a palette similar

Attentive readers may notice that I’ve recently added a Creative Commons licensing badge to nicomachus.net. I’ve meant to add it for some time now, and older versions of nicomachus.net bore the badge. In the process of switching to WordPress (in 2007) and revamping the (visual) theme for the site, I lost or decided to shed most of the blog links and other sidebar items I had collected. So after a two-year hiatus, it’s now back.

from wallygs Flickr

from wallyg's Flickr photostream

You’ll notice too that I’ve recently updated the look of this site, which I hope is both pleasing to the eye and quick-loading on your computers. One feature that I want to draw your attention to is the navigation system in the top left corner of the screen, which is a story in itself.

shades_of_red
Color by COLOURlovers

The vertical bars, which switch to black when you hover your cursor over them, are meant to mimic the fluted columns of doric and ionic architecture (e.g. the inset grooves of the columns supporting the Parthenon in ancient Greece). I don’t really expect anyone to pick up on this bit of visual rhyming, but it represents part of the style I am developing on both this website and, more specifically, on my business’ website. You see, as a perpetual student of ancient Greek philosophy, I look for ways to incorporate and exhibit some of the virtues of Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus’ ethics and aesthetics. After all, one of the most important things one can do with one’s life is to develop a sense of style that ultimately guides all of one’s decisions and behavior.

red_spectrumFor the palette, I knew I wanted to use a spectrum of shades of red. I found inspiration on the bedside table.

The concept for the vertical bars fits most squarely into my other website, the one for my web-design and digital media company, nicomedia. I decided to use the vertical bar concept, although mirrored, on this website as well in order to imply the connection between the ethic of my business and and ethic of my personal site — both sites, just as both the commercial and civic motivations in my life, are inspired and led by the same background.

header for nicomedia's website

header for nicomedia's website

in the footer at Ogilvy Durham

in the footer at Ogilvy Durham

So, if it’s not obvious from all that I’ve said here, I put some thought into this design. A moment of panic, then, was understandable last week, when I noticed that another local website design company is making use of a similar navigation system. Ogilvy Durham’s blog site lists their most often employed tags in shades of red not unlike the pile-of-books palette.

While it struck me at first as a strange coincidence that two website design firms in Durham would develop and employ a navigation system so visually and behaviorally similar, after an email exchange with the Senior Art Director at Ogilvy, it’s clear that we simply share both an affinity for red and black (OgilvyDurham because red and black are Ogilvy colors generally, nicomachus.net because of the political symbolism behind the colors) as well as a design intuition.

Posted on May 26, 2009 
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Durham Freeway bridge set to be replaced, finally

It’s about f*ckin’ time. Known as “The Ugly Green Thing” on Waymarking’s website, the pedestrian bridge over the Durham Freeway is not the most attractive entrance to the Bull City. Yet, if you’re traveling up 147 from either Research Triangle Park or from I-40 (as most people coming to Durham from Raleigh would), then this behemoth is what greets you.

By the end of May, that may all change.

From today’s Herald Sun…

Bridge replacement set to begin
The Herald-Sun
May 19, 2009

DURHAM — Demolition and replacement of the pedestrian bridge at Alston Avenue will begin later this month, resulting in overnight traffic detours on N.C. 147.

Beginning May 26 and lasting approximately two weeks, traffic on the Durham Freeway will be rerouted using Briggs and Alston avenues as detours from 11 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. as crews complete the demolition of the old pedestrian bridge.

After demolition is complete and the new bridge span arrives, crews will again close N.C. 147 during the same hours and using the same detour routes until the new bridge span is in place. The second closure will be announced once this date is set.

Read the rest at the Herald Sun’s website.

