Here in Blacksburg, there’s a power equipment shop that’s exactly like the one you probably went to with your dad at some point during your childhood. For starters, it’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. When you pull into the parking lot you notice two buildings, and for first time visitors, it’s a toss up as to which one is the warehouse and which one contains the showroom.

Then there’s the collection of about 200 push mowers, riding mowers, garden tillers, log splitters, sod cutters, pressure washers, chain saws and weed eaters laying around ready to be fixed or harvested for parts.

I love that place.

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Learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript:

• HTML, CSS, and Javascript - http://w3schools.com/
• Advanced Javascript - http://www.quirksmode.org/resources.html
• Advanced CSS - There really isn’t one that stands out. So Google. For examples of what CSS can do go to CSS Zen Garden.

Learning Scripting languages:

• PHP - http://php.net
• Ruby - http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/
• Python - http://www.python.org/
• Perl - http://www.perl.org/

Database applications:

• SQLite - http://www.sqlite.org/
• MySQL - http://dev.mysql.com/
• phpMyAdmin (For managing your MySQL databases) - http://www.phpmyadmin.net/home_page/index.php

Web Server:

• Apache - http://apache.org

You can download WAMP which will install the basics (Apache, Mysql, SQLite, and PHP) for you on Windows . If you own a Mac or Linux most of these things are already installed and just need a little configuration. If you do just a little searching, you will find installers for all of these languages and applications for your platform.

Getting to Actual Development

When you are ready to start programming all you really need is a text editor. All of these applications and languages are free. You can use them as much as you like to create whatever you want. The web is multilingual in every sense of the word so keep learning and never stop.

Good places to read about what is going on in the world with technology; web and more:

• A List Apart - http://alistapart.com/
• 37Signals - http://37signals.com
• Programming on Reddit - http://programming.reddit.com
• Slashdot (News for Nerds) - http://slashdot.org
• Ted.com - http://ted.com

Keep us posted.

Nick

The reality is that custom lighting is not an every day need for many people, which explains why there are only a handful of manufacturers out there. But among them, Crenshaw stands tall, and we’re in the process of telling their story to make sure it stays that way. (more…)

Studying design is a little like losing a few diopters of visual acuity.  You no longer see the detail and minutia of things.  You begin to see things elementally.  Design, good or bad, is in every part of our lives.   Good design smoothes the edges of our interactions, creates harmony and unity.  Bad design is discordant, jarring. 

No where is the essential geometry of design more present than in nature.  We are often dazzled by the apparent randomness of natural things; they way they seem to resist the orderly organization we would impose on their layout.  We are drawn to their “wildness”, their fluidity and to the chaos that seems to exist there.  But, if we look, not carefully, but hazily, at the big picture we see the fundamental order that exists.  The grand plan of all things.  We are not drawn to chaos; but to ratios, to sequences, to rules.

We were recently selected to redesign the web site for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden.  The Garden, located in Richmond, Virginia, features more than 40 acres of spectacular gardens and the mid-Atlantic’s only classically styled Conservatory open to the public.  Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden’s many gardens and buildings are each a triumph in the creation of both indoor and outdoor spaces that resonate viscerally with its visitors.  It’s no wonder that people from all over the world visit the gardens to experience their beauty or choose to have their weddings at this place that fills the senses and the soul.

We are honored to have been chosen to redesign the Garden’s web site.  We at NCM have long recognized that good design is vital in any user experience.  Whether strolling through a rose garden or visiting a web site; intuitive, user-centric design makes every interaction more satisfying and draws us back again and again to its deceptive simplicity.

Jeannine Everhart and I traveled to London in early February to meet with Imperial College London for an end-of-project review. We met with the entire web team and went through all aspects of the project including feedback from students and staff, analytics, review of project objectives and a discussion of lessons learned. (more…)

I knew I was way, way, WAY out of my league when I would walk into meetings and realize I was the only person bearing paper and pen.  A Luddite!  I seem to be the only person in the office who gets thinks looking at YouTube on an iPhone loses something in translation.  Actually, I think I’m the only person here who doesn’t have or want an iPhone.  There might be one other dissenter among us (you know who you are…)  The thought of needing an external additional hard drive attached to an already souped-up Apple hot rod (both are de rigueur here at NCM) blows my mind.  If I need to speak to someone in the office, chances are I’m getting up and walking to their desk.  It took me 3 weeks to figure out what np and lmk meant.  Every night I’d get home, bleary-eyed from looking at a screen all day.  My brain actually hurt from trying to process information that seemed to be coming at me from all sides…  most of it too fast and with too many acronyms.  Everyone at New City Media is erudite, witty, hip and very, very good at what they do.  I’ve never felt so banal…  so slow…  so completely a beat behind.  And then it occurred to me that I’m probably not alone.

Chances are, you don’t know that much about how web sites are built or designed.  You don’t have to.  That’s not your job, it’s ours.  And chances are, you feel you’re in way, way, WAY over your head.  Maybe you are; Web 2.0 is vast and deep.  But these guys are the rescue swimmers of the Web.  It’s not what they do, it’s how they live.  They’ve been amazingly patient at pulling this floundering, gasping non-techie who decided to jump into the deep end outta the drink.  I’m even learning a few strokes.  So, if you’re standing on the edge, curling your toes over the side- come on in, the water’s fine.