Welcome Mike Stone to the Adafruit Support team!

[adafruit]

Welcome Mike Stone to the Adafruit Support team!

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Hi everybody! This is Mike Stone. Please feel free to call me Mike in the forums.

I'm a geek of diverse history: I trained as a draftsman just before CAD made that trade obsolete, learned CAD, then became a computer programmer, actor, dancer, street mime, and stagehand, with occasional gigs working in machine shops. I've run industrial CNC machinery, written back-end software for web-based businesses, run spotlights for KISS and Les Miserables, run roller coasters, and robbed trains.

On the electronics side, I think microcontrollers are way cool, but my true love is for analog circuits. It's an area where individual Makers have significant advantages over corporations that crank products out by the thousand. Closely related to that is my fascination with construction techniques. It's amazing how many options are available when you stop thinking fully-routed PCBs are the 'right' way to do it.
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[john444]

Congradulations Mike!

You will be a great addition to AdaFruit's team.
You have already made lots of great contributions.
Keep up the good work.

John444

[mobilewill]

Hi, congrats. So you are the one responding to my emails !

[adafruit_support_mike]

Thanks guys!

One reason I leaped at the opportunity is that people in this forum are Just Plain Cool. I'm excited, and looking forward to it.

[modeller]

Do they pay you in Arduinos?

[adafruit_support_mike]

Do they pay you in Arduinos?

Son, you don't know the half of it.

As a matter of fact, I accepted the offer without even asking about pay.. didn't need to. I've done enough business with Limor to know it's one of those upside-down things where you end up saying, "wait, I get to do that *and* I get paid?" Adafruit's "be excellent to each other" policy is a statement of how she chooses to live. I trust her, I trust Phil Torrone, and the compensation package they offered is built around the fact that they trust me.

In theory I could go through the warehouse with a striped shirt, black mask, and comically-large bag marked 'LOOT'. In practice, I wouldn't dream of it.. don't need to. If I need to understand a product better so I can help someone, I can ask for one. If I want a product strictly for my personal amusement, I can afford it.

In the meantime, I get to do stuff I like, with people I like, for people I like, I get to learn stuff, *and* I get paid. Mrs. Stone didn't raise any children stupid enough to try gettin' fancy with that kind of deal.

[modeller]

Son, you don't know the half of it.

As a matter of fact, I accepted the offer without even asking about pay.. didn't need to. I've done enough business with Limor to know it's one of those upside-down things where you end up saying, "wait, I get to do that *and* I get paid?" Adafruit's "be excellent to each other" policy is a statement of how she chooses to live. I trust her, I trust Phil Torrone, and the compensation package they offered is built around the fact that they trust me.

That's good son.

In theory I could go through the warehouse with a striped shirt, black mask, and comically-large bag marked 'LOOT'. In practice, I wouldn't dream of it.. don't need to. If I need to understand a product better so I can help someone, I can ask for one. If I want a product strictly for my personal amusement, I can afford it.

In the meantime, I get to do stuff I like, with people I like, for people I like, I get to learn stuff, *and* I get paid. Mrs. Stone didn't raise any children stupid enough to try gettin' fancy with that kind of deal.

Well, like I said before somewhere, trying to support this type of hobbyist/learner hardware is a pretty tall order. Anyone that can and wants to do that is pretty valuable.

Look forward to talking with you in the future.

[mauifan]

Wow! Now I know why you have been so incredibly patient with me. It is very much appreciated!

[davrow]

Welcome to the playground, Mike!

Hope I don't need your help, glad to know you are there if I do.

[Ivanovish]

I accepted the offer without even asking about pay...... In the meantime, I get to do stuff I like, with people I like, for people I like, I get to learn stuff, *and* I get paid.

Wow man! That's EXACTLY my personal life-philosophy. I'm fairly new to the whole Arduino and electronics scene.....but we share a similar background. In my case, I have a Bachelor's and a Master Degree in architecture, plus I've acted in a couple of big blockbuster movies, done stunts & body-double scenes + currently work in the live entertainment field (theater & live events), as a stagehand, stage lighting / special effects / close proximity pyrotechnics designer/technician ....AND I've followspotted' for big names too! (Metallica being one of them in my case).

