Hi There!

My name is Michael Erskine and TecSpy.com is my domain. I've been playing on the interweb since about '94 (when Netscape was first released!) and I've had this domain since 1999.

I live in Sherwood, Nottingham, UK with my partner Dawn and our two daughters, Ruby and Lily. Here in Nottingham I work as a Software Engineer for an electronics company and my day-to-day work is quite varied: enterprise Java systems with a lot of custom TCP/IP work, embedded C systems with a lot of serial communications protocols, etc. My history of programming is firmly rooted in C on Sun workstations and all told I prefer to write in Java and Perl for GNU/Linux platforms. I especially like interfacing with hardware and software in innovative ways and I write a lot of testbeds for systems under development. If you think you might want to employ me, drop me a line!

At home I enjoy solving and collecting twisty puzzles such as the Rubik's Cube and the Megaminx. I have a large section of the site dedicated to this pastime. I've been a skateboarder since Sept, '77 and I like to get out and skate with my friends at Middle Age Shred jams and events.

Catch you later, Mick.

3x3x3 Avg 12: 28.74 -- good

Mon, 2012-05-14 13:07 — msemtd

I planned not to post any more averages but I'd like to keep this one on record: another lunchtime 12 at work where I got to exercise the new F-Perm and some of the G-Perms with which I occasionally make mistakes. To clarify: I've dropped cubing practice entirely for now and I don't plan to enter any more competitions for a while at least. This will allow me to focus on the Hackspace and my electronics projects.

3x3x3 Avg 12: 30.32 -- fair

Fri, 2012-05-04 13:06 — msemtd

In no hurry it seems! Lack of sleep and brain rewiring may be the reasons for sup-30 here.

3x3x3 Avg 12: 27.73 -- good

Thu, 2012-05-03 12:56 — msemtd

A better average today following a one-day break! A standard deviation of 2.49 sec too. I employed the new F-Perm on a sub-30 and had a sub-30 with an N-Perm finish using the R'U'R (Jb(or 'L-Perm')) R'UR reinsert. So all in all quite nice. Using qqtimer too... http://www.speedsolving.com/timer/qqtimer.htm

3x3x3 Avg 12: 30.99 -- more meh!

Mon, 2012-04-30 13:06 — msemtd

Uninspired - did an average of 50 yesterday and same-old-same-old-slightly-sup-30!

3x3x3 Avg 12: 29.80 -- leisurely solving - I'm onto something!

Thu, 2012-04-26 13:29 — msemtd

Other than the two PLL skips that saved this average from sup-30, the results are all from leisurely solves. I'm enjoying this!

3x3x3 Avg 12: 30.67 -- a change of style?

Wed, 2012-04-25 13:11 — msemtd

Today's average is slightly different: I decided in advance not to rush, not to panic, not care about the times and just do solves with smart moves and no mistakes. I might be onto something here because the average is up there with my recent speed solves but the process was much more enjoyable!

3x3x3 Avg 12: 31.11 -- tedious

Tue, 2012-04-24 12:53 — msemtd

I'm getting rather bored with this lack of improvement and I think I'll take a break again - see what happens.

3x3x3 Avg 12: 31.19 -- meh!

Mon, 2012-04-23 13:17 — msemtd

I'm posting a "meh!" for today's average. I clearly need to work on it but I'm not sure when I'll get time to do that, or if it will be of benefit. My plentiful practice is either not benficial or the wrong sort of practice. Perhaps I should work on more theory and learning algorithms?

3x3x3 Avg 12: 30.59 -- continued disappointment

Wed, 2012-04-18 13:01 — msemtd

Today's average of 12 Rubik's Cube solves continues the disappointing lack of progress I have come to expect :(

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