Helvensteijn.com

Life is like photography
we use the negatives to develop

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About me

Picture of me

I’m a guy named Colin Helvensteijn, online also known as chelvensteijn (previously raptor or raptorNL or some variation thereof). I’m 29 years of age and live in a town called Oosterhout in the south of the Netherlands (map).

Computers

I like computers. I’m particularly into scripting and web design. I write (X)HTML and CSS pretty much blindfolded, however my graphics skills are less than stellar. Some people say that I’m quite proficient with PHP and JavaScript.

I used to build web sites for friends and once in a while for a small company, but I stopped doing that a while ago. I am, at least for the time being, not interested in new jobs of that nature.

I do also use my computers for other (less nerdy) things, like simply browsing the Web, communicating with others in various manners, doing all the paperwork that can be done digitally, a bit of gaming, listening to music, watching video and more stuff like that.

I’ve been called an Apple fanboy, and probably with good reason. Right now, I own a 24″ aluminum iMac, a 13″ white plastic MacBook (in use by my mom), an iPad, an iPhone 4, two aluminum Apple keyboards (one of which wireless), a Magic Trackpad and an Airport Extreme base station. I also have an iPhone 3G (also in use by my mom), a couple of old iPods and some Mighty Mice with broken scroll ball laying around somewhere. If you’re the kind of person that gets a kick out of specifications, here you go. :P If you’re more interested in the wallpapers I currently use on my various devices, check this page.

Other hobbies

Besides computers, I also like to watch movies and Star Trek and Stargate episodes, listen to music (especially symphonic rock/metal like Nightwish, Within Temptation, Epica and bands like that), aimlessly drive around in my car (less and less considering the current gas prices) and/or just read a good book blog post or other online article. Instapaper ftw! :P

Personal hero

My personal hero of all time is definitely George Carlin. That man was truly a genius when it comes to the profession of standup comedian. I can watch or listen to his shows over and over again, and he gets me laughing my ass off every time. :) Especially his “dirty words”, “religion” and “save the planet” routines are amongst the funniest I’ve ever seen or heard.

Career

If you can call it that. ;-) After high school (age 18), I pretty much had it with teachers and stuff. That, and the fact that I had no idea what to study at the time, made me find a job instead of going to college. I started off as warehouse employee. A year or so later, I tried catering (shift runner at a Domino’s Pizza store) but that didn’t work out very well. Then, I got into taxi driving, and did that for about four and a half years. After a dispute with my employer, however, I quit and went back to warehouse work for some time. Now, I’m a taxi driver again (at a different company), most of the time driving around in a wheelchair-adapted minibus (Mercedes-Benz Sprinter).

Looking back, I had better stuck with school for a couple more years. Going back to school after being used to earning money, however, is easier said than done. ;-) On the other hand, I could always take some evening course or so should I decide that that’s useful or necessary.

Contact

You can e-mail me at colin@helvensteijn.com or mention @chelvensteijn on Twitter. More info on the Contact page.