I wrote a column about the 147 bridge in May 2006, at which time the story was that the bridge was set to be demolished in the fall of 2006 and that the new bridge might possibly be open by the fall of 2007. When delays in fulfilling promises take this long, what should be celebrated as good news turns into bittersweet resentment.

new Durham Freeway (Hwy 147) bridge design, ca. 2006

new Durham Freeway (Hwy 147) bridge design, ca. 2006

new Durham Freeway bridge design, ca. 2006

new Durham Freeway bridge design, ca. 2006

American Tobacco Trail bridge supporters take note. As I pointed out in October 2007, for most of the time I have lived in Durham construction dates for the American Tobacco Trail bridge over I-40 and the new pedestrian bridge over 147 are indexical: no matter when you ask, the answer is always “they should be completed in about 2 years.”

So, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Design images courtesy of Stewart Design

Posted on May 19, 2009 
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WordCampRDU 2009 to be in Durham

North Carolina Central University will play host to WordCampRDU 2009, which as far as I know is the Triangle’s first WordCamp.*

WordCamp is a conference type of event that focuses squarely on everything WordPress. WordCampRDU is a day-long event on June 13th, 2009 in Raleigh Durham, North Carolina that focuses on beginner and advanced WordPress users with presentations and useful information. WordCampRDU will be highlighted by a much anticipated keynote speech by WordPress Founder, Matt Mullenweg.

The RDU conference is designed around a dual track, so both beginners and more advanced users are welcome. Sessions currently include WordPress 101 (an introduction to WordPress and blogging, hosted by yours truly), Search Engine Optimization, using WordPress as a content management system, as well as integrating eCommerce into your WordPress sites. WordCampRDU is coming together this year under the leadership and hard work of Danielle Baldwin.

I made the switch (from MovableType) to WordPress in October 2007 and haven’t looked back. The plug-ins, the editing pane, the overall ease of everyday use, and the power of php have convinced me that WordPress is the blogging platform for me. Whether you are already a WordPress user or  are thinking of making the switch (or even thinking about starting your first blog), WordCampRDU will be a great opportunity meet other WordPress users and find answers to some of those burning questions.

If there are any topics that you would like me to cover in the WordPress 101 session, feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

You can register for the event here. See you there.

*WordCampRDU 2008 was canceled at the last minute.

Posted on May 8, 2009 
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Traffic as art

The self-righteous tone of the comments aside, Good Magazine’s blog has a nice photo show of traffic in Los Angeles. I realize that this collection of aerial photographs of mostly single-occupant smogmobiles is probably intended to be a critique of LA’s (and thus the USA’s) automobile dependence, but these photos are visually stunning and, dare I say, beautiful.

It’s amazing to me that I’ve been to LA exactly once, and that I recognize just from sight and memory several of these interchanges — the Los Angeles National Cemetery, the Getty, Elysian Park, downtown — and most of which I saw from the seat of a bicycle.

Years ago, the Philosophy Department at Vanderbilt got comedian John Cleese to record a series of PSAs about philosophy. Some are on ethics, some on metaphysics, some on meaning-of-life questions. I’ve thought for some time that it would be fun to use those PSAs as the audio track for a series of videos. So, consider the video below the first in a series.

Posted on May 7, 2009 
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YooouuuTuuube

yooooooutbe

Makes any video look cool… (click the image to see what I’m talking about)

Posted on May 6, 2009 
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delete Durham billboards

Fairway Outdoor Advertising’s attempts at wooing City Council into removing the current ban on new billboards may not be going so well. At least, not for Fairway.

The billboard industry suffered a trouncing at the March InterNeighborhood Council meeting, but the City Council vote that will ultimately decide the fate of Durham’s billboards will come later this summer. The persistence of both advertising as a phenomenon and the belief that people are essentially consumers with obligations to subject themselves to advertising in public spaces warrant more discussion, and Fairway’s recent attempts at infiltrating community groups leave the public to wonder why the ad giant doesn’t want a real conversation.

Not only is it becoming clear that the community doesn’t support the attempt to supersaturate the Bull City with corporate advertising, in the process of covering the issue, the Independent has identified and mapped 110 billboards in Durham — 89 of which are permitted and 21 that are not. (Note: Fairway currently owns 45 billboards in Durham.)

If those billboards identified as illegal are not dealt with by “the proper authorities,” then who knows what will happen to them.

