14 September 2008, 14:12 by mark hoekstra

Hacking IKEA in Amsterdam

Last Friday I went to Amsterdam, first to visit the IKEA and afterwards to visit the exhibition Platform 21 = Hacking IKEA. The nice people of Platform 21 asked me a while ago if I could make something for this exhibition and of course I could! I’m quite thrilled that my project is part of this exhibition and last Friday (which also happened to be my birthday ^_^) I went there for the opening of the exhibition.


my project at Platform 21 = Hacking IKEA
click to enlarge

But… before I went to Platform21, I was supposed to meet with a reporter from RTL4, a Dutch TV broadcaster, because, for an item about this exhibition, they wanted to have a tour through the IKEA with ‘a hacker’. So, sure, why not? *^_^*

Here’s an excerpt of the item that aired last Friday on Dutch national television:


a direct link to the video on youtube

a link to the full episode of Editie NL

It was a nice experience, I really enjoyed cooperating with all the IKEA hacking that is going on in Amsterdam right now.


a picture of the opening night of Platform 21 = Hacking IKEA
click on the picture to go to my flickr set of this exhibition

UPDATE

Bright.tv posted an item too, from my Bright colleague Florine (disclaimer: I work for them)(another disclaimer: this video does feature my love toy *^_^*)


click to go to bright.tv

If you’re in Amsterdam any of the coming days/weeks, you can visit the exhibition at:

Platform 21
Prinses Irenestraat 19
1077 WT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Open Wed – Sun, 14:00 – 21:00

related:

Platform21
Premsela
Ridiculous Design Rules: Form Follows Function Case Study
Amsterdam Weekly Issue 34 – page 7
NOS Headlines
my flickr set about Hacking IKEA
full episode of Editie NL of september 12th

permalink - add to del.icio.us

  1. Jos @ 16 September 2008, 08:29 :

    Just wanted to point out this blog, it might interest you. Or you might interest them. Either way:

    http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/



  2. John Avitable @ 16 September 2008, 16:57 :

    I wish I new Dutch, I had no clue what they were saying except for the occasional seemingly random placed English phrase :(



  3. Ethan @ 20 September 2008, 19:50 :

    Very sad news has just been made public on Makezine:

    I’m very sorry to report that Mark has passed away, he had just turn 34. :’( :’(

    http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2008/09/sad_news_mark_hoekstra_of.html

    The world has lost such a wonderful creative and technical person, I’m totally lost for words now….



  4. Dick @ 20 September 2008, 21:11 :

    Rest In Peace, Mark. You were a very creative guy and I really enjoyed your posts and projects.

    I wish your friends and family all the best…



  5. Tamás @ 20 September 2008, 21:16 :

    I just simply can’t believe! I liked him very much, and his projects too. Rest in piece Mark!



  6. Bor @ 20 September 2008, 22:44 :

    I can’t believe it.

    Rest in peace.



  7. Abe @ 21 September 2008, 00:29 :

    Really sad :-(

    Rest In Peace.



  8. mrbob1000 @ 21 September 2008, 01:32 :

    i will miss you…

    rest in peace. you will never be forgotten, you will never die in the hearts of us geeks



  9. mastershake916 @ 21 September 2008, 01:40 :

    Bikes, tech, you were my kind of guy.
    R.I.P.



  10. Intruder @ 21 September 2008, 02:13 :

    ByeBye Mark …



  11. Rool @ 21 September 2008, 03:07 :

    So sad
    See you ;)



  12. dangman4ever @ 21 September 2008, 06:29 :

    Rest In Peace young friend.



  13. Aaress @ 21 September 2008, 06:56 :

    This is very sad news! His family is in my prayers.

    His hacks and ideas will be missed. May God give his family peace during this time.



  14. LUIGI @ 21 September 2008, 08:13 :

    I can’t belive it!
    You will be always in our heart.

    R.I.P.



  15. w00tb0t @ 21 September 2008, 08:24 :

    Hack in piece Mark,

    Its really sad to see you go,

    Hopefully your in a place with all the hardware you can chew on.



  16. John @ 21 September 2008, 08:27 :

    The world has lost a very creative and brilliant mind.
    R.I.P.



  17. RigoR MorteM @ 21 September 2008, 09:41 :

    you was my inspiration on using old SGI hardware…
    Haci in peace, Mark, may the old SGI God be with you.



  18. Joeri @ 21 September 2008, 10:26 :

    Rest in piece Mark, so sad to hear that you left the land of the living :-(



  19. dylan @ 21 September 2008, 10:59 :

    RIP, you will be missed :(



  20. bravozulu @ 21 September 2008, 11:17 :

    You shared your inspirations, which inspires us all.



  21. Alrayyes @ 21 September 2008, 12:47 :

    Hack in Peace!



  22. David @ 21 September 2008, 13:18 :

    ...goodbye. I’m lost for words at this news of your death. Your blogging was so informative, entertaining…rest in piece, I can only hope you’re hacking in heaven now….



  23. pmarin @ 21 September 2008, 15:24 :

    thank you for all your crazy hacks? i am sure that you are now in the hacker Eden.



