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.

Photography has been a passion of mine for a long time as well. Lately, I’ve been really intrigued by mobile photography, and feel it will continue to gain more and more substance. There’s something about mobile photography, the happenstance of the photos and the moment of realness that fascinate me. For fun, I rehab furniture, so you may find me out on trash night looking for free finds.

As a fellow web designer, I’m 100% on your side regarding “Flash is Dead.” I’ve been saying that for years. (We need to high-five over some beers the day it finally dies.) Do you have any remarks about Adobe’s announcement that they’re throwing in the towel on Flash for mobile?

It’s kind of funny, because subconsciously I think I knew that Flash was dead for a long time. Well before the Adobe/Apple fall out, I refused to put any significant amount of time into learning Flash development. It was inevitable that the death of it would finally happen and I’m happy to say the least. Now if Internet Explorer could do the same, my life would be much easier.

Are you working on any cool projects (in or out of At Media) right now that you can talk about?
We are working on a few websites with really clean & timeless designs – Philadelphia Dietetic Association, Disability Law Advocates, and Chabaa Thai Bistro. We are also teaching a few Skillshare classes on brand presence. We have other projects in the works, that I’m not able to talk about yet, but I’ll be sure to keep you posted on Twitter: @twestnedge.

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Be sure to check out Tyler’s personal website: TWestnedge.com and keep up with the cool folks over at At Media: AtMediaDesign.com

Although he still hasn’t quite recaptured his 1970s popularity, Bigfoot has experienced a bit of a comeback in recent years thanks to everything from beef jerky ads to low-budget Lance Henriksen films. Perhaps no other medium has welcomed him back with open, not nearly as hairy arms more than comics. The past decade has seen the nutritiously elusive beast grace works written by the likes of Steve Niles, Pascal Girard and Graham Roumieu. Sadly, this Sasquatch renaissance has yet to impact the City of Brotherly Love in any tangible way. But that’s all about to change thanks to Chris McDonnell.

A co-founder of the Meathaus comics collective, member of the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society and instructor at the University of the Arts, McDonnell has just released Sasquatch’s Big Hairy Drawing Book. Billing itself as “120 pages of dynamic drawing diversions,” the book offers up plenty of terrific doodling opportunities. McDonnell’s imagery is best decribed as a mutated combination of Al Jaffee and Basil Wolverton whimsy with plenty of Yo Gabba Gabba!-style joy thrown in. (Which isn’t surprising given that he has contributed animation to the trippy show). Through drawing monsters and completing half-formed comics and jokes, the book allows readers to free their inner cartoonist — resulting in a joyous experience for kids of all ages.

I recently had the opportunity to ask McDonnell about the release.

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Why did you decide to do a children’s art book starring Sasquatch?

I like Sasquatch. The first page I drew with Sasquatch was titled, “Why is Sasquatch Crying?”. He is really upset on that page, and you have to fill in the bubble by drawing or writing to illustrate why he’s crying. My editor Jason Sacher suggested that that should be the title for the whole book and we went with that for a while, until changing it to get the word “drawing” in at the last minute. Once Sasquatch was in the title, I built a whole little story around it with more Sasquatch pages and a representation of me as a sneaky little ghost guy who steals all of Sasquatch’s ideas and later, offers you a drink of water.

At one point in the book, a drawing of Mad magazine appears. I found this fitting given how the tone of the book and the illustrations reminded me of classic Mad. What are some of your other influences?

Well, you got it. Reading Mad was a big part of my childhood. I read the paperback collections of the ‘60s and ‘70s Mad issues and then read the ‘80s and ‘90s issues. Looney Tunes, Jim Henson and Matt Groening were also huge influences on me growing up. Later, underground/independent comics and animation deeply seared themselves into my brain.

Philly is quite the hub for cartoonists these days. Along with an established figure like Charles Burns, we also have the Philly Cartoonist Society and the Autumn Society organizations regularly holdng events throughout the city. Why do you think that our area is such a fertile breeding ground for talented illustrators and cartoonists?

