My early years of computing and hacking were mostly spent writing programs in assembler for 8080 and Z80 based S100 systems running CP/M. Much of this work was writing cross-assemblers and cross-compilers in order to program other microprocessors, mostly for in-house use on projects that would, these days, be labeled embedded - a smart thermostat, a custom controller for a custom manufacturing machine - that sort of thing. I spent several years as a tool and die maker, custom machine designer, and machinist. This work integrated well with my background in programming and electronics. After a brief hiatus, I came back to electronics and programming and got involved with PIC micros and the wonderful world of wireless sensor networks a la 802.15.4. After dubbing around with AVRs for a while, my primary focus is on ARM-based microcontrollers, distributed control systems, and networking. ©