The Library of Technomadics
BEHEMOTH
In 1983, I left Ohio on a "computerized recumbent bicycle" named Winnebiko to begin a career of technomadic publishing, then after the first 10,000 miles built a new machine that would let me write while riding. After another 6,000 miles, it was time for the mega-cycle... a 580-pound monster named BEHEMOTH. All three bike versions are described here.
Microship
After 9 years of pedaling around the US on geeky bicycles, it was time to port the whole adventure to water. The Microship project spanned a decade, with three different labs and multiple design revisions... at last yielding an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran. This massive project was fueled by about 160 corporate sponsors and a team of brilliant geeks...
Nomadness
By the time the Microship was "done" in 2003, I wanted something more practical... large enough to live aboard with crew, piano, and lab. After a year with a rocketship 36-foot trimaran, I bought an Amazon 44 — a steel pilothouse cutter. With the intent of preparing for open-ended global voyaging, I cruised and lived aboard for 6 years while immersed in nautical geekery.
Datawake
In my sixties, it was time to move to the Dark Side... so I found a new owner for Nomadness and acquired a Vic Franck Delta 50. I now live aboard this floating lab in the San Juan Islands, with communications, virtual reality, underwater vehicle, piano, audio studio, data collection, machine shop, and deployable micro-trimaran for local exploration.
New Posts
This column showcases new additions with current dates, and may include articles about Bionode development, nautical geekery, digitizing, new toys, or other real-time activity.
In August 1980, I flew from Ohio to attend the Artificial Intelligence conference (AAAI) held at Stanford University, leading to my Byte cover story about AI. It was a huge adventure, connecting me with some incredible people… I have fond memories of an evening with astounding brains at Xerox PARC after playing with the Dolphin and Dorado bitmapped…
This small story in the local paper dates from less than a year after I moved to Columbus from Louisville, and is yet more than three years before I started on the Computing Across America adventure. I had just quit an engineering job, had a 4-month-old daughter, and was attempting to carve out a serious…
I’ve never pretended otherwise… I’m not a good employee. I’ve mostly managed to avoid it over the years, with a lack of economic stability to show for it, but what the hell… it has mostly been fun. This little snippet torn from an old notebook is near the end of my brief flirtation with being…
This 1979 piece was my contribution to a story about technological gifts for the upcoming Christmas season… they invited me to write it because of my activities as an active computer hobbyist since 1974. I discussed a few cartridge game systems, along with commentary about general-purpose machines. by Steven K. Roberts Louisville Today November, 1979…
This is just a quickie — I needed a way to carry four pumpkin pies when my girlfriend and I were heading for Thanksgiving dinner with her large family, and in keeping with my rule that all projects must have corresponding magazine articles, I sent it to Popular Science for their “Wordless Workshop” column. Apparently…
My best custom engineering contract back in the late ’70s was with Corhart Refractories (part of Corning Glass), and involved designing and building rugged industrial terminals for the factory floor. I wrote in detail about the design in my engineering textbook, and it was even profitable. One huge regret, though… after I shipped the first…
Recent Archive News
Changes to the library are automatically shown here... whether newly scanned articles, digitized videos and movies, historical documents, or edits to existing material. June 23, 2025 item count: 1,095
This was a hugely pivotal article in my unfolding adventure. First, the author unwittingly named the whole escapade, and second, this was published just before launch. That meant that almost every CompuServe subscriber had a heads-up that there was a guy on a computerized recumbent bicycle taking off around the country, posting tales online (paleo-blogging)…
I can already see how the winter is going to take shape, and it’s going to take a major exercise of will to get through it. “Next steps” bubble to the top of OmniFocus and get flagged, I make a first-pass approximation of stuff needed and load up the truck, then drive far away and…
It’s interesting to watch the etymological gestation of a neologism. Twice now, Sky has referred to the folks who mysteriously appear at just the right time to catch lines as dock angels, and thrice I have performed the service for others… feeling a tonnage-proportional measure of the same gratitude I know well from my own…
About a half-dozen times in the past 24 hours, the Polaris mobile-lab project has been reinforced. This is going to be wonderful tool, I think… not only to bring R&D; facilities within range of the system I’m trying to focus on, but also to add another nickel generator to the arsenal. A fairly comprehensive electronics,…
by Edward H. Roberts Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, Florida April, 1961 When I was nine, our family vacation to Florida in 1961 yielded a few reels of 8mm home movie footage, and this page presents two clips of general interest. I digitized them in 2020 with a Retroscan Universal (which I do as a business).…
As Maggie and I headed out from Columbus on the second half of the Miles with Maggie expedition (Winnebiko II), there was a short bit on the local Channel 6 news. Video digitized from VHS off-air dub via Time Base Corrector at Harbor Digitizing.
Microship Store
I have an online store linked above for technomadic publications and cards, along with a few special items of historical interest. (This is in addition to the Microship eBay store offering an eclectic mix of gizmology, nautical geekery, and antiquities.)
1974 Homebrew 8008 System
In 1974, six months of geek obsession led to one of the first personal computers... a homebrew 8008 that is now on display in the Computer History Museum. The story of that machine is here, including complete schematics. This predated the computer kits that kicked off the personal computer revolution, and it was in daily use for years.
The Polaris Mobile Lab
I have occasionally needed a capable laboratory that is not constrained to a fixed location, so I built one into a 24-foot utility trailer. Featured in MAKE: Magazine, this is a detailed description that includes preparing the space, inventory storage, furniture, fixturing, and power.
Isabelle
I live aboard Datawake with this magical being, and have a massive backlog of photos and stories. In the meantime, this is just a teaser... this 7-year-old Russian Blue has a lot to do with my quality of life. Here's her high-tech litter box, with carbon filter and webcam:
Bionode
2025 Development project, a robust homelab and cognitive prosthesis built into a hand truck... with video production, AI, Home Assistant, and NAS.
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