I teach a class at the University of the Arts and I know that they have loads of students there who are seriously excited about comics and cartooning. I imagine the other art schools in town have a similar situation. The comics societies are the backbone of the Philly scene, and now there is the annual Philadelphia Alt Comic Con serving as our own MoCCA, SPX or APE show (all small comics shows that feature the independent comics artist). Finally I don’t have to lug all my books really far away to exhibit at one of these fun shows. All these things come together now that people can find each other online easily and suddenly Philly is a place full of comics meet ups and happenings.

Are you concerned that those in the pro-Bigfoot camp will accuse you and this book of Sasquatchploitation?

I would ask them to not jump to any conclusions and just take a deeper look at what I’m trying to do here and see that I’m no anti-Bigfoot bigot.

What projects are you working on now?

I’m teaching animation at UArts, designing a book for Universe called The SyFy Book of Sci-Fi, and animating some dancing human organs for the Adult Swim show, Eagleheart.

Any final words for Geekadelphia readers?

I like it here, mind if I stay awhile?

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Chronicle Books has graciously allowed Geekadelphia to give away two copies of Sasquatch’s Big Hairy Drawing Book. To win, simply make a comment below. Winners will be chosen at random.

On October 4th, Apple announced the successor to the iPhone 4 under a series of speculation, leaks and rumors leading consumers to believe (and some to expect) the debut of the phantom iPhone 5. What we were in fact introduced to was a modified upgrade in the form of iPhone 4S. Subsequently this would be the last Apple product that Steve Jobs would see presented to the world. It’s been heralded as a tremendous leap forward in innovation and technology. Quell all of the hype and settle down the fanboys, I’m here to tell you geeks whether it’s worth the upgrade.

Critics of the iPhone 4 form factor will not see much of an aesthetic upgrade to the case and physical appearance. All of the improvements to the 4S have been made under the hood. Boasting an A5 dual core processor with speeds up to 7x faster, the iPhone 4S posted impressive benchmark scores when compared to its predecessor. Battery life patterns remained relatively similar to that of my iPhone 4. I personally never managed to get more than 4-5MBPS on AT&T’s 3G network here in Philadelphia. The device is still hampered by 3G limitations in the absence of a true high speed LTE connection even with improvements made to the Safari browser in iOS5. On the bright side, Apple did finally correct the antenna death-grip issues that plagued users of the iPhone 4 causing loss of cellular reception simply by holding it a certain way.

However, many things have improved elsewhere. Those looking to eliminate a gadget can find a serviceable camera with an integrated 8-megapixel camera. Raw images are shot in stunning 2448×3264 resolution. Apple stepped up the video functionality shooting at full 1080p high definition along with HDMI playback capability. Stream to Apple TV or media center for seamless integration. Apple has essentially eliminated the point-and-click camera once and for all. Improved flash functions show a distinct comparison when compared to the camera on 3G/3GS models. The results are clearly striking which makes this upgrade for all third generation owners a no brainer.

The most highly touted feature of the iPhone 4S is its voice control technology and it’s exclusive to iPhone 4S owners. Upgraders will quickly become attached to Siri, your own voice activated personal assistant. Where Siri really shines is getting tasks done without having to unlock your phone or for hands-free iPhone access while driving. Siri can intelligently accept many types of commands and fulfill requests for things like weather conditions, appointment scheduling, sending and responding to SMS messages/emails, finding nearby restaurants sorted by Yelp reviews and even Google Maps integrated traffic updates.

Siri’s quirks and personality may initially take some getting used to but it’s only a matter of time until developers utilize iOS5 to create customized voice-overs. Think about how awesome it would be to have Darth Vader or C3P0 respond to your every beckon call! Siri can even decipher the context in what your say as well as to whom you are referring to in your requests and then respond accordingly. We have yet to see Siri’s full potential as Apple claims that it is technically still in beta. We’re excited for the possibilities that come with third-party app integration.

