About Me
Me somewhere in Austria
Hi! My name is Maurice Termeer and I am a 29 year young computer science engineer. My passion is computer graphics, which has kept me busy for the past couple of years. I obtained a masters degree in computer science and engineering at the Eindhoven University of Technology and a doctorate degree in scientific visualization at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria. For more information on my scientific background, see my curriculum vitae. Currently I live in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, working in the area of medical visualization. Besides computers, I have plenty of other hobbies. Some of the more constant ones are outlined below.
Plants
A ripe Naga Morich
Growing plants has fascinated me briefly after I moved to Austria late 2005. For the past couple of years I combine my love for flora with my preference for spicy food and grow my own chillis. My favorite is the Red Habanero, for its nice balance between flavor and spiciness. I have also grown other varieties, including the infamous Naga Morich. I started out with a cardboard box with fluorescent lights, moved up to a one-square-meter growbox with high-pressure sodium light and automatic watering system, but switched to pots in my window sill after I my moved to my sunny apartment in Eindhoven. Besides chillis I have grown several other types of plants, but the Nightshade family remains my favorite for now.
Go
A go board
Playing a game of go is one way for me to escape everyday business. What fascinates me about this game is that while the rules of go are very simple, the gameplay is far more complex than chess or draughts. Human players that can beat any computer program are (still) fairly common—which means there still is work to be done for computer scientists. Currently I rank around 9 kyu at my local go club. I also started playing on KGS recently as “maurice”.
Mountainbiking
Me next to my mountainbike
Moutainbiking is my preferred way of staying in shape. I like cycling in general—I cycle to work no matter what kind of weather—but the combined elements of the beauty of the forrest, the roughness of the path, the excitement from the speed, and the touch of technology in the bike make mountainbiking the perfect sport for me. Moving from Austria to the Netherlands was however quite a shock in terms of available trails nearby—the term “all terrain bike” is more appropriate here.
Reading
The cover of my favorite book
Even though I’m Dutch, I almost exclusively read English books. The primary reason is that I dislike reading translated books and most authors I like happen to write in English. Most of the fiction I read is from Arthur C. Clarke, my favorite author. I also enjoy reading most of the short stories on tor.com. Furthermore I like to read books on self-improvement or social sciences. Many of the books posted on Boing Boing meet my demands as well.
Snowboarding
Mo in the snow!
I’ve been enjoying annual holidays in the snow since I was about twelve. After skiing for several years and some snowblading after that, I finally settled for snowboarding about somewhere around 2006. Like most snowboarders, I prefer the soft, fresh snow beside the slopes. I’m not much into crazy tricks or jumps, but the snow, sun, and speed give me a perfect relaxing vacation. My favorite locations are scattered about the French Alps.
Demoscene
Screenshot of "Rainmob"
As I am interested in computer graphics it’s only natural I am a member of the demoscene, which can best be described as a digital art community. As a programmer I fancied the old-school habits of pushing hardware to its limits, but due to advances in technology, the demoscene is nowadays more about creating art. There still is a strong Amiga, C64 and Atari scene, but I never really grew up with those machines. The focus on art makes things easier to appreciate for outsiders, but as I never excelled at graphical design I tend to be a more passive member nowadays.