UPGRADED TO WORDPRESS v2

Howdy All.

Well, shortly after getting the ol’ site looking less like crap, I noted that WordPress 2.0 had been released.  So, well, the site looks like crap again.  Apparently, making the site look like crap again was a necessary step in performing the upgrade.

SITE APPEARANCE

Well, I’m embarrassed that the site has gone so long with the default WordPress skin. I was always quite proud of the custom design I did for Dor-lomin v2.0. So, it’s somewhat disappointing to me that Dor-lomin v3.0 looks like poop.

So, to make myself feel better, here’s a screenshot of what the site used to look like. Perhaps seeing this every day or so will motivate me to work on getting my WordPress skin built.

Dor-lomin v2.0 Screenshot

WELCOME TO DOR-LOMIN v3.0

We’ve moved to a server that provides me fifteen times more server space as well as MySQL and PHP. This new server only costs $7.95/month whereas the old server cost $25/month for less space and bandwidth and the old one would have charged a lot more for MySQL and PHP. Here, it’s just included for a lot less.

I should have done this years ago.

I’m taking this opportunity to kill off some seldom-used areas of the site and I’m also obviously giving WordPress a whirl. I’ll miss the old site layout as it was a custom design by yours truly (using notepad!) and made use of some nice artwork by friends and online aquaintances. But, WordPress is amazing. Once I got the old GreyMatter posts imported, I found about twenty spams in the comments almost instantly and deleted them very easily. I never would have found them (and deleting them would have been a pain) with GreyMatter.

The power of WordPress continues to impress me. But I obviously need to give its templates some work as soon as I brush up on CSS and the template formats.

Though there’s a lot new, please note the “Defunct Geekery” links to the side. I didn’t want to quite get rid of it all.

JUST SOMETHING I CAME ACROSS. . .

I was looking for an email, and I found this dialogue from the Simpsons in a an email to a friend. I wish the show were still this good on a regular basis:

Marge: “You changed your name to Max Power?”

Homer: “Yes, dynamic isn’t it?

Bart: “I love it Max!”

Marge: “But how will the mailman know what to do with your mail? Did you think of the mailman before you did this?”

Homer: “Yes, briefly.”

Marge: “But what about the tatoo on my ‘you know where’?”

Homer: “Oh Marge, they have acids that can burn that off!”

Marge: “But I fell in love with Homer Simpson. I don’t want to snuggle with Max Power.”

Homer: “Nobody snuggles with Max Power! You strap yourself in and FEEL THE G-s!”

Marge: “Good Lord!”

UPDATE TO ULTIMA DIGITAL MUSIC ARCHIVE.

For those of you with a more geek-ish bent, I have udated the Ultima Digital Music Archive.

The Ultima VI archive is currently the only one available. However, I have re-recorded all the MP3s so that they are now clearer and louder. They now also loop properly rather than fading out. Finally, it was brought to my attention that “Engagement & Melee” was missing from the archive. It is now provided. Enjoy!

Some more good news about the archive. I recently received more space from my web host. So, I should have room to post at least a few more archives. Ultima VII: The Black Gate/Serpent Isle is next. Followed (probably) by Ultima Underworld.

Ultima VII is perhaps the best music ever done on the Roland LAPC-1 and really shows off what it could do. Much moreso than Ultima VI.

WELCOME TO DOR-LOMIN v2.1

As you can see, there have been some changes here at Dor-lomin.

I have installed a new news and rants interface called GreyMatter. It should provide for easier “blogging.” Thus, I should be posting here more often.

GreyMatter also allows for user comments that attach directly to the news item. Try it out!

Because this functionality essentially rendered the forums obsolete, I have disabled them.

I have also streamlined the menus and the site design a bit as well.

News, rants, and any other posts made prior to today can be found under the archive link below.