Proycon's personal homepage

Welcome to my personal homepage!

Use the navigation menu above to access different sections of my homepage. The rest of this page will be dedicated to a short introduction about myself. I recommend you to also view my blog, and the various special interest pages, where you will also find several of my publications.

And don't forget to leave me a message in my guestbook!

About me

My name is Maarten van Gompel, or Proycon, as my nickname is on the internet. I am currently 24-years old and live in the city of Eindhoven, in the Netherlands. The website you are viewing now is my personal homepage, where you can read about me and my various interests.

As you might want to put a face to all this text you are reading, below you will find a small collection of pictures of myself:

I was born on the 15th of December 1982 in a dutch town called Etten-Leur. When I still was very young we moved to another town, Best, where my parents are still living today. I moved out several years ago and ever since I live with my boyfriend in the nearby city of Eindhoven. I've finished high-school (VWO) in 2002 and after that I studies my studies in Artificial Intelligence/Cognitive Science at the University of Utrecht.

My Interests

I have a wide range of interests, and my homepage offers me a platform for sharing these interests with the rest of the world. Here's a short summation of my interests, you can click them to go to the special interest pages where you can read more about the particular interest and possibly find some related links and publications of mine:

• Languages & Linguistics - I'm a real language freak. I love to speak and learn various languages. At the moment I speak the following languages, in order of fluency or lack thereof: Dutch (natively); English (fluently); Esperanto, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French (sufficiently); Italian (with difficulties); Russian, Arabic, Chinese (poorly). Besides languages, I'm also interested in actual linguistics.

• Linux - I am a proud Linux user, ever since 1998/1999. I'm a strong proponent of open-source software and thus a strong opponent of monopolies such as the one Micro$oft holds over the ignorant masses

• Programming - My fascination with computer programming started at around the age of ten, and ever since I've never really abandoned it. I started out with QBasic and soon moved on to Visual Basic and later Delphi, that was back in the old dark days when I still used Windoze. Nowadays I mostly write in PHP and Python, and some Java. This homepage for example is a testimony to my programming hobby, as it runs on a CMS I built myself.

• Philosophy & Buddhism - As I'm a compulsive thinker, philosophy interests me a lot, especially Buddhist philosophy. I find myself in agreement with most of Buddhist philosophy and thus try to live my life in relative accordance to Buddhist principles. I guess I'd therefore fit the label Buddhist.

• Psychology - Everybody has his or her own set of problems, I'm no exception. Through some experience of my own I try to do my best to help others with issues I can relate to.

• Other sciences - I've got a rather scientific mindset in most regards, and therefore practically every science can find my interest, but most notably (theoretical) physics.

• My Studies: Cognitive Artificial Intelligence - This is also the time to speak about my own studies. As my interests tend to be rather broad, I tried to find a major that matches that. This I found in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, which has aspects of Linguistics, Psychology, Philosophy and Informatics.

• Politics & Economics - I presume that any engaged person has an interest in politics and likes to keep up with the happenings on the national and international political scene. Everyone has his or her ideas on how to make the world a better place. I'm very left and a strong opponent of unrestricted capitalism and extreme individualisation where everything is made inferior to gaining an as big a possible profit for oneself. The related interest in Economics is one that stems from deep discontent with the current system, and in search of better alternatives.

• Music - This doesn't need a much clarification as practically everybody enjoys music. My taste in music is rather diverse, I can enjoy anything from classical music to rock, I mostly like foreign music though. Moreover, I also enjoy making music, on the piano.

• Art & Literature - I enjoy reading, as do many others, and I on occasion also try to write a bit myself. I'm also interested in graphic design, mostly for websites, but in my youth I've also done plenty of 3D design.

• Homosexuality - As I am gay myself, homosexuality is naturally something that interests me, first and foremost by simply being attracted to boys rather than girls. Recognizing that you are 'different' can be a tough process, especially in restrictive and conservative social environments, but even when like me you're fortunate enough not to be in such an environment, it can be a tough process to come to terms with your own preconceptions about Homosexuality. I want to give some support people now going to such a phase.

