Technology
My main subject of interest is technology and especially computers are more a passion than just a tool to me. When I was five my father took me to his work where they had computers with the great Windows 3.1 installed, as of that moment, I could be found on a chair or on the floor with a computer screen in front of me most of the time.
In the table below, you can see what languages I write in, those are both programming languages (compiled languages, interpreted/script languages ) and lay-out languages.
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My first programming language. Because I started to dislike the simplicity of Basic, I changed of language to Pascal. | |
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This was my main programming language, almost everything I need an application for, I just pop up the Delphi IDE and write a little code to accomplish my goal. | |
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For school I needed to work with Turbo Pascal; as I was able to use Object Pascal, TP doesn't bother me. | |
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Just like above, I'm able to use both Object and Turbo Pascal which are just big brothers to Modula 2 (they are all the same programming language dialect). | |
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Assembler (x86)
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I once took up learning assembler as my interest for the inner workings was aroused by the fact that I would like to be able to decompile other programs to understand their inner workings. Until my third year of university this interest has passed without much actual work. Nowadays I'm quite comfortable with simple assembly code for MS-DOS. |
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Since web development is big business and I wanted to be able to create more or less dynamic sites with open source technologies, PHP was an obvious choice. My level is rather intermediate. | |
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I mostly use Dreamweaver to create web sites, but I can also write basic mark-up language, more complex code requires me to review documentation. | |
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After spending hours in Word trying to get lay-out with formulae the way it should have looked, I stumbled upon LaTeX which can do the trick for complex documents with many formulae. I can write it quite fluently, although I work more comfortably in a real LaTeX-IDE. | |
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Not really a very difficult script language, if one can call it a language without feeling ashamed. But still, Batch files are useful when a quick fix consisting of several CLI-tools are needed in one convenient command. | |
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I am learning python. This has one simple reason: Quod Libet, my favorite media player on Linux is written in Python. So by learning this language I will try to support this player. My first impression: wow, a language with whitespace sensitivity. In Python whitespace has a meaning, so one must indent his code to get it working. People who know my programming style, will agree that I just love indentation on code and Python is a language which forces the programmer to use a very neat code layout. | |
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This one was part of the curicculum taught at the VUB. I don't really like this language, though I must admit that it has some nifty features for handling matrices or vectors with little code, but that little code is quite incomprehensible in the beginning. | |
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I recently got a book on JavaScript, as this one of the basic languages of the net, I decided I had to learn this one (as it might come in handy some day or it might aid in learning java). | |
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Well, still on the to-learn-better list. Mostly to learn to work with the classics (just like assembler), but also because it might provide with more insight in programming as most documentation and code is written in C-based dialects. | |
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Since my dad has participated in a C# course, I tend to pick up some minor things on it. Maybe some day I will see the need to learn it myself. As the .NET-hype might come in handy some day for me... | |
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This is the one language to know when working with databases and queries. As I think of data management as the uppermost discipline in informatics, this language pleases me well. Writing SQL isn't going very wel without documentation, but reading and anlysing works like a charm | |
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I know the very basics of RegEx, but would like to get more familiar with them as the provide many basic parts of handling information, both on the web and in many programs. |
I have been using several operating systems, mostly Windows (Windows 3.x, 95, 98, 98 SE, Millennium Edition, NT4, NT5 (2000), NT5.1 (XP) and in the near future probably NT6 (Vista)) but also a bit of Linux experience (Mandrake, good ol' Red Hat, SlackWare, Ubuntu, SLAX) and of course the good old DOS days on my grand-father's computer. Yet, my objective is to get a good grip on Mac OS X (OSx86, actually, as Apple hardware is a bit too pricey).
As of end 2006 I had some misunderstandings with my Windows XP-installation on my notebook. When my computer crashed finally, at first I tried to recover my quite tweaked Windows-installation, but then realised that I could better spend my time with Linux, as I was trying to switch for quite some years. At the moment of writing I have been using 64-bit Ubuntu Edgy Eft (6.10). Thus far, I have managed to outdo my former Windows-installation with only a few things that some window-enhancements handled better than their Linux counterparts (for example: RainLendar isn't that stable, I'm not as fond of Katapult in Gnome as I was of Launchy; and there still is no Foobar2000-alternative for Linux (but Quod Libet matches up the best I've seen so far when it concerns tagging)). On April 19th 2007 I upgraded my Edgy Eft installation to Feisty Fawn. This would have made it possible to use KVM (an alternative to VMWare, which is free, and should work even faster), but apparently my BIOS won't play along. At the moment of writing I'm using Gutsy Gibbon (7.10), but soon enough Hardy Heron (8.04) might get installed on my notebook.
My father also purchased a brand new computer with the new Windows Vista (Home Premium). As a Windows user of old, I think they should have left all configuration options at their old locations. I'm not that excited about this new OS anymore, although I must admit that is a leap forward from XP.
Although my age doesn't dignify it, I'm quite a industrious user of the command line, mostly the bash environment in Linux or the command interpreter still available in Windows or to get the good Linux CLI-feeling in Windows: Cygwin. Regarding this I'm quite thrilled with the new Microsoft PowerShell. Since I've siwtched to Linux, I mostly use command line to do file operations or management. It amuses me very much about how strongly Linux is built around the command line, in constrast to Windows where command line is dead.
