While I don’t have any new images to present today, aside from “Today’s Image”, nor do I have any real news to discuss, I did want to present some recent changes to various websites I maintain.

First, I finally updated Carmella’s Hang Out [carmshangout.com], months after Carmella asked me to do so. Sure, she just wanted a graphics overhaul, but I wanted to change the entire layout. Because of the holiday/winter season at Ritz, I didn’t have a lot of time to work on her site.

Next, I updated my father’s website, Worthwhile Music [worthwhilemusic.com]. He recently retooled his existing album, Committed, and renamed it to Homeward. I designed his album cover, but then realized his current, overly flowery website didn’t really fit the design I had done on the album cover. I had noticed that other artists had a tendency to have the website remade every time they released a new album, so I figured I’d do the same for my dad’s website.

Finally, I updated my business website [flagmandesign.com] to include the Worthwhile Music website change, as well as the color guard photography work I did, and presented, months ago. Speaking of which, I’ve been asked to take more color guard pictures next month, so perhaps in a year or so I’ll post them, considering my update schedule these days.

Scroll down if you find computer terms confusing!

After years of saying I would (eventually) upgrade my computer, I finally accomplished it. I’m now running Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium on my new dual-core Conroe CPU. The rest of the parts I purchased to build my computer are listed on my New Computer page. [dhpersonal.com]

I’m quite impressed with the speed of my computer, as well as the operating system its running. Granted, my previous computer was an old 1.3Ghz AMD Athlon XP 1500+ with 512MB RAM, so anything would seem faster. However, considering the higher requirements for Vista, I was surprised that my computer still seemed rather speedy in comparison to what I was fearing if I were to fully believe the posts in forums and other online sources about the performance of Vista.

At least for me, Vista is running great. There are a few compatibility issues with certain programs (including one that won’t work at all in Vista), but I fixed most of the problems, and don’t really notice the others. With all the bugs, there are also some programs (and hardware) that actually work better on Vista than on Windows 2000, which I was pleased to see. I know some people have been having problems, but with the amount of success I’ve had, I think it’s while using outdated or rare software or hardware that was never promised to be compatible with Vista (or worse, is well known not to be compatible).

Start here if computer technobabble make your eyes water!

Down a mile or so from my house is a center for forgotten old people. Some call it “Assisted Living”, but we all know what it really is: a place for old people to die without the old people knowing it. Regardless, it has a brick and iron fence surrounding the front of it: supposedly this is to keep the “bad people” out, but I wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with keeping the old people in. Sure, they let a few token oldies out the front gate to walk around with a hollow smile on their face, but I’m certain the staff keeps the dungeon full of long ignored seniors.

I kid. It’s a nice, welcoming community for seniors, and looks like it would be a very nice place to live. It’s right beside a bustling shopping center full of a variety of shops old people would like, and across the street from “the” place to be in the city. Regardless, it still features a brick and iron fence, of which I snapped a few pictures and posted here.

I took several pictures I thought were worthy of posting on the site. While only one can make it to the featured “Today’s Image” portion of my blog, I thought I’d post the others, just like I normally do. The two other images are posted at the bottom of this blog post.

I haven’t done a lot since the last time I posted. Things take time, and I’m taking that time to complete those things. I’ll eventually leave Ritz Camera, but I don’t want to rush out of that job before I’ve completed the tasks I need to finish for the next job.

Maybe next month, when I finally get around to posting another update (it seems that’s my schedule these days), I’ll have quit my job and moved to another one. Who knows? I don’t. That’s just part of the adventure of life (cue music).

But you don’t care, you’re just here for the pictures. I know it. You don’t have to hide it.