/Radio_Shack_-_Basic_Electronics_Share_Me_Self_Help_Ebook_-_Pdf1
--Sweetie Belle
5099301
I've actually been watching those youtube videos for reference. I just like having a physical book to be able to reference while I'm working on the project as well. Though, the videos on their own have helped tremendously with me understanding how things work.
While not necessarily related to the project I'm planning on starting, those Radio Shack books do look interesting.
5099303
I do like the idea behind the videos.
And yeah, I recognise some of those books, and I could easily spend some time with those. And the Forrest Mims electronics books there I think are well known for being good books for learning about electronics. I remember having one of 'em and it all looking well explained and easy to understand...
--Sweetie Belle
Good for you~
Awesome friend :D