Growing up in Cambridge during the eighties leaves its mark on young minds. An early diet of BASIC programming led to studies in artificial intelligence and a dot com career path. After several years immersed in database schemas and Java code, a foray into digital arts restored his love for interactive development. Subsequent adventures include games with cartoon monsters, spells in San Francisco and a forest of musical trees. Since joining the Guardian, where he is now lead interactive technologist, he’s built everything from sporting guides to swingometers and is helping to define how rich media and data visualization play a role in the newsrooms of the future.