More about me

Since January 2001 I've got a really nice boyfriend named Hans, and since that time I openly admitted that I'm gay, which was quite an experience but I'm now perfectly happy with it and wouldn't want it any other way. We have been living together for quite some time already now. Below you can find some pictures of him:

Hans has a homepage about exotic gardening in the Netherlands, which is his number one passion (besides myself of course ;) ). If you want can visit his site about palm trees and other exotic plants, including pictures from our own backgarden (only available in dutch)

We live together in a nice house in the city of Eindhoven:

We love our animals, we have a cat, Flekje, and several birdies and fishies. Considering that showing pets is a typical function of a personal homepage, here they are:

Formal Information

Below you will find some data on me which might prove useful:

• Full Name: Maarten van Gompel
• Nickname: Proycon
• Date of Birth: December 15, 1982
• City of Birth: Etten-Leur, The Netherlands
• City of Residence: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
• Address: (only given on request)
• Postal code: (only given on request)
• Telephone number: (only given on request)
• Mobile telephone number: (only given on request)
• Contact information: (see at the very bottom of this page, where you can find my e-mail address and the various Instant Messengers I use. To prevent spam, you can't click or copy it but will have to write my address out full manually)

Personal Questionnaire

If you despite everything still want information about me, then the following questionnaire will probably answer most of you questions, including trivialities you never meant to ask and didn't care to know either:

