Blog
In 2007, I started this website so I could share my MSc thesis easily. I started blogging random thoughts that were on my mind, mostly related to theology, culture, and humour. I moved part of this to Tumblr, and a dedicated culture review site in 2010 (it no longer exists), but when I joined Automattic in 2015, I revamped my blog. These days, it’s mostly a space where I share photography and thoughts on leadership and tech. The latter is what you’ll find on this page.
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1–2 minutes
Omnichannel at WooCommerce
Last week I spoke at Webwinkel Vakdagen in Utrecht (NL), one of the biggest eCommerce conferences in Europe (with 11,000+ visitors). My talk was about how WooCommerce extensions in almost 99% of the cases are purchased on desktop, and that this is normal since webshop development is still mostly done sitting behind the computer. That…
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1–2 minutes
Spectre (2015)
My review of the new James Bond movie (and my first review for CULTURESHOCK in a long time)
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1–2 minutes
Hillsong and Creeds
Little over a year ago, I wrote this opinion piece on Hillsong and it’s great move toward including The Apostles’ Creed on their album. Singing this song in church yesterday morning made me happy seeing that this song is bringing the Creed into non-traditional churches.
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1–2 minutes
Help us Translate Sensei
Our company also has an LMS plugin (learning management system). We’ve now opened up the floor for everyone to help translate this plugin into other languages than English and I happy to announce that Dutch is one of the languages that’s almost at 100%. If you’d like to see Sensei in your native language: follow…
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1–2 minutes
Welcome to the New WordPress.com and WordPress.com App for Mac
I was quite skeptical towards the new interface at first, and I find myself going back to the wp-admin dashboard from time to time, but that’s decreasing fast. The new WordPress.com interface is fast and fun to work with. It focuses on writing and that’s exactly what WordPress is there for. The app (currently only…
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4–5 minutes
Anti-Flag’s Underground Network: Choose Your Covers Wisely
Around Easter in my second year of high school, I bought a guitar. My two best friends already had their instruments: a bass and drums. So the guitar was the only instrument that we still needed; we were going to play punk rock after all. We played for a while as My Mistake, but for most of our…
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1–2 minutes
Attempts at Making Websites: Macromedia Flash
I’ve started playing around with making websites over a decade ago. The first websites I put online were built with Flash. I know there is a lot of hate against Flash, and I remember it being a tedious work to get it right, especially if you don’t know code (like me). I had to make…
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3–5 minutes
Studying Scripture: Manuscript Studies
I’ve learnt a lot during my time at Ichtus Vlaanderen, and one of the many things was a Bible study method we called “Manuscript” study. Preparation It’s a reasonably simple approach in the sense that you can study Scripture this way with just about anyone. You take a decent translation (not too far from the source…
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1–2 minutes
Mouille Point, South Africa
At Automattic, we can work from wherever we want. My office today was at home. We’re hiring by the way.
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1–2 minutes
Get Luz’s Hermeneia Matthew Commentary FREE This Month from Logos (Gupta)
I’ve been very impressed with the deals at of Logos Bible Software this year. Luz’ Matthew commentary from the Hermeneia series for only $7? That is ridiculously cheap. (Part 2 is $2 and part 3 is $5.)
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3–4 minutes
My WooNiversary: One Year at WooThemes
Today I’m starting my second year at WooThemes. What a crazy, but awesome year it has been. Let me walk you through some (selected) highlights and challenges; it’s no surprise that those often are very related. Remote FTW Though I’ve never had fixed hours with any of my previous jobs, working remotely definitely adds another…
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2–3 minutes
Why I Use Mailbox App for Work
I’ve changed mail clients quite a few times in my life. From using Outlook when i was still on Windows to Mail on Mac and have trialled AirMail 2, Outlook for Mac, Inky, Postbox, and Unibox. After comparing pros and cons again while changing to my Automattic mail, I’ve reviewed all of them again and…
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1–2 minutes
Hugh’s Intro Slides for WordCamp Cape Town 2015
The latest WordCamp Cape Town was my fourth WordCamp (next to three Cape Town ones I also was at the last Cologne one). Hugh gives a great invite to make the best out of these superb community events. Learn! Get involved! Have fun!
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1–2 minutes
Purpose-Driven Website: Workshop WordCamp Cape Town 2015
Today I went to my third WordCamp Cape Town. Two years ago I had never guessed that I would be working for WooThemes and Automattic as I am today and it was my absolute pleasure to share some of the basics of web design and structures to new and beginning users. In sum these are things…
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4–6 minutes
The Importance of Reading Scripture in Community
Our church is Cape Town is running an Alpha Course. While these materials are great of exploring Christianity with interested people, the materials also have their shortcomings. One that stood out for me so far was the lack of community-focus when talking about Scripture. Today the ideal way to read the Bible is considered to be…
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2–3 minutes
Why I Loved Doing Live-Chat at Automattic
Everyone who joins Automattic starts with a three-week support rotation on WordPress.com. Including everyone at WooThemes now that our company has joined the team. The past three weeks I was on rotation. I could talk a lot about why I think this initial rotation (that is repeated annually) is great, but in this post, I…