Today we talk to Cory Anotado, a good friend of mine and a graduate of La Salle University’s Digital Art and Multimedia Design program. Sadly, since we did this interview, he’s moved down to Baltimore to be an Interactive Production Developer at GKV Communications. However, we’re being nice and posting it anyway.

Of all the geeks I know, Cory is hands-down the biggest game geek, and I’m not talking video games.

How did you get into loving game shows so much?

I blame my grandmother for keeping the TV on while she watched me when I was a kid. Family Feud was at 10, and then the Price is Right was at 11. Various cable game shows, like Press Your Luck, Debt and some USA originals were in the afternoon. Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune came on at 7. I suppose saturation breeds obsession.

Tell me about your favorite game show and why.

Narrowing my favorite game show down to one is an oft-requested, futile task. If it’s based on current consumption, then it would be the British game show QI: Quite Interesting. It’s a panel show flanked at the help by Stephen Fry. They ask seemingly simple questions like, “Who was the first President of the United States? And give the seemingly complex (and quite interesting) answer of “Peyton Randolph.” Other shows I enjoy are Pointless (a British game show best described as ‘Backwards Family Feud’), Jeopardy!, Press Your Luck and Family Feud.

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Philadelphia’s very own Red Tettemer + Partners, still hot on the heels with being the first Philly ad agency to create a Super Bowl ad, has just cooked up something sweet for The Melting Pot this Valentine’s Day.

They’ve created a simple app for the chain of restaurants called Cupid’s Fondue Forks for a contest running through February 17th. It’s accessible from the Melting Pot’s Facebook page.

Basically, like the Melting Pot on Facebook, enter the app and launch a fork at someone you’ve got your sights set on. Flinging that fork enters you a chance at winning one of 10 $100 gift cards. Ten randomly-selected winners will be announced on February 21st.

Good luck!

The Melting Pot Restaurants on Facebook

We could spend hours unexpectedly discussing Star Trek; from the good, the bad and to the ugly, error-riddled decision making of Captain Janeway. Why not join a crew of Trekkies at the regular Philadelphia Star Trek meetups?

The next meetup is happening at 2pm on Sunday, February 12th at the hackerspace Hive76. From what we’re told, attendees will be watching back-to-back episodes of The Original Series and The Next Generation. Rounding out the afternoon will be a co-operative starship bridge simulation using Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulation with a Star Trek mod on top.

The folks at Hive76 tell us it’s essentially a live-action roleplaying game aided by computers, and they’re seeking to complete their bridge crew with an engineering and science officers. Do you have what it takes to be Spock of Scotty?

Philadelphia Star Trek February Meetup
2pm @ Hive76
915 Spring Garden St. Suite 519
Philadelphia, PA 19123

Our favorite omnipotent being is coming to our beloved Brave New Worlds comic book shop in Old City. John de Lancie, an actual Philadelphia native, is best known for portraying Q, the all-knowing and all-powerful being from the Star Trek universe. He’ll be at the store signing autographs (for $25) on Saturday the 21st.

I might be there to geek out and harass him with questions such as, “Have you seen the hysterical stuff that George Takei posts on Facebook?”, “Wasn’t there a TNG episode where Riker manages to seduce a female Q or am I just making that up?”,”Wasn’t Janeway the absolute worst captain in Starfleet history?”

Head over to Brave New Worlds, and stock up on comics while you’re at it. Meanwhile, ask de Lancie about his guest appearances on Law & Order: LA or Torchwood: Miracle Day and voice work for Cartoon Network’s Young Justice. Actually, ask him how he felt about being a villain on “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” I really want to know about that.

Q is Coming
Saturday, January 21st, 2012

Brave New Worlds
45 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
www.bravenewworldscomics.com

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol continues to kill it in theaters. And while I may not be chasing down terrorists or jumping off of buildings, I’m currently rocking one of the several Giorgio Brutini styles featured in the film. Unlike my assortment of sneakers, I prefer most of my dress shoes (or boots in this case) to be the opposite of garish and showy.

