[sdiy] Small MCU MIPS, DMIPS?

[karl dalen]

>Gordon JC Pearce <gordonjcp at gjcp.net>:

> Why would you use an expensive, power-hungry and complex
> 555 with all  its many fiddly external components to
> generate a more-or-less random cooking time, when you
> could use a cheap simple microcontroller with no
> external parts instead?

LMC555 cmos can be run from lemon. 
 
> Obviously you'll need some sort of relay driver for both to
> switch the  magnetron ;-) 

Why use a micro at all? 
Why a baking machine when one can bake your self.

> I can't see a good reason to choose DIP16 over TQFP. 
> Why would I waste  time with fiddly awkward through-hole parts?

SO16, whatever.
 
> You get TQFP FPGAs. They're not the biggest or the
> fastest, but they're perfectly adequate and easily hand-solderable.

If your 25 years old they are after that you need a stereo scope.