A Twitter Review

Chris McKernan - inventor, developer, engineer, technician, writer as well as president and CEO of Computer Innovative Designs Corporation, tweeted his purchase:

Here's his 5-star review on Amazon.ca:

Great book, great content for those designing PCBs as well as reverse-engineering them. Well worth the purchase price.

Another 5-Star Review

Here's another 5-star review for PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques from Jeremy Hong, a bright and promising student at Wright State University who is also a hardware design and reverse engineer himself:

There are currently only two books that comprehensively cover the niche topic of PCB-RE. Both of these books are authored by Mr. Ng, this is his second book. His first book is a great example of a well documented process of PCB-RE and this book covers fundamentals, tools, and other techniques. 

One chapter in particular, "Manual Override", briefly and concisely describes the fundamentals that design engineers adhere to when laying out a board. Coming from a design background myself, I really appreciated his explanations of layout rules and the constraints that design engineers are faced with. The chapter practically describes my design experience with mixed signal PCBs and it was spot on! I credit my previous design experience with my ability to RE PCBs. I believe that hardware/embedded reverse engineers that don't come from a design background should read this section carefully. It should provide some valuable insight to find interesting test points, debug interfaces, interactions and relationships between digital and analog signals. Also in the book is a very useful chapter dedicated to JTAG. There are chapters dedicated to high-end tools, that I didn't even know existed! I'm still trying to get over the chapter on ScanCAD and how it works. The resources section has some great references and DIY ideas/projects. The PCB-RE equipment and vendors almost reads like a wishlist to me... 

Overall, I found this book to be super useful and it will probably be on my bench more than on a bookshelf. If you are doing this kind of work on a daily basis, like me, you are definitely going to be writing notes, marking up the pages, and putting bookmarks everywhere. I think students, enthusiasts and engineers looking for a career change will certainly take away something from this book.

This book is the culmination of experiences from different industry experts and engineers, and even I myself have benefited from collating and editing their writings and contributions, per se. I'm sure there is something useful for everyone engaged in this niche skillset, whether you're doing it the manual way or with the help of advanced equipment.

Debut Offer Ending Soon

A gentle reminder that the debut offer for my newly launched book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, will end on January 31, 2018. That's three more days from now.

So if you have not order your personal copy, take hold of this opportunity to enjoy the 20% discounted price of $39.95 while you can!

First 5-Star Review

Just received the very first 5-star review from a reader of PCB-RE:Tools & Techniques:

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It has many chapters on all sorts of techniques to reverse engineer printed circuit boards with the intent of either replacing them with identical boards that no longer exist, or determining the schematic for debugging a faulty circuit. From low-tech to high-tech techniques. I've been inspired by the book to troubleshoot and fix a vexing 1970's calculator for which schematics no longer exist.

It is heartening that the hard work put into writing and assembling this book has inspired the likes of readers such as Mr Baruch to at least give a go in reversing some legacy PCB. In time to come, I hope more readers will share their exploits and experiences, and who knows... I may come out with a trilogy that details your interesting stories and skills.

Now that's something to think about, readers!

#1 New Release

Just three weeks after its launch, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques has achieved No. 1 spot in the new  book release category, as can be seen in the Amazon page:

In terms of overall Amazon Best Seller ranking, it is currently at #24,729 place among the millions of titles carried, which is not bad! In Electrical & Electronic Circuits, it ranked #21 and in Industrial and Manufacturing it is in the #94 position, both of which are within the 100 place marks.

This is like a dream... the months of sweat and hard work is finally bearing fruit, all thanks to readers who believed and supported me through their honest purchases. May this book be a valuable asset to your PCB-RE arsenal of tools and knowledge. Happy reading!

Ps: If you're one of those still hesitating to order a copy, remember the offer is expiring soon...

Pps: And as I mentioned in a previous post, part of the royalties go to charities, so by supporting this book, you are indirectly doing some good at the same time!

Look Who's Tweeting...

Just this morning, I came across a fresh tweet by Joe Grand, one of the contributors to my book, who posted photos of the complimentary copy I sent him as a gesture of my appreciation:

Joe Grand is an American electrical engineer, inventor and hardware hacker who specializes in finding security flaws in hardware devices and educating engineers on how to increase the security of their designs. He was featured in Discovery Channel's TV series Prototype This! in 2008 which saw him achieve mainstream popularity at the age of 33. His involvement in the book, together with a few other big names, is a strong endorsement to its content and credibility.

Grab your copy while it is still on offer!

Off to a Good Start...

To date, my blog has registered 3,600 views with visitors from nearly 50 countries. Since publishing the sequel to my book, within a week there were several Amazon online orders from US, UK and DE, with 50 copies in the pipeline for a bulk order from a digital forensic training company. This is very encouraging compared to when I started with my first book!

A reader from ETAS GmbH, Germany by the name Dr Stephan Pabst, who bought The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering and left a glowing review on Amazon.de immediately ordered the sequel book when he learned that it is published. This is what he wrote in an email to me:

Your first book about reverse-engineering PCBs is, in my opinion, the best publication on this topic, so I am now looking forward to learning even more details while reading the sequel.

The debut offer is still on at the moment but it will not last indefinitely. Order your copy at the 20% discounted price now before the offer ends.

Note: ETAS GmbH is a company that provides innovative solutions, engineering services, consulting, training, and support for the development of embedded systems for the automotive industry and other sectors of the embedded industry.

Debut Offer!

To all my readers who have been patiently waiting... The wait is over! The sequel book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, is now available for online order on Amazon. The list price is $49.95 but for a limited time only you can get it at $39.95 (20% discount). Click on the book cover below to go to the Amazon website to find out more and read sample pages before purchase:

If you stay outside of the US like me, you can order through the Amazon channel best suited to your region (amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.de. amazon.com.au, etc.)

Appreciate if you can help recommend or spread the word around too. Thanks for your patience and support. Happy reading!

2018

2017 has been a momentous year in terms of political, social, economical and environmental bearings for many people. The increasing antagonism and distrust between nations, the racism and intolerance that led to ethnic genocides and displacement, resulting in a complex refugee problem that even the UN is helpless to resolve; the loss of jobs and stability for the average person due to automation, outdated business models or obsolete skillsets, further widened the disparity gap between income groups that impact social cohesiveness; last but not least, the erratic weather conditions that brought heavy rainfalls in some regions and severe drought in other parts of the world, and the destructive forces of nature (hurricanes, earthquakes, raging fires, torrential floods, etc.), cast a dark and long shadow over the ending year.

So what can we look forward to in the coming new year? Is there any glimmer of hope for a better and brighter tomorrow? Nobody can be certain about it. But life still goes on and so must we, one day at a time. Perhaps as we bask and revel in the jovial mood of transition into a new year, it'll be good to pause for a moment and ask ourselves how we can make a difference in the community we live and work in. If each one of us can do our bit to bring a smile to those around us, the world may become a better place.

Here's wishing all my readers a wonderful 2018. Stay healthy and happy!