Hello! I'm Robin. I am or have been active on other wikis as well: on Meta and Wikimedia Incubator to help with the creation of new wikis, on Wikidata, the Dutch Wikipedia, the English Wiktionary, ...
See Meta for my central user page.
Some of my interests:
Languages (especially minority/endangered languages) and linguistics.
European Union; states/countries and their structure (political structure, infrastructure, ...)
Energy problem, renewable energy, global warming, ...
Internet, software (PHP, web apps), ...
LGBT rights
It usually changes from time to time on which wiki(s) and on what topics I am mostly active.
Below is mostly uninteresting random stuff that I once put here.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“
An encyclopedia ought to make good the failure to execute such a project hitherto, and should encompass not only the fields already covered by the academies, but each and every brand of human knowledge. This is a work that cannot be completed except by a society of men of letters and skilled workmen, each working separately on his own part, but all bound together solely by their zeal for the best interests of the human race and a feeling of mutual good will.
...is a country where almost all political parties are active in only one language area, which means the federal government requires a coalition of at least 2 parties, and usually more (6 are not uncommon)
...is a country where French-speakers can vote for French-speaking parties in a part of Flanders, whereas Dutch-speakers cannot vote for Dutch-speaking parties in any part of Wallonia
The remainder of its energy needs are produced from imported oil & coal. Icelandic New Energy was established to govern the project of transitioning it into the first hydrogen society by 2050.
Northern Spain more than half is renewable (up to 70,8%), Southern and Central Spain less. Madrid just 1.6%. Solar panels compulsory for new buildings.
Renewables contribute 19% of total electrical production, but about 4% of all energy usage. Only 20% of energy was consumed in the form of electricity by end users, the great majority of energy utilised being from the burning of oil (41%) and gas (36%).
From my point of view, we are "threatened" (linguistically) from the north and the south.
Language is what people speak, not what people "should" speak. Our official "Standard Dutch" language is just standardised Hollandic. We speak Flemish in Flanders, not Hollandic. Either classify it as a separate language, or recognise the differences and make it a variant of the Dutch standard.
Flemish (modern): the language(s) and dialect(s) spoken in the Flemish Region. There are various dialects of this lect, but it's unifying (in a natural way, not forced), called tussentaal.
Flanders
EU
Austria: Innsbruck, ...
Denmark: Copenhagen
Estonia: Tallinn
Finland: Åland Islands
France: Nord, Normandie, Provence, Paris, ...
Germany: Schwarzwald, Berlin, Köln, Aachen, Hanover, Düsseldorf, ...
Ireland: Dublin (very shortly)
Italy: Toscane, Rome, ...
Latvia: Riga
Lithuania: various
Luxembourg: various (multiple times)
Netherlands: various
Poland: shortly in Białystok, Warschau and Breslau
Sweden: Stockholm, Uppsala, Malmö, Göteborg, Arboga
Spain [few days]
Catalonia: Barcelona
United Kingdom
England: London, Canterbury, Dover, ...
Wallonia: various
Canada: Toronto, Niagara Falls, Montréal
Mexico: Mexico City
United States
California: San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles
District of Columbia
New York: New York City, Niagara Falls
Texas: a few hours in Dallas
India: Mumbai
Israel: Haifa, Jerusalem
United Arab Emirates [one night]: Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Rwanda [one night]: Kigali
South Africa: Cape Town
Brussels Airport (BRU) multiple times
EuroAirport Basel–Mulhouse–Freiburg (BSL) in 2014
Keflavík International Airport (KEF) in 2017
Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport (HRE) in 2018 (mid-flight layover, without leaving plane)
Landtag Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf
Niedersächsischer Landtag in Hanover
Province of Flemish Brabant >