If you have ever starred blankly at your Kindle because it wouldn’t work right or tried to figure out how to set up a TypePad blog and went to the bookstore to get some help, then you probably know the name Scott McNulty. The author of several books about everything from Google + to WordPress, Scott has been helping people get in touch with their technology for years.

Scott was nice enough to answer a few questions about writing, being a foodie and giving writing advice to your wife.

So tell the Geekadelphia readers about yourself. Have you always been a tech guy?

I’ve always been a geek, even in the Dark ages when that wasn’t cool, but I haven’t always been a tech guy. I spent most of my childhood/teen years reading about elves and spaceships, but I wasn’t really interested in technology. In fact, I didn’t even own a computer of my own until a year after I graduated from college in 1999.

What’s the hardest part of taking something like, say, the Kindle Fire, and making it easy for anyone to use?

Probably getting people to realize that tech books offer up useful information that you won’t find in the manual. Technology companies spend a lot of money trying to convince people that their products are “intuitive” and “easy to use.” In some cases this is true, but I find that lots of people still turn to the geeks in their lives to answer a variety of questions.

When I write I try to image myself in that role of tech confidante, answering the questions people have but might be hesitant to ask because the gadget they’re using is supposed to be so simple to use.

Other than that it is all about judging how much your reader knows vs. what they don’t. Will they know what “tapping” and “swiping” on a screen means? Surely they’ve heard of apps, but do they really know what apps are?

You are also something of a foodie. Are there any similarities between writing about food and tech?

I don’t do a heck of a lot of food writing, but I can tell you that people really into food, just like those really into tech, have strong opinions and aren’t afraid to share them.

Your wife Marisa McClellan just published the Food in Jars cookbook. As someone who has written a whole bunch of tech how-to books, did you have any advice for her?

All writers have a natural enemy: the deadline. My biggest piece of advice for Marisa, which she ignored, was: start writing as much as you can now even though your deadline is months and months away. When I wrote my first book I had something like 7 months to write it, so I spent the first month thinking about how cool it was I was writing a book.

I spent the second month thinking maybe I should start. The third month was devoted to really getting that outline fleshed out while the fourth month was all about organizing my desk (I can’t write this all these distractions!). Then I freaked out because I only had a few weeks to turn in the first half of the book, so I spent as many of my waking hours as possible feverishly writing.

I hoped to spare Marisa this experience, but you really have to live through it to understand.

So what’s next for you in terms of writing?

I’m sure I’ll write another tech book or two that no one in my family will read.

If you had a choice, get your hands on the next-gen iPad a month before everyone else or dinner at a brand new high end restaurant so you could write a review, which would you choose?

Assuming the dinner was free, I’d go with the restaurant. It would be neat to play with a next-gen iPad, but you have to return those review units so I’d end up buying one for myself. However, I don’t think the restaurant would want me to return my meal.

Scott’s Website
www.blankbaby.com

Fork You
www.forkyou.tv

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…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

Although the name might be a mouthful, the Mophie Juice Pack Air is certainly not a handful. This little gadget will protect your 4th Gen iPod Touch while at the same time providing twice as much time playfully slicing fruit out of the air like a ninja or knocking down some porker’s home.

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

Guest Post by Brian Lynch

The simultaneous rise of streaming video and mobile phones has created a whole new market for entertainment; one that Northern Liberties-based Invincible Pictures is looking to make their mark on. CEO Tom Ashley’s team is developing a strong competitor to NetFlix, and I had the pleasure of checking out this giant-killer app.

FlixFling, Ashley’s brainchild, hits on needs in the digital landscape left unaddressed by Netflix: consumers demand more fluidity, flexibility, and accessibility of their content; Hollywood wants a more micro-transactional alternative; and with the decline of the brick-and-mortar video store, it becomes harder for independent films to reach an audience through standard channels.

Thus, FlixFling.

Like Netflix or VUDU, FlixFling caters to both casual viewers and the dedicated movie enthusiast. There is a $12.99 monthly-unlimited subscription plan, and non-subscribers can purchase 72-hour rentals priced from $1.99 to $3.99. Copies for a customer’s “digital locker” can also be purchased at $6.99 and $9.99, giving users the flexibility they want. And with account info stored in secure military-grade servers, renting movies is both safe and easy and allows the customer “to do what they want to do – watch movies,“ Ashley said.

(more…)