Netizen of Elsewhere, USA

Posted by kbs

Elsewhere, USA

In early January, I received an email from Dalton Conley announcing that he would be at a Barnes & Noble in Greenwich Village reading from his latest book “Elsewhere, USA.” I have known Dalton for thirty years. He was twelve years old when his father and I became friends while working together. In 2002, I got to know Dalton even better when he asked me to design a website for him that organized the books and papers he had authored.  It was then that I read his memoir “Honkey.” Dalton was beginning his professorship in the sociology department at  New York University. Currently he is the acting dean.

As an artist, books about zeitgeist like Christopher Lasch’s “The Culture of Narcissism” and David Brooks’  “Bobos in Paridise” have always inspired me. I don’t know if Dalton’s book will meet that standard but listening to him talk provoked me beyond my expectations. I went to his reading out of curiosity and support but given how much my work and thoughts this past year have been about computers, the internet, websites and blogs, I was fascinated to hear Dalton, the sociologist, address these issues from a historical and cultural perspective. Continue reading →

Galleries, NextGen Solution

Posted by kbs

I have been working on a new site for Margaret Roach that will be known as The Sister Project. It has greatly expanded my belief in blogging as the new publishing and WordPress as the leading software. I will be writing more about The Sister Project (TSP) after we launch in late November.

One of the five TSP blogs is Galleries where we will display curated submissions of poetry, prose, photography and art. The Galleries need software to organize and present the art and photography. There are many WP gallery plugins available but our research led us to NextGen Gallery. It offers a variety of options and seems to be well maintained–many plugins are not. As with many Open Source programs, the instructions and tutorials could be more thorough. After spending many hours “under the hood,” I think I know how NextGen runs but some things are still not clear. That is why I am doing this test post using paintings I made almost twenty years ago. I want my clients to be aware of this solution and it gives me a chance to post some paintings from one of my favorite series.

Below and in the sidebar are thumbnails of my Field Report art. Almost all of the drawings and paintings are based on one avocado plant that I grew in my apartment. Other works based on the direct observation of nature are also included as part of this series. This last week I went to the Morandi exhibit at the Met. I suppose Field Report is my “Morandi” statement.

(This is the navigation for the NextGen Gallery.)

Pronto! Buongiorno Marco. Galleria?

Posted by kbs

self portraitLast Spring, Marco Ventura told me that he wanted to have his illustration portfolio on-line and asked me to design it. Marco lives in Milan but his reputation and clientele are international. I met him when I was assigning illustration for the Time magazine feature Spotlight. (Before I knew Marco, I was unfamiliar with Italians answering the phone “Pronto.”) He had digital files of all his work and sent them to me by email. I made my presentations to him using Skype.

Marco wanted a very minimal site with a white background and images that were not too large. Like many of the artists and photographers I have dealt with, he was concerned with… Continue reading →

Nice Job, Bub!

Posted by kbs

The HunterToday I updated crime and mystery writer Donald Westlake’s website with three of his books that are being republished by Chicago Press. (see for yourself) So, why am I blogging about it? Because I admired these cover designs. I mentioned it in a reply to the publisher (“Tell your cover designer ‘Nice job, Bub.'”) and they wrote back that they were designed and illustrated by David Drummand. I Googled him, found his portfolio/blog and added him to my Blogroll. Reading about good design process is always rewarding.

This also gives me a chance to talk about Donald’s website and some of the business lessons I learned. He is a friend of a friend and about ten years ago I heard him mention at a party that his webmaster was changing fields and he needed to find someone to take it over. That is how… Continue reading →

Damn Scam

Posted by kbs

This week a web client emailed me asking:
Did all of your clients get this (domain transfer) notification?
I assume it’s legit? I just paid for the five year renewal of the domain name.
Will you handle the transfer or should I?

Well, it was not legit and it makes me furious. The client had received a snail mail letter informing them to transfer their domain name to Domain Registry of America (www.droa.com). It was worded in such a way that they thought it was imperative. Sneaky bastards.

I did a search:
1. This from PCmag.com – http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2007/10/beware_of_domain_name_scams_in.php

2. From someone who describes a letter like my client’s: http://trinaallen.wordpress.com/2008/04/11/domain-registry-of-america-scam/

droa.com letter
droa.com letter

3. In trying to explain why the registration WHOIS information is public, I found this:
“The problem is two-fold: ICANN (the guys who “overlook all the domain stuff on the Internet”, for lack-of better phrasing) voted in a new rule that states all domain owners _MUST_ have legitimate contact methods shown in their WHOIS records. That is, the owner of the domain must put a legitimate address and telephone number in their WHOIS records.” (from http://www.broadbandreports.com/forum/remark,16948194 )
(see UPDATE 4 below) 

Continue reading →