I suspect third generation users to be the most excited about these improvements and those who would be most eager to upgrade. There is also more than enough here for an Android user to make a switch. Conversely, for the average iPhone 4 user, these may appear more like subtle enhancements than improvements. If you’re hesitating, then it’s probably not time for you to upgrade. The Siri technology is still technically in beta and evolving considerably. Ultimately, the iPhone 4S release follows the pattern of most Apple products: something cool comes out a few months later that’s better than what you currently have and now you must have it. But to those people who have been hanging on with 3GS, 3G or even 2G models… what are you waiting for? !

Bugfest: Geekadelphia w/Jo Pincushion from Reel 9 Productions on Vimeo.

Beetles! Roaches! Spiders! Oh my! The Academy of Natural Sciences held a very successful Bugfest this year, and I was lucky enough to attend! The Academy was crawling with these creepy creatures and kids from all over Philadelphia partook in the discovery.

I loved watching the little geeks-in-training learn about these creatures. What kid doesn’t love bugs? “There’s going to be a fuzzy butt!” One child excitedly told me. Yes, there is a bug called The Fuzzy Butt, and yes I did laugh my fuzzy butt off when I heard it.

There was even a bee keeper giving a demonstration on bees in the auditorium. He taught the kids the importance of bee keeping, and while he was at it–he made a beard filled with bees! Yep, he had thousands of bees dangling from his chin, and the kids loved it.

Downstairs, Bugfest continued with it’s appropriately titled: Beetlefest. There you could listen to the Beatles tribute band British Mania, and try some buggy delicacies. That’s right. You heard me– YOU COULD EAT BUGS!

Make sure you keep checking The Academy of Natural Science’s event calendar! The best way to get the most out of The Academy is to become a member. Help your little geek begin his/her geeky ways by joining The Academy of Natural Sciences, and bringing them to these awesome events!

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

A few months back we featured the Kickstarter for A Cloudy Adventure from local indie game dev SkyKey.

Good news everyone! Thanks to your help, the Kickstarter was successful and the game is now out. I was lucky enough to check out the game; read on for a brief overview and details on how you can score a free copy.

Billed by its creator as an iPhone game made with happiness, hugs, and joy, A Cloudy Adventure is the first release from Philly local Emmanuel Petti. The Cheddar Bandits have struck the Cloud Kingdom, made off with all the cheese, and taken poor young Prince Cloudy hostage. After dumping him in the unfamiliar Pinelands, Cloudy has to find his way back home and get as much of the cheese back as he can along the way. There’s just one small problem – Cloudy hasn’t yet learned to fly. That’s where his buddies the Band of Blocks (and you) come in.

The game is broken up into three worlds of ten stages each. Your job is to get Cloudy past various obstacles and to the exit point in each stage using only the cross breezes from the blocks you position to make his path. If you’ve got quick fingers and you’re really up for a challenge, you can also try collecting the three cheese pieces hidden in each stage along the way.

Taking back your valuable cheddar will unlock various “acheesements” with cosmetic rewards for your characters. I had a blast playing through the first world, but trying to get all the cheese wheels in each level makes my brain hurt. Make no mistake, this game is easy to pick up and play, but there’s lots of challenge for the completionists out there.

A Cloudy Adventure is a fun physics-based puzzle platformer made right here in Philly… What’s not to love? Here’s the best part: Emmanuel was kind enough to provide us with some codes for a free download for the game. All you have to do is leave a comment, and we’ll pick five responses and send those people a FREE copy of A Cloudy Adventure!

It’s the classic nerdy tale: Young boy navigates a dungeon with nothing more than his wits, a sword and shield to save his kingdom from miscellaneous evil monsters and their ilk. In fact, Sword of Fargoal originally released on the Commodore 64 in 1982. Thankfully, Chillingo (you know, the Angry Birds publisher?) and a group of game designers led by Jeff McCord, the creator of the original, released a much-updated version for Macs and iPads everywhere.

