Jan van Veldhuizen

I have over 40 years of experience as a programmer. My greatest interests are software development, artifical intelligence and foreign languages.

My love for computers began back in the 1970s when I studied mathematics.
From the moment I first worked with a computer, I was hooked.
It became my passion and field of expertise, where I have continued to follow the latest developments.

Lately, artificial intelligence has been my primary interest. I even give lectures about it.

For thirty years, I have worked as a programmer and software architect at Visma Onguard.
Open-source software is my strong preference. One of my most successful projects is the Outlook add-in JanBan.

Work and hobby seamlessly blend together for me. At home in Kortenhoef, I have my own server in the attic, where I constantly experiment and where this website also runs.

Aside from my passion for computers, I enjoy making music and learning foreign languages. As an organist, I regularly play at church.
Languages have a clear link to mathematics for me: whether programming or spoken languages, I enjoy delving into dictionaries, grammars, and manuals.

I am married, a father, and a grandfather. My wife and I are avid hikers and cyclists. Our longest cycling trip so far was to Santiago de Compostela in 2022.

This website is multilingual: some pages in Dutch, my native language; many in English, as it is the universal language among techies like me;
and Esperanto, which I find a very successful attempt at creating a universal language.

About that nickname Papa Smurf: a few years ago, colleagues came up with it for me, and since then, a Papa Smurf figure has stood on my desk. Hence the name of this website.