I find that the plain-toe is simple enough to go well with any kind of pants, while the six-inch zip-up boot offers up some nice ankle support. Style 660141 as it’s known, is made with 100% calf leather, which breathes well enough to wear all day. While I may not be kicking any bad guys in the face with them, my feet feel fine after a day of going to and from the cube farm or walking around town.

Other shoes featured in the film include Style 660451 loafers with tassels, and Style 130811 (under the GBX brand name) two eyelet oxfords. See if you can spot them.

For this week’s Geek of the Week, we talk to Matt Campana, local musician and composer. His work includes an arrangement for the Video Games Live orchestral show, and music cues for Drexel University.

I hope the name of this Drexel U and Berklee College of Music alum sounds familiar to you, as we posted about him back in September.

You’re known for your work in music, how did you get into it?

I started piano lessons in Kindergarten and I took them until 4th grade when we could no longer afford them. That hardship was actually a blessing in disguise. I didn’t play piano for a little because of this, but that’s when I began to develop my “ear” for music.

I started taking lessons again in high school. Due to my ear training any my lessons, I can hear music and play it almost verbatim as to what’s in my head. So, when I hear music it is easy to record it out on the keyboard, edit it, and eventually create a score from it.

At this point, how many instruments can you play?

I play the piano as my primary instrument. I realized that this would be my instrument when someone showed me you could digitally play other instruments using computer software. That’s how I achieve such epic sounds in my music.

However, I also love playing the guitar. I used to carry my guitar around campus so that my friends and I could jam. I was in the Filipino Intercultural Society at Drexel University (FISDU) for all four years of college. Guitar is a staple of FISDU hangouts. It helped me make friends.

I also know enough violin and drums to compose for it and enough drum technique to program for it when recording my music.

Tell me more about your work with Video Games Live. What did you do? I went to VGL once in Anaheim, CA at BlizzCon. Do you know any sweet Blizzard tracks?

I have worked with Video Games Live for 40+ shows. For the show, I have done everything from running a pre-show Guitar Hero competition, managing volunteers to actually intro MC-ing the show in front of 3,200+ people on Broadway. The largest credit I received was for my stage production work with them on their PBS national broadcast Blu-ray release. I helped in the setup and flow of the live event, ensuring on-stage events happened on time. It went beautifully and it’s available on iTunes!

Speaking of Blizzard, I was once backstage when three-time Emmy award-winning composer, Russel Brower (WoW/SC composer) walked over. He had his laptop with him and proceeded to show my boss, Tommy Tallarico, the then-unreleased theme of StarCraft II. I almost died, I was so glad I brought a change of pants. It was the “Wings of Liberty” title track; it’s incredibly intricate. That was definitely a highlight. (more…)

Today we talk to Tyler R. Westnedge, Film major turned Web/Interactive guy. He’s currently the Director of At Media, a full-service branding agency in Old City.

Tyler, you seem to be a pretty well-rounded creative guy. What advice do you have for anyone looking to make the move from something like theater or film to web design and development?

I went to Temple University for Film and Media Arts, and one of the most important parts of Film to me was composition. Composition plays a major role in design, layout and usability. The transition is not easy, since the web industry is rapidly changing with new trends and technologies. It takes constant attention and research to stay on top of web design and development.

A majority of my training came from lynda.com (a site with video tutorials on just about any program, software or programming language). I still use it on a monthly basis to expand my skill-set, but now I’m taking on more leadership and entrepreneurial responsibilities (project management, employee management, business development, etc.). My advice would be to do your research, take online classes and training to expand your abilities and put your knowledge to work with real projects.

So what kind of geek are you?

I’m a tech and gadget geek, and have always been. I have a deep appreciation for Apple products and pretty much anything digital. My admiration for Apple products stems from the fact that I appreciate the use of quality design in coordination with technology. Hence the At Media name standing for Art & Technology among other things. (more…)

Today’s Geek of the Week is Greg Lobanov, a student at Drexel University.

