Welcome to my personal homepage!
Use the navigation menu above to access different sections of my homepage. The rest of this page will be provide a short introduction about myself. I recommend you to also view my 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 live in the city of Eindhoven, in the south of 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 and am now living with my boyfriend in Eindhoven. I finished high-school (VWO) in 2002 and after that completed my Bachelor in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence at the University of Utrecht. I am currently doing a Master's degree in Human Aspects of Information Technology at the University of Tilburg.
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: Computational Linguistics and Cognitive Artifical 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 bachelor degree that matches that. This I found in Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, which has aspects of Linguistics, Psychology, Philosophy and Informatics. I finished that and am currently doing a master's degree in Computational Linguistics, as I want to further focus on language technology. -
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
As you could already read, I have a boyfriend. His name is Hans and we first met in January 2001. Ever since that time I've openly admitted that I'm gay. Below are some photos 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)