  24. Przemek [PL] @ 21 September 2008, 17:48 :

    ...I can’t believe it…



  25. daniel andrade @ 21 September 2008, 18:25 :

    R.I.P mate, you wont be forgiven!

    keep haking on heaven!



  26. Raggamofyn @ 21 September 2008, 20:21 :

    No one quite did it like you, mate.



  27. Rob @ 21 September 2008, 22:14 :

    Oh my god, this can’t be true..

    I’m so shocked, you just seemed to be so happy with your girl.. And now your body stops working.

    I greatly admired your kind of humor and your will to play with technology.

    Your spirit goes on Mark, we won’t forget you..

    Rob



  28. Mattnh @ 22 September 2008, 00:21 :

    You will be missed.



  29. victoria @ 22 September 2008, 00:22 :

    it’s so nice so see all this comments, mark must be happy where he is. you’re everything markie.



  30. Mattnh @ 22 September 2008, 00:36 :

    Victoria, I can only wish you strenght.



  31. Ansel Pol @ 22 September 2008, 05:40 :

    Despite the fact that a day has passed since I first read the tragic news on Hackaday, I’m still in a state of disbelief and probably an unfit state to comment, but however incoherent this is, it’s better written down than locked inside my head and if I were to attempt to arrange my disparate thoughts I’d never get that done.

    The precursor to my discovery of the news was that I was backing up the contents of a hard drive on the verge of failure and at one point I reattached my screen session to see how it was going, to find that it was copying the TAR of the root filesystem of Mark’s netbooting Indy, which prompted me to pull up my RSS reader to see whether he’d posted anything new here since I hadn’t checked for a few days. As there wasn’t anything, I figured he was probably just busy with other commitments. As there were a few new posts on Hackaday, I decided to check through those and that’s when I made the discovery and was speechless. Although I’ve read other reports, such as Bright’s and Make’s, I still haven’t come to terms with it.

    I’ve been avidly lurking for years and have found his work truly inspirational. I suppose it’s a testament to the amount of personality he put into this site, as well as to the unity of the hacking community that, although I didn’t know him at all and the only contact I had (albeit indirectly, via this commenting system) was a solitary comment on his Indy project, I concur with a comment on Hackaday, in that it feels as if I’ve lost a close friend or family member. His charisma was one of the things that made this site stand out amongst the myriad other blogs out there.

    The truly awful part, and undoubtedly the reason why I’m still in a state of disbelief, is the nature of his death: a severe (not even just mild) heart attack at the age of (only just) 34, and he seemed perfectly healthy. I’m still half expecting to realise that this is just some terrible dream, wake up, visit this site and find a new post and no trace of any of this, but unfortunately that’s not the case.

    I also wish to echo the concerns of another Hackaday commenter regarding the potential fate of this site, given that it’s on his own dedicated server and that he’s stated in the past that a lot of his resources went into its upkeep.

    My condolences go out to his family, friends and Victoria.

    R.I.P.



  32. Chris @ 22 September 2008, 06:59 :

    That really sucks. When I saw the news on TUAW, my jaw hit the floor and I swear it took me a few hours to pick it back up.

    RIP, Mark, I’ve only been a reader since 2004, but I’ve grown an insane appreciation for what you do.

    Your blog will never leave my bookmarks bar, even if the domain comes under a new owner.

    I only wish you hack heaven itself and make a triumphant return in a mech body.



  33. Korrey @ 22 September 2008, 14:18 :

    Sad, very sad, I have no words… :’-(



  34. Steve @ 22 September 2008, 15:34 :

    HAHAHA. That’ll teach you to try and mod things you ought not be modding. Let this serve as a lesson to all of you that think it is okay to modify products and void warranties.



  35. jolijn @ 22 September 2008, 17:04 :

    that was really uncalled for steve…
    also very heartless. tough guy with the worst sense of humour. I hope you feel good about yourself.

    mark was my friend, and i hate that he had to go.
    He was a great guy who didn’t deserve this at all.

    so screw you and get a life



  36. Steve @ 22 September 2008, 19:07 :

    Heartless…yes.
    Tough guy…yes.
    Uncalled for…maybe.
    Worst sense of humor…I think not!

    Regardless, voiding warranties is a serious issue. One of the most serious issues affecting Americans today. And might I remind you, it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty.
    No, No I kid.
    It does.



  37. s1axter @ 22 September 2008, 19:53 :

    You will be missed



  38. Jordan @ 22 September 2008, 19:59 :

    Hack in Peace Mark. I am sure he has finally found a place where he can smoke and hack all day without anyone bothering him.

    I just wget’ted the site, and in the event that the domain goes up for bidding I may end up hosting this same site (without updates or changes) as a a memorial.

    Victoria, we are all so sorry for your loss and pray that you will find peace in this situation.



  39. Jim @ 22 September 2008, 21:36 :

    Having followed geek technique since the early days I was extremely saddened to hear of Mark’s passing.

    R.I.P markie :-(



As mentioned in the Message from Mark's family this site has been made static. This means that it will be no longer possible to comment on his ideas and projects, but that we all can continue to cherish his creativity.

previous: Ten years of Google

next: Mark Hoekstra has passed away