OVER the last 15 years, the ground-breaking Old Trafford News has trained hundreds of people in photography, writing and publishing skills, while providing a trusted independent source of information for 12,000 homes in one of the most diverse communities in Greater Manchester. It has gone from being a photocopied freesheet to a glossy, full-colour magazine; [...]

As one of the most successful franchises in American pop culture history, The Transformers have already passed their 25th year in the public eye. Based on Hasbro’s toy line of the same name (which, in turn, was based on a Japanese toy line by Takara), their success established a strong [...]

If you are looking for an animated series that will entertain young and old, this is it. Tiny Furniture, Grade D-plus: This coming-of-age film might have been tolerable if the central figure was more appealing. It takes great skill to find just the right tone to play a slacker who doesn’t alienate the audience. Lena [...]

So you’re on for two more years at least? Right. We’re going to do 559 episodes but that’s not necessarily the end. Have you ever been tempted to throw out the playbook and go in a different direction? I don’t think so, because you can do that in individual [...]

Visitors to Google’s home page on Tuesday will receive a valentine from the company, in the form of the company’s first animated short film. The whimsical Valentine’s Day story, which clocks in at just over a minute, follows a young boy’s effort to woo a jump-roping little girl. As Tony Bennett‘s Cold, Cold Heart plays [...]

Michael Lipman gave Valentine’s Day wishes to millions of strangers Tuesday, and his wife probably didn’t object. Lipman, a longtime Mill Valley resident, was the animator behind the “Google Doodle” du jour — the story of a smitten boy winning a girl’s heart. The piece ends with an image of six cartoon couples, including a [...]

As he demonstrated with “Zomo the Rabbit,” which Imagination Stage premiered in 2009, Psalmayene 24 has a flair for folding fairy-tale wonder into an infectious hip-hop vibe. As the director of “P.Nokio,” as well as its writer and star, he repeats the trick, teleporting us to the realm of Hip-Hopia, where people pay bills in [...]

Working under the moniker Already Been Chewed, Barton Damer has produced motion and illustration projects for clients across the music, broadcast and skateboarding industries. He’s won a variety of accolades, including Computer Arts and 3D World’s Digital Artist of the Year, as well as Veer’s Design For Change competition. “The worst thing for any designer [...]

All across the Emerald Coast, there are men and women, both young and old, leading double lives. “They use normal transportation. Some have jobs. Some go to school and some do both,” said Michael Smith. “But a handful of times each year they receive the call — a convention is close by.” [...]

Flash game engines are still a great choice for building browser-based 2D games. Freelance game developer Tom Vian takes a look at the three most popular open source frameworks Need to build an expressive, interactive website? Use HTML5/JavaScript/CSS3. Obviously. Need to display video on the web? Use the HTML5 <video> tag, with a Flash fallback [...]