While I’m about five years too young to have played the classic rogue-like back in the day, Sword of Fargoal Legends embodies the age-old nerds’ dream of dungeon crawling, stealing an ancient weapon and saving the kingdom from an onslaught of evil. If only real life were this cut and dry.

Sword of Fargoal can be downright frightening. Sure, the art style is adorable and the sounds are reminiscent of a 1980s arcade, but it’s the isolation that will get you. You’re alone—unequivocally and utterly alone—with just an old, rusty sword and your senses to defend against a horde of baddies.

Amongst the demons and giant centipedes, lost warriors just like you will stab you in the back in this game of survival. No one is to be trusted, not even chests that seem to be full of loot. Remember this: you are alone in the deepest, darkest dungeon, but what keeps you going is one thing, The Sword of Fargoal.

You'll see this screen more times than you can count.

And I’ve still yet to find it. This game is incredibly difficult, but playing it at anything lower than the normal setting would cheapen the experience. Having unlimited lives in Squire Mode destroys any feelings of anxiety when surrounded by seven hulking minotaurs, and relief after finally impaling one and escaping with one health point.

Sword of Fargoal, for an iOS/Mac App Store game, elicits a range of emotion, which is certainly an achievement for just $2.99. (Either that, or I get way too engrossed in my games.) Here’s a pro tip: it’s OK to run away scared … sometimes.

Psyched to try out Sword of Fargoal Legends for your Mac? Leave a comment below describing your most gripping retro game experience (nothing more recent than SNES/Genesis, folks), and we’ll toss one of you a redemption code. You have one week from today, so tell your story!

This sleek case not only protects your precious Apple product, but gives it almost twice the amount of play time. It will keep your iPod playing music at the party for 34 hours after everyone else’s Touch has been gasping desperately for an outlet.

I put this extra battery/protective case through the bootcamp. Give or take a couple hours, the pack does exactly what it says it will do. It keeps your iPod touch playing continuously long into the next day and the day after.

The extra six hours of video time is perfect for those of you taking a plane ride to Australia. I even took the time to give my iPod a good toss down my wooden staircase. Those of you with butter fingers will be happy to know that this case gives you some much needed protection from the occasional drop from the 3rd floor. FYI the iPod touch still works perfectly.

Now, all this extra battery life and lead lined protection must add some hefty bulk to your sleek and slim touch. Not so. The case cleanly encapsulates your iPod in a cloud of poer and protection without you ever even noticing that there is anything around it. There is even an external usb port so you don’t even have to remove the case to charge your ipod, external battery, or synch it to your PC.

You can grab the Mophie Juice Pack Air for $49.95 at Mophie.com.

Do secret agents see this little action all the time? You would certainly hope so, for their sake, but in a videogame surrounding the idea of undercover spies crossing paths some conflict is welcome. Secret Agents!, published by Chillingo of Angry Birds fame and developed by Clickgamer (how fitting), has so much potential on Mac. However, this simply is a high-resolution port of the iPhone game, which isn’t exactly the type of game you would play on a Mac much less an iPhone.

The game presents a novel concept: sneak around a miscellaneous (the story isn’t important) facility for three documents while avoiding or neutralizing guards and other agents during your escape. Sounds pretty cool, right? It’s too bad that searching for information boils down to clicking on sparkling cabinets and killing enemies is done with a single click. If secret agents are supposed to be of the utmost intelligence, in fighting shape and ready for anything, why is it that the only thing you do is click?

The game features a tutorial mode, but with such a simple premise and intuitive controls to boot, why would you need a crash course in clicking things? Avoiding enemies is as simple as tracking their position on your radar, but you can also lay booby traps. However, much of the time you won’t be in the same room to see the results—you’ll be too busy clicking on shiny water coolers.

It seems that Secret Agents! is an attempt to explore the cerebral, sneaky sides of being undercover. But clicking on shiny objects and paying attention to radar is far from brainy.