It's very nice to find people as out-given and with such diverse backgrounds as oneself here; so now this motivates me even more about this whole group of cool creative people at the forum. I wish I had ventured deeper into this Arduino world years ago, when I 1st heard of it, but oh well!

Even thou I don't know you and have never been assisted by you before either: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SO NICE! It seems like you've helped a looooot of people here already, so I'll start asking you questions very soon for my 1st project ( a 3 axis mono-filament system to control a "ghostly levitating wine bottle" onstage; with 4 Nema17 stepper motors, a savaged 5 Axis CNC breakout board for steppers, and an analog joysticks, via an Arduino Mega.

[Atticus]

Thanks for joining the support team Mike.

+1 people who Mike has already helped out!

[adafruit_support_mike]

AND I've followspotted' for big names too! (Metallica being one of them in my case).

Did them a few times.. I think the 'Breakdown' tour was my favorite: it was choreographed to look like there was a major equipment failure halfway through the second act (pyro, stuntman falling out of a truss spot, etc) then they ended with an unplugged set under a ghost light. Their rigging guys (Tommy and Fletcher) were incredible.

It's very nice to find people as out-given and with such diverse backgrounds as oneself here; so now this motivates me even more about this whole group of cool creative people at the forum.

Architects and artists are just as important to the field as code slingers and electron pushers. Geeks can get in a rut of designing to what the machines can do now. People from different fields push us to figure out what the machines can do next.

Even thou I don't know you and have never been assisted by you before either: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SO NICE!

I've had the privilege to know several people with world-class skills.. musicians, artists, the guy who fabricated precision gearing for instruments in the space shuttles when Litton's tech people couldn't get the tolerances tight enough.. and they all had this attitude of, "if you've got enthusiasm, I've got experience, so let's see how far you can go." They liked what they did so much that they wanted to share it with a skinny kid who barely knew how to ask meaningful questions.

I'm just doing my damndest to be like them.

I'll start asking you questions very soon for my 1st project ( a 3 axis mono-filament system to control a "ghostly levitating wine bottle" onstage; with 4 Nema17 stepper motors, a savaged 5 Axis CNC breakout board for steppers, and an analog joysticks, via an Arduino Mega.

So.. I guess "blinky LED Christmas tree" is out of the question? (inside joke for those who know Adafruit history)

Roughly speaking, it sounds like you're building an upside-down delta bot.. a three-axis version of one of these: http://www.instructables.com/id/Polargr ... g-Machine/

If you run into questions, fire up a thread in the forum. There are lots of good people here. I'm just the one who has trouble shutting up.

[scottshelhart]

Welcome, Mike!

Glad to have you as a resource. Your diverse background should make you a valuable asset to Adafruit. I'm pleased to have an analog fan on the team.

I too come from an analog background. I've repaired consumer electronics, dabbled with ham radio and R/C aircraft, worked in live theater (lights/sound), and repaired musical equipment. I've never chased anyone famous with a follow spot, but have repaired David Crosby's guitar right before a gig and had a few other cool encounters.

Please know that your position at Adafruit is the source of envy for myself and my peers. My coworkers and I agree the if we lived in the NY area, we all would be banging on the door trying to find a position with Adafruit. The opportunity to play with the cool new toys and then teach others how to use them is a dream job (I'm also a licensed teacher). Keep learning, growing, and teaching.

Scott

[lbaroudi]

Welcome on board ,.... we hope to bild things together and the relation ofcourse.

[macrutan]

Welcome! Wow, The Adafruit team just grows stronger and stronger. So, please describe that beautiful analog board posted in the image with this thread. I'm loving the treatment of the resistors. They are like masts on a tall ship! Tell us Mike, what does that board do? I look forward to asking you things!