Todays Mighty Oak

And I think that in this case, the phrase "new and improved" actually is appropriate: I installed a new component for comments, and it is a huge improvement over the last system I had in place.  It's still not perfect, but it is so much easier to work with, from every angle.

To comment on an item, click on it's title (or on some blog posts, when you click "Read More," you'll be taken to the item itself), and at the bottom, add your comment, it's as simple as that!  You need to leave a name, but it can be a screenname, or just a first name, whatever you are comfortable with!

Thanks for your patience, and let me know what you think...you could even leave me a comment with this article, amazing!

Welcome to Blog Action Day! Today, over 7,500 blogs are participating, and this year's theme is the environment. Some of the big supporters are Lifehacker, Reddit and Wired Magazine, among others. And basically the goal is to have bloggers all over the world talking about one topic on one day. Earlier this year, the "Bum Rush the Charts" movement was the same principle, just focused on independent music and power of podcasting as well as blogs.

But anyway, I digress (or if you happened to see the Family Guy Star Wars special...but I digest...), the goal of the day is to raise awareness, but not by changing blog formats, but including topics and discussions into blogs instead. And in a typical fashion for my blog, I have a random story/observation from the other day that fits in nicely. Click "Read More" to continue reading past the break...

One year ago today, well actually it was a year and a day, this site launched!  And what a year it has been!  I've had close to 120,000 hits in the last year, and all kinds of other statistics are available, but I won't bore you.

Things look good for the next year as well, I'll be adding more content and I'm hoping for a smooth transition into Joomla! 1.5.  Thanks for the great year (even though it officially launched on a Friday the 13), and I'll catch everyone later!

If you'll direct your attention to the right side of the screen, you'll see a new "Currently Reading" bar. This widget is provided by Amazon, and besides scrolling through items and providing links, it makes updating that section of the site a whole lot faster! I originally had comments with the items, but I didn't like how it worked, but let me know what you think, I can fiddle with it pretty easily.

Just keeping everyone up to date about the site, four new photo galleries are up: Keystone, Heritage Staff Picnic, Heritage  Block Party and Harry Potter 7 Release.  There are also some new book reviews posted, and more of both are on their way.  I also just updated to the latest security patch of Joomla (Sunglow), and it looks like the new version will be here very soon.  When that happens I'll give you more details, but I'll probably have to close up shop for a day or two as I upgrade the site, but more about that later.  Have a great one!
 

I uploaded two new photo galleries, The SVC Home Opener and The Clarks concert. I also updated the URU Live gallery, so make sure to check them out!
 

As I write this, I'm changing over the photo galleries to a new "lightbox" version. Until I get everything updated (which should be later today), both the new and the old (simple popup) versions will be online. Let me know what you think!

Update: The gallery updates are finished, be sure to check them out!