• Height: around 1.73 meters
• Eye-colour: Gray, blue, green... a mix of just about everything :)
• Shoe-size: about 42, the other shoe as well :)
• School/job: Cognitive Science/Artificial Intelligence at the university of Utrecht
• Do you smoke? Nope, and I detest the odour
• Do you drink? Yes
• Hobbies: Languages (amongst them: Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Esperanto), Linux, Webdesign, Programming, Network Management, Playing the piano, My boyfriend, Travelling, Reading, Psychology, Philosophy (especially Buddhism), Science/Physics, Learning new stuff..
• Do you have brothers/sisters? Yes, one younger sister named Elke
• Do you have a relationship? Yes :) Already for a long time!
• Pierced? Nope..I'm all natural :)
• Tattoo? So that implies that I don't have that either
• Favourite country to visit: Everywhere! Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, Slovenia, Norway, England
• The nicest person you've met this year: My boyfriend Hans! Ah well, it's been several years ago already
• Is there someone you'd rather not have met? Eh..no, actually not..
• Who'd you like to meet? An alien! The Dalai Lama
• Who do you admire most? Mikael Gorbatchov, Leonardo DaVinci, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, His Holyness the 14th Dalai Lama, Michael Z. Strazinky (Babylon 5), Stephen Hawking, Einstein, Matthew Shepard
• Sexiest person alive: My boyfriend Hans! :) And there plenty of celebrities I also consider sexy, such as Shane West, Chad Michael Murray, Andrew Keegan, Brad Renfro, Adam Brody (Seth in the OC), Hayden Christensen (Anakin in Star Wars 2 and 3), Ryan Phillipe, Jared Padalecki (Gilmore Girls), Egbert Jan-Weeber, Jim (Idols), Jamie (Di-Rect), Lieutenant Ford from StarGate Atlantis, Jason Behr (Roswell), Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Jackson
• What do you wear when go sleep? WEAR? Why wear anything? :)
• Favourite car: As long as it has four wheels and one for steering it's fine with me :) And I'd rather have a driver to go with it cause I don't drive and don't want to either.
• Favourite movie: Babylon 5!! Although it's actually a TV-series..<, Star Trek: Enterprise, Stargate, Farscape
• Favourite music: I pretty much like just about anything..(hard) rock, pop, metal, trance, classical, folk, country, latino and especially foreign music!
• Favourite city: Eindhoven
• Favourite fragance: Ehm...well...I don't know how it's called :) It's some cheap brand but it smells rather nice!
• Favourite Magazine: I don't think I have one
• Favourite sound: AUM
• Favourite TV-series: Babylon 5, StarGate, Star Trek: Enterprise, DS9, Voyager, Earth: Final Conflict, FarScape, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Kees & Co
• Favourite Writer: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Andreas Steinhöfel
• What's on your mousepad? A mouse perhaps?
• What's under your bed? Nothing, perhaps dust and some abandoned socks
• Favourite colour: RGB(212,198,13), HTML:#d4c60d
• Favourite song of all times: Who wants to live forever (Queen)
• Favourite song at this moment: Hijo de la Luna (Mecano)
• Favourite food: Chinese, Fries, pasta :)
• Favourite course: Ehm...well..I don't really have a favourite..
• Favourite alcoholic beverage: APFELKORN!!!!!!!! Port, Amaretto, and of course wine
• Favourite number: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510 5820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647 09384460955058223172 (in other words: π) :)
• What do you like best about yourself? Physically?.....well, I think my chest came out rather well :) Personality-wise I think I turned out pretty kind as well
• What shoes do you prefer to wear? No shoes at all!
• At what time do you go to bed on weekdays: Around 23.00..
• Which word do you use a lot? Ciao
• The most romantic experience in your lifetime: My first encounter with my boyfriend
• The most embarrassing moment of your lifetime: BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP (censored)
• Are you an introvert or extrovert person?: Actually both
• What do you do during weekends? Waking up late, working on some project, sometimes going somewhere with my boyfriend, visiting someone or receiving visitors
• Your breakfast: I used to eat a sandwich and/or a cracker with something typically Dutch called "Hagelslag"
• What do you hate do eat? I dislike typical dutch food...bleh! I prefer foreign!
• Pets? Flekje (cat)! Birdies, Fishies, Turtles
• Laugh or dream? Why not both?
• Serious or comical? All in good times
• Slow or fast? (Too) fast
• Single or relationship? Relationship!
• Simple or complex? (Too) complex
• Cremation or burial? I don't really care...
• Sex or alcohol: Sex after an alcoholic beverage to get the juices flowing :)
• Stay up late or turn in early? That depends...
• Light or dark? Light, better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
• Speaking or holding your silence? Ideally, holding silence.. In practise: speaking
• Tall or small men? Average :)
• Newspaper or weekly magazine? Newspaper..
• A hug or a kiss? A hug
• Happy or sad? Preferably happy of course..All life seeks happiness and relief from suffering
• Life or death? Viva la vida!
• Private party or club? Private party..
• Left or right? Physically seen Right, Politically seen very left...
• Sauce on top or apart? Apart..
• Are you religious? Depends on how you define religious...I suppose I can be considered a Buddhist
• What would you ask if you could ask God a question? "Why?"
• Do you believe in reincarnation? Not really....
• Do you believe in God? No, although it again depends on how you define God
• Do aliens exist? I'm pretty sure there's at least primitive life out there.. And It's also quite likely for intelligent life to exist... I hope so! It would be an interesting world-changing event!
• What will be your last words before you die? "The needs of the many outwage the needs of the few...or the one...You have always been and always will be - my friend.... Live long and prosper.."
• Does mister Right exist? My heart says Yes, My rational mind says No...
• How many children would you like? None..
• What can make you mad? I rarely get mad. But qualities I dislike are dishonesty, greed, hypocrisy and violence
• The best feeling: Tranquillity, peace and happiness
• The worst feeling: Panic..
• What are you afraid of? ......loss of control......
• Do you sometimes get emotional: Yes :) Especially during Bambi :)
• Do you cry during movies? If the movie is very very good and emotional then some leaking might occur..
• What would you dream to do when you get older: ..Peacefully doing whatever crosses my path...
• One of your goals for this year: Becoming more relaxed and at ease with myself and the world around me. Alleviating suffering
• What did you think when you got up in the morning? Damn! Already??! Which animal would you like to be if you could return as an animal? Dolphin perhaps?
• The nicest part of a man's body: Chest!!
• The most original place to ask someone to marry you: Marriage itself isn't original anymore....
• The weirdest place where you have done "it": Hmm.....let me think..... The kitchenfloor!! :)))
• A place where you would like to do "it" in the future: In bed :) Usually we don't get that far :PPPPP
• Where did you get these questions: From some dutch Cu2 site, long ago..I even had to translate 'em all to english..