He’s roughly a decade younger than the average Geekadelphia writer and already cranking out multiple video games, effectively making us oldheads look bad.

Are you currently in school? Where do you go and what for?

I attend Drexel University, studying Digital Media. I’m currently in my second year, and it’s been quite a learning experience thus far. It’s been my first time working with 3D modeling and animation, I must say it’s been quite a challenge.

How did you get into game design?

I can’t pin it to a single moment or reason—from a very young age I enjoyed making games, though back then it was with paper, cardboard and markers. Something about it felt very natural to me, defining rules of play and making the pieces. I also loved drawing comics and writing stories to go with them. When I started to get into computers and the internet, all those things got tangled up, until some point I was making computer games.

What kind of games or people inspire you?

I think the best (and most inspiring) games are the ones that give the best “feel.” You might be thinking that’s very vague, but I stand by it. I find a lot of games very interesting and effective for all very unique reasons. The qualities that make a good game are far from universal; they’re hard to define in strict germs. Generally, I think that you can realize a game is great from the point of being able to nearly feel the passion that the artists and designers put into it. That passion transfers into my own work.

I liken myself to director Quentin Tarantino and musician James Murphy in the respect that my inspirations are often shown very clearly through my work and combining them in unique ways. (more…)

Today’s Geek of the Week column features Brad Guigar, local graphic artist and web comic cartoonist.

Some of you might know this talented local guy from a number of his projects, including Greystone Inn and Evil Inc. Brad was kind enough to chat with me about his background in comic drawing, his inspirations, and how he creates such fabulous pieces of art.

Tell me a little bit about your history with comic drawing. How did you get started?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a cartoonist. I remember getting How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way when I was about eight years old and carrying it with me everywhere. In college, I subscribed to the Detroit Free Press for one reason and one reason alone: Bloom County.

Without giving too many trade secrets away, what’s your usual process? What traditional or digital tools do you use?

I work in traditional pen-and-ink on a heavy Bristol board. I scan in the illustrations, doing touch-ups in Photoshop, add the lettering in InDesign, and send the master files to Ed Ryzowski, who has been coloring Evil Inc for several years now. He returns two versions, a high-res file for print and a low res file for Web. Typically, I have between two and six weeks of buffer – comics that are completely prepped and ready to be updated on the site.

The high-res files are then forwarded to the newspapers that I self-syndicate the strip to. (The Philadelphia Daily News for one) and reformatted into graphic novels, which I sell on my site.

How long have you been publishing your comics on the web?

I started in 2000 with Greystone Inn and switched to Evil Inc. in June 2005.

I’m a huge proponent of what self-publishing on the Web can do for creative professionals. In 2008, I co-wrote How to Make Webcomics which described the “webcomics business model” of making money by giving away your content for free. The book was extremely successful (it’s currently in its third printing) and it launched Webcomics.com, a site I run to offer advice and tutorials to other webcartoonists. (more…)

“It Could Be Great” Official Teaser 1 from Adam Evans on Vimeo.

Adam Evans, a junior in Temple University’s film program is currently working, “It Could Be Great”, a documentary for IGN’s StarCraft II tournament, IPL 3.

He joined some of the best players in the world, their fans, the tech crews, announcers and broadcasters in Atlantic City in early October of the period of four days to attain about 7 hours worth of footage for what will ultimately be a 40-60 minute runtime. In layman’s terms, IPL 3 (organized by popular gaming website, IGN) is one of the fastest-growing competitive gaming tournaments in the US, with winners competing for a total of $100,000 in prize money.