Want to give Secret Agents! a shot on your Mac? Leave us a comment detailing a moment when you had to act in secret (if it involves clicking, it better be good) and in a week we’ll choose one of you to toss a free game code.

Infinity Field is a twin stick shooter for the iPad by Chillingo. If you aren’t familiar with a twin-stick shooter, it’s a genre of games where one stick controls the movement and the other controls which way you shoot. The most obvious twin-stick shooter to compare this game to is the popular Geometry Wars, thanks to the similar controls and graphics.

I love the attitude the developers had when making this game. There’s no dancing around the fact that it is a Geometry Wars clone. I like to think Chillingo just thought, “We really like this game. Let’s make it ourselves, but better,” because that’s exactly what they did. By all rights and purposes, this could be Geometry Wars 3.

The gameplay is hectic, to say the least. I was used to having a tactile response with a game controller, so the touch screen twin sticks took me a while to get used to. Once I did, though, I had a blast. Your ship moves with your left stick and you fire your lasers (pew pew) with the right stick.

As you complete levels and gain points, you can upgrade your ship type and weaponry to give you a bit more of an edge against the onslaught of malevolent shapes trying to kill you. Through trial and error, you will develop a few strategies and moves to help you survive the ever-increasing time limit. I’ve named mine:

• The Pinwheel
• The Perimeter Panic
• The Flying V
• Death Kite
• Bomb (This is just a bomb. I couldn’t be very clever with it)
• The Australian Flush

There are six game modes including snake, zombie, unarmed, and cruces mode (which I’m dubbing awesome mode, because it is) that you can play individually, or as part of a campaign with increasing difficulty and bosses. The campaign got so difficult at times I wanted to cry and throw my iPad at another iPad playing the same level in Infinity Field. Like any good arcade game, I would put the game down for a little while, only to revisit it and beat it on my first retry.

Infinity Field looks great, sounds great and plays great once you get used to the controls. I didn’t care that it wasn’t the most original game in the world because it turned out better than the game it was emulating. Don’t hold the fact that this looks like Geometry Wars against it. For $1.99, you can’t go wrong with this game.

Infinity Field is super fun, and we’re giving away a copy in the comments. All you have to do is tell me which shape you think is the most deadly.

Let’s face it, Lara Croft–you know, the Tomb Raider?–has been on nearly every gaming platform since her debut on the original PlayStation in 1996. Since then, only about three games from the series were any good and, guess what, they were all on the same console she started her career on. After several iterations of the same gameplay and two lackluster movies, it’s only recently that developers have taken a fresh approach to arguably the most beloved woman in gaming.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for iOS, although a thematic port of the recent release of the same name for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, has been made to fit the iPhone like a glove by Ideaworks Game Studio and Square Enix. From its use of touch controls to its comicbook-meets-old time photo story exposition, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a refreshing take on what Lara Croft started 15 years ago: the spirit of exploration.

Find more of our impressions of Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for iOS behind the cut.

And it’s all happening in your iPhone. Admittedly, it’s easy to find yourself swamped by the game’s on-screen controls (a limitation of touch screen gaming), unable to notice everything each level has to offer.

But follow the challenges assigned to you and you’ll quickly realize that there’s much more to this miscellaneous, unnamed ancient temple. Well, it probably does have a name, I just don’t care. What matters is the adventure, and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light has more than enough of it.

Sure, the game has thrilling platforming, responsive and exciting combat (where else can you kill a giant demon lizard with mines?) as well as real time cooperative multiplayer, but it has all been placed strategically to spur exploration. That’s what Lara Croft was all about, but lost her way amidst random espionage plots and an inexplicable resurrection across several adventures.

Finally, she’s returned to her infectiously curious roots, which you can carry in your pocket. The rush of adventure doesn’t necessarily need a reason–both Ideaworks and Square Enix seem to realize that. And for $6.99 in the App Store, that’s exactly what you’ll get.

We’ve got a review code to giveaway to a lucky reader. Just let us know what your favorite Lara Croft game is, and we’ll pick one of your at random sometime next week. Good luck!