All About Mikamatic!

So this is my about me page!

So I'm Mika and I'm an electronics geek :) I've recently started playing around with microcontrollers and LCD modules :) Up until now all I really do is use TTL and CMOS logic for my projects, so it'll be a nice change :) Here's some more info about myself!

This is a picture of me taken in 2020. I spent a lot of time that year figuring out makeup and really learned that less is more, most of the time I just wear mascara and foundation.

Fun facts about me:

• I'm a trans woman :) I never felt right as a boy and started to cross dress just after puberty started. I came out during university and I've been very lucky to have supportive friends and work colleagues. In some ways it's good that I live and work in a pretty isolated part of the UK, in all the places I've worked, everyone knows everyone else so they know me already and are generally fine with me. It is such a relief to be able to be my truest self and be treated with kindness and respect.
• My favourite food is spaghetti carbonara, but generally I like most pasta dishes. I don't like when pasta is cooked al-dente which is the wrong way to have it, but it's just how I like it. I will share some of my pasta recipes elsewhere on the site! Happy cooking
• I'm an electronics engineer! I've done electronics as long as I can remember, my dad taught me how to solder when I was a kid in the 90s and I've done it as a job or hobby ever since! I generally work with either motor controllers or power supplies, they're my bread and butter. I used to work with power supplies for gas lasers and I loved that so much! It was loud and dangerous work, but gas lasers are so cool! There's something magical about how this huge glass tube fulls up with a glowing pinkish purpleish plasma and how it can cut through metal so easily! Honestly it's amazing and I just think it's a shame the technology is dying out to be replaced with semiconductor lasers, which are also cool but very much lack the theatre and magic of a gas laser.
• I love photography! Both digital and analogue! I have a Sony Mavica digital camera which I will use for this site, and a Yashica 230AF which I use for my pro photography :) I will hopefully add a gallery at some point to show off my favourite shots, as well as some of my home made film developers and fixers! I might even put up the design for my film developing station if I get the code I wrote for it neatly commented :)
• I am a trans-humanist. When I was at uni, one of the modules was dealing with ethical questions relating to technology and human interfaces, as well as designing these interfaces. I feel that there shouldn't be any limitation to how far technology and humanity can intermingle as long as the fundamental quality of life is maintained. As long as the upgrade isn't harmful to the user or the wider public then it is ok. I am aware this could further widen the haves and have nots in the world, however I feel like the rich could fund the development to get their comfort upgrades, then the lessons learned can be applied to functional stuff such as curing blindless or paralysis. I guess this is all an extension of my love for body modification.
• I have a black cat called Milly. She was a stray who jumped into my back garden during a storm and kept meowing at the back door to be let in. She finally came in and has been treated like royalty ever since. She is currently napping on the sofa downstairs.