A new home for an old blog.

They say you can't teach an old blog new tricks. I beg to differ.

Machina Speculatrix might be new to Medium, but it's a blog I've been running for some years. I just thought this would be a better place for it.

I've been a tech writer for more than four decades. But, for the most part, this isn't going to be about the kind of IT that gave me a living, but the tech I live for.

In one way or another I've always had a fascination with electronics, robotics, automation, programming and networking. I dabble and I meddle and every now and then one of my projects refuses to sit there inert or gently smoking.

Let's be clear — I'm no expert. You'll need Big Clive, IMSAI Guy, Adrian's Digital Basement, Usagi Electric or Curious Marc if you want the deep insights. (Yes, those are my favourite electronics YouTubers.) As a programmer, I tinker with Go, Python, C/C++, JavaScript, 6502 and AVR assembly and am casting aroused glances in the direction of Lua.

Close-up photograph of an electronics prototyping breadboard into which are plugged chips and wires and an LCD screen.

What I set out to do with my original blog was to document my adventures, as a kind of lab notebook. That was mainly for my own benefit. My memory is terrible, and when I come back to a project after a break, it's handy to know what I did and why.

But I've also found that some of the posts I made were helpful to others struggling with the same technology or same challenges.

In the initial stages, some of the content here will be those old blog posts — revised, corrected, updated and in some cases entirely rewritten. This, however, will be their new home. (I've already removed them from the old site.) And I'm going to be adding entirely new articles, not least because I have exciting (for me, at least) new projects in mind.

And so Machina Speculatrix will chart my journey in technology, offering (I hope) entertainment, information and perhaps even inspiration for your own adventures.

Special interests

There are certain topics that will crop up regularly here. These include:

  • Programming: Mostly Python, Go and JavaScript.
  • Retrocomputing: This will revolve a lot around me trying to fix my ailing BBC Master, but other stuff will pop up from time to time.
  • Automation: Including robotics.
  • Embedded computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and microcontrollers: Because I like making gizmos. This topics includes AVR microcontrollers, especially the 8-bit variety.
  • The Zolatron: a 6502 homebrew computer: A computer I designed and built from scratch and which mostly works.

Some of these topics already have dedicated feature pages — others will get them as the content builds.

Supporting files

From time to time it will be useful for me to provide files, including program code and documentation, to support the articles here. The easiest way to do this is via GitHub.

There are currently two main repositories:

  • Medium: For miscellaneous documents, code snippets etc that don't deserve a repo of their own.
  • AVR_8bit_Basics: For the AVR-related articles.

Some projects will get their own repos.

Sponsorships and support

I'm happy to consider sponsorships and support from vendors. But as a lifelong journalist, I am insistent on editorial independence. So any collaboration has to meet the following requirements:

  • Transparency: I will be completely open about any arrangements and what they involve.
  • Editorial control: I won't allow sponsors to dictate content. Nor will I allow sponsors to preview or approve content prior to publication. I absolutely reserve the right to say what I think.
  • Only the best: I will happily collaborate with vendors whose products or services I like, would use anyway and can recommend.
  • No payment: I won't accept paid sponsorships. In other words, no money will change hands. Any collaboration would be in the form of products and/or services (and again, ones that I would consider using anyway) that I can freely report on and describe honestly to readers.

Also available on Substack: The articles here are also published on Substack where you will find additional material such as project updates, notes, shorter blog posts and discussions. I will continue to post longer articles on Medium, but for subscribers, the Substack publication is more substantial.

Steve Mansfield-Devine is a freelance writer and photographer. You can find photography portfolio at Zolachrome, buy his books and e-books, or follow him on Bluesky or Mastodon.

You can also buy Steve a coffee. He'd like that.