Perhaps, someone might by inspired by a recent public art campaign in New York, which reclaimed public space from illegal billboards by whitewashing, then replacing with art.

Alternatively, in Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, there is a compelling description of what happens to billboards that violate the spirit of community aesthetic.

Whatever the resolution, there’s new stuff to read on supportdurhambillboardban.com:

And if you haven’t yet voiced your opinion on whether Durham needs more billboards, just send an email or write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper.

Posted on May 4, 2009 
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wish I lived in…

National Train Day May 9 2009

Discover the Rail Way on National Train Day, May 9, 2009
National Train Day is upon us and this year the celebration is bigger and better. This Saturday from 10am to 3pm, enjoy live musical entertainment and educational and interactive displays about train travel in the past, present and future, including:

Exhibits you can only find at National Train Day include:

• Trains Move Our Economy: An in-depth exploration of rail’s current and future role in American society, learn about proposed high-speed corridors, the upgrading of rail infrastructure, electrification and the role of freight trains in our economy.
• Go-Green Express: Discover the green aspects of rail travel – energy efficiency, electric rail, regenerative braking, etc. – with this free-standing interactive display.
• Honor the Bright Land: Trains and the Preservation of America’s Great Places: This art gallery will honor the connection between trains and our national landscape through the art of J. Craig Thorpe. In his work you’ll find a beautiful representation of the spectrum of rail operations in three different settings: urban, rural and wilderness. The gallery will also feature a new commission from Amtrak on the future of rail.

See trains up close and personal with exclusive displays that include historic private cars, commuter and freight cars, and Amtrak equipment:

Washington, DC
Dover Harbor
Georgia 300 (President Obama’s historic inaugural private train car) Acela, Amfleet and Superliner Cars		 Chicago
Warren Henry & Evelyn Henry
Horizon Club-Dinette
Amfleet II and Superliner Cars
Philadelphia
Epicuris
Cab Car
Acela Set
Amfleet Cars
Electric Locomotive		 Los Angeles
Overland Trail
Scottish Thistle
Operation Lifesaver Wrapped Locomotive
GM & O 50
Steam Locomotive
Superliner and Surfliner Cars

Posted on May 4, 2009 
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there’s probably no god, says British ad campaign


Proselytizing atheists… that’s a new one on me.

The hot pink link scheme on their website is enough to leave one searching for a new religion.

Posted on May 4, 2009 
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Trips for Kids benefit art show, Cinco de Mayo

The cycling community has a reputation for creativity — the annual Bike Art exhibits (I, II, III, IV), the Bicycle Film Festival, and the alt-bike phenomenon each attest to the restlessness that two-wheeled travelers often feel. By restlessness I mean an inability to accept the world as ordinary. Perhaps nowhere is that restlessness evident than in North Carolina, where a bicycle mechanic on the Outer Banks once said to his brother, “what else can we make with these tools?”

Danielle Riley, a Durham school teacher and editor, is sharing her art with the cycling community for the month of May. Andrea Hundredmark, Durham Public Schools teacher and Director of the Triangle chapter of Trips For Kids, says…

Danielle Riley is showing her photography for the first time EVER at The Broad Street Cafe.  Her work will be up for the month of May.  The kickoff for the show is Tuesday, May 5th at 7 pm.  There will be a wine tasting as well.

Please check out the link [sic] to learn a little about Broad Street Café, their menu and Danielle.  There is a short artist bio and some samples of some her photos on the site.

20%  of any proceeds from the sale of her work will be donated to Triangle Trips for Kids – a non-profit organization that takes children living in at-risk situations on bike rides, teaches them about cycling and how to build bikes.

To learn more about Trips for Kids, check out their website or this article written for the Herald Sun last year. The Broad St Café is located here.

Posted on May 1, 2009 
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Library of Congress, on Flickr


Search within any Flickr user’s account, then click the Slideshow icon/link in the top right to create your own. Grab the embed codes from the Share link (once you’re looking at your slideshow).

Posted on April 30, 2009 
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