Built my first computer circa 1978 by hand-wiring a 6502, ROM, RAM, some buttons, and some LEDs. EEPROM programming used a motorcycle battery controlled by a 555 in one-shot mode and tiny DIP switches to specify address and data values. Used this computer to automate a credit card cutting machine at the company I worked for. Been hooked ever since, and even got to share my interests with others for a while when I taught night classes at the University of Washington. Current interests include (but are not even remotely limited to): ARM-based embedded applications (from bare-metal Cortex-M to Linux-powered Cortex-A) Renewable and Smart Energy, such as the SunSpec Common Smart Inverter Protocol (CSIP) (I`m a member of several SunSpec working groups), solar power, LED lighting, etc. Combating the divisiveness currently engulfing the world by being as helpful as possible and encouraging others to do the same Helping rescue animals and pushing for no-kill animal shelters Studying and applying Agile and Lean management techniques Creating interesting Android apps (though still in early stages with this one) Writing of all kinds from technical to fiction Chess, especially striving to not let kids embarrass me in tournaments (limited success here) Vintage computing (yes, I still have 6502s in my house) Networking (the computer kind, though I also like the human variant) ©