about me


I often sign my emails using GnuPG. Here is my public key.

Find me on FreeNode IRC: neels / neeels / neeeels
on mastodon: @neeels@floss.social
on github: neeels

I am fluent in spoken and written
  German,
  English
  and Afrikaans
(Afrikaans is similar to Dutch, and though it has developed in Africa,
it is most closely related to northern European languages).

I am fluent in many computer languages. My favourites are
  Python
  and C
  (also for AVR microcontrollers),
but I am also deeply at ease with
  shell scripting,
  C++,
  GTK/GUI,
and though I don't really love them, am also capable of
  Java/SOAP/RPC/WSDL/...,
  JSP/Velocity/...,
  XML/HTML/CSS/JavaScript/jQuery/...,
  SuperCollider audio programming,
and given a week's notice, certainly also <insert name of arbitrary computer language here>.

Since 2015, I am a software/hardware engineer in Berlin, Germany, for sysmocom.
I'm an active contributor to the Osmocom project (sponsored by sysmocom),
have done among other things a part of the recent 3G work,
UMTS AKA, the "death of the NITB" and dynamic voice/data channels in 2G.
At the last congresses (33C3...) I helped run the GSM network.

Before that, I have worked for elego Software Solutions GmbH (since 2005).
Still before that I have been with zenAptix during my studies in South Africa
and the late y2k-startup yoolia.com in Berlin.

I design and build electronic devices, usually for musicians, but also for theatrical use,
mostly employing AVR 8-bit microcontrollers.

Since 2008, I had been a developer of the Apache™ Subversion® project
(more lurking at the moment).

I have completed my studies in Technische Informatik at the TU Berlin,
which is half electronic engineering and half computer science,
and have obtained the German title of Dipl. Ing. to add to my name.
The "first half" of my studies was completed at
Maties, a.k.a. University of Stellenbosch in the Western Cape, South Africa,
for the Bachelor of Electric and Electronic Engineering.
Among other things, I studied in-depth
  circuit design,
  voice recognition,
  signal processing (medical and audiovisual, filter design...),
  computer vision:
    automatic object recognition/classification
    and 3D reconstruction from 2D images,
  and human audiovisual sensing.
Plus, to top that up:
  artistic audiovisual communication
  and basic wind turbine technology.

I thrive mostly in the GNU/Linux and OpenBSD worlds,
and I generally try to keep proprietary systems at arm's length.
Currently, my favourite distribution is debian (testing) with an i3 desktop.

I love/hate KiCad for printed circuit designs.
I have also worked with Eagle, kludgy.

I have etched my own circuit boards using my own adaptation of the toner transfer method.
However, to reach 0.1mm precision and to have vias without soldering,
I often prefer ordering circuit boards from a professional manufacturer.

I am also proficient in graphical design using open tools, my favourites being
  Inkscape,
  the Gimp
  and Python driven direct creation of SVG vector graphics files.
I often designed the T-shirts for Subversion hackathons held in Berlin.

For typesetting and presentations, I like to use asciidoc :)

Once, I helped out the Lemgo primary school to carry out the desired new design of their website.
(Content is of course managed by school members, not me.)

I have a github account at github.com/neeels,
using a lot of
  git
for Osmocom but privately I also use
  Mercurial,
  and Fossil
  (Subversion not anymore really)
for my version control needs.
Well, also Bazaar if I really have to.

I am a member of the IN-Berlin e.V.,
who are hosting this website as well as my mail and chat addresses,
and which is the perfect hoster for FLOSS hackers like me.

A few years ago, I have discovered trick kiting as a fascinating pastime,
and I often visit the nearby Tempelhofer Feld to practise my trick skills.
I have so far built two kites myself, the first being the Organic Schwalbe.










4.0 kb neels-pub-old.gpg 2013-03-21 22:59
3.0 kb neels-pub.gpg 2015-03-30 16:37
login 2018-06-05 03:07