RIA

First, a quick introduction. What’s your name, and what do you do?

My name is Anders Figenschow, and I am a flash developer in Creuna Norway.

Picture of Anders Figenschow, Creuna Norway

This is me.  I am not so scary, really.

And who are you off-duty?

Anders aka PsychoFreud, musician, spiritual thinker, beloved husband, eager chef, adventurer and superhero.

Anders Figenschow

What got you started doing what you do?

My way has been long, and started out in high school 1993-1995 where I learned programming (Turbo Pascal).  Since then I have
been moving through different work areas, like database hosting, Coldfusion developing, unix hosting (DNS, Apache, routers, the works), and flash actionscripting.

I ended up working with actionscript because that made it possible to work with Andreas who is awesome and is also a musician and superhero.

What have your greatest inspirations been, and why?

My greatest inspirations are not within the areas of programming at all, but are musicians, games and movies.  What makes me inspired is stuff with soul, where the author of
the work lets true feelings shine through.  Some times you don’t know what it is that makes something truly special, you can’t put your finger on it, but there’s that extra something
which makes me inspired and leads me to make whatever I am making.

Have there been any paradigm shifts in your career?

Not that I can think of.  Every day is a new day.

If you could change one part of your industry, what would that be?

I would love to see Adobe make flash 100% hardware accelerated.

What is a perfect day on the job?

I arrive at 8:30, and find the fruit basket recently filled up.  I grab a banana and any citrus fruit and move upstairs for a hot cup of cocoa.
On the way back I have a chat with Yonas about how the weekend was, and what project he is working on at the moment.  I get back to my desk about 10 minutes after
and go through my email, where everyone praises my work and loves me for who I am.  The day is perfect because I am not late on my current assignment and everything
is going according to plan.  I come up with a super cool idea for a project a client would love to have once we tell him about it, and we set it in motion.
Cristobal doesn’t tackle me to the ground and puts me in a submission hold so I have to tap out.  I didn’t even have to use my AK.  I gotta say it was a good day.

What’s your favorite piece of music?

Anders Figenschow

I am a big fan of the reggae music, and like to see myself as a walking reggae encyclopedia.  Contrary to belief, reggae is actually much more than just Bob Marley.  In fact,
the genre has grown in popularity the last 20 or so years and have some very good artists to date.  Whenever I hear a new pop hit these days I can hear elements or outright stolen
elements from some of the latest reggae and dancehall tunes coming out of Jamaica.  Still, the tunes coming out of the small island has more soul and sounds way better in any way
than most of the crap being played on radio today.

Oh, what’s my favorite piece of music…  Vintage reggae artists like Garnett Silk, Johnny Osbourne, Sammy Dread, Glen Washington, Jah Mason, Sizzla, Capleton, and many others.
I have a big list.

I am also a fan of hiphop, drumandbass, ambient, soul and (old) r’n'b, electro, salsa and tango.
The list of artists is way to big, I am a huge fan of music.

I have been producing and dj’ing hiphop, reggae, drumandbass and much more for over 15 years, and released some of the earliest hiphop albums in Norway.

What’s your favorite book?

I don’t read fiction, but at the same time I am a big student of philosophy and religion.
One of my favorite books must be “Zen mind, beginners mind” by Shunryu Suzuki-roshi.

Who is your daddy, and what does he do?

Detective John Kimble!
He’s a cop you idiot!!!

Any parting words?

Feel free to drop me an email or come by my desk to discuss anything work-related or non work-related.
I will be very happy to help you out if you need it, or have a chat.