Robot: mechanical and controlled by outside source
Nanomorph: robot made of nanomachines
Humanoid Robot: anthropomorphic robot
Android: independent, primarily organic and human like
Gynoid: female android
Bioroid: biological android or genetically engineered human
Cyborg: human with robotic implant

If I forgot something, let me know.

My guest blog post on CreativeClass on TEDxEutropolis (Dutch only):
http://www.creativeclass.be/nl/blog/idee…vervagen

(Photo by CreativeClass.be)

The last few days my girlfriend and I spent some time at the beach. We had a great time, beautiful weather and wished we could stay a few more days. But we had tickets for Pukkelpop, a tradition that stands for years, so why miss that? The day begon good, the sun was out, but we knew rain was probably coming our way later that evening. Who could have thought that rain would be the worst storm of our lives?

As we were waiting for the first band we actually wanted to see that day, we were killing some time by eating delicious Vietnamese egg rolls and by having a fresh beer in front of the main stage. As the weather went darker, we decided to find some shelter for the upcoming rain. As we already wandered around some more, the closest place to stay dry was the Chateau. A stage we almost never visit. It’s a tent that looks like the one a traveling circus would use, with a line-up of bands I’ve never heard of. Inside the tent we sat down at the left side against the fences. Soon we felt rain coming inside, and the whole tent started to move. The wind pushed the fences hard in our back, so we stood up and started to walk in the direction of the exit to see what was going on. At that point, looking outside, we saw something terrible was about to happen. Usually you can see far down the site, but a wall of rain limited the view. The band (still don’t really know which one) kept on playing, probably not aware what was going on. Suddenly we saw the tent breaking open from top to bottom. I guess one of the stitchings couldn’t hold it anymore. The columns in the middle of tent, holding everything in place, started to lean towards us. All we could do, was to run. People around us started to panic, we saw people falling on the floor, and heard a lot screaming. We climbed over the fallen fences on our hands and feet. Luckily we could get out in a matter of seconds. Then we started running in the heavy rain, hail and wind towards another stage, the Marquee. We waited for a few minutes for the hail to stop, and we started walking towards the exit of the festival site. Everywhere was filled with debris in deep water and mud. We got to the car, but still needed an hour to get out of the area that was now one big place of disaster.

It was not until I got home, that the shock hit me. Because communicating through mobile phones was not possible, I started to look on Facebook and Twitter to see if family and friends were okay. Thank god for the internet. I saw everyone I know was reporting to be alright in their Facebook status, and that many people around the festival site were helping each other out. It makes me happy to see people still care of each other in difficult times.

The weird thing about it all was that my mind was clear at the moment of crisis. The only thing I could think of while seeing the tent being ripped apart, was to get the hell out of there. I tried not to loose my girlfriend out of sight, and I told her to be calm and run. Just run the fuck out of here. It was weird to see so many confused people, all wondering what was going on. In the Marquee I saw many people comforting each other, but they all showed fear in their eyes.

I will never forgot that moment. Thanks to what ever saved us. And my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the people who died in those horrible 10 to 15 minutes.

I didn’t took any pictures at Pukkelpop this year. But I found this video from someone filming just outside the tent we were in. You can see the big white tent on the left being trashed by the storm. Can’t believe we got out of it.

Live the fullest you can.

So take a look and tell me what you think: http://gizmag.eu

It’s probably to early to review this past year, it’s still 20 days to go. A lot can happen in that time. But I wanted to say that even though for quite a few people around me this has been a terrible year, for me it couldn’t have been better. And that might sound selfish to say, but I’m very grateful for it.

At the moment I’m moving to a new home. So I’m playing the time card for the lack of updates on this blog and GizMag. But I promise 2011 will bring some new awesomeness! I have some ideas to rebrand the GizMag website, and expand it with something new. It’s all very early, it only exists as a concept in my mind for now. But it is time for some changes.

At the moment I’m spending my last days at Alley, which is a bit sad, but it will also give me the opportunity to spend my time on new ideas. It was a fun ride, and I’m happy to have done it. And that’s the only advise I can give anyone. If you have an idea, dream or chance to do something you really like. Just go for it. It’s totally worth it!

I’ll leave you with some awesome music albums I’m listening to at the moment. Check them out.

I do love getting real mail, and does make me smile! Thanks a lot Sally!

Alley won’t change, but it will get rid of the guerrilla label without changing its attitude! So expect more upcoming and rising artists. More information can be found on our website (in Dutch) or on our Facebook page (in Dutch).

I had a lot of fun at Alley. And it was a difficult decision to make. But I’m happy that Daan and Debora will keep Alley open, and I wish them a lot of success with it in the future. They’re doing a great job!

I’ll probably take some time off after this, spending my Saturdays with my girlfriend from now on. :)

Last week I successfully upgraded my HTC Magic to CM6.0 (based on Android 2.2). In speed my phone didn’t change much, I actually disabled Compcache and JIT in CyanogenMod’s custom performance settings. Because they did seem to be slow down my phone. But I’m happy with it, because I can use the new Gmail app, and now the Android Market finally opened up in Belgium too, I’m can pretty much install any application I want. The guys at Cyanogen did a pretty good job again.

The stock keyboard is really annoying, so I bought and installed Better Keyboard which has the English and Dutch dictionary. I also bought Retro Camera Plus, which is basically the same as the free version without the ads.

Cyanogen is working on version 6.1 (based on Android 2.2.1) which has a few extra features, and should be coming soon.

If you are in Hasselt during the coming 2 months, don’t forget to swing by our gallery. We just opened our 6th expo already! Midsummer Show brings you work of Merijn Hos (NL), Debora Lauwers (BE) and CÄät (BE). We tried to find the perfect combination of illustrators to get through this hot summer.

The name Debora may ring a bell. Together with Daan and myself, we run the gallery Alley since september last year. She’s the creator of Mr Lapin. One crazy, but cute rabbit, with a french twist.

For more information, check our website (only available in Dutch).

This Saturday we will be present at Rock Herk with lots of stuff from our shop. So if you are up for a free music festival, clear your calendar! My sister will join us too with Paplou!