Originally introduced to the original game through the oft-forgotten Nintendo 64 port, Evans returned to the franchise with the long-awaited sequel, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty last September. After getting hooked on Justin.tv, a site to which he’d refer to for gaming strategies, watching tournaments soon eclipsed actual gameplay. “Before I decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker in middle school, I wanted to be a game designer. I’ve been a part of game culture since I was a kid. So upon seeing how quickly e-sport is growing in the US, I decided that I’d love to do a documentary on the subject.” states Evans.

His ultimate goal with the film is to elevate the exposure and prominence of e-sports and the culture that surrounds it. And in the very least Evans says, “I hope it motivates someone to either get into the scene, or to get them vocal about how much they appreciate what these people do for our entertainment and for our sub-culture. This film is a tribute to the fans and that is the audience I’m hoping to capture.” Though, he does hope to garner the attention of those from outside of the community. Evans is motivated so much that aside from the blessing of IGN and some resources as a filmmaker from Temple, he supplied the $500 budget to create this film completely out-of-pocket.

Conservatively speaking, he tells us the project should be finished within the next few months, before the end of the year. Speaking for a lot of people, I can safely say that some of us are very big fans of StarCraft (and Blizzard Entertainment in general). Personally, I was impressed by both the size of the gathered crowd and the sheer fact that there was a massive projection screen of a StarCraft II tournament (with play-by-play announcer) at New York Comic Con this year. If that’s any indication, this bootstrapped, passion-empowered film project should be a roaring hit.

I had the chance to stop by and chat with the folks over at Storably the other day. Founded in the summer and launched a few weeks ago, this Philly-based startup aims to resolve the challenges associated with finding a decently priced parking spot or a convenient storage location.

Early this year, co-founders Apu Gupta and Josh Kowitt both came to the realization that there was an opportunity to match the free spaces people have to the spaces people need. Kowitt was already taking in requests from friends to store stuff in his basement, while Gupta was growing frustrated with parking availability. “In many respects, Storably is like the AirBnB of parking and storage.” says CEO, Apu Gupta.

Gupta and Kowitt launched their community marketplace to utilize unused or underused spaces. There’s a benefit for two types of customers here: people who’ve got spare space and people who need it. That’s simple enough right? If you’ve got space to spare, they’re providing an easy way to generate some income.

If you’re looking for space, they’re providing some options that normally don’t arise. For example, say I owned a mansion in Queen Village and wanted to rent out one of my driveways, I could let Johnny Commuter park his Ford Tempo next to one of my spare Audis.

If only I had space to spare though, it’d be great to make some passive income. The Storably folks are pretty confident that sites such as AirBnB and RelayRides demonstrate that people are becoming comfortable with these types of concepts. They felt that parking and self-storage was the inevitable next step.

Community Manager Brendan Lowry reading his second or third favorite blog.

For those who follow the startup scene, Storably is actually based in the former office of Venmo. Timing worked out well when Venmo [secretly] moved to NYC a few months back, as speculated by Technically Philly. Hopefully, our new friends at Storably can meet comparable success coming out of that sweet Rittenhouse-area office.

Go ahead, browse some listings for parking or storage. Or perhaps, clear out that Hoarders-attic of yours and profit off of somebody else’s hoarding: www.storably.com

Many people know that cars are probably one of my most favorite things, ever. I honestly can’t think of many things that can so beautifully combine engineering, technology and design in one functional necessity. The automobile has permanently shaped the progress of the entire world for the past one hundred years.

It’s in partial thanks to cars that cities have become such large sprawling metropolises and allowed for less of a separation between city and countryside. I could go on and on how cars have shaped our society, influenced our terrain and landscape, and have also caused concern for the environment.

However, I’ll let Michael Furman, automotive photographer, give his insight as a chronicler, designer and author. He’ll be presenting some of the most beautiful and important cars of the last one hundred years as part of DesignPhiladelphia.

The Art of the Automobile: A Presentation by Michael Furman
(part of DesignPhiladelphia)
12pm, Sunday, October 23

Simeone Automobile Foundation Museum
6825-31 Norwitch Dr.
Philadelphia, PA 19153