And just the last update on my interests: I've volunteered to help in managing the Linux-based web/database/mail-server of the PK (Polytechnische Kring, the faculty fraternity I'm member of). Currently I'm only being trained by one of the living legends to co-manage the server and keep its websites up and running. It's one of the interesting opportunities I'm grasping with both hands, as such knowledge might come in handy any day.
Books
Once in a far past I used to read a lot, nowadays, I usually haven't got much time to read many books, but still I have some classics that I enjoy over and over again. Some of them are still on my to read list, others I have listened to in audio book format (yes, sometimes I'm lazy)
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and prequel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: the classic fantasy epic that hit Hollywood a few years ago
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: this is what you get when you mix up the magnificent humor of "British Humour" with a twist of science fiction wrapped around a large gold brick. I haven't actually read the books entirely, but the radio series are pure genius and the movie is also great entertainment. I still have to see the old TV series.
- Harry Potter Heptology by J.K. Rowling: I enjoyed reading these books, although they used quite a lot ideas from ancient mythology or other fantasy writers. These books are surely enjoyable, but not as high-standard as they are commonly regarded (especially the fifth installment was rather dreadful).
- Discworld series by Terry Pratchett: I have currently read Thud! (in English, as I bought the book in the USA) and quite enjoyed the short series of The Colour of Magic.
- JPod by Douglas Coupland: I enjoyed reading jPod. Most people will know the books about Adrian Mole, well, jPod is similar but a more up-to-date setting. Very likely to become a cult book, just like his Generation X has become.
Movies
I love watching movies, late at night preferably. I enjoy more sophisticated movies the most, but I can also enjoy a mindless movie too. My whole dvd collection and wish list can be found on my VideoDB-page.
- the Lord of the Rings I, II, III
- A Beautiful Mind
- Trainspotting
- Requiem for a Dream
- American Beauty
- the Matrix I, II, III
- A Clockwork Orange
- Memento
- Amélie Poulain
- Jeux d'enfants
- Kill Bill I, II
- Lost Highway
- Moulin Rouge
- Pulp Fiction
- V for Vendetta
- Shrek I, II
- Monty Python's Life of Brian
- Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail
Series
Just like movies, I love watching tv shows: regular series, sitcoms, cartoons or regular series on science. To give you an idea, here are some of my favorites:
Sitcoms
- How I Met Your Mother: Ted tells about the events leading to meeting his wife (or better yet: all the girls he dated before he met his wife).
- The IT Crowd: The work and love life of two IT professionals and their female boss who is totally ignorant of technology.
- jPod: Just like the book, this series tells about the adventures of some people designing a video game, with some side plots of drugs, human traffic, Chinese mobsters and even some intertwined romantic sequences.
Series
- Lost: After crash-landing on a mysterious island, the objective is to get rescued, which is harder than it seems.
- Heroes: A mutation gives some people extra-ordinairy hero-like powers.
- Prison Break: The title says it all, it's all about escaping jail.
Mini-series and TV Films
- Tin Man: A sequel to the Wizard of Oz
- The Colour of Magic: The adventures of the first tourist on the Discworld
Shows
- MythBusters: A team of special-effects experts try to prove the feasibility of some urban legends of technology, science, history, ... Their approach is scientific but keeping things easy to understand and enjoyable (which is often assisted by ample amounts of explosives). These guys don't mess around.
- Brainiac: Science Abuse and Brainciac: History Abuse: are two shows about science and history; sometimes a bit vulgar, and they sometimes lack factual corectness and a scientific method. These guys do nothing but messing around, but here or there they show some interesting stuff. Also: no episode passes without the destruction of at least a caravan or microwave oven.
Cartoons
- The Simpsons (the old episodes, I don't quite like the computer graphics of the new ones and the movie)
- Family Guy
- American Dad!
- Futurama
- South Park
Music
I can enjoy many styles of music, ranging from classic, rock, pop, metal, punk to even trance, but I mostly listen to indie-like pop/rock. The only kind of music I usually dislike is that kind of music that leads the popular charts and is played every day for a few weeks on every radio station and every tv music channel. But there is also some good music that is played on those stations and even in the charts, some tracks are rather good.
I suggest you to take a look on my last.fm page, where all numbers I play at home, are recorded for your viewing pleasure.
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Animals
Just like almost any person I have a big heart, especially for our not-so human friends: animals. For me, man's best friend is not canine but feline. While a dog mostly does what you want him to do, a cat will always have things its own little personal way. A cat's special personality attracts me in one way or another. At home we have got three cats, one with a Dutch name: "Rosseke"(translation: reddy) and two with English names: "Black" and "White". You may guess who's who below.
Unfortunately, on April 12th 2008, Rosseke felt his 12 years upon this green Earth was enough for such adorable companion.
Userbars
Userbars are an upcoming hype on internet discussion boards to show what you really like or what your personal values are in life. Below are some of mine, if you don't know what they mean or what they stand for, just click on them!
